SEO: Solomon Comissiong talks about activism

Solomon Comissiong, local activist makes use of his knowledge about social issues to teach the community and enhance awareness on the importance of involvement in the community.

The universitys present-day activist

Comissiong, activist and instructor, uses his knowledge to teach in the community and classroom. As a young boy who moved from one country to another at the age of 10, it never crossed his mind the experiences that he will encounter. Solomons experience living in Trinidad and Tobago until the age of 10 drastically changed as he moved to Massachusetts. Comissiongs move to the United States constituted the biggest change he could ever imagine, racism. To Solomon drive-by shootings through neighborhoods were new, as he never saw them happen in Trinidad. Today, Comissiong, an activist in the community and an educator uses his knowledge to engage and encourage the community involvement. Nandi McCammon, Caribbean Student Association president, gives credit to the wise words of Solomon as he has given her some valuable advice which she applies to her leadership role. He has inspired me to ensure that CSA is not transformed into a social organization, but remains true to its roots in culture, community service and social activism. Activism is not a job, its something you decide to do with your time, Solomon said. As he begins he highlights one of the accomplishments in his career as an activist.
Solomon Comissiong has been an educator for the last 15 years. | Photo by Karla CoreaCarcamo.

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Karla Corea-Carcamo, Local, pg.2

Early in life As a young boy Comissiong aspired to play basketball for the National Basketball Association. At one point, he even thought of pursuing paleontology or archeology. However, those dreams changed as reality set in for the young boy who aspired to be a basketball star. Listening to rappers talk about social issues is what inspired me to be involved in the community and engage in teaching about the history, Solomon said. His eagerness for activism strengthened his desire to teach the community about history, heritage and the roots of their culture. Comissiongs interest in activist work inspired him and other colleagues to kick-start a program that focused on juveniles in detention centers. The program accepted applications from the universitys undergraduate students and educators who were willing to use their spare time to talk to juveniles. Comissiong spent every weekend at the juvenile center facility for three years. Solomon recalls his volunteer activist work at the facility as hard work that required training from third party facilities. You have to go train. For example, if someone divulges that
Solomon draws his inspiration for activism from various rappers.| Photo by Karla Corea-Carcamo .

they are thinking of committing suicide, fights breaking out, what happens when fights break and lock-down, Solomon said.

Solomon said that although the problems only took place about two percent of the time, the officers that diffused the problems acted more like aunts and uncles to the youth.

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Karla Corea-Carcamo, Local, pg.3

He recognizes that although altercations could happen at any moment at the facility, his motivation to educate the young men and women never ceased. Solomon describes teaching the youth to understand themselves better and the community, and to become better leaders in the community instead of breaking it down, as a fun job. Discipline in activism Like any other job that an individual performs there are bound to be obstacles, but it is how those individuals approach the obstacles that lead to success. In his activist work, especially when organizing the groups to participate in the juvenile youth education program, Comissiong and colleagues came upon some logistical obstacles. Comissiong explains that the most difficult task while kick-starting the program was the time commitments that everyone shared. He highlights that agreeing on common meeting schedules to develop the application, became the strongest obstacle. It was hard work to develop the application itself while working with other collaborators, Solomon said. However, this experience enabled Solomon to transfer his time management skills into everything that he does, including being an educator. He writes the assignments for his summer course in the spring and is ready to begin once summer classes resume. He states that being able to carry the skills you have from one arena to the next can help a person remain consistent in the work they perform. For example, Solomon incorporates his undergraduate degree in communication with a concentration in public relations to the work he does in activism and education by remaining informed. (more)

Karla Corea-Carcamo, Local, pg.4

As an activist, Comissiong explains that being able to communicate with the masses and to articulate yourself, is also key to being an effective orator and activist. The more you read, the more you write, the better you become at communicating to have a strong grasp of things and present them Solomon said. Comissiong, firmly believes that to be effective in your area of activism, it is important to build something that can sustain itself over time. As activists it is important to produce tangible products, according to Solomon. Activism is more than a job, and not everyone is up for the challenge to be an activist.

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