Young, Gifted and Black: The Tragic Demise of Tiesha Sargeant

The July 17th issue of New York magazine contains a superb article about Teisha Sargeant, the accomplished daughter of West Indian parents, who was shot and killed in Brooklyn this past May. It is alleged that the men who killed Teisha were associates of her boyfriend, who was dealing drugs from her apartment (unbeknownst to her) while she worked during the day. The story made headlines in NY, because the mainstream media was horrified that a woman with such promise could meet such a bitter, tragic, end. Her story is profound and compelling to us, because it is so familiar.

Like many of us, Teisha she was raised in a working class family that emphasized the value of education. Her natural abilities were cultivated and refined by Prep-for-Prep, which prepared her to attend some of our nation's most elite academic institutions (Brearley and Wesleyan). Upon graduation, Teisha worked at Conde Nast and ultimately Credit Suisse, where she worked until her untimely death.

Media attention revolved around the question of how this could happen to a woman who had seemingly "escaped" the misfortune of being born black, female, and working class in New York City. But the vast number of us know what the media cannot understand. The dichotomy that has been set up between educated and uneducated blacks in our urban communities is false, as is the good/bad dichotomy, and the right/wrong dichotomy. These distinctions are useless in neighborhoods where many good people are caught up in bad circumstances, many bad people are well educated, and many smart people are without resources and opportunity. Unlike our white counterparts, who select neighborhoods (and friends and spouses and jobs) based on demographic factors like education, occupation, and/or wealth, we are bound together by our race and culture in a fairly segregated city.

Going home at the end of the day for many of us does not mean that we go to a place where people are "educated" like we are, because for many of us that would mean living in white neighborhoods. While we might strive for that environment at work, we go home to communities that are the mixed up product of the American urban experience - but are decidedly ours.

The article makes it clear that mainstream Americans still believe most black people to be poor, dumb and ghettoized by default. In their mind, Teisha Sargeant was an exceptions and perhaps should have been divorced from the community from whence she came. It does beg the question, one that W.E.B. DuBois did not answer...where are the talented tenth supposed to live, and with whom? How do we preserve our safety and our cultural integrity at the same time? Tough questions.