Resilience rarely announces itself. Sometimes it shows up quietly — in the form of an 18-year-old freshman named CoMarion, standing outside Arkansas Baptist College without a car, without certainty, but with a deep desire to learn beyond the classroom.
His determination reminded me of the words in Proverbs 16:3 — “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” When a young man commits to learning — even when it’s inconvenient — success begins its quiet work.
On a cool November evening, CoMarion made a decision many students never make: to step directly into the real world of governance, civic responsibility and public leadership. He chose to attend the Little Rock City Board of Directors meeting, an assignment I had given my U.S. Government and U.S. History I students.
Edmond W. Davis
But the truth is, an assignment alone never guarantees engagement. It takes drive. It takes initiative. It takes heart. CoMarion had all three.
He didn’t have transportation that day. He didn’t have the convenience many take for granted. But he had intention. And in education, intention is a force more powerful than any textbook. His journey mirrors the reminder in James 2:17 — “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”
His faith in his future produced action. He moved.
After coordinating with classmates and finally catching a ride, he arrived at City Hall with a group of Arkansas Baptist College students — young Black men representing a campus where more than 80% of students are Black males, making ABC the only coed college in the nation with that distinction. The imagery was powerful: Young HBCU scholars walking into the board chambers, shoulders square, minds open, stepping into a space where decisions are made, policies are shaped, futures are affected.
To these students, and to CoMarion in particular, this was not just another evening. This was one of the first times this semester many of them entered the seat of municipal power. This was their first time seeing democracy up close — not in a PDF, not in a lecture slide, but in the living, breathing environment of governance.
Before the meeting, I briefed them: “Ask questions. Listen deeply. Observe how power moves. This is your city too.”
CoMarion took that to heart. He sat in the audience, listening even when he didn’t fully understand every policy detail — because active learning isn’t about understanding everything, it’s about being present long enough for understanding to grow. He scribbled notes, not all perfect, not all polished, but earnest. Learning was happening in real time.
“Sometimes learning requires a desk. Sometimes it requires a ride.”
And then came the moments he never will forget.
He met Little Rock’s first elected African American mayor, Frank Scott Jr., who happened to be celebrating his birthday that day. He shook hands with former Fire Chief and current City Manager Delphone Hubbard, At-Large Director and Attorney Antwan Phillips, long-serving City Attorney Tom Carpenter, and respected city employee Ms. Cooney. He wasn’t just attending a meeting; he was being introduced to a network of leadership, legacy and lived civic responsibility.
Most students study government; CoMarion experienced it.
When he emailed me afterward — apologizing for a late response, thanking me for the opportunity, asking where to turn in his Black Wall Street research paper before traveling home — I saw more than courtesy. I saw a young man determined to complete his responsibilities academically and civically, despite obstacles, schedules and the normal challenges of freshman life.
That is why I say: Do not let education systems get in the way of active learning.
Classrooms matter. Assignments matter. Lectures matter. But none of them can replace watching your city function in real time. None of them prepare a student for leadership quite like looking an elected official in the eye. None of them teach resilience the way life does — when you don’t have a car, but you go anyway; when you don’t understand everything, but you listen anyway; when you’re young, but you show up anyway.
His journey brings to mind Joshua 1:9 — “This is my command: Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Even when “wherever you go” is City Hall without a ride, God honors courage and effort.
As Arkansas Baptist College — one of Arkansas’ four HBCUs alongside Philander Smith College, Shorter College and UAPB — continues its commitment to academic excellence and civic engagement, students like CoMarion remind us of the power and potential that emerge when education moves beyond the walls of a building.
Sometimes learning requires a desk. Sometimes it requires a ride.
But the most meaningful learning requires a student willing to show up — exactly the way CoMarion did.
His resilience is a story worth telling. His example is one worth following. And his journey is proof that real education begins when a student steps into the world determined to learn from it.
Edmond W. Davis is an American social historian, international speaker and Amazon No. 1 author. He is a nationally recognized authority on the Tuskegee Airmen and serves as founder and executive director of America’s only National HBCU Black Wall Street Career Fest, based in Little Rock, Ark. A Philadelphia native and former homeless youth, he has dedicated his career to education, social impact and the empowerment of underrepresented communities.