By Brittanii Lyons

When I was 5, my mother — surrounded by my school supplies and first-day-of-school outfit options (with hair bows to match) — sat me down and explained the importance of an education for a little black girl.

To help me understand the challenges I’d face, she began reading with me a book called The Story of Ruby Bridges, which told the true-life tale of the first African American child to desegregate an all-white elementary school in New Orleans in 1960. My mother used the story of Bridges to help me understand past struggles against educational discrimination and to prepare me for modern struggles for educational equity.

I hadn’t yet started my first day of school, but already I had plenty to digest. However, what stood out most weren’t the tales of tribulation or even the historic triumphs that followed. What stayed with me was an excited understanding that education is an asset and — despite whatever struggles may come — it was one I not only needed, but one I deserved.

Fast-forward two decades and, as I approach my last few weeks as a student at Wayne State University, I can’t help but carry a similar feeling. My walk across the stage at the commencement ceremony on May 3 will mark the end of this leg of my journey.

But I will be celebrating that journey even before Commencement alongside other peers of color who, like me, understand, have faced and have surmounted some of very same challenges that confronted men and women like Ruby Bridges.

This is what makes my upcoming participation in the 26th annual African American Graduation Celebration on April 27 — held each year as a joyous acknowledgement of the academic triumphs of graduating students of color — so special and so exciting.

Throughout my entire educational experience, I have attended predominantly white schools. The experience has granted me the opportunity to see how difficult diversity and inclusion can be in practice, at all grade levels. Too often, I have been met with scrutiny, doubt and — when I have inevitably succeeded — a discomforting amazement at my ability to meet high standards.

I know that many of my peers have faced the same challenges, finding themselves shocked that anyone could be shocked at their achievement, as if skin color were the sole determinant of intelligence, perseverance and drive.

Not so within the tradition of the African American Graduation Celebration, though. There, excellence runs rampant, and our achievements are seen as the fulfillment of great expectations rather than as social anomaly.

To be honest, I didn’t even find out about the celebration — which, I should note, is open to all students, regardless of race or ethnicity — until last year, despite spending five years at Wayne State as a commuter student. I was blown away when I found out that the event incorporated gospel music, African drummers and passed out free kente sashes to graduates. I was just as thrilled to find out that I could invite as many family and friends as I wanted.

But the live music and freebies aren’t the real draw for me. Rather, it’s the chance to stand with other young men and women who — be they from the city or the suburbs, the United States or overseas — have taken their own paths to success and now stand with me at this incredible convergence point.

On May 3, I will walk across the stage one more time. I will turn my tassel and throw my cap. But even before then, on April 27, I will revel in what has become a rite of passage for Wayne State African American graduates. Together, we’ll stomp-clap to familiar gospel songs, dance to the rhythm of African beats and cheer each other on.

We’ve run this race hard since we started as freshmen. It will be time to party at the finish line.

But as much as we will be lauding what we have accomplished and earned, the AAGC will also be an opportunity to simply celebrate who we are.

Brittanii Lyons is an intern in Wayne State's Office of Marketing and Communications. She will graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in communications.

For more information about the African American Graduation Celebration, please contact Maxine G. Hudgins at 313-520-6394 or ab2684@wayne.edu.