[Image description: Tweet thread from @KendraJames_, September 8, 2017:

It’s #StarTrekDay, and I can’t begin to express how much Sisko and DS9 meant to me as a kid. Not gonna try, I’ll just repeat my fave story.

I got into basically every college I applied to, and when it came down to it I was choosing between Oberlin, Pitze, and I think Occidental.

I was leaning heavily on Pitzer, which seemed like Oberlin with better weather. My parents didn’t want me to to to LA.

(LOL JOKE’S ON THEM TUESDAY WHEN I MOVE THERE ANYWAY, AIN’T IT?)

ANYWAY. I was scrolling Wikipedia in my dorm room onenight trying to look for facts that would convince them to let me go to Pitzer.

I got to the Oberlin page, basically looking for dir, and scrolled down to the “famous alumni” section and say Avery Brooks’ name.

I think it was like 10min later I called my parents and said “I’ll be okay with going to Oberlin, Sisko went there, write the check pls.”

My logic was that, as a famous alum, he’d probably come back and maybe I’d get to meet him.

And my logic panned out– Avery Brooks came back twice. Once to do Death of a Salesman. It was a amazing.

He worked with the AfAm Studies and Theatre departments, and came back a second time to give a lecture during my senior year.

I met him the first time and cried (A lot) while trying to explain what he and Sisko meant to me.

He said, “I know. This is why I did it– so *you* could watch it.” Then I cried some more.

My favourite Avery Brooks quote is from one of his Oberlin talks: “Brown children must be able to participate in contemporary mythology.”]