By Eric M. Harris
The most important date in Muhammad Ali’s life was April 28, 1967.
No this was not the date of one of his amazing bouts with the great “Smokin'” Joe Frazier, it was not the date of the “Rumble in the Jungle” against George Foreman, it was not the day that he converted to Islam, nor the date he lit the Olympic Torch in Atlanta.
On this date, Muhammad Ali refused induction into the United States Army.
Muhammad Ali’s life is well chronicled.
He was born in Louisville in 1942.
He became a Gold Medal Winner in Boxing in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
He shocked the world in 1964 when he captured the world heavyweight boxing championship from Sonny Liston. His boxing career and life was off to a tremendous start.
Three short years later, his life took a drastic turn that showed courage on a level that has been unmatched by public figures in American history.
He was sentenced to the maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. He went into an unknown position of possibly not being able to box again all because he took a moral stand.
But he’s not the first to show massive amounts of public courage on the national stage.
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female with a medical degree in the United States. She was able to get medical books from a local reverend when he was a young woman.
She was met with “No’s” at almost every possible opportunity.
Many physicians suggested that she move from the United States to Paris, because she would have better opportunities.
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Blackwell studied in secret. In 1847, she was brought in to study medicine at Geneva Medical College. She was voted in unanimously by all male students at the college and became the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States.
President Abraham Lincoln’s story is well known by most. He was the President during one of America’s most difficult times- the Civil War.
He had the courage to not only have the Union fight the Confederacy in the Civil War, but he also wrote the Emancipation Proclamation and freed the slaves.
Slavery had been an institution in this country for hundreds of years. It was the driving force for the economy in the South and made many southern plantation owners very wealthy.
Although many other elected officials and leaders said that slavery was wrong, he was the first to actually do what it took to end it.
Some have pointed out however, that Lincoln’s decision to free the slaves did not have as much to do with the actual freeing of the slaves, but more to do with keeping the Union together. Lincoln said so himself.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was another President during a challenging time in American history.
He was the president during the Great Depression and World War II. He was following in the foot steps of his distant cousin Teddy Roosevelt, who was one of the greatest presidents in our nation’s history.
Not to mention, he did all of this with a challenging disability, the disease of polio, which prevented him the use of his legs.
Read More: What Young People Can Learn From Muhammad Ali
Many people to this day do not know that while he was President, FDR did not have the use of his legs at all. He is a true inspiration to many, especially people with disabilities.
FDR had extreme courage to create new programs to help low income Americans in his New Deal program. He had to make difficult military decisions that would change the United States and the world forever.
Although his bravery is unquestioned, and the times might have made this difficult, he was not out front with his disability show others that disability is something that should be accepted and embraced.
FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C. Photo Credit: Matt Wade/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
He also did not have the best relationships with people of color for no other reason than they were of another race.
Jackie Robinson is an example that can be used to show another athlete who had extreme courage. He was the first African-American to integrate professional team sports. Boxers had integrated professional sports, but this was the first time where an individual had joined a team sport that had been exclusively white.
To many, Jackie Robinson integrating baseball in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers was the start of the Civil Rights Movement.
Jackie was chosen by the Brooklyn Dodgers and Branch Rickey to be the single representative in that season and as someone who could take it after playing four sports at UCLA and being in the military.
As brave as that was for Robinson to do, in my opinion, he did not necessarily risk the way that Muhammad Ali did.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee is a strong progressive voice. She is a Democrat from California and has been in the House of Representatives since 1998.
One of the most powerful signs of courage was displayed by Congresswoman Lee in the Fall of 2001.
After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the United States Congress voted to give President authorization to use any force he sees as necessary and appropriate under the circumstances as a response for retaliation against the terrorists who killed thousands of American citizens.
Congresswoman Lee was the lone no vote in the House of Representatives.
She was shocked that she was the only no vote that day.
She talked about in later interviews that she received angry letters for years after her decision.
Photo Credit: Peter T/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
Previously, while in the California legislature, she was one of very few no votes against the Three Strikes Law, that puts people in prison for 25 years to life after a third felony conviction.
Many Californian’s lives have been destroyed because of this law. Congresswoman Lee has shown the courage to stand by her decisions even when she knows that she might be one of very few who feel a certain way.
