Who says no news is good news? Mainstream media outlets may be mired in selective coverage of the Black community’s most unflattering moments, but local newspapers and independent wire services have not forgotten that scholars, prodigies, and overachievers should also make the news.

Here’s just a sampling of what regional papers and independent newswires across the country have to say about the best and brightest Black high school graduates from the class of 2007:

Alabama’s Mobile Register recognizes Bethany Andrews, Kyra Baker, Ryan Davis, Rico Moorer, Brandi Powe, Jasmine Rencher, Kenneth Stallworth, and Claire Watson, local seniors who have each been awarded a National Achievement Scholarship, through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. These scholarships recognize those African American seniors who scored highest on the PSAT.

Southern California’s North County Times recognizes Edward Alfred. This Cathedral High School senior was recently award a $2500.00 National Achievment Scholarship. In addition, he is also a National Merit Semifinalist, a distinction reserved for the top 1 percent of scorers on the PSAT.

North Carolina’s Wilmington Journal recognizes Niki Evans, one of 500 finalists in the state who will be entering college as part of the 21st class of North Carolina Teaching Fellows. This outstanding senior has a 4.30 GPA in the AP curriculum at Freedom High School where she is involved in community service activities, academic clubs, and the varsity cheerleading squad.

PRWEB has issued a press release announcing the 2007 Boys and Girls Club of Oakland selection for their Youth of the Year, Jasmine Simmons. A senior at McCylmonds High School, she maintains a 3.14 GPA, is captain of her high school’s Mock Trial team, and is a 4-year member of the Oakland, California Boys and Girls Club, where she currently serves as a tutor. Jasmine hopes to attend Howard University, and she aspires to become a district attorney.

Also, check out these links to a sampling of and regional newspaper listings of local National Achivement Scholarship winners:

• Maryland’s Business Gazette
• Virginia’s Fairfax County Times
• The Arizona Daily Star
• Delaware’s News Journal
• The Albuquerque Tribune
• Georgia’s The Citizen

Posted by Ajuan Mance

AP Photo

“My dad was big on (my) going to Harvard, and I was big on playing football… Not to downgrade Harvard, but Louisville had the best of both worlds for me as far as athletics and academic-wise.” 

— Amobi Okoye

If you haven’t yet heard of Amobi Okoye, then you don’t read the sports pages or watch ESPN. But even if you’re not a big football fan, and even if you’re not waiting with bated breath for the NFL draft, this is a young man worth knowing about.

Scores of newspapers have printed articles on Okoye, who will likely become the NFL’s youngest player since 1970, and I’ve included at the bottom of this post to profiles on the college football standout; but here’s a short summary of the amazing achievements that have made this true scholar-athlete such a hot topic during this NFL draft season:

Amobi Okoye is that rarest of marvels, the young man who is both an intellectual and an athletic prodigy. Born in Nigeria, Amobi was walking at 7 months old and speaking at 11 months. In his home country he skipped from 5th to 7th grade, and he placed into the 9th grade shortly after arriving in the United States at the age of 12. By 13 Amobi was not only a sophomore in high school, but a varsity football player as well, even starting in one game. When it came time to go to college, Okoye chose the University of Louisville over Harvard, which also admitted him, privileging the strong football program of the former over the academic reputation of the latter. This fall, as a 19 year-old senior at the University of Louisville, Okoye had success on the field (8 sacks, 55 tackles, 15 tackles for loos), and in the classroom (in December he graduated after only 3 1/2 years, with a major in psychology).

This spring Okoye is slated to make his mark on professional football. When he enters the NFL draft he will likely become:

• The young player ever to enter the NFL draft since the 1970 merger 
• The youngest player ever selected in the first round of the NFL draft
• The youngest player ever to take the field on the NFL’s opening weekend

So, you may wonder (as I did), what will become of his academic talents and his interest in psychology? Okoye plans to pursue graduate studies in psychology at Harvard, possibly during his off seasons.  That’s a tall order for this young prospect, but doing the unexpected seems to be his specialty. Whether on the field or on the campus of whatever institution is fortunate enough to have him as a graduate student, I think we can expect big things.

