This piece composed and published as a guest blog February 2018
Ghetto!? I “ain’t” never been Ghetto!
The word Ghetto for generations has had a negative connotation. The word’s origin rises from the Blacks and Jews being pushed into one area of a city, thus creating projects, which then resulted in whites fleeing the city, also commonly known as white plight.
However, does Ghetto have to be negative?
The word Ghetto can represent community, trust and determination. Ghetto individuals are said to hold a societal norm of being ignorant and uneducated. But is this really true?
I grew up on the west side of Detroit where my neighborhood was rough around the edges but still filled with lots of love. I navigated through the Detroit Public School System, and graduated from one of the most elite high schools in the district even though I had the worse graduating GPA in my senior class. Summer days as a child included waking up early, putting on “play” clothes and outside by 10:00am, I often spent my whole day at the neighborhood park with some of my closet friends. It wasn’t until I attended college that I started to realize: That the power of the ghetto never truly left my side and it helped me get through my toughest days. I still loved my hot cheetos, Grandma’s Peanut Butter Cookies and a classic Detroit song by Doughboyz Cashout “Good Ass Day” on my way to class or work. When times were hard I learned how to make gourmet pasta, aka Ramen Noodles with cheese and lunch meat. As a graduate student, I have noticed that the lessons, gratitude and perseverance I gained from growing up in the hood has provided me a sense of grit, resilience and a humbled attitude, staying true to who I really am. These methods of survival are compliments of none other than my experiences of the Ghetto, the Hood, the Block!
Being a versatile scholar, hence speaking, one that becomes fluid in both the world of academics and the “block” is a complex space to reside in. On one hand, I never truly lost sight to who I am. I speak two languages fluently, Black Vernacular English and the good ole’ proper English. When I walk into different professional spaces I never fully lose my vernacular tone. This is something I had to gain comfort in. Though, I am comfortable with doing this now, I humbly recognize and understand others may not be. When I am in meetings, I often don’t change my “Yall” to “You all” and I don’t change my greeting from “What’s up” to “Hello.” One may think that the act of keeping my native tongue is a disgrace and that I should always remain prim and proper because I hold multiple degrees and have technically been educated on how to speak proper. But I also want to pose a question: Who said proper English was proper or better yet who said Black vernacular couldn’t be proper? According to who? If it makes anyone feel a little more at ease, I use “Proper English” when writing academic papers, emails and memos; only because society puts a true standard on writing.
In my opinion, acknowledging that an individual is academically ghetto is a self-acceptance process. In the field of academia, you have a choice to conform to all the standards or not. Some of my brothers and sisters feel that because they have made it to this space it is their duty to act the part, for them this may be true! Me on the other hand, I understand that I too, have made it to this space but my perspective has shifted to “How do I make this space my own?” or “How do I own a space that welcomes the true academically ghetto scholarship that I wish to pursue?” Staying true to who I am verifies that I can navigate through this world and I don’t have to become white-washed to find my seat at the table. To some, this may sound stereotypical, but one must reflect on who created stereotypes in the first places, it damn sure wasn’t US!
I remember a time when I started a new internship. One day while speaking with my supervisor about an event that happened several days prior, I mentioned “Yeah. The lobby on Friday evening was hot.” She immediately said “Wait. What was hot?” I proceeded to turn off my vernacular and I restated with “Yes. The lobby was heavily populated on Friday night.” She understood once I spoke outside of my native tongue, code-switching is definitely a skill many have to acquire.
The terms Trap, Ghetto and Ratchet represents my upbringings, sense of respect to my community and homage to the experiences that contributed to who I am today; to be a Scholar confirms how I wish to navigate in a world that focuses on systematic oppressions for Brown and Black people, and crossing into this work is how I choose to uplift my community. If I am educated and have the tools given by the society, then I can go back to the hood and teach my people how to work through the “system.” However, to go back to the community there should be a sense of belonging, relatability and trust. I’ve spent many years working in a high school, where the student body is predominately Black and Latinx. My primary responsibility consisted of bridging the gap between secondary and post-secondary education. I interacted daily with students and higher education institutions across the state of Michigan. I would go to work in the latest gym shoes and fashion for two reasons: I personally appreciate it, but most importantly, it helped my student’s feel comfortable around me. I noticed when I began in the position that a suit was intimidating to my students so I wore what I was comfortable in and they embraced my authentic self. When working with these students, I aim to help students come to a realization that when you are confident in your roots and still find your place in this overly oppressed society, you can move through spaces a bit easier and with confidence. I also made sure that they understood that sometimes there is power in how you show up and what you show up wearing becoming necessary in environments when the opportunity presents itself. This is where trap, ghetto, ratchet-ness and scholar intersect.
For me, the movement of outwardly owning my academically ghetto concept is bigger than myself alone. It is an action of not only climbing up the ladder, but providing the resources for the rest of my people to climb the ladder with me. So, if anyone ever asks you about Courtney, please let them know that I am actively and with much pride working towards studying the importance of merging Hip Hop culture in Higher Education for Black Students. We too deserve to belong and in many ways push against the narrative of assimilating when we deserve to authentically bring ourselves to the table.
Signed,
Courtney B.
Black, Educated and Bold
bementallyrich.com 