Black History Spotlight: Diversity in Veterinary Medicine

Many people know that I am in vet school.  Other than Tuskegee, which is about 50% Black, there isn't a lot of diversity in the veterinary world.  This is a problem, and the American Veterinary Medical Association has recognized that and wants to change it.  I thought this article was very interesting.  It is about two vets, one white, one black, who started working together in the late 60s and are both big proponents of diversity.  Before I had my interview at Tuskegee's vet school, I'd never actually seen a Black veterinarian.  There is one in a neighboring city to my hometown, but I had never met him.  Other minorities are also very underrepresented, and hopefully one day this will change

Check out the article on the website of the AVMA: Diversity in Practice

Black History Shoutout: Black Fathers

I decided that for Black History Month I wanted to talk about a part of the black community that I feel really gets a bad wrap: fathers.  If you only judged what the media potrays, you'd think no Black people have fathers in their lives.  Beyond Scared Straight, 16 & Pregnant, crime dramas and other shows often portray troubled Black teens who are fatherless.  Many of these kids cite lack of a father as the reason for their misbehavior.  (First of that's a big load of bull itself considering that lots of folks with missing fathers are not doing drugs, getting knocked up at 15, committing crimes, etc.  But I digress…)  But what about the rest of us? They might not all be married (and lets face it being married doesn't make you a good parent), but many of us have loving, supportive fathers, who are there for us when we need them.  There are even some fathers out there doing it on their own… they have custody of their children and are the primary care takers, and when I see these fathers, it really makes my heart smile. 

Anyone who knows me knows that I am an ultimate daddy's girl, as most girls tend to be.  Of course we all love our mothers dearly but there's just something about our daddies.  And yes, I am a grown woman who still calls my male parent daddy- father sounds so impersonal.  My daddy is my biggest fan.  He tells every one he knows that I am in vet school.  As a child I have vivid memories of quality time spent with my daddy.  Trips to the fair and the circus, after school visits to the local ice cream shop, trips to the mall, and more.  He was there to make sure I did homework, motivate me to be the best I can be, and teach me that I don't need a man to take care of me because I can be a strong, independent woman.  He was always proud of me because no matter what, he knew I did my best.

 In high school he was probably one of the two favorote band boosters, and even today if I catch up with an old bandmate on Facebook or see them out in the mall, they ALWAYS ask me how my daddy is doing.  He is a man who loves to help children, and kids of all ages love him.  Babies reach for him when they are being held by their mothers.  Kids that he has taught always speack if we are out and they see him, and they are always smiling. 

My wish is that God will send me a husband who will be as good of a husband and father as my daddy is, but I must say, he has set that bar VERY high, so someone has their work cut out for them!  He's always been a blessing in my life, and the lives of others, and I thank God every day for my daddy.  

Debbye Turner: Former Miss America, Veterinarian, Journalist

I actually stumbled upon Debbye Turner. I'd never heard of her. She was crowned Miss America in 1990 but let's face it, I was 7. I probably didn't care at that time, and surely wouldn't remember it. So how did I find out about Debbye? I was looking for information about Black veterinarians. I found some statistics from the American Veterinary Medical Association that said that if you look at the total number of veterinarians that graduated in 2009, less than 2.5 percent of them were black. So finding a Black female veterinarian, who was also Miss America is AWESOME to me. She received her DVM from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1991. Starting in 2001 she has worked for the Early Show on CBS, often doing a segment called Pet Planet.

Read more about her at her website:  Debbye Turner

Marva Collins: Educator

EVERYONE knows (or should know) who Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall and Malcom X are.  So I decided that for Black history month I'd talk about some other important people in our history. This is something I want to do all year, actually.  When I have time, I'll try to randomly write a little bit of info about someone who may not be well known, but contributed greatly to society.

Marva Collins.  I first heard her name last semester when my favorite professor was doing an exam review.  Our class had recently had an exam in another class.  Half of us didn't do too well and were in return belittled and ridiculed by the main professor of that class.  So we sit there waiting to get started on the review for this next exam.  He started by calling out the only 3 Black people in our class and asking if we knew who Marva Collins was.  We figured she must be Black, but that was about it.  He goes on to tell us about her.  She grew up in Alabama, graduated from Clark Atlanta University, and taught in Alabama for a couple of years.  Then she moved to Chicago. She was disappointed in the school at which she worked (and in the education her own children were receiving).  Marva decided that she would open her own school.  The first students she had were labeled troublemakers, learning disabled, and one was even called "borderline retarded."  After a year, these children's grades were highly improved, showing that the labels they were given were incorrect.  Our professor told us that we shouldn't listen to the person telling us that our veterinary careers were over.  We may have been labeled one way, but he believes in us and knows we all will succeed.

For more on Marva Collins, check out her biography here.