Want to read more? Here are some links?:

“This Youngster Makes the Grade” (Boston Globe)

“Okoye, 19, Always Has Been a Prodigy” (Detroit News)

“Okoye Young, but Brings Great Ability, Potential” (Chicago Daily Herald)

“He’s ‘Phe’ — As in Phenom” (San Diego Tribune)

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Brown University’s Ruth Simmons receives honorary degree at George Washington U commencement, 2002

Commencement season is at hand, and colleges across the nation are preparing to celebrate the achievements of their graduating students. In addition to colorful regalia, solemn processions, weeping parents, and stately marches, colleges will also mark this moment by awarding honorary degrees to noted community, national, and international leaders. Among the honorees at this year’s commencement celebrations, you will find these distinguished African American and Afro-diasporic scholars, artists, and visionaries (the awarding institution is listed beside each name):

• Johnetta B. Cole — outgoing President, Bennett College — (University of Arkansas)
• Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf — the first Black woman President of Liberia — (Spelman College)
• Ruth J. Simmons — President of Brown University — (Spelman College)
• Elaine R. Jones — first Black woman president, NAACP Legal Defense Fund — (Spelman College)
• Dionne Warwick — noted vocalist — (Columbia College, Chicago)
• Shirley Franklin — Mayor of Atlanta — (Oglethorpe University)
• Monica Kaufman Pearson — broadcast news pioneer — (Oglethorpe University)
• Henry Greenridge — pastor, Irvington Covenant Church — (North Park Theological Seminary)
• Anna Deveare Smith — actress, playwright — (Bates College)
• Corey Harris — blues guitarist — (Bates College)
• Immaculée Ilibagiza — author — (University of Notre Dame)
• Willie Mays — member, baseball hall of fame — (Dartmouth College)
• John A. Rich— professor, Drexel University — (Dartmouth College)

…and more to come…

 Posted by Ajuan Mance

 

Gradualism simply doesn’t work. The civil rights struggle has to be a struggle for economic restructuring and economic justice. Only when the struggle deals with an array of economic issues can we say we are working on Dr. King’s unfinished business.

— Dr. Julianne Malveaux

Congratulations to Julianne Malveaux, who on June 1st will become the 15th president of Bennett College. Dr. Malveaux will replace current president Johnetta Cole, who is retiring.

Dr. Malveaux is one of the United States’ most visible public intellectuals, known for her outspokenness and for her uncompromising Black feminist perspectives. Cornell West has described her as “the most iconoclastic public intellectual in the country.” I would have to describe her as one of the most refreshingly straightforward Black public voices in America today. I enjoy her regular appearances as part of the roundatable discussion on NPR’s News and Notes program, hosted by Farai Chideya.

I first became aware of Julianne Malveaux during the early 1990s when she frequently appeared as a panelist on the PBS women’s roundtable and newsmagazine, To the Contrary. Widely criticized in 1994 for harsh comments made on that show about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, comments for which she later apologized, Dr. Malveaux has since meshed her notorious candor and audacity with her passion for social justice in an equally provocative but less incendiary manner. Since 1994 she has penned several books, founded her own multimedia production company, she has appeared regularly on a number of radio and television political programs, and has become a syndicated columnist whose op-ed pieces regularly appear in USA Today and other regional and national newspapers.

Many who remain outraged by Dr. Malveaux’s 1994 attack on Justice Thomas have questioned Bennett College’s decision to appoint her as president. Such commentators tend to cast her anti-Thomas tirade of 13 years ago as an unfair left-wing attack on a right-wing appointee. I tend, however, to view her comments as simply another round in the unending political boxing match between African American liberals, radicals, moderates, conservatives, and reactionaries, an intra-racial battle characterized by the trading of outrageous barbs and insults. This war of words has rarely resulted in productive dialogue, but all parties are equal contenders on this curious battlefield.

Having followed Dr. Malveaux’s career closely since I first encountered her on television, and having seen her use her public voice in the service of the greater good–advocating on paper, on radio, and in her television appearances for the rights of college students, single people, workers without health insurance, women athletes, and others–I applaud Bennett College’s decision.

