Abstract
In this 2025 interview, East Cleveland native and civic leader Mr. Donté Gibbs discusses his childhood, family dynamics, and the strong community networks that shaped his early life. He describes his educational experiences in the East Cleveland school system, his time at Case Western Reserve University, and the academic and social challenges that motivated his commitment to community-based work. Gibbs outlines his professional path through youth development, philanthropy, and institutional partnerships. He also details the creation and evolution of Dante’s Gift Express, emphasizing its focus on family-centered service, volunteer engagement, and large-scale holiday programming.
Loading...
Interviewee
Gibbs, Donté (interviewee)
Interviewer
Mays, Nicholas S. (interviewer)
Project
East Cleveland
Date
10-14-2025
Document Type
Oral History
Duration
106 minutes
Recommended Citation
"Donté Gibbs interview, 14 October 2025" (2025). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 757010.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1407
Transcript
Nick Mays [00:00:00] My name is Dr. Nicholas Mays, and today is October 14, 2025. We’re here in East Cleveland for the East Cleveland oral history Project. I am honored to be joined by Mr. Dante Gibbs, a proud East Cleveland native, Shaw High school graduate and civic leader who has spent his life building and giving back to his community. [00:00:24] Today will explore Mr. Gibbs journey from growing up in East Cleveland to his work in youth development, philanthropy, community leadership, and the values that continue to guide his mission.
Donté Gibbs [00:00:39] Man, that’s a lot.
Nick Mays [00:00:43] Mr. Gibbs, can we start by stating your name, age, and date of birth?
Donté Gibbs [00:00:49] Yes, Dante Gibbs. My age is 37. […] 1988.
Nick Mays [00:00:55] Okay, so we’re gonna start with your roots and upbringing in East Cleveland. Can you tell me about growing up in East Cleveland, starting from the beginning? Yeah.
Donté Gibbs [00:01:09] I mean, growing up at East Cleveland, man, it was really a time, like. Or. You know what I’m saying? It was definitely one of those moments where you think about what families or what neighborhoods are like today. And it’s totally different. Right. And so, you know, we walked to school. We knew who owned the corner store. [00:01:29] We knew the candy lady. Like, we knew all these folks that were really the fabric of the neighborhood. Right. And even though we were in this area of perceived lack, that lack is something that we didn’t really internalize. Right. Like, we were rich in relationships, community, sports, things that really brought the community together. [00:01:53] So I remember times of just going up to Forest Hill park and seeing the Shaw baseball, seeing them play baseball or, you know, feeding the ducks and things like that. And so really, that neighborhood feel and feeling safe was something I remember growing up. Did we do stuff we weren’t supposed to do? [00:02:13] Of course, you know your kids. Right. And so. But I remember, you know, growing up on Windermere, and this is something that I get into conversation a lot with folks because there’s the Windermere Rapid Station, and then there’s the actual street, Windermere, which is directly across from the library. And so at the bottom of that street is the East Cleveland Theater. [00:02:31] And so we remember. We remember, like, cars filling up our streets to go and enjoy plays. We remember getting kicked out of that parking lot because we were playing any bounce, kickball, curveball, like, all these things that we were able to utilize our street and be able to do. And so those are the memories that I hold on to for my childhood. [00:02:53] Being able to walk the streets without a phone. Right.
Nick Mays [00:02:55] So for those who don’t know what Any Bounce is. Can you explain?
Donté Gibbs [00:03:02] Yeah. So it’s like the baseball Bat and then you have a tennis ball, and you set up everyone as if you’re on the baseball field, but then, you know, you have a pitcher and you throw the ball, and if you hit the ball, if someone in the outfield catches the ball while it’s bouncing, then it’s their turn up at bat. [00:03:19] So it’s not really like a score or anything like that. It’s just another sort of pastime that we had, especially during the summertime.
Nick Mays [00:03:26] So fascinating. Can you. Can you talk about your kind of staying in your. Your childhood, your youth? Talk about your family, friends, and the community around you? You talk a little bit about your community, but your family and friends specifically?
