Isabel Wilkerson

Isabel Wilkerson, the author if this year's common text The Warmth of Other Suns visited Howard University on November 14, 2011. She discussed her book in detail and talked about how people of the south fled the Jim Crow laws and moved to the north,west and mid-west. She told of the petty crimes that whites would charge blacks with simply to keep them in submission to the whites. I appreciated Mrs. Wilkerson's visit to Howard, which is her alma mater. I enjoyed reading her book also. I was quite disappointed in my classmates and their conduct during her visit. Many students were talking and not taking the advantage of hearing a wonderful writer take the time out of her schedule to visit us. I feel embarrassed because although I was not engaged in this conduct, it was my class so inevitably it also includes me. I really hope that Mrs. Wilkerson did not feel insulted by the way we behaved. I feel as though we acted in an immature way, as high schoolers instead of the college students which we are. I hope in the future when we are privileged to have a speaker come to Howard we act in a more respectful manner.