HBCU football season begins in less than a month. That means band practice begins even sooner. In honor of the proud tradition of historically Black college bands, Wordless Wednesday invites you to get your (school) spirit on!

Southern University drum major Louis Broadway, getting the half-time show off to a great start at the 2006 Bayou Classic.

(Source: Daylife.com and Associated Press. Photo by Sean Gardner)

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Dr. Sandye Jean McIntyre, II (Source: TheHistoryMakers.com)

While Spelman, Morehouse, Howard, and Hampton have remain have held the spotlight as the most widely praised Black colleges in the nation, Baltimore’s Morgan State University has quietly outstripped its better-known colleagues in one very impressive area, the production of Fulbright scholars.

According to the Bay State Banner, “Since the Fulbright program began in 1946, 120 Morgan students have won awards to conduct research or teach English in 30 different countries from Jamaica to New Zealand.” Over the last 14 years Morgan State has held past to its position as the HBCU that has produced the most Fulbright scholars overall (since 1946, when the Fulbright program began). Howard University and the Spelman College have consistently come in second and third in overall Fulbright awards. During the last three years, though, Spelman has held the number one spot for the top producer in a given year (for 2006, 2007, and 2008).

Much of Morgan State’s success in the Fulbright arena can be credited to the late Dr. Sandye Jean McIntyre, II. Professor McIntyre taught French at the University, from 1948 to 1988. He served as Morgan State’s Director of the Fulbright Scholars Program from 1951 until his death in 2006.

Bay State Banner reporter Kenneth Cooper describes McIntyre’s legacy:

What’s behind Morgan’s success? A robust program to identify, cultivate and guide prospective applicants that was the creation of a single individual, Sandye Jean McIntyre II.

McIntyre joined Morgan’s faculty in 1951 after going to France on a Fulbright grant, and served as the Fulbright adviser on campus for 55 years until his death in 2006. He served in that capacity longer than anyone at any college, according to the State Department, which sponsors the exchange program for graduating seniors and graduate students.

“During his historic tenure, for more than a half century, Morgan State University students received more Fulbright awards, by far, than any other historically black college or university in the nation,” Thomas Farrell, deputy assistant secretary of state for academic programs, wrote in a 2006 letter to Morgan President Earl S. Richardson.

Carleen S. Leggett, who began working with McIntyre in 1968 and succeeded him as the campus adviser, acknowledged some people are surprised to learn of Morgan’s record in spinning out Fulbrighters.

“They kind of think of Howard” because of its name recognition, she said. “For a long time, it wasn’t emphasized there. Morgan had the advantage of having someone who was so dedicated.”

Dr. McIntyre was succeeded in Morgan State’s Fulbright Program directorship by Dr. Carleen S. Leggett, who had served as associate director of the program since from 1968 until the time of McIntyre’s death.

Click HERE to read a brief obituary for Dr. Sandye Jean McIntyre, II.

Click HERE to read about some of Morgan State’s recent Fulbright scholars.

Posted by Ajuan Mance

I would have to count myself among those who were thoroughly underwhelmed by CNN’s Black in America. The two-part documentary had little to offer in the way of new insights on African American life, community, and culture. What was new was the designation of a four hour time slot on a major cable news network dedicated to exploring U.S. Black issues and Black life.

For the most part, though, the African Americans whose voices were featured in this documentary reinforced the same hackneyed stereotypes that have plagued Black people since ol’ slavery times. The program depicted Blacks as chronic and hopeless underachievers, or else as anomalies. The highest achieving African Americans on the show, from high school well into adulthood, were depicted as curiosities who either “beat the odds” or were not truly, authentically Black.

Consider part II of the documentary. This 2-hour installment focused on African American men, and If I’d had a sip of beer every time a middle-class kid or upwardly mobile Black professional described how other less privileged Black people considered his speech/dress/interests to be “white,” I would have been drunk by the end of the program.

I suppose that with all of the attention focused on Black college and graduate school successes like Barack Obama and his wife, CNN needed to remind America what Blackness is really all about. Indeed, this program seemed deliberately aimed at interpreting the growing numbers of Black intellectuals, professionals, and other overachievers in a way that would reassure large segments of the viewing public.

“Don’t make any mistake,” the program seem to say to white Americans in particular, “those uppity Blacks with the fancy degrees are not really Black, or at least not normal Blacks like the rest of them. No need to worry. Black folks aren’t really a threat to white power…yet.”

