Around 2006, a young man named Marques Vestal Jr. read a book called “Race Matters,” by the American philosopher Cornel West. Vestal was studying computer engineering at California State University, Northridge, but because of that book, he switched his major to African American studies. Because of that book, there’s a good chance Vestal will matter to a lot of people.
His girlfriend at the time attended UCLA and suggested he might be more challenged as a Bruin. By the fall of 2008, he had transferred, but was still a little lost.
“I knew that I wanted to live the life of the mind, I knew that I wanted to be an intellectual and I wanted to teach,” Vestal said. “I didn’t really know how to do that, but I knew I wanted to do it.”
It didn’t take him long to find his way ““ he was soon accepted to the McNair Research Scholars Program, a group of 26 juniors and seniors guided by graduate student mentors and encouraged to become agents of social change. He began developing a thesis about the history of the African American ghetto in South Central Los Angeles between World War II and the Watts Riots in 1965. Vestal himself has lived in L.A. most of his life ““ he spent two of his teenage years in South Central and lived for a time in West L.A., just off the 10 Freeway.
He will graduate this quarter and apply for doctorate programs in history in the fall. When he’s done, he will stay in the world of academics, teaching and engaging students on an intellectual level.
“He’s one of those students who … says things and people are often times just kind of in awe,” said Pedro Nava, Vestal’s mentor at the McNair Program. “He’s a really deep critical thinker, and I really believe that the sky is the limit for him.”