Honoring the Memory of My Student, Lt. Richard Collins III
Talib Karim
On early Saturday morning, Bowie State Student, Lt. Richard Collins III (left) was stabbed to death by University of Maryland student, Sean Urbanski (right). Collins' friends told police they heard Urbanski scream as he approached them. A vigil is being held tonight at Bowie State University at 7pm.
Family, Neighbors, & Colleagues,
It’s with a heavy heart that I share that Richard Collins III, the young man killed this Saturday at the University of Maryland, was one of my promising Bowie State University students. Last Thursday, less than 48 hours earlier, Richard was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Army. He was set to graduate from Bowie State on Tuesday, May 23rd.
Richard was articulate, respectful, and bright. He was as an optimist and a ROTC student who spoke fondly of the President. During last year’s election, Richard was one of the few students in my Labor Relations and Law class who understood how NAFTA, a trade agreement which the President vowed to renegotiate, devastated our nation’s manufacturing workforce.
By fate, I spoke with Richard just days ago. He dropped by my office to chat about his first military assignment after graduation to South Korea. Recognizing the recent North Korean missile tests and the lack of diplomatic efforts to resolve the Korean conflict, I warned Richard to be careful.
As I struggle to make sense of this tragic loss, I am reminded of a lesson from a lecture that Richard found of interest. In that class, we discussed the many commonalities of Obama and Trump supporters. To decode our country’s 400 years of racial stratification, I explained that racism was merely a tool first employed in the 1400 in this country by the wealthy elite to separate and divide workers based upon race and color. Further, I advised that one way to #hackracism was to educate the working class about this “American Caste System” and how we are being duped into going along with it.
From what I understand of Urbanski, while he was a member of a right-wing Facebook group, both his mom and dad worked for a living. As working class people, Richard and Urbansky were natural allies who had more in common than that which divided them.
While Richard may be gone physically, his memory inspires us at STEM4US! to redouble our efforts to fund and build Cybersecurity Incubators at Bowie State and the other 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. And, in tribute to Richard, I call on the well-funded University of Maryland to help build the first incubator at Bowie State University.
This act...would truly make this tragedy a teachable moment.
Talib I. Karim, #CyberSecurity4US!
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Talib I. Karim, BSME, JD
CEO & Founder, STEM4US!
Email: Ta...@STEM4US.org
Twitter: @TalibSTEM
Web: www.STEM4US.org
Phone: 202.508.3391| Fax: 202.331.3759
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