Kudos to Dr. Malveaux and kudos to Bennett College. As your pathways join together, may the road be smooth and the journey take you always upward.

And farewell to the esteemed Dr. Johnetta Cole. Thank you for all that you have done for Black women’s education. We will never forget your contributions, and we welcome any continuing efforts to inspire and enrich our lives .

For a sampling of Dr. Malveaux’s ideas and opinions, check out these essays:

• But Who Watches Out for Singles
• Don’t Believe the Numbers Hype
• Cast into Harsh Glare, Students Find Grace
• Malcolm X Legacy Still Resonates Today
• Coretta, a Leader in Her Own Right

Posted by Ajuan Mance

We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again. — Nikki Giovanni, University Distinguished Professor

The tragic deaths this week at Virginia Tech have stirred grief in the hearts and minds of all who are aware of this horrible chain of events.

I dedicate this post to the memory of those members of the Virginia Tech community who lost their lives on Monday, April 16, 2007:

…and any whose names have not yet been released, pending identification and the notification of their next of kin.

We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.  

— Nikki Giovanni, University Distinguished Professor 

Across this nation and beyond, tens of millions mourn the loss of life and the accompanying loss of innocence, the tragic intervention of murderous violence into the space of the college campus, that setting which has functioned symbolically and practically as that last cherished moment in space and time for young men and women to explore, create, grow, learn, dream, and entertain their most ambitious and utopian aspirations.

The Virginia Tech homepage has been reconfigured as a hub for those seeting information on Monday’s devastating events. You can find the Virginia Tech homepage at this address: http://www.vt.edu/ 

To make a donation in memory of those who lost their lives on Monday, click on this link and follow the instructions provided (other websites soliciting donations may be fraudulent): http://www.vt.edu/tragedy/memorial_fund.php

To read the transcript of the stirring and inspiring convocation address by University Distinguished Professor Nikki Giovanni, click this link: http://www.vt.edu/tragedy/giovanni_transcript.php

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Jezebel or Mammy

Sambo or Pimp

Welfare Queen or Criminal

Coon or Mandingo

Savage or Tom

Absentee Father or Less Qualified Minority

Don Imus, producer Bruce McGuirk, and sometimes sidekick Sid Rosenberg’s racist, sexist banter is only the most recent example of the continuing incapacity of many outside of the African diaspora to see comprehend and form of Black identity that reaches beyond the old, tired categories.* These stereotyped classifications, or what Patricia Hill Collins refers to as controlling images, do in fact exercise considerable control over how Black people are perceived, what Black people are allowed to do, and sometimes (and most tragically) how Black people understand themselves.

Many have attributed Imus’s, McGuirk’s, and Rosenberg’s comments to the common use of sexist epithets in contemporary rap music. To accept this explanation, however, would be to ignore the long history of white racism in the U.S., particularly that form of racism that seeks to force into one of the stereotypes listed at the top of this post any African Americans whose public performance of erudition, expertise, or talent contradicts public conceptions of U.S. Black identity. In the case of the Rutgers women’s basketball team, Imus and his cronies sought to recast these hard-working, talented, and intelligent student-athletes as Jezebels.

Here are some other shining moments when the anxiety of racial identity (fear induced in some white Americans when people of African are perceived as intruding in the metaphorical space [activities, interests, talents, modes of discourse] for whiteness) got the best of white public figures and resulted in these stunningly offensive comments (as compiled by Media Matters:

The Jezebel: On March 31, 2006 syndicated radio host Neal Boortz said that Representative Cynthia McKinney’s new hairstyle made her look “like a ghetto slut.” Around the same time he posted on his website that McKinney “looks like ghetto trash.”

The Welfare Queen: On February 1, 2007 Rush Limbaugh expressed disbelief at young Black people’s reported alienation from government, observing that “The government’s been taking care of them their whole lives.”

The Savage: According to Fairness and Accuracy in Report (FAIR), Rush Limbaugh’s reckless indulgence in Black stereotypes and controlling images can be traced all the way back to the 1970s, when he advised a Black caller to “Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.”

