Friday, 9/29/17, 8:15 AM

Boy, ever since I’ve gotten back from Washington DC I’ve been busy. From interviews with guests coming on FVSU’s campus, mid-terms, my web series and planning out a documentary that I will start shooting for at the start of October, I’ve barely had time to do anything. Well, I have been sleeping. I wake up early to write but I’ve been getting to sleep at at least 11:45 every night. I just haven’t found the time to write this final journal entry of my third day in the nation’s capitol.

I honestly thought about skipping it. I mean, I’m writing this as I’m on the way to New Orleans to see FVSU play Southern University in Football for the first time in eight years (sadly losing 55-33 in 2009). I have my rented out Sony DSLR camera on deck, ready to get my millennial Spike Lee skills in order. A mini-documentary on my time in New Orleans is better than an article about a trip that happened almost two weeks ago right?

I had to do this third journal entry though. So much happened this third day that must be documented and shared. This Tuesday was the day that I got a chance to visit the Smithsonian National African-American Museum and then the White House (the East Wing at least). This was the last day that the All-Stars would be collectively gathered together. Also, this was the day that I almost got stranded in DC after missing my shuttle. That’s an interesting story for you boy!

So much happened that morning that I don’t even know where to start! Well, my roommate Ato and I checked out at the receptionist desk before going over to the Hilton hotel across the street to get breakfast and board the shuttle bus to the Smithsonian African American Museum. We get to the receptionist desk and I found out that I’d been charged for my wi-fi usage after I talked to another receptionist Sunday when we got in about the free package! The worst part was that the $13.95 charged bounced from my card and transferred to Ato’s card, as we had to give the receptionists our cards to put on file.

Ato wasn’t playing around with them or me when it came to that charge on his card. I understood his cool frustration though. I don’t know what changed because I did everything just like the receptionist taught me two days before. The receptionist at that time was cool though. He removed the charge from his account and I didn’t even have to pay anything. There are truly some nice people in this world man!

We then went over to the other hotel where we got the first real breakfast of our trip. Instead of muffins and bagels with no plates we got egg McMuffins with a choice of turkey or beef sausage, water and juice. We still didn’t have any plates but we at least had a bag to store the egg sandwiches in. That’s an improvement! Then, on top of that, the egg McMuffin held off my appetite until lunch. Couldn’t say the same for the day before so we truly were getting somewhere!

It was amazing dialoguing with the different All-Stars about the culture of their HBCU’s versus the culture of FVSU. I briefly talked with Brandon Long, North Carolina A&T’s HBCU All Star, about how their election week panned out. Their elction process was different and the storylines surrounding Election Week differed from that of FVSU. During this trip I gained a better understanding of what goes on at other HBCU’s and learned to appreciate what I have down at Fort Valley. I’m so used to how things are at FVSU that it was foreign to even hear anything that deviated from that Wildcat Culture!

Speaking of Wildcat Culture, FVSU’s rivalry with Albany State University is something that runs deep in us. That’s one of the first things you learn when you get down to FVSU. The upperclassmen orientation leaders say, “Albany isn’t our friend and if they start roasting on Twitter you better go in!” HBCU rivalries happen all the time and are based around sports (mainly football). The different social media battles that occur are normally done in jest. However, things do get real when it comes to our rivalry.

Just like we always to, we take a good thing too far. There are people from FVSU that legit have hate in their heart for anything even concerning Albany and the same goes for Albany towards FVSU. I’ve encountered some people from Albany that even treated me funny and looked at me crazy when I was at the Fountain City Classic with my “Slam The Rams” T-Shirt on. I mean, it’s just a school shirt! You don’t have to mug me like you want to fight or something. I’m trying to get some fish and fries and I had Albany people, especially Alumni, sizing me up!

