Carmille Akande

Since being a teenager, I've always had a heart for children. When I was in college, I spent afternoons at the local community center helping children with homework and playing in the daily Juice Bowl. The Juice Bowl was the daily sports game—football or basketball—where all the kids who went the after-school  program could compete for juice. I loved these children. I can think of one of the little boys now, showing me his new crossover move. The more time I spent time there, the more time I worked with other college students to come up with ideas to meet all the needs of the children. We led school supply drives, food drives, and I even convinced my friend Calvin to be a positive male mentor to the boys. It didn't take much convincing. He was hooked from the start. Over the years, I have worked in many capacities as an attorney to advocate for the rights and protection of children. I have also served in ministry in the local community and traveled as far as Ghana, West Afr...

My mother was the chair of the Black History Month Committee, which meant I was enlisted in the school's program. One year, we had a wonderful play which highlighted major figures in African-American history. I put a scarf on my head and a long skirt, a blouse, and an old sweater and became Harriet Tubman. I transitioned back in time to become a powerful, fearless slavery abolitionist, humanitarian, and suffragist. I marveled at her determination to escape slavery. I was inspired by the sacrifice she made to free others. I can only imagine how Tubman felt when she first tasted freedom. She  stated , "When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven." If this is true—if Harriet Tubman had a piece of heaven right here on Earth—why would she risk losing it by going back to rescue others from sla...