Donté Gibbs [00:03:48] Yeah, family and friends was a very big part of growing up. When you hear the words or that phrase, you know, it takes a village, like, that’s something that I truly live. Like, my family is very close knit. We’re pretty much all within the same area between, like, East Cleveland and Glenville. Both sets of my grandparents resided in Glenville, and so we were always around each other. [00:04:10] And the home that I stayed in on Windermere was a two family house. And so my aunt owned the home, and she stayed upstairs and we stayed downstairs. And so it was easy to say like, okay, let me go upstairs and get some sugar if you ran out of sugar, or, you know, things like that. [00:04:25] But it allowed for us to grow up as brothers and sisters, like me and my cousins, to where we were always looking out for each other. We walked to school together. We were all in the same summer camp together. It was literally around like 13 of us as cousins that were not living in that same house, but just throughout the area of, you know, and we. [00:04:51] Our age range were within five years apart. So from my oldest, which was my oldest cousin in that age range, Candace, to my youngest cousin, that age range, which is Deondra. And so that’s across, like four separate families. And so I remember us, you know, piling up in a van to go to summer camp in Collingwood, going over to my grandmother’s house and spending the night there on the floor, putting a pallet on the floor and waking up to Saturday to breakfast or Saturday morning cartoons and things like that. [00:05:22] And so all of our time was mainly spent together, whether it was church, whether it was volunteering or going to Geauga Lake or, you know, ix indoor amusement park. My grandmother, my grandma fellow, she was very instrumental in sort of instilling what service means to us. And so as early as age 5 and 6, we were volunteering with her at the Hunger center, which was across from my childhood church faith tabernacle off Superior. [00:05:53] And so to have sort of this close knit family that’s based in faith and also service, it really sort of set the tone for who we will be today.
Nick Mays [00:06:04] What did you. That’s interesting because I grew up just like that. I grew up around, you know, 10, 15, because it was almost like we were brothers and sisters, were all growing up and sharing space at the, you know, at the same time. What did you learn about that dynamic later on in life? [00:06:25] Because, and I say that because for us it was like a natural, natural thing.
Donté Gibbs [00:06:32] Yeah.
Nick Mays [00:06:33] But then as I, you know, as I became an adult, this wasn’t a traditional, this is not a traditional family dynamic.
Donté Gibbs [00:06:42] It’s not. It’s funny you say that because I joke with several friends now and just saying, like they say I’m cousins with everyone in the whole city, right? It’s like I’m literally still finding out new cousins to this day. Like I found I have a new cousin last year and I’m just like, where have you been all my life? [00:07:00] But it’s something that I realize is not traditional or, you know, quote unquote normal because I would say, well, where’s your cousins? Or like, do you and your cousins do this? And they’re like, no, it’s like, it’s just us, like, you know, very small families. And I’m just like, wow, what my childhood was, what I thought was what everyone was experiencing is totally different. [00:07:24] And so how do I sort of share that love and that close knit with friends and things of that sort? And so that just allowed for a lot of my close friends, we just kind of fold them into the family, right? So they’re just like family. They’re there to celebrate in our achievements and sad moments. [00:07:43] And, and so they have been also a pillar to add to that close knit of where my cousins were. Right. You learn how to negotiate because, you know, everyone is sort of fighting for a space or the last piece of Pisa or something like that, right? You learn what it means to really be your brother’s keeper in a sense. [00:08:08] Like, you know, what it means to look out for each other. Me and my cousin Ashley, who we are the same age, but we were attending Superior and we were in the same classroom and folks didn’t know we were cousins. And so she was getting in trouble and I stood up for her and we were getting ready to fight. [00:08:27] I’m like, if you gonna put your hands on my cousin, then we about to Put hands on you. Right. And so. But that’s something that we were always taught to, like, look out for each other and really be there for each other. And so that’s a lesson that I take with me to this day in terms of being there. [00:08:46] But also, what does that support look like physically, emotionally, and spiritually? Wow.