Sunday we were all in line ready to walk in and finally get recognized as HBCU All-Stars by the White House Initiative on HBCU’s at a reception they were holding for us. Elyse Jones, the woman over the All-Star Ambassador program, was lining up in Alphabetical order by our institution. Albany was second behind Alabama State and I finally got to see Albany’s All-Star for the first time. Her name was Erin Baugh and she was nothing like I expected. She was a pleasant surprise really.

Since I was a freshman I was told that Albany State students were rude, cutthroat and arrogant. Erin was none of that. I peeped a very positive vibe from her. She was all smiles as she stood in the line waiting for her name to be called. I noticed her mingling with the other All-Stars and she seemed really cool. Still, I wasn’t sold that I should go over and introduce myself to her. The fear of the rivalry that I don’t fully embrace affecting our interaction lingered in my head.

An opportunity to finally strike up a conversation with her occured as we were walking from the Eisenhower Building to the shuttle bus where we’d be going to the American Association of Medical Colleges reception for the All-Stars Monday evening. I walked passed her and she looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and was going to keep walking but I decided to turn around and introduce myself. I knew full well she’s was Albany’s All-Star but I said to her,

“Hey, aren’t you Albany’s All-Star?”

She nodded. I smiled and said, “I’m Randall Barnes, Fort Valley’s All-Star. I’m not coming at you on any rivalry type stuff, I just wanted to meet you and get to know you.”

She laughed and said in jest, “It’s ok! I’m not worried about Fort Valley!”

I then started talking to her about what it was like at Albany. I swear, Erin was 300% different than what I expected from the All-Star from Albany. She’s so nice and sweet! It was so stupid of me to let that rivalry get to me so much that it deterred me from introducing myself to her. However, to my defense, I dare you to go on the #fvsu or the #asu or #AlbanynotAlabama hashtag in November leading up to our Classic and see if some of the things that we say to each other are just funny jokes we say back and forth to each other about our “school rivalry”. If you go on the hashtag, you’ll see why I was apprehensive. I was 100% wrong though!

So, I asked Erin if I could sit with her on the bus so we could talk more about her experience at Albany. She agreed and I was about to go to the back of the bus and sit with her but my All-Star friend from Bluefield State College Briana Vineyard said real loud,

“Um Randall, I thought you were sitting with me!”

I froze in time for a couple of seconds. I thought she forgot about it and, because I thought she forgot, I forgot myself! She had a whole clear, empty seat ready for me to sit down. Plus it was the first seat on the row, not the window seat, and that’s my favorite seat! I told Erin I’d talk to her later and sat with Briana!

Briana is interesting because she almost didn’t make it on the trip. She had a couple of recent tragedies in her life that threatened to deter her from coming on this trip. However, we encouraged her to come and her parents told her that she shouldn’t pass up this opportunity. I was glad she decided to come and I told her that I personally would do everything that I could to make sure that she had the time of her life on our DC trip!

It wasn’t hard at all! Briana is so energetic and cheerful! She’s like literally a ball of energy! I feel like Briana would’ve been an actor in The Amanda Show on Nickelodeon back in the 90’s with how much energy she had. You wouldn’t be able to tell that Briana was going through something at home. It amazed me. That’s the epitome of strength in my eyes!

Briana and I got really close as the trip went on. I probably talked to her the most out of anybody on the trip (even more than Imani, only slightly though) because we kept being in the same place at the same time.  She also was a part of something big for Elyse and got me involved in it. More on that later.

Let’s hop back to Tuesday! We pulled up at the Smithsonian Museum and I was amazed. We saw the Washington Monument and we all took pictures of it. We then made it inside the museum and I once again was amazed at how huge it was. My attention quickly turned from the museum to Omarosa seemingly popping up on us out of nowhere.

We all were confused when we saw her. Why was she there? We were at a place that had nothing to do with the White House or being HBCU All-Stars. The trip to the Smithsonian was supposed to be a leisure trip because a lot of us were asking about it. Yet, Omarosa was there with us just hovering around. She swore that the White House rented out the Smithsonian just for the All-Stars to tour but, right after she said that, a whole other group of white people walked into the museum. We know they weren’t HBCU All-Stars!  What was she talking about?

