“If you could have a do over, there are always some things you can do over," he said. Now, he will have a new reminder in the form of a college degree. They’re filled with pictures, newspaper clippings and anything that serves as a reminder of the times in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. His big binders kind of resemble those huge family photo albums. One that we started while we yet lived and one that lives on beyond his death.”Īquil is a bit of a historian and record keeper. We will not be satisfied with the world as it is,” the speech reads.Īquil ended the speech with, “This is our memorial to Dr. “We will not be prosecuted, we will not be persecuted, we will not suffer at your hands for what we know to be right. Even if it means giving up friends, relatives and national traditions that America purports to represent.” We will live in peace and harmony in our lifetime. “As citizens of this country we hereby refuse to passably to accept the sicknesses that abound an American society. We are sickened by the tragedy.” The speech goes on to call out leaders and challenge the current state of affairs. He was a symbol of hope for a better America and a better world. You type on a typewriter, and so I had to type and retype and type, but I wanted to say something that I thought would be meaningful and sincere,” he said. “I stayed up until 2 o’clock in the morning writing that. It’s a speech he said he pulled an all-nighter to write. King, and I was asked to be one of two main speakers,” he said.įifty-two years later, Aquil still has a copy of that speech and the program for the event that drew a crowd on the campus of USF in 1968. “On April 9, they held a campus wide and community memorial service for Dr. He explained that it didn’t take long for the community to rally. “So I race home and turn the news on at 11 o'clock, and by 11 o'clock, they had announced he was dead,” Aquil said.
It was news the 21-year-old college student didn’t want to believe was true. “So, at intermission we came out of the theater and there was kind of a buzz. “On Apa play was being presented in the theater at USF," he said. It’s something he said is as vivid in his mind as the day Dr. “There are things I’ve experienced, places I’ve been, people I’ve met, things I’ve accomplished that I never would’ve conceived.” “Obviously it was not my original plan,” he said. Next year, he’s pursuing his master’s degree.
That’s what brings everything full circle for him, and he doesn’t plan on stopping. Listen, they said, 'Take two three-hour courses and you’ll be finished.' That’s what I’ve done.” “I had enough credit hours built up again between my AA degree and the time that I spent here, that when I re-enrolled I only needed 5.3-5.6 hours. At first they said, 'Looks like you need 16 hours,'” he said. Surprisingly, he was able to use his college credits from the 1960s.
Now, he’s focused changing his student status to college graduate. There’s living proof that we made a difference on this campus, and it’s gratifying to know that and to come full circle.” That was part of his work then to change those numbers. The university was approaching 10,000 students and I think they were a little under 10,000, and I think you can count the number of Black students on maybe three hands.” So that’s one of the things we demanded was they do some hiring and recruiting,” he said. “When I came here, there was not a single Black professor on this campus. When he walks on campus 52 years later, he can’t help but notice all of the changes over the years behind the scenes and in front. It’s been a long journey, and it’s good to see myself crossing the finish line for this episode because I do intend to continue on,” he said. He enrolled in college again this semester after dropping out 52 years ago. He also didn’t know he would end up right back where he started. King was killed I became more of a full-time activist than a full-time student, and at a certain point I realized that I was actually committing academic suicide by enrolling in class and then not showing up,” he said. “I was spending more time in and out of police cars and jails and courtrooms than I was in classrooms,” he said.īack then, he didn’t know he would end up choosing activism over academics. Once he started to use his voice as an activist, he said he became a target. King died, Aquil was a 21-year-old USF college student. Next year, he’s pursuing his master’s degree.