My People, My People

Over the past couple of months, I've received several hits on my blog from African Americans currently serving or interested in joining the Peace Corps. It has been rather insightful to hear about their experiences all throughout the world. It's interesting to see that, although we're spread out around the world, we share a common experience back home and abroad.

In some way, we are positioned within a unique opportunity to expose people in our respective Peace Corps sites to African Americans in addition to demonstrating that we're dynamic people and not just limited to what they might have seen on t.v., heard about through the grape vine, or listened to in rap songs. Within our American communities, we are exposing people (whether we're trying to or not) to African Americans who are doing positive things on a global scale, and potentially serving as an example to someone so that one day they could say..."Hey if he/she can do it, so can I!" I say the later with emphasis, particularly because, unfortunately and for many confounding reasons, many Americans don't have the opportunity to travel abroad or are not exposed to the joys of doing so. This is particularly the case as it relates to African Americans. We continue to be an under-represented bunch in the realm of international travel or just travel in general. I know people who haven't been out of their own town. Now I'm not saying this in judgment, but as a reality.

I hope that, through my experience, I can encourage other African Americans to explore their/our world. One doesn't just have to join the Peace Corps to do so. There are many domestic programs like City Year, AmeriCorps and Teach for America. Study abroad programs are also an option with Operations Crossroads Africa and Bardoli Global. I hope to serve as a resource to people of color who are interested in joining the Peace Corps and traveling abroad. In addition, I look forward to meeting and networking with other African Americans who are or were in the Peace Corps so that we can learn from each other's experiences.