Going to the Smithsonian African-American Museum was honestly a humbling experience. It sharpened my focus. I saw the different subsets of African-American culture. I discovered things that I didn’t even know about black culture I also saw a exhibit called “The Word” that covered the oratorical skill of black people.

I could just envision my photo hanging right there beside James Baldwin or Zora Neal Hurston. I saw my picture hanging right in between Tom Joyner and Wendy Williams in my mind. Going to the Smithsonian showed me that my dreams were possible. My ambitions aren’t farfetched. I can achieve anything I dream about because of the pioneers who came before me paved the way.

I wish we could’ve stayed in the Smithsonian even longer than the two hours we were there but we had to take the 500 pictures that we became accustomed to during the trip in front of the Smithsonian. Then, we went down to the White House. We were standing out there waiting the get into the White House for what seemed to be two hours. In that wait time, I discovered that Elyse actually went to an HBCU and that HBCU was Albany State University. Once again, I was shocked! She didn’t finish at Albany though. She transferred to Valdosta State. She’s still an Albany Alumnae though! Sounds crazy but just trust me!

Speaking of Elyse, I didn’t like how Omarosa was trying her best to take credit for the trip. We were standing in alphabetical order by our last names as we prepared to go through yet another security checkpoint to get into the White House. Omarosa was in the front telling us how she hired the photographers out of her pocket and how she got the White House to drop $100,000+ to fund this trip. She could be lying or she could be telling the truth. I honestly don’t know. However, I need Omarosa to put some respect on Elyse’s name.

Elyse has been the glue holding this thing together through this whole process. She’s kept us informed and answered our questions in a timely fashion. She’s consistently shown us love and was such a joy to meet in person. So, for her not to get credit was disheartening. As All-Stars, we had to take things into our own hands.

My roommate Ato thought of the great idea of getting Elyse a card to show her appreciation. So, Briana and Jeffrey hopped on the task and bought cards for us to sign before they left for DC. Briana linked up with me at the Smithsonian and asked if I could write something lengthier to Elyse on behalf of all the All-Stars during lunch. However, I didn’t get that chance because Briana and her mentor went on and left before the lunch started.

She gave the envelopes of cards to me. “Randall, I have to go on and go but I want you to present the cards to Elyse. I know you’ll say the right thing!”

She then gave me a hug and said her goodbyes to everyone else and left. There I was with the cards in my hand nervous. Yup, I was nervous! What could I possibly say to Elyse, a woman that literally changed my life with one email on that fateful late July afternoon? There was so much to say yet nothing would capture the significance of what she meant to us. I tried my best to say the right thing and got Imani to record our presentation to her. I said,

“Elyse, we appreciate everything you done for us. You’ve changed all of our lives in ways that you never will understand. Thank you for putting us in a position to positively affect our HBCU’s, our communities and the nation in general. We won’t let you down!”

I guess she really felt the emotions of our dedication to her, as tears started to stream down her face. At that moment, I could tell that all the outpouring of emotions that she kept bottled up to display a perfect image for us were coming out. She was going through so much more to keep everything together than what we imagined. After this trip, I appreciated her even more than I did before. She’s truly a superwoman!

After the dinner things were bittersweet. We all started to leave each other and get ready for our flights. A few of the people that didn’t go on to the airport due to their flight leaving at 5:00 stayed in the lobby and chilled. Some of them did their homework. The hotel food for our lunch was good but it wasn’t enough to fill me up. So, one of the All-Stars not preoccupied with homework pitched the idea of going to the bar.

Now, I’m not a drinker but I found out they had fries so I was down with the plan. So, I told Imani (who we can basically call my travel buddy at this point) where I was going. So, we go down to the bar and a minute after I finally get my fries Imani calls me and lets me know that the shuttle is here and that they were going to go on and board it. I told her I was on the way and got my All-Star friend from Southern University Yo’Sha to come with me because I left my bags in her room.