She understands how important it is to represent her constituents in the beset way possible, regardless of how others might decide to represent theirs.
Now lets look at Muhammad Ali’s decision not to step forward to join the United States Army.
He famously said:
“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother or some darker people or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what, they never called me Nigger, they never lynched me, they never put no dogs on me, they never robbed me of my nationality, they never raped my mother or father. What am I going to shoot them for what. How am I going to shoot them. They are little poor people women and children. How am I going to shoot them poor people, just take me to jail. If I’m going to die, I’ll die right here fighting you, if I’m going to die. You’re my enemy, my enemy is the white people, not the vietcong, or Chinese or Japanese. You’re my opposer when I want freedom. You’re my opposer when I want justice. You’re my opposed when I want equality, you won’t even stand up for me for my religious beliefs. You want me to go somewhere and fight but you won’t even stand up for me at home.”
Muhammad Ali had just won the Heavyweight Title of the World in Boxing, and had that title stripped from him.
It was the first time any boxer in history had had his boxing title stripped from them without losing it in the ring. Ali was 25 years old, in his athletic prime.
He had only been a boxer up to that point and had no realistic way of knowing how he would provide for himself.
He knew that he was potentially taking a chance where he might not be able to box ever again.
Ali knew that he was giving up years in his prime, while he was the heavyweight champion of the world. To put this in some context, this would be like if Steph Curry decided to leave basketball, go to jail for a political stance and not able to return to the sport.
Ali did all of this in the height of the Civil Rights era in the 1960s, a year before Martin Luther King was assassinated. His level of courage and pride stands above any public figure in American history.
Ali also knew that the backlash for this decision could be even more serious and drastic. After the statement, “I have no quarrel with those vietcong … No vietcong ever called me Nigger.” He saw millions around the country call him unpatriotic. This was only the beginning. Ali could not have known what the reaction would have been like with his fans and supporters, military veterans and supporters of the war and military throughout the country.
Ali could have moved on through life disliked by nearly everyone in his own country. He did not care.
He had already rubbed many the wrong way by joining the Nation of Islam. He rubbed his father and many in his family the wrong way by changing his name from Cassius Clay.
Ali showed another example of being able to make a difficult decision without caring about the possible repercussions, despite understanding what they could and likely would be. That is true courage.
Finally, it has been great to see so much support for an athlete that many, including myself look up to as a role model and a hero.
However, I find it interesting, because many of these same people coming out to support the Greatest now, will talk bad about outspoken athletes like Serena Williams, Floyd Mayweather and Lebron James when they make bold statements that are not as humble as many might like.
I understand that Muhammad Ali was a tremendous person and athlete that makes him different in many other’s eyes from the previous examples, but I hope we can give young superstar entertainers the benefit of the doubt the way many did with Ali as he was growing and becoming the greatest and letting us all know how great that was.
As we go through this election season, one can only hope that Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump can show powerful elements of courage in their actions and stances moving forward.
I will hope for our country’s sake that they are not just in this game to get recognized, elected and then reelected. One would hope that the person holding the highest office in the land is doing so with the type of courage that the Greatest of All Time, Muhammad Ali showed on April 28, 1967.
There is not a single athlete, entertainer or elected official that I can think of who displayed more powerful courage in American history than Muhammad Ali on that date.
He impacted a generation of 20 and 30 somethings who did not even get a chance to see him fight live.
His story and passion resonated with all of us and I hope that his courage rubs off on an American society, which is in desperate need of some true courage in its leadership.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Elizabeth Blackwell/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Stress In The Information Age Is Grinding Up The Millennial Generation
The internet and social media have revolutionized the way in which we communicate, conduct business, and learn.
For students especially, such a rapidly changing environment has had an equally pronounced effect on student life and culture.
Opportunities are endless, and pursuing those unlimited opportunities seems to be pushed harder and harder with each new wave of prospective students.
As a recent graduate friend of mine reflected, by sophomore year, incoming freshmen will be overseeing at least five on campus organizations, conducting graduate level research, working two jobs, applying for 30+ internships, and getting published all at the same time.