Nick Mays [00:08:51] Thank you for that. It’s definitely unique to the black family, the black experience. And that’s one of the things when I’m teaching African American history. Right. You know, I talk about community in the black community, because of external forces, whether it was slavery or whether Jim Crow or other socioeconomic factors, they had to build communities where grandma lived right here, Auntie lived right around the corner, other uncle lived two streets down. [00:09:23] And that’s not for the black family. That’s not a recent phenomenon, but that’s something that they were forced to do in order to support each other because of the lack of institutions, especially coming up, of slavery. So that’s. That’s. Thanks for sharing that.
Donté Gibbs [00:09:38] Yeah, yeah. And. And even just add to that, I think that’s why there’s such this deep, deep love for. For Shaw High School, Right. If you talk to any Shaw alum, like, you’re gonna know they’re from Shaw, right? You’re gonna know they’re from East Cleveland. And it’s something that’s not. I wouldn’t say, like, learned, but it’s just something that’s just in us. [00:09:59] Right? And so it’s this sort of inherent behavior and. And sense of pride to where we’re all here together, but we’re never going to lack in terms of what it means to be there together. Right. And so I think about my teachers at Shaw, even the ones that I’m still in touch with to this day. [00:10:17] I’m still in touch with my sixth grade teacher, like, Mrs. Finch, and I’m like, these are the relationships and mentorship that has really shaped a lot of us throughout East Cleveland to where this is what it means to be from East Cleveland. This is what it means to defy the odds when no one thought that we would graduate, no one thought that we would go on to trade school or open up our own businesses or go to college, let alone a school like Case Western Reserve, which seems so far away, but is literally right there. [00:10:47] These are the moments that I sort of reflect on in terms of why Shaw is such a special place.
Nick Mays [00:10:53] And we’re gonna get there.
Donté Gibbs [00:10:54] Okay?
Nick Mays [00:10:55] I promise you.
Donté Gibbs [00:10:55] Gotcha.
Nick Mays [00:10:56] Thank you. Thank you for that. But I want to get out of. I Want to get out of youth, experience in early life. So what be. We’ll talk about Shaw, but what schools did you attend growing up in East Cleveland?
Donté Gibbs [00:11:13] Yes, I went to Superior Elementary, Kirk Middle School, and Shaw.
Nick Mays [00:11:17] Okay, so Shaw High School is. Is a. Is a big part of the East Cleveland story. What was your experience there, and how did it shape you? Right. 9th through 12th?
Donté Gibbs [00:11:36] Yeah. So funny enough, I wasn’t even supposed to go to Shaw, Right. My mom wanted me to go to a different school. Right. So when I was at Kirk in the eighth grade, I was in an honors program. And so it’s just like, okay, Donte is smart, so like, let’s be able to provide him with resources and things that I help to continue that path. And so I remember going to Horizon Science Academy for the first day. I think they started on a Thursday, and Shaw started on a Friday. So in the process of, like, moving our records and stuff like that, I went to Horizon, and I was just like, mm, this is nice. But I’m like, this isn’t me. [00:12:14] You know what I’m saying? This ain’t me. Then the next day, I go to Shaw, and, like, my brother was a senior, so I remember, you know, being able to see all his friends. I remember seeing friends that I went to school with, and it just felt like home. It felt like a family. [00:12:28] It felt like this is something I could do. Because, you know, going to high school may be daunting for some folks, but this felt like just a natural progression to where I knew I would have the support that I needed. So the next part was being able to convince my parents that I would do well at Shaw. [00:12:45] And, you know, so promise to keep my grades up, promise not to get in trouble. If I got in trouble, my brother would take care of that, right? He either keep me out of trouble or not. And so I think I held up that bargain because I graduated as valedictorian in 2006.
Nick Mays [00:13:01] Congratulations.
