Memories, don't live like people do - A

As an incoming freshman at Duke University, I can remember having my ego boosted when upon meeting Maya Angelou after her opening address, I walked up to her and she remarked that I was a, "very handsome, dark, young man." And then she smiled at me.

For some reason, that compliment resonates with me stronger than if, at the time, a girl my age would have called me handsome. I’m trying to ascertain why that was? Maybe I akin it to when a woman says a compliment from another woman means more to her than a compliment from a man because the compliment seems that much more genuine and you suspect the man is only saying it to get something out of it. Well, not to say that a compliment from a woman meant she wanted something out of me, but you get my drift.

I remember standing in line to get my opportunity to shake her hand and thank her for such a wonderful welcoming to my education. Surely my statement was going to be no different than what everyone else said before me, but her regards to those in line ahead of me were very short and to the point. “Thank you and good luck here at Duke."

I was completely fascinated by the fact that she made it a point to caress my hand while she shook it and compliment me. Though at the age of 18, I had already become very comfortable with my complexion, a surge of reassurance sizzled through my body as she uttered those words to me. It was as if she wanted to let me know that she was in full support of my endeavors there. . .just not in so many words. But sometimes, when black people are talking to other black people, we just don't need "so many words" to comprehend. I didn't need "so many words."

For once I felt like the village was taking part in raising the child. That moment gave me more confidence and more of a feeling that I belonged at Duke than any other throughout the course of those first few days in Durham. In my short lifetime, it was my first encounter with a world renowned celebrity. It was the first time that celebrity’s focus was on me. It was the first time a celebrity's particular comment had been addressed to me.

I’m not sitting here trying to toot my own horn, but I am trying to add dramatics to what is one of my greatest memories of all time. Maya Angelou, author of National Book Award winning, “I Know why the Cage Bird Sings,” recognized orator and professor at Wake Forest University and around the world, called me a “very handsome, dark, young man". . .then smiled at me.

What a day.