While a bit of an exaggeration, it isn’t too far from the norm, and reflects a growing trend among college students leading increasingly fast paced lives.
None of this would be possible without the internet, but there may be a dark side.
Several studies have come out recently highlighting an increase in levels of stress and anxiety among both college level and high school students.
Academic institutions are increasingly having to expand care for mental health as the demand continues to exceed capacity across the nation.
According to the American Psychological Association, the percentage of students seeking counseling has skyrocketed from 37% in 2007, to around 50% by 2014.
Anxiety ranks as the most common reason students seek help.
As a rather involved university student myself, I’ve grown accustomed to the occasional fits of anxiety and have seen it become more and more commonplace among friends and peers.
The problem may be that technology has opened up so many doors that students are having trouble deciding which ones to close.
Photo Credit: hyunjoongie/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
This goes back to the increased level of involvement of students mentioned earlier.
We as humans are naturally risk averse, and for far too many, not pursuing an opportunity is seen as a risk.
At the same time, social media exposes us to what everyone else is doing, causing us to judge our actions more harshly against a larger pool.
Instead of applying for five colleges for example, some high school grads report applying to a minimum of 15 as the norm.
All too often we find ourselves pursuing opportunities either because we saw that someone else had success and wonder if we can mimic it, or because we don’t know what we want to do so we apply for everything.
If we don’t, we feel we may miss out.
Thus, students end up increasingly overburdened with work they may not even enjoy, and more and more confused about their futures.
Among those students who don’t favor such a fast paced life, they too are finding themselves questioning their decisions and lifestyles against their other more involved peers, ignoring what may be best for themselves.
At the end of the day, that is where all this anxiety and stress is coming from.
It is a product of doing something that is not in line with one’s personal ethos, and the increased uncertainty of an environment dominated by technology.
By that I mean, the internet has no set focus.
It bounces around from one thing to the next with no attention span whatsoever.
If we are to give any credit to the idea that humans mimic their environment, the internet is making it increasingly apparent that we do.
Photo Credit: Jessie Jacobson/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
We can see this on every level, from the CDC’s tracking of increased rates of ADHD in kids, to college students who report less and less meaning in their relationships.
The way many millennials behave and interact with each other draws stark parallels to the way we consume information.
Facebook, for example, is overloaded with short flashy videoclips that bounce around form one topic to another.
These videos are quickly becoming the average millennial’s go to for news and updates, and while they may look nice on the surface, in actuality, they convey very little.
This makes the problem of stress even worse because normally our best counters to those feelings are our personal relationships, friends and family that keep us grounded.
Instead, millennials are turning to their phones and computers for their security, but very little of it provides any genuine long term comfort.
The internet has changed the environment at such a sharp pace it may be that the mind has not had enough time to adapt.
The best medicine may simply be to slow down.
As someone who once went into a cardiologist’s office mistaking anxiety for heart problems, if there’s any advice I can offer my fellow peers who feel overwhelmed by the intensity of the world around them, it would be to learn how to say no instead of maybe.
Remind yourself that you don’t have to constantly be in motion.
That sometimes a moment of solitude on the shores of a lake offers more value than a night out. And to do what you want to do, not what you feel pressured into.
Because at the end of the day, you will never do as good a job at something you don’t like as opposed to someone who enjoys it.
College is a difficult time for everyone, but the most important lessons you learn won’t come in the form of your classes.
You’ll forget most of that stuff anyway, and most the experience you’ll need will come from work or post-grad.
Instead, the most important lessons that college teaches you are how to handle people, how to handle time, and most importantly, how to handle yourself.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Sodanie Chea/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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I’m Stressed And Happy
When you ask a college student how their week is going you usually hear one answer and one answer only… “stressful.”
That is not to say that this is unmerited, rather, we take it in a negative form.
There’s a well-known meme that says “Social life, enough sleep, good grades. Pick two.”
The first time I saw it I laughed for a long time at how insanely accurate it was.
After further examination, I realized… there is so much more we have on our plates.
Doing the math, I think we could possibly have negative hours left in our days.
A typical week for me includes an anatomy lab quiz, a management quiz, at least two tests, tutoring, chapter, a student government meeting, and not to mention the studying that goes along with all of those things.