I was moving so quickly because I didn’t want to get left. Halfway to the hotel I called Imani to see where she was. I was sure she had already boarded the shuttle bus with everyone else. However, I called her and she said so calmly,

“Hey! I’m still sitting here doing my homework.”

I was shocked, especially when I made it back to the hotel. Imani was literally still sitting there doing her homework. Everybody else that was riding the Delta flight back to Atlanta was gone except for her. She waited for me! That meant a lot to me because she literally didn’t have to do that. She wanted to make sure that I was straight and I appreciated her tremendously.

So, the next shuttle came and I missed it by one second! I had turned around to gather my things and an All-Star gave me her phone so I could put in my email. When I turned around, that shuttle was gone! Imani called me and let me know that they were already on the shuttle bus. Surprisingly, I didn’t even trip. I reassuringly told her that I’d catch the next shuttle and get down there before the flight. And that’s what I did.

My dad always taught me that a man figures things out. We don’t whine or complain about what we can’t change. We especially don’t give up! This was the precise time that everything that my parents taught me about time management, having a sense of urgency and handling your own business started to shine through. I waited 20 minutes and got on the next shuttle with the other HBCU All-Stars that had a later flight than I did and pulled up at the airport with them. My man Jajuan from Oakwood University help direct me to where the Delta gate was.

I moved through the airport so quickly you’d think that it was 5 minutes until my plane took off. I went through every aspect of the flight as quickly as possible. TSA was tricky though. I came back to the airport with a few new bags and my bookbag and suitcase was jammed packed with stuff so I couldn’t just stuff the bag of things I bought in there. So, I had to take out like five bins for them to check my stuff. I slipped in my ID and boarding pass because I just showed it to the TSA agent that let me in for the bag check.

I walked through the metal detector and they found that I didn’t have anything on me. So, it was only 6:33 and I thought I was going to make it past TSA and move smooth to where I needed to be. Wrong! Of course, I acted like I lost my boarder pass and ID. They were in the bin the whole time but I was acting like a crazed maniac trying to find it before the flight took off.

I tried to see if I left it in the bin behind the metal detector and TSA promptly stopped me.

“Sir, you can’t go that way.”

I responded. “I apologize! I’m just trying to find my license and boarding pass!”

The lady said, “Is that it right there on the ground?”

I picked up the boarding pass that was on the ground and it wasn’t it! So, I kept looking around, patting my pants pockets like eight or nine times before I finally gave up in trying to look for the pass. I was just gonna spend the night in DC! Hey, I’d have time to make all the connects I wanted to make if I did anyway. My parents would be pretty mad though!

Then, something told me to look in the bin where the bags of stuff I purchased were. I slowly pulled out both my boarding pass and ID, which made the TSA officers around me burst out laughing. I didn’t even blame them. I laughed too.

The lady that spoke to me before said, “Sir, please put that in your pocket!”

I smiled and shook my head. “Will do! It’s my first time flying!”

“Well, keep track of that !”

So, I started pushing towards the A3 checkpoint that was supposed to be at. For some reason, I was under the impression that our plane took off at 7:00 instead of 7:30. I went up to that desk before you boarded the plane and scanned my ticket and the man looked at me and said in a strong accent, “Your flight hasn’t boarded yet.”

I didn’t understand what he was saying until Imani walked up beside me and I saw everyone that was riding the Delta flight back to Atlanta. Yup, that really happened.

Writing that whole thing out has me tired like I just went through it. Anyway, we just passed through Montgomery Alabama and we’re on the way to New Orleans now! I can’t wait to see Southern University in person! I definitely hope I get a chance to hang out with Yo’Sha and Lea as well. Even moreso, I’m hoping that my Wildcats pull an upset this weekend. Only time will tell!

