For Black History Month, UNC alumnus Rico Wint ’08 shares his perspective on his identity, his work with young Black men, and his ongoing involvement with his alma mater.
Twelve or so years ago, while working as an admission counselor at UNC, Rico Wint 08年"意外"成立了一个组织 有目标的年轻人, or YMOP, simply to support kids who needed mentorship at his old high school in 科罗拉多州奥罗拉. Since then, the organization has grown and served more than 4,000 Black 以及丹佛市区的棕色家庭.
At UNC, Wint served as the student body 总统, and in 2020, he received the 荣誉校友奖 表彰他对社区和博天堂官方的杰出贡献. 他目前的职位包括 老师，牧师，丈夫，三个男孩的父亲. 在这里，我们追上了他 talk about his identity, how he honors Black History Month, and why it’s 重要的 让校友与博天堂官方保持联系.
为简洁明了，采访内容经过编辑.
博天堂官方网站温特作为黑人的身份
“It's the first, foremost thing you know you are, every day. 我们不能忘记它，因为 there are 人 who don't want you to forget it, for good reasons and bad reasons. It’s a big part of what I am and why I want to help and serve the way I choose to. Because I know what it's like being a young black kid from Denver, the inner city, 以及奥罗拉中心高中. 我的很多朋友都不这么认为. 它只是 没有. And whatever opportunities that I've been given, I just account them to God's grace and the 人 who opened the doors for me to get where I'm going.”
为什么温特要服侍黑人和棕色人种的孩子
“马尔科姆·X和马丁·路德·金.和其他我尊敬的领导人 whole thing was paying it back or forward or whatever you want to say. 拉人 一路走来. it's 重要的, especially for our communities where there are big 教育和机会的不平等. 当你处在一个 you have those, you have to go back and grab as many as you can and bring them, try to bring them as far as you can go, because they can go with you. 所以这是非常 重要的.”
“We've had white students, we've had gay students, we've had Asian students, East 印第安学生和美洲印第安人. 欢迎大家. 但我的重点是黑色和 棕色皮肤的男孩，我可以这么说. 为了他们我也无所谓. So. 就是这样.”
上图: Wint poses with some of the boys he's impacted through his work.
在耶鲁大学和黑人历史上的卓越表现
“我们的座右铭是男子气概、诚信和目标. 我们的目的就是要确保 our boys understand that integrity is who you are most days and who you are when no 一个人的看. 你的目标是对事物存在原因的预见. Right? So it like kind of combining all three of those worlds, because of guys like Dr. 王, 也因为马尔科姆和梅加·埃弗斯这样的人. 我可以列出一百万个 人.”
博天堂官方网站黑人历史月
“What I've tried to do every day throughout Black History Month is share some type 事实或历史意识形态的观点. 我说非洲人的历史，我说 在括号里，“是的，美国黑人是非洲人。.“一开始并不是奴隶制. 期. 这是事实. That's not the beginning of our life's work, mission and culture, 你知道我在说什么?”
“I tell my students, specifically my black ones, ‘Stop saying that you [your ancestors] were a slave; say you were enslaved. 这是有区别的. 这就加重了责任 对的人，不是你. 责任在奴隶主身上，而不是奴隶身上.的权利? So 都是些小事. 它只是帮助我们的人民理解一些 the nuances and how language is very 重要的 and very powerful in understanding, 或者对事物达成共识，比如你使用的语言. 就是这样 I try to put out in that very vast net of like, ‘Here, just chew on this intellectually, 你想怎么做就怎么做.’”
On the Divine Nine historically Black fraternities and sororities— Wint is a member Omega Psi Phi, Inc. -以及传统黑人学院和大学(HBCUs)
“What we [Black Americans] produce always comes out of need. 这就像是，‘好吧， 我们必须这样做.“但我相信，因为文化是如此的甜蜜，而且 I believe our 人 are so amazingly stout and astute, it becomes not only like, “我们要按自己的方式去做吗??它变成了一种文化. 它变成了人们梦寐以求的东西 ,希望. And I think you can't buy that; you can't teach that. 比如嘻哈音乐 从贫民区出来的. 你知道我在说什么? 一群可怜的黑人和波多黎各人 国的孩子. And now it's the number one musical art form in United States of America.”
博天堂官方网站人们如何纪念黑人历史月
“每个人都能做的就是自我教育. 黑的，白的，什么都行. 我学到了 lot of the things 我学到了bout my own culture via college and then post college, Right? 或者在家里，爸爸妈妈教我东西. 这就是自我教育 and it's learning, taking the time to realize that the historical elements and what Black 人 have achieved, and really Black Americans history is American history.”
“信息太多了. 许多伟大的男人和女人做了伟大的事情， 在美国之前，当我们到达这里的时候. 花点时间去学习 讲一讲，然后再教给别人. 我们可以通过教育来成长 并告诉我们自己.”
为什么了解黑人历史很重要
“因为有 a Beyonce, you got to go back to who's Beyonce like? 因为有 惠特尼·休斯顿. 但是惠特尼·休斯顿受到了艾瑞莎·富兰克林的影响. 是谁 艾瑞莎富兰克林受? 她受到了一个名叫玛哈莉亚的女人的影响 Jackson, who was the first Black woman to win a Grammy, period, for gospel. 但谁 玛哈莉亚·杰克逊受到了什么影响? 现在你要回奇德林巡回法庭 vaudeville, and Black entertainers and artists who many of them, their music and things 都是从他们那里偷来的. You start going like, ‘So Beyonce can be Beyonce because Mahalia 是Mahalia.“你知道我在说什么? 但如果你不了解历史...”
“When you go back into a place where you're like, ‘Well, they couldn't even have done it’ 100 years ago, it would've been against the law to do it, let alone actually ascending 到做这件事的高度. 所以，这就像卡玛拉(哈里斯)是第一副 总统. 为什么这很重要?? 看看其他的副总统，然后告诉他 为什么这很重要. 看看其他45个人的照片. 告诉我你的想法. 告诉我你看到了什么. 你看巴拉克·奥巴马和其他43位总统. 所以请告诉我 你所看到的我.”
On why it’s 重要的 for alumni, especially Black alumni, to stay involved at UNC
“I just see a lot of 人 in general, especially with the colleges, like, ‘Oh, I just got my degree, and I got out of there, cool, whatever.但我就像，我 tell them all the time, I'm like, ‘Man, you need your degree, and you need your school 在你离开后继续做得很好.“为什么? 因为这是你的 文凭. 这就是为什么. 它在某种程度上保持了你所学知识的有效性. 是很重要的 to not only just root for your team; it's your home team, it's your school.”
“But specifically, for Black students, because it was such a small population on campus, it's 重要的 to make sure that other Black students can see the future of what it can be through you, by you coming back and speaking or you popping up at a homecoming 这就是网络.”
On why he stays connected to UNC while serving his students
“I tell my Black and brown boys all the time, ‘Guys, it's a place where a Black man like me went and could thrive, and I feel like if you wanted to go there, I feel like 你也可以有同样的经历. 那是一个很棒的地方. 那里有很多人 supported me and helped me become a better leader, a better man, a better student. And I think the same thing could happen for you there as well.“所以这就是我给予的原因 time. 这就是为什么我要分享我的经历.”
Wint与YMOP的合作也被刊登在 2016年UNC杂志文章《博天堂官方网站》."
