On the shoulders of giants

Shirley Naquin

June 7, 2016

Clovis Rigaud

June 7, 2016

Within the hallowed halls of Harvard University, Colin Marts of Bourg, La., gave a speech at a special event in April.

It was the unveiling of a portrait of Richard Greener, Harvard’s first black graduate. Born a sailor’s son in 1844, Greener began studies at Harvard in 1865. He later served as U.S. Ambassador to India at a time of plague, performed humanitarian services in China after the Boxer Rebellion, and made history in many other ways.

The theme of the speech Colin gave was “standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Such a long climb begins with very small steps, like the ones Colin made into different educational halls, at Mulberry Elementary School. Later, he took a similar first walk into Montegut Middle and then South Terrebonne High.

All along the way, the graduate says, he was helped by amazing educators. In particular, the Gifted and Talented program the school district had made sure he didn’t get misplaced, and helped him to live to his full educational potential. The list of people who helped out is so long and involved that the soft-spoken 21-year-old flusters when asked to name names. He doesn’t want to leave anyone out.

While at South Terrebonne, he continued walking the walk with young Vincent Cannata Jr. and other students who formed Future Leaders of America’s Gulf, all of them interfacing with government and business leaders, and passing that torch to other students in the years that followed. It was then that I first met Colin.

That he should be pursuing a career in medicine should not be a surprise. Colin’s parents, Ronald and Adrienne, are in the medical field. Dr. Ronald Marts is a physician at Teche Action Clinic and Adrienne Marts works as a project manager for the LSU hospital system. But no matter the status of his parents or the help and encouragement from the entire collection of villages here in Terrebonne Parish, it was always up to Colin himself to be all he could be.

He almost failed himself. When considering colleges Colin profiled Harvard as being a place he might not be happy at, a place that wouldn’t fit him. But he went, when they called, and toured the campus, and now that he has graduated, there are no regrets, only joy that he let himself take full advantage of the opportunity that he earned. Colin became a widely admired leader of students, black students in particular, and of this he is also proud.

In this year of 2016, lifetimes and generations removed from when Richard Greener first walked the halls of Harvard, the year of emancipation for black people in states far to the south, Colin also recognizes that whether he wishes or not, people will judge him – for better or worse – on his skin color. He is, whether he wishes to be or not, a representative of other black people, black doctors, and he feels Harvard has prepared him for that challenge. During his speech at Harvard for the unveiling, Colin pointed out that while it was a great thing, it was not enough. As he navigates medical school, Colin will learn those arts but will also learn how he can uniquely provide his own life experience to its practice, and we must all cherish his success and wish well for his future.

What Colin recognizes is that no matter what anyone else says, it is different for people of his race. And while that is not his focus it is something that is always in the consciousness.

“It is something you cannot separate from my success, who I am, where I have grown up and to be honest, things that I have to deal with,” he explains. This includes societal structure as well as personal situations of micro-aggression, which his time at Harvard has taught him to constructively cope with.

“I have done my best not to allow it to limit me, and have been taking the time to learn about what it means to be an African-American in this country whether in the historical context or fulfilling context,” Colin explains. “It is a fulfilling context. It motivated me, during my time at Harvard and throughout my educational career.”

All of which means that the shoulders on Colin Marts are on their way to becoming those of a giant, that there are kids in our schools right now who will one day stand on them, and that his realistic approach to challenges and overcoming them speaks to unvarnished truth.