The Less Qualified Minority: 1) On February 7, 2007 Michael Savage described Condoleezza Rice as “A schoolmarm who has been pushed up the ladder all of her life because of social engineering,” and who “was chosen by George Bush as part of an affirmative action program in order to make his Cabinet look like America.” 2) On Martin Luther King Day 2007, Savage called civil rights “a racket that is used to exploit primarily heterosexual, Christian, white males’ birthright and steal from then what is their birthright and give it to people who didn’t qualify for it.”

*Click here for a transcript of their comments.

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Don Imus, producer Bernard McGuirk, and sometimes sidekick Sid Rosenberg are not terribly different from the scores of white undergraduates who indulged their most deeply held stereotypes of Black people at “ghetto” parties.* 

Those students see Black undergraduates in their classes and dormitories every day, young African American scholars whose mere presence on their campus would presumably undermine any stereotypes of the Black subject as anti-intellectual; and yet many white students maintain that their Black classmates represents the exception and not the rule, as they choose to believe the authenticity of media representations of Blacks “in the ‘hood” over their own real-life encounters with Blacks on campus.

In a not-so-bizarre and, sadly, not-so-surprising variation on this phenomenon, Imus, McGuirk, and Rosenberg look at hardworking Black women scholar-athletes and see only “hos,” their vision of Black womanhood warped and confined by their incapacity to comprehend manifestations of Blackness that fall outside of the narrow stereotypes perpetuated in the mainstream media.

This is a phenomenon that is familiar to most African Americans. Patricia Hill Collins uses the term  “controlling images” to refer to those stereotypes that define and limit mainstream conceptions of Blackness. Most Black folks have experienced the bizareness that ensues when one of us encounters someone (of any ethnicity) who perceives our behavior, interests, occupation, marital status, spiritual practice, body type, etc. as somehow falling outside of that handful of controlling images that is associated with African American identity.

*Click this link for a transcript of their comments.

Posted by Ajuan Mance

Recent conversations and correspondences boths on- and off-line have turned my thoughts to the sticky question of the relationship Black academics, language, accessibility, and the broader African American and Afro-diasporic community.

The ivory tower, the intellectual elite, the plantation — these and similar terms have been used by progressive activists to capture the perceived (and in many respects the actual) elitist and exclusionary nature of the academy. Add the phrase “slave to/in” or “stuck on/in” and you will understand just a small sampling of the not-so-affectionate nicknames sometimes applied to the Black academic whose published work uses the specialized language of his or her discipline. Such terms are not applied universally, and are generally reserved for those scholars whose texts introduce ideas believed to be emancipatory for African Americans and/or other people of African descent, but in language that is inaccessible to most readers.

I have long been troubled by this line of thought. I think it’s not only acceptable but often necessary for a scholar to use the specialized language of his or her discipline in his or her work. Disciplinary language was not created (solely or primarily) to exclude. Rather, disciplinary language enables scholars to write with precision about subjects for whom more mainstream forms of language have few or no applicable terms. Scholars who use obscure and jargon-filled language in ways that seem excessive and/or exclusionary are often decried by readers both inside and outside of their fields of research.

It is true that some of the people who might benefit from exposure to and debate around some of the ideas expressed in certain scholarly essays and books might be unfamiliar with the language used in some academic publications. Black scholars, many of whom would very much like for their work to become part of a broader discussion of race and identity, tend to transmit their ideas using a variety of different media, many of which are accessible to a wider audience than might find their way into an academiec publication. Many Black scholars give speeches in the community, for example, or do workshops for churches on their areas of expertise. Many do interviews on public radio and local television, media forms that are accessible to virtually everyone.

I cannot say how many times I have heard the argument that books by Black academics are “inaccessible to the people who need to read them the most.” Suffice to say that opinion is very familiar to me. As a Black woman in the academy, however, I would have to say that many of those who need to hear and understand new and progressive anti-racist ideas the most are other people in academe. I could list number of articles and books by Black academics that have changed the way that many non-Black scholars in the humanities and social sciences teach, both in terms of what and how they teach.

