Hip hop preacher Eric Thomas asked the students of Prairie View A&M University, “what would your life look like if you gave everything,” during a Students Participating in Transcending Knowledge lecture Nov 13.
According to Thomas, it is the mentality of the current generation that needs to change for them to achieve success.
He believes the common mentality is apathy and that this generation has no bite, no work ethic and feels entitled.
Thomas also defined success as developing new skills and having the ability to communicate with an array of people outside of your environment.
He emphasized that some minority students have a hard time adjusting to the college environment because they were not exposed to academic culture. Thomas explained most of these students are “first generation college students with no road map for college, and had to find their own way.”
He was one of those students. Thomas left high school at the age of 16, but thanks to the influence of his future wife and a pastor he received his GED and began his college education.
The hip hop preacher believes his message “brings hope and a familiar voice to young people,” and his delivery method “speaks directly to them.”
Thomas said, “Reality is a hourglass that runs out, and time is the only thing you can’t get back.”
He also took the time to urge students to “use what you have to build, not tear down the community.”
Thomas’ message was part hip hop verse, part sermon, however; as he so fittingly stated “knowledge is not power, applied knowledge is.”