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34
“LELAND IS A HUMAN PARADOX,
A CONTRADICTION OF SORTS, IF
YOU WILL. HIS SUCCESS TRULY IS
A TESTAMENT TO UNWAVERING
WILL AND DISCIPLINE, AND
EXCELLENCE.”
m
A political science ma-
jor from Baltimore,
MD, Shelton entered
# V Morehouse College at
the ripe age of 17. Although
his best subjects in high school
were math and science, in
trigued by civics and the way
government works, he chose to
major in political science so that
one day he may pursue a ca
reer in advocacy and politics.
This May, Shelton will be the first
of his family to graduate from
college boasting a 3.95 GPA
- not to mention he was ac
cepted in to all but one of the
law schools he applied to. Out
of those schools, he has chosen
to attend Harvard Law.
During his time at More
house, however, he has been
an active member of NAACP
for the past four years and has
served as this year's President.
Probably his most recognizable
achievement came this past
year when inducted into Phi
Alpha Delta Pre Law Fraternity,
Inc., an invitation only fraternity,
and the Phi Beta Kappa Society
in his junior year at Morehouse
College.
Despite his many ac
complishments, Leland wasn’t
always proud of his life and, to
most, his upbringing didn’t war
rant acceptance into Harvard
Law.
“[James] Baldwin said
that we were ‘born into a soci
ety that spelled out with brutal
clarity, and in as many ways as
possible, that we were worth
less,’ but Leland has failed, in
magnificent fashion, to con
cede, to submit to any such
predetermined limitations,”
Nate Nesbitt, a senior philoso
phy major at Morehouse said.
“He’s radically defied a seem
ingly insuperable reality. He isn’t
supposed to be here, yet, here
he stands and rightfully so, laud
ed by men of ‘superior’ stock
and ‘preferred’ upbringing, of
wealth and class, entitlement
and leisure. For this, Leland is
a human paradox, a contra
diction of sorts, if you will. His
success truly is a testament to
unwavering will and discipline,
and excellence."
Many people see the
scholar Leland has become
today, but very few know that
he spent many years of his life
in foster care. He lived with his
parents for only a few years.
While his father was in and out
of his life, his mother lived in
shelters and substance houses
with Leland, while on drugs until
he was 4. His grandmother, then
in her 60s, made the decision to
take Leland and his five siblings
from his mother.
This resulted in him be
coming a ward of the state at
the age of 4 under his grand
mother’s custody until his fresh
men year in high school.
“I was a ward of the
state, but the state never asked
about me or how I was doing,"
Shelton said. "Had my grand
mother been a terrible parent
and been neglecting me, they
would have never found out,
but luckily, for me, my grand
mother became a licensed
foster care mother to be able
to take care of my older sisters
and brothers.”
While he has been in the
child services system since the
age of 4, it wasn’t until he was
14 years old that he received
“fostercare”.
Even under his grand
mother’s care, things didn’t
always go smoothly for Leland
and his family. Although Leland
admits they didn't have much,
he says his grandmother and
grandfather always gave him
what they had and what he
needed.
As I sat down with Le
land, he shared memories of his
grandfather coming in every
Friday with crates of ice cream
and all the neighborhood chil
dren flocking to their home. For
Leland, that seemed like the
coolest job. He also spoke of his
spiritual background and the
morale lessons that his grand
parents instilled within him.
His grandmother was the
first ordained female minister
at the church in which they
grew up. This led her to starting
her own church, but she got
cancer and became too sick
to oversee it. It was from her
that he learned of sacrifice and
discipline. Often when he got in
trouble, his grandmother would
pull books from her extensive
library and have Leland read -
be it an encyclopedia, the Bible
or the dictionary. This, he claims,
created a thirst for knowledge
within him.
In terms of his relation
ship with his mother, as a child,
Leland found himself denying
her substance abuse. As he got
older, he came to terms with it,
but decided to never get mad
or blame his parents. Now a
young adult, he realizes that
they don’t have control over
themselves.