I’ve reached the next stage of being a professional writer — teaching at a university

OPINION: As they say: Each one, teach one. And that’s my next mandate in life — to kick the truth to the next generation by teaching a class on writing. 

Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

As of the publishing of this piece, I will be beginning the journey of another chapter of a book I never could have imagined; I am now an adjunct professor in the journalism program at an institution of higher education in Washington, D.C. To know me is to know exactly which institution I’m speaking of because there are only a handful in this area that I’d be willing to provide services to. And you know I’m team historically Black college and universities, all day long. 

When Liz Burr — the co-founder of Very Smart Brothas and the person who basically convinced me to start blogging in the first place — turned me onto blogging, I genuinely never thought I’d be in this place. For starters, when I wrote my first blog post, I was a year into my fancy new government job, one that I would have for the next 14 years. Shoot, I wasn’t sure I’d write another blog post after that first one, but I did and then I wrote hundreds more. Then Liz, Damon Young and I would go on to found Very Smart Brothas and eventually turn that into an actual career. Writing as a career was something I genuinely never saw coming, either. Blogging was fun and it allowed me an outlet to write down my most ridiculous thoughts and give them air to breathe. I’d work out all types of ideas I had by blogging, and who knew that decision would lead me to spaces I didn’t even know existed. 

I’ve had a chance to do almost everything because of writing, and now I have the opportunity to teach and give back to my community. You have no idea how wild that idea is to me. I’ve taught before; while in college, it was pretty common for me to set up shop on the second floor of Brazeal Hall and literally reteach the statistics class from earlier in the day to those who needed some extra help. I did the same with my economics courses. Folks would knock on my homies’ doors to find out if I was around or reteaching the classes that day. True story. I taught statistics and economics in a summer program for minority students for many years. But I’ve never had the chance to teach a full, semester-long class on writing. Sure, I’ve taught master classes and writing workshops, but I had to build out a syllabus for this class and what a welcome challenge that has been. 

There’s something really fulfilling about getting the opportunity to teach. For one, I get to see if I know my stuff as well as I think I do. I’ve made a living out of writing at this point in my life so it will be interesting to see if the myriad lessons I’ve learned about how to write and how to build a brand and audience will translate to a new generation that lives largely on their phones watching videos. Granted, I’m lecturing in the journalism department so everybody there will be interested in writing, but you never know how good you are at something until you get the chance. 

I have faith in myself so I’m not too worried, but this is a challenge that I’m walking into with some nerves only because, well, teaching isn’t for everybody. I think it’s for me, so I guess we’ll see. 

I have to say, it feels cool to bring this goal of mine to fruition. Over the past few years, I’ve publicly mentioned wanting to teach and somehow I wasn’t able to make it happen, but everything happens in its time, and now, I have an opportunity that I’ve wanted before me. “Mama, I made it” doesn’t seem to quite fit here, but it’s in the neighborhood of how I feel, which is pretty good for a cat who literally started a blog on a whim on my 25th birthday who has leveled that up into a career, a lifestyle, opportunities and an identity. 

Not too shabby, P.J. Not too shabby.

Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio. He writes very Black things and drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest), but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said: “Unknown” (Blackest).

Make sure you check out the Dear Culture podcast every Thursday on theGrio’s Black Podcast Network, where I’ll be hosting some of the Blackest conversations known to humankind. You might not leave the convo with an afro, but you’ll definitely be looking for your Afro Sheen! Listen to Dear Culture on TheGrio’s app; download it here.

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