Food insecurities are real. I often tell people that I am the product of a home where we never knew where our next meal was coming from. I raised in rural Rockingham County, NC by my Mother and Grandmother. They both worked to ensure the household was functioning, however, government assistance provided us with food. I can recall loving to visit my Uncle or Great-Grandmother because they always had fresh produce. Even at a young age, I could tell that fresh produce was a luxury for most black and brown families living in rural North Carolina. I paid attention to how far we had to drive to get to a grocery store that even offered quality fresh food. As I matured, I always paid attention to the cost of fresh produce, the cost would increase, while processed food cost decreased. This has always troubled me. I wholeheartedly believe that this was my introduction to food insecurities. For the majority of my adult life, I embarked upon my life’s journey just trying to manage my personal household’s food needs, but in July of 2019, I met Dr. Kenrett Jefferson-Moore, the Chairperson for the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics, and Agriscience Education. As she began to not just talk about Agribusiness, but show me through her passion just how transformative a full mind can be in the world of Agriculture, she opened my eyes to a whole new world that I was already privately and personally exploring. I am a firm believer that you can be an advocate for change unless you get in the ring and fight. I realized that I have been this for years, as I have served on various committees within the Reidsville Ministerial Alliance, operated a food bank in my local church, and helped coordinate food drives and meals for the transitional community of Greensboro. I was being a voice for the unheard. In my opinion, black, brown and impoverished people of this country are not heard, we are not seen and we are an afterthought. This is a complete injustice in this country. I plan to continue to raise my voice and to cry aloud about the lack of fresh quality food accessible to black and brown people. It is my desire that this new journey in Agribusiness and Food Industry Management will teach me techniques, tools and put me into circles where I can be the voice for those who are suffering. In order to create change, we have to get involved where change needs to happen. This is why I am now focusing on the Agribusiness world. I truly believe that having the formal education with the informal knowledge will only allow me to do more and create more productive change in our communities. We must continue the fight until all citizens, regardless of ethnicity or race have immediate and unrestricted access to quality and fresh foods that don’t promote negative health issues, but that produce a quality way of living. These foods must be affordable, therefore, we must create incentives for small scale farmers to produce more food and to make it accessible. We can no longer rely on the large scale farmer to produce quality products for our community. I believe in teaching our communities about community gardens. This will take the work off of one person, and put the work and funding source on the community. It will allow our communities to have fresh produce at little cost to the community. It will teach self-sufficiency o our communities. These are things I currently advocate for and will continue to do so.

Food insecurities are real. I often tell people that I am the product of a home where we never knew where our next meal was coming from. I raised in rural Rockingham County, NC by my Mother and Grandmother. They both worked to ensure the household was functioning, however, government assistance provided us with food. I can recall loving to visit my Uncle or Great-Grandmother because they always had fresh produce. Even at a young age, I could tell that fresh produce was a luxury for most black and brown families living in rural North Carolina. I paid attention to how far we had to drive to get to a grocery store that even offered quality fresh food. As I matured, I always paid attention to the cost of fresh produce, the cost would increase, while processed food cost decreased. This has always troubled me. I wholeheartedly believe that this was my introduction to food insecurities. For the majority of my adult life, I embarked upon my life’s journey just trying to manage my personal household’s food needs, but in July of 2019, I met Dr. Kenrett Jefferson-Moore, the Chairperson for the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics, and Agriscience Education. As she began to not just talk about Agribusiness, but show me through her passion just how transformative a full mind can be in the world of Agriculture, she opened my eyes to a whole new world that I was already privately and personally exploring. I am a firm believer that you can be an advocate for change unless you get in the ring and fight. I realized that I have been this for years, as I have served on various committees within the Reidsville Ministerial Alliance, operated a food bank in my local church, and helped coordinate food drives and meals for the transitional community of Greensboro. I was being a voice for the unheard. In my opinion, black, brown and impoverished people of this country are not heard, we are not seen and we are an afterthought. This is a complete injustice in this country. I plan to continue to raise my voice and to cry aloud about the lack of fresh quality food accessible to black and brown people. It is my desire that this new journey in Agribusiness and Food Industry Management will teach me techniques, tools and put me into circles where I can be the voice for those who are suffering. In order to create change, we have to get involved where change needs to happen. This is why I am now focusing on the Agribusiness world. I truly believe that having the formal education with the informal knowledge will only allow me to do more and create more productive change in our communities. We must continue the fight until all citizens, regardless of ethnicity or race have immediate and unrestricted access to quality and fresh foods that don’t promote negative health issues, but that produce a quality way of living. These foods must be affordable, therefore, we must create incentives for small scale farmers to produce more food and to make it accessible. We can no longer rely on the large scale farmer to produce quality products for our community. I believe in teaching our communities about community gardens. This will take the work off of one person, and put the work and funding source on the community. It will allow our communities to have fresh produce at little cost to the community. It will teach self-sufficiency o our communities. These are things I currently advocate for and will continue to do so.

