Page 6 - Desert Lightning News 4-1-16
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6 April 1, 2016 Desert Lightning News
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Master Sgt. Nichelle S. Hunter Nichols can American and my mother a Vietnamese citizen. My parents have
always shared with me the day they had to decide on the fate of my fu-
Superintendent, 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) Executive Support ture. Would my mother and I stay in Vietnam or would they process the
paperwork to give me a life in the United States? You see, the struggles
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- As I sit and ponder and fight for equality and cultural acceptance was fought and won here
on what Black History Month means to me, I can’t help but to won- in American, but those same rights were non-existent in my country of
der, am I wrong for wanting to celebrate and remember those who have birth. Had we stayed I wouldn’t have been allowed to attend the schools,
come before us and those who are still making a difference today? For seek employment for decent pay, or even marry an Asian man unless he
me, this month is a time of education, appreciation, and understanding was of mixed race too. I’m always reminded by other mixed race chil-
of who we are, where we’ve been, and what we plan to do for our future. dren from Vietnam, who came to the U.S. later in age, to be thankful for
what I have and to continue to share my story with others.
The late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The function of education is
to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus So in my own words, I am thankful for the freedoms I have been af-
character – that is the goal of true education.” forded, the acceptance of others all around me, and knowing that my
dreams are a possibility as long as I continue to reach for it! And reach
So, who am I? I am an African American woman who comes from for it I did!
a culture that has endured many hardships and pain. I can in no way
imagine having walked in the shoes of such great American icons as I joined the U.S. Air Force in 1998 and it’s a commitment I have never
Harriet Tubman, an American bondwoman who escaped slavery and once regretted. During my career, I have been honored to hold different
worked for the Union Army during the Civil War. Her efforts help lib- positions that required me to serve with strength, determination, and
erate more than 700 slaves in South Carolina. Or another influential confidence. When the Air Force released the 2015 Diversity and Inclu-
person in history, Maya Angelou, was an American author, poet, and sion Initiative to promote an all-encompassing, rewarding and flexible
civil rights activist. Angelou endured first-hand the brutality and racial environment in which we retain and maximize the talents of our coun-
discrimination that was prevalent during the 1930s and 1940s, which try’s best minds, it reaffirmed my commitment.
led her to share her stories and experience with racism, poverty, seeking
higher education, as well as living through and participating in the civil If I could sit with those who came before me, such as Harriet Tubman,
rights movements. and tell her my stories of leading, training, and educating the numerous
diverse groups of extraordinary men and women…it would make her so
I personally would not compare my life experiences with the lives of proud, because in her eyes…I am a hero…I am a leader…and I am influ-
these two great women. But, what I do have to offer is my own story.
See HERE I AM, Page 22
I was born during the end of the Vietnam War, my father an Afri-
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