And in terms of social change, what happens in college classrooms really does matter. A greater percentage of people go to college in the U.S. than in any other country in the world. That means that students from a wide range of socio-economic classes, races, faith traditions, and regions attend college and return to their communities influenced greatly by the ideas and texts that they are exposed to.

“Big words” and specialized language can be obfuscating and alienating for some; but I don’t believe that this is the problem of the user of said words. My own personal vocabulary is serviceable, but not enormous. I do love words, though, and I do the best I can to express myself with precision and clarity, and to learn new words whenever possible, partly because of the emphasis that both of my parents placed on constantly striving to become more knowledge. Today they refer to this pursuit as lifelong learning. I prefer to call it self-education as a lifestyle.

Something has gone awry in the education young Black people — not the education that kids get in school, but the education they get at home. There was a time when most parents of African descent, many of how may themselves have had limited education, told their children that they needed to have a bigger and broader vocabulary, that they needed to learn more, work harder, take advantage of more opportunities, and in the end just do better than their mom and dad had. There was a time when Black parents and grandparents of all classes taught their kids that each generation needed to have higher standards — of living, of learning, of freedom and joy — than previous generations.

To those who would take issue with ways of using language that they perceive as less familiar, less accessible, or more elite than what they are comfortable with, I would paraphrase some words I once read on a t-shirt:

“I’ve upped my standards. Up yours.”

Post by Ajuan Mance

According to celluloid legend, Lana Turner was discovered by Billy Wilkerson, publisher of the Hollywood Reporter, while sitting on a stool at Schwab’s Drugstore (actually the Top Hap Malt Shop) in Los Angeles. The myth of the overnight sensation may be fun to contemplate, but for the following African American actors and actresses, the road to Hollywood included hard work and study, along with just a hint of good luck:

• Jeffrey Wright (B.A., Political Science,  1987), Amherst College
• Alfre Woodard (BFA, Drama, 1974) Boston University
• Don Cheadle (BFA, Theatre,1986) California Institute of the Arts
• Shari Belafonte-Harper (B.F.A., 1976, Drama) Carnegie-Mellon University
• Aunjanue Ellis (B.A., African American Studies)  Brown University
• Hill Harper (B.A., magna cum laude) Brown University; (J.D.) Harvard Law School
• Aisha Tyler (Bachelor’s, Political Science, minor in Environmental Policy), Darthmouth College
• Denzel Washington (B.A., 1977, Drama) Fordham University
• T’Keyah Crystal Kemah (Bachelor’s, School of Business and Industry [recruited as a National Merit Scholar]) , Florida A&M University
• Ossie Davis (Bachelors, 1938) Howard University
• Lynn Whitefield (Bachelor’s) Howard University 
• Anthony Anderson (Bachelor’s) Howard University 
• Wendy Raquel Robinson (BFA, 1989)
• Ruby Dee (B.A., 1945, French and Spanish), Hunter College
• Avery Brooks (B.A., MFA, Acting [first Black MFA in Acting to graduate]), Rutgers University
• Sheryl Lee Ralph (B.A., English Literature major, Theatre Arts minor [At age 19, she became the youngest female graduate and was named one of the Top Ten College Women in America by Glamour magazine.]), Rutgers University
• Shemar Moore (B.A., Communications [attended on a baseball scholarship]) Santa Clara University
• Holly Robinson-Peete (B.A., 1986, Psychology and French [did a junior year abroad at the Sorbonne]) Sarah Lawrence College
• Melvin Van Peebles (Bachelor’s, 1953) Ohio Wesleyan
• Chandra Wilson (BFA, Drama) New York University, Tisch School of the Arts
• Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee (B.A., Mass Communication) Morehouse College; (MFA, Film) New York University

Posted by Ajuan Mance

from a 3/07/01 editorial in the U of M-College Park Diamondback:

As state legislators moved closer to passing a joint resolution “expressing regret” for the state’s role in slavery yesterday, it remained unclear whether the university would ever take a similar step.

Although it has been widely known that the founder of the Maryland Agricultural College – later renamed the University of Maryland – owned slaves, university officials made little mention of the deeper role slavery played here during the 150th anniversary last year. Several founding contributors in 1856 donated money made from the use of slaves, and some believe slaves were likely used on the campus, according to two university researchers.