Donté Gibbs [00:13:03] Appreciate it. But that’s what sort of my experience at Shaw was really just kind of like this coming of age, right? And so I played baseball for Shaw, and then realizing that sports was always sort of viewed as this path out of the hood, right? Or this way to sort of take care of your family, right? [00:13:27] Mainly basketball. So I was already kind of defying that a little bit by playing baseball and really being interested in baseball. But I also said that I didn’t want to go to whatever school I chose, so I didn’t want to go on a sports scholarship. I wanted to go on an academic scholarship. [00:13:41] Because I remember attending my Brother’s graduation in 2003 from Shaw High School, and it was a guy named. I think his name was Mike, and my brother’s name is Mike, but he was graduating as valedictorian. He gave his speech. I remember looking over to my mom and my mom saying, like, that should be you when you graduate. [00:14:02] And I don’t even think I’ve even said that out loud to this time. Like, just planting that seed in me was sort of like the path of growth for me to be able to do that, to say, like, look, mom, you said I could do this, and I did it right? So there’s always that sense of making your mom proud. [00:14:20] But it was something in me that said that I also wanted to, you know, do something different in a way that’s not typical. And that’s why I wanted to make sure I was going to higher ed on an academic scholarship versus a sports scholarship.
Nick Mays [00:14:35] Looking back now, how do you think your four years or your years at Shaw kind of shaped you as a person, an individual, a professional? And then, you know, what mentors did you have at Shaw?
Donté Gibbs [00:14:58] Yeah, I mean, Shaw shaped me in this way of being able to make do with what you have. Right. You know, we didn’t have, you know, the latest computers or, you know, the new textbooks. Right. I mean, some textbooks, you can look and say, like, oh, dang, like, my Cousin went here 10 years ago, and here’s his name, or here’s her name right in the book. [00:15:19] But that’s where I feel the relationships and the mentorship from some of the teachers and coaches sort of stepped in. So I think about, you know, Ms. You or Ms. Yaragady Eiler, Ms. Moore. I think about some of the coaches, like Coach Coleman, folks, that I didn’t even have them as a teacher or a class, but they were still there in the hallways. [00:15:44] They were still there talking about your family. Because my family matriculated through Shaw High School. And so it was sort of that line of legacy that you had to measure up to as well, too. And they made sure that you did. They made sure that you weren’t in the hallways too, too long. [00:16:03] Right. It’s like, get the class and things like that. But for me, the original Shaw, it was really set up like a college campus. And that’s something that I wish, like, the new students had to experience. You know, Corb Lounge, the courtyard, Corb pool. So we had to learn how to swim. That was a requirement for us to graduate. [00:16:23] And so being able to have these different experiences, whether it’s sports, whether it’s swimming, or being able to go from class to class and making sure you’re there on time. It was something that really instilled the sense of what it means to be punctual. Consequences around that, but then also a network of folks to be able to help you. [00:16:50] Right. And so if someone took this class and you were having trouble in it, I knew there were folks that I can go to to sort of get that help if it wasn’t a teacher.
Nick Mays [00:16:59] Wow, thank you. I want to kind of pivot here. I had this question for later on, but I’ll just ask it now since we’re talking about Shaw. So we met at the 2025 Shaw reunion. My first time ever, you know, ever attending the event. And from the external perspective, from the outside, looking at someone who’s not from East Cleveland or didn’t grow up in East Cleveland, this event. [00:17:33] And I heard about it, but what I saw.
Donté Gibbs [00:17:35] I know you did.
Nick Mays [00:17:36] Yeah. Like, I heard about the Shah reunion, but when I encountered was kind of different than what I imagined it was. You know, what I would tell what I’ve been telling people. So it’s just this, like. It’s more like an event, but like an entity. It was a phenomenon. It was very interesting. [00:18:00] It was intergenerational music, love, culture, representation of Shaw, you know, the different classes.
Donté Gibbs [00:18:12] Yeah.
Nick Mays [00:18:13] Food, you know, it was just, it was a. It was a beautiful thing. I’ve been, I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around it. I’ve been trying to grapple, you know, with, with the, the Shaw Union and the. Just the, the entity. It came, the event. It’s like a holiday. It’s, it’s. It’s big. [00:18:37] It’s. Right. Can you, can you speak to why Shaw. The Shaw reunion is important to the East Cleveland community. Even for those who don’t graduate from Shaw.