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This initiative just might be able to get more kids through high school… but what about college? When the material incentives and premiums are gone, how many of these young people will have the  desire pursue education for its less immediate rewards. Successful college completion depends on a combination of ambition, aspirations, and intellectual curiosity. I’m not sure the million cellphone approach will do much to foster any of these qualities.

This program might well increase the number of NYC public school students who earn high school diplomas. Chances are, though, that most of the seniors in the program who decide to go on to college will be the same students who would have completed high school and gone on to college even without the million cellphone program.

Posted Ajuan Mance

There has always been this myth that people in sub-Saharan Africa were more likely to get HIV because of differences in their sexual behaviour, or that they are more promiscuous.

“This shows that it’s not that simple, and I think it will be an important message for education programmes in these areas. — Dr. Ade Fakoya from the International HIV/AIDS Alliance (Source: BBC)

When I first began combing different news sources for Black higher ed reporting, I found a number of stories that focused on Black colleges’ efforts to slow the rise of HIV in the African American community. Such efforts invariably included education on routes of transmission, risky behaviors, and testing.

Now education efforts on HBCU campuses, in churches, at neighborhood clinics, and throughout the Black community will have to add an additional piece, one which may transform how Black people around the world think about HIV/AIDS.

Last week newspapers around the globe covered the discovery of a specific gene variant, common in people of African descent, that increases the carrier’s succeptibility to HIV by 40%. Here’s how:

The protein linked to the gene is called Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines, or DARC. People with the variant do not have this particular receptor — a type of molecular doorway into cells — on their red blood cells.

People lacking the receptor are protected against infection by a malaria parasite known as Plasmodium vivax. This parasite is not the one responsible for the multitudes of malaria deaths that now occur yearly in Africa, but is still seen in some parts of Asia and the Middle East.

The researchers believe the gene variant arose long ago, perhaps protecting people in Africa against a deadly strain of malaria that may have swept through populations.

“We’re probably talking about tens of thousands of years ago,” said Robin Weiss of University College London. — Will Dunham for Reuters

The study was conducted among Black people in the U.S., about 60% of whom carry this gene variant. In sub-Saharan Africa, roughly 90% of the Black population carries this variant, which continues to protect carriers against malaria. Scientists estimate that this adaptation is responsible for roughly 11% of all HIV infections in Africa.

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In this photo UNC- Chapel Hill professor Wallace Caldwell (1890 – 1961) is being served by an unnamed African American domestic worker. Until southern universities degan to desegregate, Black people on campuses like UNC, Clemson, and Ole Miss, were present as laborers — in dining and residence halls, on the grounds and in the restrooms, in fraternity and sorority houses, and in professors living quarters, but never as students in classrooms. (Source: Learn NC)

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Hon. Peggy Quince, Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court

On Friday, June 27, Peggy Quince was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court. The first African American to serve in this post, Quince also became the first Black woman to head any branch of Florida government.

A report on the Legal Newsline website highlights the 60 year-old’s ability to overcome adversity, noting that she was a “product of segregated schools and a single-parent home.” The story goes on to describe her education and early career:

Quince graduated from Howard University and attended law school at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law.

She began her legal career in Washington, D.C., as a hearing officer with the Rental Accommodations Office, administering that city’s new rent control law. In 1977, she entered private practice in Norfolk, Va.

After moving to Tampa some 30 years ago, she became an assistant state attorney general before being named to the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

In 1998, she was named to the Supreme Court by outgoing Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles and Republican Gov.-elect Jeb Bush. — Chris Rizo for LegalNewsline.com

Her profile on floridasupremecourt.com provides additional information on her educational history:

Justice Quince graduated in 1970 from Howard University with a B.S. Degree in Zoology; she received her J.D. Degree from the Catholic University of America in 1975. While a law student she was active in Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity and the Black American Law Students Association; she received an award for her work with Catholic’s Neighborhood Legal Services Clinic. In 1999, she received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the Stetson University College of Law.  In 2004, she received an honorary doctor of laws degree from St. Thomas University School of Law.

Florida Supreme Court Justices are appointed for a term of two years. After serving, Quince is likely to follow in the footsteps of her predecessor and return to regular service on the court.

Interestingly, jebbushforpresident.net portrays Justice Quince as excessively liberal, and cites Jeb Bush’s appointment of this judge as one of his greatest errors. You can read their assessment of Justice Quince’s credentials at THIS LINK.