The only formal recognition the university has made beyond founder Charles Calvert’s ownership of slaves since The Diamondback reported on the sparse mention of slavery during the anniversary was a statement on the university’s press release website written by university archivist Anne Turkos.

“The role of African Americans in the early history of the Maryland Agricultural College is particularly unclear,” Turkos wrote, “Many people believe that Calvert lent his slaves to the college to help erect the first buildings, but we have not been able to confirm this to date.”

In an e-mail, Turkos said an assistant archivist has been researching slavery’s role in the university’s history “when she has time,” but noted the resources for such research are “somewhat complex and widely scattered.”

If the bill heard yesterday passes as expected, Maryland will be the nation’s second state to express regret for slavery. Virginia was the first state to do so last month. But if the university ever announces any plans to even begin exploring the issue more deeply, it will hardly be the first university to do so.

As evidence of slavery’s role at other universities has surfaced over the last several years, some have commissioned committees to investigate and make recommendations on how to make amends. The faculty at the University of Alabama voted to formally apologize after it became clear professors had once whipped slaves on the campus, The New York Times reported.

When Ivy League member Brown University confirmed slave holding founders had donated money early in the university’s history, and the brother of a founder profited from the slave trade, a committee recommended in a report that the university “tell the truth in all its complexity.” The committee went on to say the university should “include discussion of the university’s historical relationship to slavery as a normal part of freshmen orientation,” and “create a center for continuing research on slavery and justice.”

It’s unclear whether university President Dan Mote has considered taking similar steps at this university. His office did not grant a request for an interview regarding this story made on Wednesday, and a secretary recommended reporters call University System Chancellor Brit Kirwan for comment yesterday. Kirwan did not return calls, but told a reporter last year that “It seems a very appropriate topic to explore.”

— Nathan Cohen

Equality and — more importantly — equity in higher education begins with full disclosure. I am not only calling for U.S. colleges and universities to fully disclose the role of slavery and other forms of discrimination in their institutions’ histories, but also to disclose the following information about current race-relations on campus. College should research and disclose their finds on:

• The ways that they are currently favoring economically privileged (mostly white) students in their admissions programs through preferences for wealthy students and the children of alumni.
• The number and nature of reported incidents of racial harrassment on campus.
• The number and nature of reported incidents of racist remarks, racist grading practices, and other forms of bias in the classroom.
• The percentage of African American students (broken down by gender) who are recruited athletes.

and, finally,

• For each faculty and/or administrative search, the number of applicants for faculty and administrative positions who are people of color and the percentage applicants of color who are hired.

Equality and — more importantly — equity in higher education begins with full disclosure. I am not only calling for U.S. colleges and universities to fully disclose the role of slavery and other forms of discrimination in their institutions’ histories, but also to disclose the following information about current race-related practices:

• The ways that they are currently favoring economically privileged (mostly white) students in their admissions programs, most often through preferences for wealthy students and the children of alumni.
• The number and nature of reported incidents of racial harrassment on campus.
• The number and nature of reported incidents of racist remarks, racist grading practices, and other forms of bias in the classroom.
• The percentage of African American students (broken down by gender) who are recruited athletes.
• The number of applicants for faculty and administrative positions who are people of color and the percentage applicants of color who are hired.

U.S. colleges and universities have played an important role in developing and disseminating many of the key ideas and strategies that have advanced equality and diversity at all levels of education. Still, for most of the history of this country, higher ed was focused on serving needs of a fairly narrow demographic, affluent white men; and although most college students today are neither wealthy nor male, and although a growing proportion of students on U.S. campuses are people of color, most academic institutions retain many of the structures and practices that are best suited to insuring the success of those who enjoy class, gender, and race privilege.

It is my hope that as colleges begin to examine the role of slavery in the founding and sustenance of their institutions, they will also turn their thoughts to the other ways that they participated in, embraced, or established particular procedures, belief systems, and structures that marginalized people of color and/or privileged their white male constituents, some of which — unlike slavery — might still be a part of the fabric of the academic, administrative, and residential life of the campus.

Posted by Ajuan Mance