Donté Gibbs [00:18:50] I mean, it truly is a holiday, Right. I mean, it’s tied to Labor Day weekend, right? Oh, yeah. Labor Day is Saturn, so it’s tied to Labor Day weekend. And it’s just something that you just know about. Right. Sometimes it goes. It’s a three to five day celebration in some instances because depending on your class and what year you’re graduating, you’re celebrating a milestone. [00:19:13] My class is going to be celebrating 20 years next year. And that’s crazy to me to think about. It’s been 20 years since high school. But the reunion allows for everyone to really come together and everyone is on, I would say sort of like equal playing Field, Right. It’s a place of love, it’s a place of respect. [00:19:36] It’s a place of camaraderie, joy and fun. Right? This is something that we’re able to call our own and be able to do and be able to enjoy each other when there are so many external forces saying what we don’t deserve, what we can’t have. And we’re often forgotten. But in that moment, no one is forgotten when they show up to Shaw High School reunion.
Nick Mays [00:20:01] Wow. All right, who raised you?
Donté Gibbs [00:20:07] The streets? No, just playing.
Nick Mays [00:20:14] Maybe I should have communicated that, articulated that question better. Were you raised by your parents, your grandparents? A little bit of both.
Donté Gibbs [00:20:25] I mean, it’s. When I talk about that village mindset, it’s. I mean, we raised ourselves in a sense as well, too. You know, my mom was at work, my dad wasn’t always in the home. And so I think in sociology, it’s the term like, latchkey kid, where, you know, you leave school, you come home, you call your parent or your guardian and say, like, I’m home. [00:20:50] And then there’s like two to three hours before they get there. And so you got chores, you got homework, and then oftentimes you’re getting dinner started, you know, or not, if you forgot to take the chicken out the freezer, right? So there have been plenty of times where I’m trying to rush. I’m like, I can’t rush defrosting the meat. [00:21:08] But like. But it’s those sort of things that help sort of like raise us, right? So my parents, my grandparents, there were times we spent time there, especially around the summertime, if, you know, when you’re kind of in that in between age where you. You’re kind of too old for like the typical summer camp, but you’re not old enough to like, have a job, send them to grandmas, right? [00:21:35] So grandma was a part of that. My aunts, my older cousins. And so our neighbors would, like, look out for us as well, too. Maybe too much. Like that was a little annoying at times. But I’m like, you ain’t gotta tell my mom everything, right?
Nick Mays [00:21:51] And so. So I wanted to preface this, the following question with the last question. You’ve mentioned your grandmother in our kind of pre discussion. Also, there’s an article on you in the East Clevelander. You’re on the front page and everything. And you talk about your grandmother there as well. Can you talk about your grandmother and the powerful influence that she has on you?
Donté Gibbs [00:22:44] Yeah, it’s. It’s hard to put into Words like sort of what she meant to and still means to our family in terms of, you know, just her grace, her sense of class, her leadership for the family, you know, being a matriarch, you know, coming up from Georgia and moving to Cleveland and settling in Glenville and raising four kids and then raising, you know, the grandchildren and things of that sort. [00:23:19] And so her sort of presence and aura was always felt. I remember we used to joke because she would say, you know, she’s gonna iron the bed sheets or iron the curtains. I’m like, why are you gonna iron the bed sheets? They just gonna get wrinkled anyway. But, like, this was her sense of how you are presentable, right. [00:23:41] And how you are in order. Because her experience was, you know, being able to cook, clean for, you know, white folks during that time, to be able to make a living. And so what she learned in that space is what was her lived experience, Right? And that’s all she was able to share with us. [00:24:00] And not all in terms of, like, that’s it, but like just that wealth of knowledge, that wealth of experience. What it means to. To be black in America, black in Cleveland. What does it mean to be a black man in Cleveland? Right. These are. I remember my mom will always say, you know, as a black man, you have to work twice as hard as a kid. [00:24:21] You’re like, I’m just trying to, like, play any bounce. I’m just trying to play basketball with my friends and make sure I’m in by the street lights. But what does that mean? And it wasn’t until I got to case and got beyond case to where I really understood what that phrase meant. That was something that was just said frequently, but, you know, with some intention, I imagine. [00:24:45] And so those. That. That’s. That stems from my grandmother, right? And so for her to be able to share her lived experience, for her to be able to introduce service to us, to introduce faith to us, religion as a. As a place of refuge and a way to sort of shape our own moral compass is something that we still hold on to this day. [00:25:09] And what I hold on to. And so as I think about Gift express and I think about all these community things that I do, it points back to her. It points back to my Grandma Gibbs, who was a lunch aide in Glenville for some of the schools and her experience with working with students and families to just to ensure that they were eating every day.