Tuesday, 9/19/17, 7:53 PM

This has to be the most interesting writing that I’ve ever done! It’s not for any particular reason. There’s nothing different about the style, flow, voice or word choice. The difference is where I’m writing. I’m currently on my Delta flight back to Atlanta. I look out the sky and I see nothing but misty white skies and lights faintly flickering from the buildings feet below us. My first time flying, I decided to kick back and chill. This time around, I have to write something down!

I would’ve awakened and written something this morning but I got in at 1 AM after talking to former All Star Marquise McGigf about how to make the best of my Initiative. It was a conversation that was needed. Plus, I wanted to make sure that I had enough rest to make it throught the day comfortably. I knew that we’d be going to the White House and the Smithsonian African-American History Museum and you never know what could happen and who you could meet. I’m jumping ahead of myself. Let’s talk about Day 2!

Of course, I woke up and immediately started writing. I set my alarm to wake up at 3:30 but something in me told me to go on and get up and get ready. I walked into the lobby, which was pitch black. The moon and the streetlights outside gave enough light for me to conceivably sit down and write. However, I didn’t know that the lobby was closed. A police officer encountered me. I had a feeling what he was about to say, so I immediately let him know what my intentions were.

“Hello sir. I was just wondering if I could sit out here in the lobby and work on my writing.”

Every time I said a sentence, he seemed to respond 5 minutes later. I guess the fact that I was dressed in my business casual attire ready to make my way to the Eisenhower building at 3:55 in the morning caught him by surprise. I’m pretty sure the only people that were awake was us. Of course, he was there to do his job. I just woke up due to sheer dedication and love for my craft. Maybe that’s what floored him.

Or, maybe it’s because I was black. Yeah, we’ll go with that!

He directed me to go down to the “Matinise” level where the business center was located. It was full of light, not my ideal writing spot. If I wanted to write in the light I would sat at a restaurant table at 3 PM with the Sun beaming right down on me. I made it work. Sure, it wasn’t my dorm back at Fort Valley where I could go out into the living room area of my dorm with my charger (because I can never keep anything electronic charged) and my box fan (for a white noise that keeps me focused). However, the fan noise on YouTube came in handy. Ended up writing five pages and topping off at 1,000+. My writing has been unstoppable recently!

I would’ve ended up writing 11 pages of content but we were supposed to be boarding the shuttle bus that was taking us to the White House for “breakfast”. More on that in a second! I managed to post my article up on Urban Intellectuals and make it out to the shuttle bus in no time at all. I was all set up to sit back, chill and get ready to make my first historic visit to the White House. Something troubled me though. As the All-Stars started to fill up, I noticed I didn’t see Imani.

If you remember, Imani is my friend from FAMU that was the first person I connected with and got cool with from our cohort. I knew something was up when I didn’t see her. My first intention was to call her to see what was going on but I didn’t. I just knew Imani was coming. A minute passed and I knew I had to text her. The bus drivers that the Initiative had for us were ready to go. There’s no such thing as CP time for black people that drive shuttle busses in DC. If you’re scheduled to leave at 7:00, they’re pulling out at 6:59.99! They don’t even take their foot off the gas man!

I looked at my clock and it was 5:55. I texted her to see what was up and she told me that she overslept and that she was coming. I was relieved when I saw her walk onto the bus with time to spare. Why did I care so much? For one, she is my friend! If you don’t check on your friends to see what’s up with them in situations such as this, you’re not that much of a good friend. I’m not for showing fake love (shout out to Drake)!

Plus, I was always taught to look out for people that look out for me. I always put myself on the flip side of situations such as that. What if I overslept and was rushing trying to get down to where I needed to be on a tight deadline? I know it would make me feel good if someone checked on me. This philosophy served me good at the end of the third day of our trip but I’ll talk about that more later.

