Page 2 The Skanner July 19, 2017
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
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Opinion
Blackonomics: Black Fraternities and Sororities Step Up
R
emember the scene
from “New Jack City”
when Nino Brown (Wes-
ley Snipes) told Scotty
(Ice-T), “This ain’t personal;
this is business?”
And at the end of the mov-
ie, Scotty said to Nino, “This
is personal,” as he proceeded
to give him a beatdown. Well,
this article is both person-
al and business. It’s a call to
the Alphas, Omegas, Kappas,
Sigmas, Deltas, AKAs, Zetas,
Thetas, Iotas, known as the
“Divine Nine,” and the frater-
nity I was apart of back in the
1960’s at North Carolina Col-
lege at Durham (now North
Carolina Central University),
“Groove Phi Groove.”
The latent collective power
within these organizations is
mind-boggling. Their mem-
bers are conscientious, which
is demonstrated by their
friendship and loyalty to one
another. They rally around
their members during crises;
they support one another
when they get married and
have children; they work to-
gether, locally and nation-
ally, on community projects
across this country. They
even formed a national col-
lective organization, The Na-
tional Pan-Hellenic Council,
Inc.; the group’s stated pur-
pose and mission is “Unanim-
ity of thought and action as
far as possible in the conduct
of Greek letter collegiate fra-
ternities and sororities, and
to consider problems of mu-
tual interest to its member
organizations.”
James
Clingman
NNPA
Columnist
I especially like the part
about “mutual interests.” I
know it’s a hard question to
answer, based on our indi-
vidualistic and proprietary
approach to solving many of
our problems, but what are
the mutual interests among
not only sororities and fra-
“
On the business side of
things, this is a call — a chal-
lenge — to each member of
the aforementioned Black,
proud, historic, and venera-
ble organizations to purchase
at least one bag of Sweet Uni-
ty Farms Tanzanian Gourmet
Coffee. The coffee is grown
by family co-ops founded by
Jackie Robinson’s son, Da-
vid, twenty years ago. April
15, 2017 was the 70th anni-
versary of Jackie Robinson
breaking the color barrier in
major league baseball; we can
break the economic barrier
by collectively propelling his
A challenge to each member of
the abovementioned Black, proud,
historic, and venerable organiza-
tions [is] to purchase at least one
bag of Sweet Unity Farms Tanza-
nian Gourmet Coffee
ternities, but all Black orga-
nizations? Is there one thing
that all of us can and should
do together without compro-
mising our various missions
and such? I believe there are
several things we can do to-
gether, but reality tells me
that all Black people will nev-
er do any one thing together.
So in light of that reality, we
must come up with something
that is simple yet powerful
and will demonstrate our col-
lective resolve, not just to the
world, but to ourselves and
our children. Keep in mind I
said, “Simple.”
son’s company to unimagined
heights by purchasing his cof-
fee. In case you didn’t know,
Jackie Robinson went to work
for a coffee company when he
left baseball.
On the personal side, Black
folks are taking an Ice T beat-
down like Wesley Snipes
received, only ours is an eco-
nomic beatdown, much of
which we are doing to our-
selves by not supporting one
another more than we do pres-
ently. What could be more
personal than family? Again,
one simple solution is for our
Black sororities and fraterni-
ties, comprising millions of
members around the world,
to take this challenge person-
ally and buy at least one bag
of David Robinson’s coffee, a
fitting tribute to his father’s
legacy. By doing so, the world
would witness a Black- owned
company, operating in Africa
and the U.S., become a billion
dollar firm virtually over-
night, all because a group of
conscientious Black folks in-
dividually spent a very small
amount of money on a Black
owned product. A veritable,
Black economic renaissance.
After accomplishing that
simple goal, we could repeat
it hundreds of times with oth-
er Black companies, thus, cre-
ating larger firms that have
so much business they would
have to hire more employees.