Nick Mays [00:25:29] You know, can you. You said something about introducing. Introducing you to service. But before that, can you share the name of your grandmother?
Donté Gibbs [00:25:44] Yeah, yeah, Betty Ruth Fellows and then Jessie Mae Gibbs.
Nick Mays [00:25:48] Okay.
Donté Gibbs [00:25:49] I don’t know why I said they whole name like that. It just feel like it’s right.
Nick Mays [00:25:54] The initial, when you first respond, began responding. You were talking about Betty Ruth. Betty. Betty Ruth. Okay. You said she introduced service or taught you about service. Can you. Can you unpack that a little bit for me?
Donté Gibbs [00:26:17] Yeah. And so. And this was through the church, Right. And so through church, we would, you know, volunteer at different local shelters. We would put together Christmas gifts for families. Like, we would take our old shoe boxes and we would fill it up with, like, toiletries or toys and games, and we would wrap those up and take those to shelters. [00:26:41] There was another church directly across the street from us, and they had a food pantry, which we called the Hunger Center. And so on the weekends we would go there and we would pack bags of food for families and for ourselves, too. So. But that was a way that we were able to learn what it means to be viewed as without, but then also being of service to folks like us. [00:27:10] Right. And so never putting ourselves above, never putting ourselves below, but we’re right alongside folks as well.
Nick Mays [00:27:16] Wow, I never heard it like that. And then let’s give Grandma Gibbs some. What did Grandma Gibbs teach you growing up about life and service?
Donté Gibbs [00:27:26] Yeah. So her house was the fun house in terms of the grandma’s, because that was my dad’s side. You know how sometimes they say, like, oh, your dad’s side of your family is the funniest, but it was true in this sense. And they were literally a street over from each other. And so Grandma Gibbs was one that was able to allow us to kind of explore the city. [00:27:47] And so I remember catching a bus from 105 to go to Euclid Square Mall, and, you know, just being able to walk around the mall, get some curly fries from the Arby’s that used to be there. Like, that was the experience of Grandma Gibbs. Right. You know, not afraid of anything. Right. And being able to teach us how to catch the bus, teach us where to go, and really teach us how to take care of ourselves. [00:28:16] There was a garden at the end of her street that her and her daughter, my Auntie Jan, was very involved with. So that’s where I sort of got, you know, more of a community feel in terms of exploring the city and not being afraid of it, but being a part of it, learning it, living in it, and not trying to shy away from it. [00:28:38] You know, not trying to say, I want to build home somewhere else. Like, this is home.
Nick Mays [00:28:44] Wow. Thank you. And thank you for sharing your experience with your grandmothers with us. So I want to pivot. I want to talk about education. So you graduate from. From Shaw. What year did you graduate from?
Donté Gibbs [00:28:59] 2006.
Nick Mays [00:28:59] So from 2006. In 2006, you graduated from Shaw. Can you talk about your educational career from undergrad to grad school, your majors, and why you majored?
Donté Gibbs [00:29:15] Yeah. Yeah. So graduating from Shaw, I had in my mind that I wanted to be a doctor, maybe a pediatrician. I knew I enjoy working with young people. I did tutoring programs at the Civic center or the civ in East Cleveland. I volunteered with, like, Boy Scouts and things like that. And so the medical field was something I was exposed to with my mom being a lab technician. [00:29:41] So all my science projects were, like, petri dish experiments and all that type of stuff. And so when I got to Case, it was still undecided, but on the pre med track, Huron Hospital. I remember working with Dr. Reedus. I did a summer internship there on my way to Case, just to kind of get a feel of, you know, what it would. [00:30:03] What it would take to be a pediatrician. I took chemistry 105. And things change, my boy. I said, I really didn’t like science this much. Right. You know, and so I was really trying to figure out where were my interests, that I knew it was community. I knew it was young people. What career is that? [00:30:27] I didn’t necessarily want to be a teacher because I knew I just didn’t want to grade papers and stuff like that. No offense to professors and things of that sort.