As we rode to the Eisenhower Building, I had a feeling something out of our comfort zone was going to happen. I felt like Trump would pop up and try to speak with us but he was at a summit out of state so I knew it was farfetched. HBCU students visiting Washington DC was the furthest thing from his mind, especially with North Korea flexing their military muscles. When I ruled him out, I knew that we’d end up meeting Omarosa and Betsy Devos. It was automatic. I mean, why wouldn’t they make an appearance? With all that’s going on in the news, they need all the positive press they can get.

So, we pulled up at the Eisenhower building and they had us go through an extensive security check-in. We had to have been checked three times for the exact same thing. What, I’m going to just appear with a weapon after I walked five steps from the last person that checked me out. For a second I thought they were gonna have to strip search us to make sure we didn’t have anything!

So, we make it into the Eisenhower Building and go to this nice room where we’d be having our first morning sessions. They let us know they took the liberty of getting us “breakfast” and I was appreciative because I was starving! I was expecting for there to be grits, bacon, eggs and pastries there waiting for us with plates that had the presidential seal on it. Well, I’m halfway right at least! They had pastries and….napkins. They basically made a stop by their nearest Wal-Mart, bought some muffins and bagels, put it in a tray and called it a morning! Don’t get me wrong now, that blueberry muffin I got was bussin’! However, my stomach was growling like the Wildcat on my shirt for more food! Scratch more, some food!

We sat in the room for about thirty minutes just walking around and talking to ourselves. Elyse’s mom, a proud volunteer for the program, wanted us to come up and introduce ourselves to the room to break the ice. My man from Alabama State David King went up there and tore the house down when he declared that he’d be President of the United States by 2032. Speak it into existence brother! Say the year and everything! I speak into existence that I’m gonna be his press secretary and communications director. I’m taking every opportunity that I have.

Of course, I went up and promoted Urban Intellectuals and the fact that I’d be recapping our trip in article and video form. Before I got a chance to even say anything, Elyse came in and said that we had special guest coming by. We then learned that Omarosa and Betsy Devos wanted to speak with us. Now, let’s quantify this thing. The “special guest” was not Omarosa and Betsy Devos. Nope, the special guest was the new Executive Director of the White House Initiative on HBCU’s Jonathan Holifield who we met thirty minutes later.

How I viewed it, our encounter with Omarosa and Betsy Devos wasn’t planned. It was something that was sort of thrown together at the last minute but they made it work. What was supposed to be us having various workshops on how to be effective leaders on our campuses and execute our initiatives to the best of our abilities quickly turned into a whole program where we sat in the Eisenhower Building press room and Omarosa, Betsy Devos and the new Executive Director addressed us.

We were then called up to the stage to be formally recognized as HBCU All-Stars. It was surreal that we were finally getting formally recognized as HBCU All-Stars but my excitement was accompanied by some worry. I mean, we are in the same room with Betsy Devos and Omarosa. They aren’t the most liked public figures in Washington, plus some media outlets like to create their own stories to comment on that are as far from their truth as you can get. Plus, they get unsubstantiated sources that barely even important in their own minds. I’m just going to leave that there…

I was put at ease when I got the idea to document what was said. Imani assisted me in getting pictures and videos of everything. It was at that point I became determined to tell the real stories behind my All-Star cohort and our initiatives. We can’t allow others to tell our stories. We have to push our own narrative or we’re slaves to the outlet with the biggest voice. We shout through a megaphone here at Urban Intellectuals!

Mr. Holifield didn’t really say much outside of giving us a general introduction into his background. After that, we went back into the room we were in originally. That’s when things got interesting. We met the Vice President and Channel Manager of Magic Johnson’s ASPIRE TV Melissa Ingram. Right in front of me I saw the living embodiment of where I want to be in a few years. I’d love to be a big wig at a network calling shots and making my network the most competitive it can be. Seeing her, I saw that my dream was possible! She was incredibly nice too! I expect to learn a tremendous amount of things from her.