Food insecurities are real. I often tell people that I am the product of a home where we never knew where our next meal was coming from. I raised in rural Rockingham County, NC by my Mother and Grandmother. They both worked to ensure the household was functioning, however, government assistance provided us with food. I can recall loving to visit my Uncle or Great-Grandmother because they always had fresh produce. Even at a young age, I could tell that fresh produce was a luxury for most black and brown families living in rural North Carolina. I paid attention to how far we had to drive to get to a grocery store that even offered quality fresh food. As I matured, I always paid attention to the cost of fresh produce, the cost would increase, while processed food cost decreased. This has always troubled me. I wholeheartedly believe that this was my introduction to food insecurities. For the majority of my adult life, I embarked upon my life’s journey just trying to manage my personal household’s food needs, but in July of 2019, I met Dr. Kenrett Jefferson-Moore, the Chairperson for the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics, and Agriscience Education. As she began to not just talk about Agribusiness, but show me through her passion just how transformative a full mind can be in the world of Agriculture, she opened my eyes to a whole new world that I was already privately and personally exploring. I am a firm believer that you can be an advocate for change unless you get in the ring and fight. I realized that I have been this for years, as I have served on various committees within the Reidsville Ministerial Alliance, operated a food bank in my local church, and helped coordinate food drives and meals for the transitional community of Greensboro. I was being a voice for the unheard. In my opinion, black, brown and impoverished people of this country are not heard, we are not seen and we are an afterthought. This is a complete injustice in this country. I plan to continue to raise my voice and to cry aloud about the lack of fresh quality food accessible to black and brown people. It is my desire that this new journey in Agribusiness and Food Industry Management will teach me techniques, tools and put me into circles where I can be the voice for those who are suffering. In order to create change, we have to get involved where change needs to happen. This is why I am now focusing on the Agribusiness world. I truly believe that having the formal education with the informal knowledge will only allow me to do more and create more productive change in our communities. We must continue the fight until all citizens, regardless of ethnicity or race have immediate and unrestricted access to quality and fresh foods that don’t promote negative health issues, but that produce a quality way of living. These foods must be affordable, therefore, we must create incentives for small scale farmers to produce more food and to make it accessible. We can no longer rely on the large scale farmer to produce quality products for our community. I believe in teaching our communities about community gardens. This will take the work off of one person, and put the work and funding source on the community. It will allow our communities to have fresh produce at little cost to the community. It will teach self-sufficiency o our communities. These are things I currently advocate for and will continue to do so.

Wow! What can I say about being a parent and being a student? Interesting enough, I am amongst the 16.1% of single fathers in the United States of America. My son, Christopher has been a major driving force for me to return to NC A&T and complete my bachelors degree. I have a desire for my son to see excellence, and not just hear about it. One of the greatest things I have ever heard my son say is, "Daddy, I'm proud of you." I learned early on in parenting that I am not able to preach education to my son without first partaking in my own sermon. As a student parent, it is sometimes difficult to juggle everyday life, work life, and parenting. However, I have learned to depend on my village for support. Christopher's life is not interrupted due to my education, because of those around me who fully support me on my journey. They enable me to study without interruption, and still be able to attend sporting events for my son. My village has been the support system that has made this education journey possible. When I think of an advocate, I think of someone who is the voice for others. As an advocate for both pregnant students and parenting students, it is imperative that the University understand our needs and strive to meet those needs. There should be parenting classes offered on campus, and prenatal services offered. Being a parent is hard work, and it is important that our villages provide us with support. As an advocate, it would be my responsibility to ensure every pregnant and parenting student is heard, and that there are no unanswered concerns. There may be times a parent has to bring their child to class, as an advocate, my responsibility would be ensuring that professors understand that even parents want to be successful. I am a successful parenting student because my village has surrounded me and upheld me while I parent, and study. This is important to all pregnant and parenting students, it is imperative that the university is aware of this and that everything possible is provided to us so that we are successful in creating positive education examples to our children. The ultimate goal of any parent is to create a positive example. May 13, 2022, I was able to see the joy in my son's eyes as I walked across the stage and received my Associate in Arts degree from Fayetteville Technical Community College. I can only imagine the joy he will show when I complete my Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness and Food Industry Management. I am because of my village and my son is because of my village.