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Frederick D. “Fritz” Pollard (1894 – 1986).

In 1916, as a member of the Brown University football team, Pollard became the first African American to play in the Rose Bowl. He would go on to achieve many more milestones, as the first African American quarterback in the NFL, the first African American coach in the NFL, and the first African American head coach in the NFL.

(Source: [email protected])

Silas Hunt (1922 – 1949)

Silas Hunt enrolled at the University of Arkansas Law School in 1948.

This year, sixty years after first enrolling, Silas Hunt has finally been awarded his degree. Eurweb.com reports that, “Law school Dean Cynthia Nance said the college wanted to honor Hunt as the 60th anniversary of his enrollment came this year.”

A graduate of the Agricultural, Mechanical, and Normal College at Pine Bluff (later the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff). His undergraduate studies were interrupted by his service in WWII. He returned to the United States, having been injured in the course of duty. He completed his bachelor’s degree, however, and enrolled in law school in 1948.

During his first spring in law school, Hunt attended segregated class sessions in the basement of the law school building. He was a promising student, but his education was cut short by his diagnosis and swift decline from tuberculosis, which he probably contracted during the war. Hunt was hospitalized in winter of 1949. He died on April 22 of the same year.

The online Encyclopedia of Arkansas describes the events that led to Hunt’s pioneering quest to earn a law degree at a white, southern university:

On February 2, 1948, Hunt—accompanied by Branton [a college friend], Pine Bluff attorney Harold Flowers, and AM&N newspaper photographer Gelieve Grice—arrived on the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County) campus to meet with Dr. Robert A. Leflar, dean of the law school, and apply for admission to the law school. After a brief review of his academic record, Leflar was impressed enough to admit Hunt to the law school. This signified the first time a black student had been officially admitted to a white Southern university since Reconstruction and the first ever admitted for graduate or professional studies.

…

To commemorate his achievements, UA began awarding the Silas Hunt Distinguished Scholar Awards in 2003 to deserving black students. In 2007, the state legislature made February 2, the day Huntenrolled in classes, a memorial day in his name.

In addition, the UA Law School also named a building after Hunt.

Click THIS LINK to read the resolution that posthumously grants Hunt his U of A law degree.

Click THIS LINK to learn more about the UA’s award-winning documentary on the life of Silas Hunt.

Posted by Ajuan Mance

The Alpha Kappa Alpha Centennial Barbie.

This week more than 25,000 women have gathered in Washington, DC to commemorate the 100th anniversity of the Alpha Kappa Alpha, the United States’ oldest Black sorority. Alpha Kappa Alpha, more commonly known as AKA, was founded in 1908, on the campus of Howard University.

Since it’s creation, AKA has inducted more than 200, 000 women, including many prominent Black women in the entertainment, science, business, and education fields. Among the organization’s most widely recognized members are:

• Actress Phylicia Rashad
• Brown University President Ruth Simmons
• Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee
• Singer and Actress Loretta Devine
• Former D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly

A highlight of the centennial celebration — and possibly its most controversial attendee– will be Mattel’s newly-issued, limited edition Alpha Kappa Alpha Centennial Barbie. The doll, which retails for $50, is the first that Mattel has created based on any sorority.

Some may question the choice of this storied Black women’s organization to link it’s 100th anniversary celebration with such a highly criticized product. Barbie has, after all, been the object of considerable criticism for its marketing of unrealistic beauty standards and body image to deeply impressionable girls.

Mattel, which approached AKA once they learned of the sorority’s milestone anniversary, is enthusiastic about this new relationship. Says Elizabeth Grampp, director of Barbie collector marketing,

When you pair that milestone with an organization representing an amazing cross section of women who are empowered leaders in any field, it’s a real opportunity to introduce the hobby of collecting to a new group of collectors. It’s such a landmark event.

For their part, AKAs seems to be, for the most part, comfortable comfortable with the decision. When plans for the doll were first made public in January of this year, AKA -affiliated blogger TransGriot expressed excitement, writing that, “The pretty girls that wear twenty pearls and the TransGriot will be expanding our Barbie collections soon.” Blogger BeBarbie, writing this week, reports that dolls at the convention are selling fast!

The AKA Centennial Barbie follows last year’s “Ivy Rose” doll, created for and marketed by the Sisterhood Boutique. The “Ivy Rose” retails for $125.00.

Posted by Ajuan Mance