Fast forward to later on in the afternoon. I was in a Mass Communications major’s dream situation. I was in the same room as representatives from Viacom/BET, Warner Brothers and Stacy Milner, a tenured entertainment industry veteran over the HBCUs in LA program who was looking to put black people on. Man, I was a kid in a candy store! I would’ve shed a tear (a Denzel Washington in Glory tear) if I wasn’t in this room full of beautiful black women. Can’t be looking weak out here now!

We then made our way to the Association of American Medical College for our reception. The building was top notch and I happened to meet an Albany State alumni that worked there. This trip has given me a slightly new perspective of those Rams! They’re pretty cordial, plus Albany’s All-Star this year Erin is amazing! More on her in the next entry! So, we got to the building and I finally got a chance to sit down and talk with the superwoman herself, Lincoln University’s (Missouri) All-Star Brionna Adams. Brionna actually designed two of the shirts that I wore Monday and Tuesday of our trip. It gave me joy to see her smile when she saw us in them! I know that feeling! It’s the same feeling I get when someone wants to purchase my book!

Imani (who was also wearing her FAMU custom shirt made by Brionna) and I had a mini photo shoot for Bionna and, a few minutes later, Brionna and had a dope conversation. To say that I was blown away by her ambitions and hustle is an understatement! I knew I was sitting next to a future billionaire, the next Oprah Winfrey! Her hustle is incredible and her determination to become a doctor and help cancer patients was admirable! This trip gave me hope that I might get married one of these days, especially if I have the privilege of finding a black woman of this caliber!

After taking 100 pictures on the front stairs (to add to the 500 we took since we touched down in DC), we finally entered the ballroom for the reception. The reception quickly turned into Sunday morning service when our esteemed speaker got up to speak. The way he turned a simple motivational speech into a sermon was something out of a movie. If he quoted some scripture, I bet some of us would’ve started shouting and running around the ballroom like they used to do back at Beulahland in Macon with E. Dewey Smith was there! I wonder if our speaker can do the cat scream Pastor Smith used to do. Maybe I should’ve asked him to try!

After that, the rest of the day was a blur. We went up to the rooftop of the building and enjoyed looking at DC from the sky. We then went back to the hotel and I witnessed some of my All-Star peers doing an interview. We signed cards for Elyse to show her our appreciation (more on that in the next recap) and, most importantly, we went to sleep.

Oh yeah, I didn’t forget about the Dairy Queen chicken tenders we were served for lunch! I thought I needed to ask them to hold the gravy! I was wrong when I thought they’d have us eating like the president. Then, the White House gave us one of those small doggy plates! Two of the chicken tenders filled up the plate and some of us had to balance 3 plates to get something that would make us half full! But, I digress!

This day defined the reason why I became an All-Star. I wanted to be in the mix of what goes on with HBCU’s. I want to be the conduit into which Fort Valley State University students get opportunities brighter than what they’ve ever imagined. And, most importantly, I wanted to meet phenomenal young men and women that showed me that success is possible if you keep your faith and always continue to hustle.

Blessed,

Randall Barnes

Monday, 9/18/17, 4:30 AM

I can’t believe I’m here. I mean, I know I learned that I was an All-Star back in July and we’ve been through a lot to get to DC but it’s just surreal to me. It really hit me when I was sitting at the Invite Only reception for the HBCU All-Stars and our Presidents. I looked down at my name badge and looked up at where I was. It was unbelievable! Who knew that I would get this far so quickly. Just to think, all I wanted to do was write a book!

This trip so far has been a learning experience. I know we haven’t been here but only for so long but I’ve still been through things that’ll aid in my growth. Riding on a plane for the first time was a perfect example. Before yesterday, I’d never even been close to riding on a plane. The closest I’d been to an airport was getting one of those rental vehicles from that place in Macon! It was a struggle watching my family see me off in the Delta Airport as I went through TSA and got my bags checked. I knew it had to happen though. I see this trip as my rights-of-passage. This is me finally becoming a man. I know when I touch back down in Georgia I’m going to be different. This experience is going to shape me.

