Hello, 2020! Everything is clearer now.

I was beyond thankful to wake up to the new year with spectacular fireworks outside my window at precisely 12:01 am! The next couple of hours I spent calling my kids (yep, they are old enough to celebrate with friends), and replying to incoming new year texts & posts.

But mainly, I prayed contemplatively about the possibilities for the year ahead personally, professionally, and collectively for  our educational inclusion, equity, & legacy.

As black and brown people, we can look to our history, often not told, for evidence of accomplishments -doctors, engineers, and philosophers from first civilizations, nations, and first-movers who laid the foundations for many of our systems of advancement, sometimes despite unfathomable adversity. 

Folks like Inman Page and George Washington Milford Brown reclaimed their place in academia in the late 19th century as the first documented Black students to graduate from Brown University in 1877.

As families of children of color applying to or enrolled in elite and exclusive academic communities, we must remember we have already earned our belonging where educational excellence is inherent and generously supported.

My mentor and sister-friend, Pamela Jolly, reminds us to avoid distraction (focus here, you'll miss out) and embrace conflict (don't focus here, you'll miss out).

We hope you got that as you reset and stake claim to your vision for both educational legacy & legacy wealth for your families this decade! RIISE vision is 2020! Let's ride together.

XO, Gina (parent, advocate, advisor, RIISE founder)

Inman Page, Brown University, Class of 1877