Nick Mays [00:30:35] Thank you.
Donté Gibbs [00:30:36] But we all play a role. And I’m like, I don’t know if that’s the role. Right. I’m a teacher in a lot of ways. Right. And so I wanted to sort of explore all these different classes at Case. And so my first two years was undecided, but I took a course in sociology, and I was just like, okay, this is kind of the study of, like, how humans interact with the world. [00:30:59] And then I took a course called Urban Sociology. And they were talking about, you know, sprawl, disinvestment, population loss. And I’m like, this is literally East Cleveland in a textbook, or Cleveland in general. And so this was something I was able to read about and apply it to a real world that was literally two different worlds that are literally three minutes apart. [00:31:22] Right. And that was just really fascinating to me to try to dig deeper. And so after I went through my whole chemistry 105 and dropping that class and declaring my Major in sociology. Then I had to take statistics. And I’m just like, here we go with this math. And so Case was tough in this sense because it’s a culture shock. [00:31:51] You go from East Cleveland, that’s all black Cleveland, that’s majority black on the east side. And you have Case that’s sort of like this bubble within the bubble of university circle. And my roommate is white. I have another roommate that was from Sydney, Australia. And I’m just like, you came from there to here. [00:32:09] Like, why? And so it really allowed me to zoom out and see this value and what case is and what case means globally or internationally in terms of this amazing school. And so that allowed me to say, okay, how do I embrace this journey a little more? During that embrace, I failed my first class ever in life. [00:32:32] And that was, like, detrimental to me because, you know, I’m the valedictorian. Like, I don’t fail classes, right? But at Case, everyone was the valedictorian. They came from far better school districts or better, in a sense, of better resourced, right? I remember my freshman year, I didn’t know what ipod was. I didn’t know I didn’t have a laptop to my name. [00:32:56] I had to call my uncle in Chicago and say, like, uncle Ronnie? Like, I need some stuff for school. I need a laptop. I need this. I said, I got a gift card, and it says itunes. And I’m like, what’s itunes? And he was like, oh, it’s an ipod. So he sent me his old one. [00:33:11] He sent me his old laptop. And then I was able to feel like, okay, I’m starting to belong in this space because I have these things, right? But outside of those material things, I had to dig deep because after failing statistics, I was placed on academic probation. So remember I say I was priding myself on being here on an academic scholarship. [00:33:36] What if I don’t graduate on time? Like, how is that gonna look for my family? What do I tell my family? What do I tell my friends? Because everyone is already saying, oh, yeah, you’re gonna go to college, but you’re not gonna graduate in four years. Like, you may graduate in five or six. [00:33:48] And I’m like, I don’t want that to be my story, right? I don’t want that just because someone says that. Like, I don’t have to internalize that. And so I really had to dig deep. In my senior year, I was taking 18 credits, but both semesters just to try to, like, catch up and to graduate on time because I felt it was really Important to show that someone like me can come from East Cleveland, can go to a school like Case, and can graduate on time and then also further that education and get my master’s.
Nick Mays [00:34:21] You graduated undergrad with a degree in sociology?
Donté Gibbs [00:34:26] Yep. Yep. So Bachelor of arts in Sociology, 2010.
Nick Mays [00:34:30] Did you matriculate in to in case your master’s or where did you do your masters?
Donté Gibbs [00:34:36] Yep. I stayed at Case. I was doing the urban development field, so I wanted to do, like, community social development. And I think if I would have went to csu, I would have take the GRE or something like that. If I would have stayed at Case, I didn’t have to take it. So one less test, I’m going to just stay at Case, pile on the student loans. [00:34:54] They already there.
Nick Mays [00:34:58] What was your program?
Donté Gibbs [00:34:59] It wa
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
