America is Everyone’s Oyster

Bea Gyimah, founder of the America, My Oyster Association (AMOA) was named the Greater Capital Area Champion and received the 2022 Champions of Service Award recognizing outstanding volunteers across the state. She received these accolades for her work with her nonprofit organization.

“I was honored to be recognized and excited be able to receive this award for the fact that I am a huge advocate for volunteerism. To me, the award meant knowing that my desire to help others understand themselves, their purpose, and that they have the power to make someone’s everyday life better in Louisiana and in America, was recognized,” she says.

Gyimah (2004 BACH H&SS) is recognized for her efforts to positively impact the lives of Louisiana’s students in a variety of meaningful ways. From producing a documentary series on the Class of 2020 to implementing a community-wide youth empowerment online certification program, AMOA seeks to inspire youth to become tomorrow’s leaders. “The award meant that other people, businesses, and organizations see the mission of AMOA. They recognize the work we are doing, the purpose of this work, and how it could change the lives not only of those in Baton Rouge but the lives of people across America. So, to be recognized within this capacity was a tremendous feeling,” she says.

The AMOA’s mission is dedicated to promoting multicultural awareness and understanding the diversity of individuals, communities, and cultures throughout America. “What we emphasize at the AMOA is that the word, America is your oyster. One of our components is education. We are advocates for higher and secondary education and multicultural education,” says Gyimah, an English and African American literature professor at Baton Rouge Community College.

Her volunteer service through the East Baton Rouge Parish Library led to the creation of the interactive program “Building a Better America Today,” a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) course available to the Baton Rouge community.

“We launched ‘Building a Better America Today with AMOA’ then had the second ‘Building a Better America with AMOA.’ We emphasize that participants are the future leaders of tomorrow. If they want to be leaders in their prospective fields, they start cultivating that role by having a foundation in DEI,” says Gyimah. “The program is also a great way to augment resumes. It was taught through LinkedIn learning and Udemy and brought to participants by the library. The classes were free; participants only needed an active library card. The program was recognized two years in row by Gov. John Bel Edwards and Mayor Sharon Weston Broome and honored this year for the first time by Volunteer Louisiana.”

As founder and leader of the organization, Gyimah recognizes that its success relies on the collaborative efforts of its members. “I have to say, AMOA is bigger than Bea Gyimah. I’m just one person. It is a collaborative effort of board of director members and AMOA supporters and volunteers. That is the mission – to utilize our collaborative efforts to recognize the diverse histories, the various struggles, and to celebrate the victories of all individuals of America,” she says.

Gyimah believes that with knowledge of multiculturalism and an empathetic understanding of multiculturalism, individuals can use the strengths of their diversities to create a better tomorrow. And, she believes that to create a better tomorrow, everyone must learn how to share compassion, which to her means giving what she has to others without expecting anything in return.

“I believe that what you can contribute to the lives of others is often what you don’t get paid for. There are so many more rewards in life other than those I get paid for. The reward of being able to see someone benefiting, making someone’s life brighter and better, no matter how small it is or if it’s relatively big,” says Gyimah. “Knowing that I was able to do something that may have changed the trajectory of someone’s life for the better, cause them to feel a sense of self-empowerment, allow them to realize their purpose or that they need to improve on how they view and interact with others. If that helps them live a better life or motivates them to see something in themselves that they didn’t see, but I was able to see within them through their volunteering with AMOA, then it’s all worth it.”

Founded in 2016 by Gyimah, multicultural educators, and diversity consultants, AMAO serves as a cultural resource for individuals exploring, voicing, and appreciating the multiculturalism of the American experience.

“The purpose of the organization is to preserve diverse histories, recognize diverse struggles, and celebrate the victories of all individuals in America. I wanted to bring together not only those who are from America but also those who immigrate to America,” she says. “We believe there are clear obstacles that perpetually pervade American life and culture, but we also believe with hard work, tenacity, perseverance, empathy, integrity, and resiliency you can become whoever it is you seek to become in America. We believe America is a land of opportunity and the proverbial oyster represents life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

“My America, Your America, Our America Writers,” Gyimah’s studentbased writers’ group project that published two editions of a Race and Ethnic Studies journal, inspired the creation of AMOA. The writing project transpired when Gyimah had the idea for her students to write an ethnic autobiography.

“An ethnic autobiography is one in which the students talk about themselves and about having a level of awareness of themselves through how others view them. I linked it to W.E.B. Du Bois' concept of double consciousness and made it crosscultural. This double consciousness is the awareness of who you are and of how others seek to define you, so you must decide which awareness and mentality you will allow to dictate your life,” says Gyimah. “I made this relevant for the students by telling them that no matter who you are, you will in some way be discriminated against. No one is free from being misjudged, mislabeled, mishandled, or mistreated; but your power lies in what you do as a result. That led to the publishing of the race and ethnic journal.”

The project revealed to students the idea of utilizing double consciousness to create their own beautiful America, an idea central to Gyimah and her organization. It is her mission to teach individuals how to achieve their own beautiful America.

“I wanted students to realize that no matter who you are, where you’re from, what you have or don’t have, who or who doesn’t support you, America is still beautiful but only as beautiful as you make it. I wanted them to ask themselves, what they could do within their power and resources to make America better for someone else or for future generations,” says Gyimah. “That is how the journal came about. It was published in 2013 and 2015 and is in several libraries in Baton Rouge as well as the Library of Congress.”

Gyimah joined the Baton Rouge Community College faculty after earning a master’s degree from Texas A&M. “I was hired right out of graduate school for a teaching position at BRCC. The students enjoyed the way I taught the material. I made it resonate with

By Steve Neumann