In the words of the soul sing-
ing group, Atlantic Star, “Am
I dreaming?” Maybe I am, but
it’s a great dream, and I pray it
will come true.
From what I observe among
our social organizations,
members of sororities and
fraternities are the most con-
scientious; therefore, I am
calling on the Presidents of
the Divine Nine to spread
the word to their members to
take this simple action step
toward economic empower-
ment. In addition, I want all
HBCU student associations,
Greek Letter organizations,
and individual students to in-
sist that their cafeterias serve
Sweet Unity Farms Coffee.
Now that’s really a no-brain-
er, isn’t it?
Making the Case for Sustained Investing in HBCUs
UNCF’s iconic “A Mind is a
Terrible Thing to Waste,” ad-
vertising campaign remains
the gold-standard for shining
light on the urgency of invest-
ing in Black colleges and uni-
versities.
No nation, the stories in the
campaign reminded us, can
be great if it leaves behind a
large portion of its residents.
More than 40 years later, the
need for sustained invest-
ment in historically Black
colleges and universities (HB-
CUs) remains as great as ever.
With the change in presi-
dential administrations, HB-
CUs have once again returned
to the national conversation,
with some openly questioning
the need for such institutions,
particularly in the face of ad-
vances over the past several
decades. The conversation is
not new and the answer has
not changed.
We need HBCU’s to contin-
ue to exist and they need all
of us helping to support their
coffers and make the case to
decision-makers about the
continued value they provide.
HBCUs represent only three
percent of all two- and four-
year U.S. colleges and univer-
sities, but they enroll 10 per-
Rushern
Baker
County Exec,
Prince
George's Co.,
Md.
cent of all African American
undergraduates. They pro-
duce 17 percent of all African
American college graduates
and generate 24 percent of all
bachelor’s degrees in STEM
“
ning author Alice Walker,
filmmaker Spike Lee, Oprah
Winfrey and many other
business, civic leaders and
entrepreneurs.
On campuses around the
nation, parents beamed last
month as newly minted grad-
uates of HBCUs set out to
make names for themselves
and to fulfill their dreams.
At Howard University, my
alma mater, I witnessed U.S.
Senator Kamala Harris re-
mind graduates that the world
The need for sustained invest-
ment in historically Black colleges
and universities (HBCUs) remains
as great as ever
fields earned by African
Americans annually, accord-
ing to UNCF’s Patterson Re-
search Institute.
Part of the reason is that
Black graduates of HBCUs
are significantly more likely
to have felt supported while
in college, according to 2015
data from an ongoing Gal-
lup-Purdue University study.
But statistics are only part
of the story. HBCUs have pro-
duced influential Americans
including Pulitzer Prize-win-
will not always be welcoming
and that they have a duty to
serve.
“That is your duty—the duty
of your degree,” Harris said.
“That is the charge of a How-
ard graduate. So whatever
you plan to do next—whether
you want to design the latest
app or cure cancer or run a
business. Whether you’re go-
ing to be a dentist, a lawyer,
a teacher, or an accountant—
let your guiding principle be
truth and service. At a time
when there are Americans —
disproportionately Black and
brown men — trapped in a
broken system of mass incar-
ceration... peak truth — and
serve.”
It is advice that we should
also — no matter our age —
aspire to. And one truth is
surely that the nation’s HB-
CUs are as relevant and nec-
essary now as when some of
them were founded over 150
years ago. These institutions
were an antidote to the racist
policies that, in some cases,
banned educating Black stu-
dents.
At a time where college
costs are going up, and at-
tacks on Black students on
predominantly White cam-
puses are on the rise, the need
for Black colleges is greater
than ever. As a government,
we have to continue to ensure
that funding is there to keep
this pipeline going. And as
private citizens, we have to
open our wallets to ensure
the long-term viability of
the institutions that are
working for us.
Rushern Baker, a graduate
of Howard University, is the
county executive in Prince
George’s County, Maryland.