Now if you want to add a social life, that’s a completely different story.
In the end, it’s about maximizing yourself in the number of hours you have.
What time will you wake up?
When will you get out of the house?
What will you do with the time that you’ve been given?
Without a doubt, I would call myself a overcommitted person.
I get overwhelmed with school, the organizations I’m in, my family and with myself.
I mean, this is true. Photo Credit: rick/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
There was a time in my life when I would say that I was genuinely not happy.
I would complain about the number of assignments I had that week.
But allow me to tell you how happy I am.
Let’s stop victimizing ourselves.
I love the stress.
How cool is it that we GET to learn the unimaginable workings of the world?
How great is it that we wake up every day and have the CHOICE to continue?
We have the opportunity to get together with the greatest student leaders to make a difference on our campus and in our community.
Read More: Why America Really Needs A New “West Wing”
How breathtaking is it that we are surrounded by intentional people who push us to be better than we previously were?
Do it all with happiness and see that we are not as crunched on time as we had thought before.
We spend so much time squandering around, explaining to other people how much we have to do that we end up not even doing it.
Make a graphic schedule for the week.
Map out your class time, your travel time, your meal times, your meeting times.
Decide when you’ll study and turn off your phone in that time.
Stay away from social media.
Call your parents.
Have 10 minutes of quiet time to yourself.
Read a few pages in your bible, or in a good book.
But most of all, enjoy it all.
These years are supposed to be the best four years of your life.
Make them be.
No matter how stressful they are.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Sodanie Chea/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Managing Debt: The Lesson College Grads Don’t Learn In College, But Can’t Survive Without
By Bernard Hampton, Bank of America Region Executive
In a few weeks, nearly two million graduating college students across the country will be clutching their degrees and entering the workforce.
But an estimated two out of three will start out with the looming hardship of paying off student debt as they launch their post-college lives. In fact, the 2014 graduating class from Florida colleges saw debt increase 32 percent compared to the debt carried in 2004.
So while graduates may have immersed themselves in computer engineering, business and political science, few have earned even a single credit on what is likely their most immediate and toughest test: their financial burdens.
To combat this challenge, decision makers in our community must be called on to help manage student debt and find solutions to financially empower and strengthen the next generation.
The only effective way to make a difference is to acknowledge that by the time we address the needs and challenges that college grads face, it is already too late.
The tenants of financial literacy should be learned at a young age in order to arm people with resources and knowledge to set them up for financial success as an adult.
It’s critical that the public, private and nonprofit sectors join forces in this endeavor.
In fact, last summer the Florida Legislature made an amendment to the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards to include financial literacy in Social Study Standards for K-12 grade students.
Bank of America’s partnerships with organizations like Year Up Miami, City Year, Teach for America and the I Have a Dream Foundation of Miami also help bring critical financial literacy to disadvantaged youth, offering students a unique opportunity at a young age to learn the basics of managing money.
In addition, the United Way’s ALICE Report (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) is an excellent tool local United Way teams use to better understand the needs of the communities they serve as well as the reasons people may be struggling financially.
Through this resource report, the organization is working to better understand those that are falling short and the immense challenges that they are facing in effort to better serve them and provide realistic and viable solutions to help them succeed.
Today, many young people, including college graduates, are living paycheck-to-paycheck and just trying to stay afloat, working long hours, or are single parents and they tend to not seek out help until they are facing a crisis.
The bottom line is, most of them haven’t been given the tools needed to be effective at budgeting, saving and eliminating credit issues. Instead, they tend to get deeper into a hole that becomes harder and more overwhelming to get out of.
BetterMoneyHabits.com is a great resource, providing real, practical knowledge in order to support those that want to begin making confident decisions when it comes to money and debt.
That’s why it is so critical to help break down intimidating topics and talk through simple steps to take – such as creating an action plan for getting out of debt or what one’s options are in an emergency cash situation.
Aware of the support our local partners provide to those living paycheck to paycheck, we’re working at the grassroots level to distribute this content directly to them.
This issue will remain one of the most critical for the next generation, and we will all need to continue to think about how we can work together to ensure students’ financial success.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Cory M. Grenier/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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