By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
After 40 years as an educator and 11 years following his retirement, Dan Boykin was still dishing out knowledge and guidance at Union City Middle School Wednesday.
Boykin, who taught for 27 years at UCMS and was the first African American principal there and at Eastside Elementary for 13 more, was a guest speaker at the middle school as a part of the school’s celebration of Black History Month. He also provided life lessons and encouragement to a student body that listened intently to a man who has the school gymnasium named in his honor.
“It doesn’t matter where you live or what color you are; you can achieve anything you want to,” Boykin said during a question-and-answer portion of his talk. “God makes us all the same, and we need to always consider that. Everybody has goodness in them.
“Decide what you want to be in life. All that’s required is proper nourishment of the mind and body. And without self-esteem, you can never accomplish anything. Be self-confident, have self-value, and self-purpose.
“Do not let others affect you negatively. Continue to follow your dreams. Don’t be afraid to fail, but when you set your mind to it, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
Boykin graduated from a school in Humboldt during a time of segregation. He gave a detailed history on Black History Month, noting how the current month-long celebration originated in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson and lasted just a week. President Gerald Ford signed BHM into law in 1976.
He also told how the 13th Amendment – signed by President Abraham Lincoln – abolished slavery. He additionally spoke of the 14th and 15th Amendments that granted citizenship and civil rights to African Americans while also giving them the right to vote.
“History is an ongoing thing. Always know your history. We’re a country of diversity, and we all are contributors. We are a melting pot of different people from different countries and cultures. All races contribute. Sometimes we take that for granted,” Boykin said.
“If you don’t know history, you are destined to repeat it.”
Boykin, who also was a highly successful coach at UCMS, admitted, “it warms my heart when I walk into this gymnasium because of how much time I spent in the building.”
He said black history was not part of education when he was growing up, though he did attend a historically black college on a basketball scholarship.
“In the ‘50s and ‘60s, things were different than they are today,” he recalled. “There were separate schools, separate churches, separate restrooms, separate restaurants, and even separate water fountains for blacks and whites.
“All that changed in 1964 with the Civil Right Act that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.”
Boykin told his audience he had several positive influences in his young life, including his mother and a handful of teachers.
“My father died when I was very young, so my mother served as both a mother and a father,” he claimed. “And my mother refused to let me feel sorry for myself. She had three rules. Love God. Do your best in school. And always be respectful to all adults.
“I had some teachers and coaches who were influences too. One taught me that I was important. Another demanded that I go to college. And my high school coach told me that hard work always pays off.”
Boykin has his own history to prove that.