It wasn’t too hard to ride on the plane for the first time, seeing as though I wasn’t alone. The day after I was announced as an HBCU All-Star, I made friends with an All-Star from FAMU named Imani Cooper. One thing I was nervous about from the jump was meeting new people that were just as accomplished, if not more, than me. How would I stand alongside these future doctors, engineers and computer scientist? I just want to write books and do some stuff in media!

Imani was able to keep my spirits high, even during the tough times leading up to our DC trip. We always found a way to trip out when we were on the phone too! I was excited to know that we’d be catching the same flight over to DC. I knew definitively I’d be on the flight with someone familiar. Now, my Provost Dr. Stuart was on the same flight as we were and I think we were both surprised to see each other! Shout out to him for looking out for me and making FVSU look good out here. My administration is great man!

I also met another All-Star from Southern named Lea. She’s intelligent and so positive. Imani, Lea and I hit it off instantly. You would’ve thought that we’d known each other for years! The varying experiences that we had at our respective institutions was amazing. We traded stories back and forth until we got on the flight. Speaking of that flight, everything was smooth. Was I nervous to fly for the first time? Yes! There’s a difference between being nervous and scared though!

To me, being nervous meant that I was a little anxious to try something as new as not riding on the ground to get to the destination that I wanted to go.  Scared is shaking and screaming when you can tell the plane is about to take off! I knew I was gonna be a man through it. My dad raised me better than that. Let him have found out I acted less than what he expects of me on that plane. Boy, I would never live that down!

The flight was smooth. Honestly, it felt like I was on the professional “Soul Plane”. Delta Airlines ATL has to be the blackest airline in America! They have black TSA officers, black flight attendants and even black shows on the TV’s on the plane. They even had D’Angelo’s The Best So Far… compilation album. Imagine listening to “Brown Sugar” as you land in Arlington, Virginia! Yeah, that was me!

We got off the flight and Dr. Stuart got us an Uber (shout out to my Dad, who should just buy stock in Uber with how he tries to get me to download the app). We pulled up at his hotel in a clean Black Suburban. Key word: his hotel, not ours! It took us standing in their for like 30 minutes and then getting to the front desk and learning we didn’t have rooms in this hotel to realize that it wasn’t the one that we were supposed to be at. Shout out to the receptionist that let us know we were in the wrong place and gave us A1 instructions to get to the correct location. She was more precise than Google Maps!

Lea, Imani and I walked to the correct hotel and it was nice taking in the scenery of Arlington. It’s a beautiful city! There was so many works of art along the walls of the buildings we walked by. We even saw the Westin, that hotel that Kanye West rapped about in 2Chainz “Birthday Song”

“She said how bout I get you jewelry from the West End

How bout she hit the Westin and get her best friend”

I know you’re probably thinking, “Was that the first time Randall heard of the Westin?” Yes, it was! Why was that the first thing I thought about? I don’t know. I’m pretty sure Lea and Imani thought the same thing! Anyway, we got to our right hotel and met a few of the other All-Stars. We’re all in a GroupMe together so it was like we already knew each other! We were basically just down there chilling until we went over and finally met Elyse Jones, the reason why we’re even here! It was amazing finally meeting her in person. She’s responsible for the beast everybody is gonna see when I hit campus on Wednesday! Everything up here is training for what we have planned moving forward!

The rest of the day just flew by. We went to eat at this walk in Burger Shop after Shawn from Savannah State and I realized that it was Sunday and Chick-Fil-A was closed. We all went back to our hotel and changed into our business professional clothes so we could attend the All-Star reception. It was our first official ceremony as HBCU All-Star Ambassadors for this year. It was also official picture day, as we took like 1000 pictures! I loved every moment though!

Fast forward back to where I started. Looking down at my name badge and looking around at where I was. I looked around and saw the best and brightest from HBCU’s around the nation. I was humbled that I was even given this position. I can’t wait to finally see the White House! Hopefully, I’ll have even more stories to tell after today.

Excited and humbled,

Randall Barnes