Nursing student celebrates his Lumbee Tribe roots as he works toward a degree at Guilford Technical Community College
Published on: November 5, 2024
Brandon Locklear cannot remember a time when he wasn’t proud of his Lumbee Tribe heritage.
“I would always bring it up at school,” said Locklear, who grew up in Greensboro. “When we started doing cultural days, I would always try to get my class to go out so I could show them our powwow and my culture.”
Age has not tempered Locklear’s love of his heritage. Now 38, and a student in Guilford Technical Community College’s nursing program, Locklear is one of the organizers of the Lumbee’s local powwow held in September each year.
“I have always been very involved in my culture,” said Locklear, a culture celebrated during November’s American Indian Heritage Month.
This commemorative month aims to provide a platform for Native Americans to share their culture, traditions, music, crafts, dance, and ways and concepts of life. This gives Native people the opportunity to express concerns and solutions for building bridges of understanding and friendship to their communities, as well as city, county, and state officials.
Locklear has received unwavering support from Velina Ebert, a student success coach at GTCC and member of the Lumbee Tribe — even at a recent Guilford Native American powwow.
“Aunt V has known my family for years and has been there for every step, heart and soul of my journey to GTCC,” Locklear said of Ebert.
The Lumbee tribe, centered in a four-county area around Pembroke, North Carolina, has over 50,000 members.
Locklear’s parents are from Pembroke, but he was born in Greensboro and raised there by his grandfather. “My mother was 16 and still a child herself,” Locklear explained. “But I still call Pembroke home.”
Despite growing up in Greensboro, Locklear says he “grew up around Natives” and even went to a Guilford Native American day care center.
Locklear earned a certified nursing assistant certification during high school and hoped to build on that by becoming a nurse after graduation. He attended Sandhills Community College but came up a few points short of qualifying for its nursing program.
“The medical field is always where I wanted to be,” said Locklear. “When I was in high school, I got my CNA, and a few years after that, I went back to school to be a nurse. I took the test and wound up four or five points below what I needed. I had bills to pay, so I had to go to work.”
Fast forward many years to a quiet workday at Duke Energy where Locklear experienced an epiphany.
“Something clicked in my head that I could go back to school,” recalled Locklear. “I applied at GTCC and then realized all my classes (from Sandhills Community College) transferred over. I told myself if I make it in the program, I’ll make it work. Two weeks ago, I got the acceptance letter. I told my wife we are going to make it work. I’ve always had a passion about taking care of people.
“Nobody in my family has been to college. I now have a chance to get a nursing degree.”
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