By CEO Dr. Harry L. Williams, TMCF president, and Giles Woodyer, Hennesy Senior Vice President

When companies announce a commitment towards achieving more corporate diversity, what do they really mean? For too many young African Americans, these commitments seem more like empty promises.

To date, there have only been fourteen black CEOs at Fortune 500 companies, and according to Fortune, there are just three in 2019. So how can corporations remove barriers and create access for emerging, multicultural leaders?

Diverse Partnerships to Drive Change

Since 1987, Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) has prepared and identified students at 47 publicly supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to thrive in the business sector. When Hennessy, the world’s best-selling Cognac, approached TMCF with an innovative idea involving HBCU graduate students, especially those earning MBA degrees – there was an immediate organizational alignment to improve the current corporate narrative. Together, TMCF and Hennessy conceived the Hennessy Fellows program with the goal of building a pipeline of diverse corporate leaders from HBCUs.

The Hennessy Fellows initiative is the latest example of Hennessy’s commitment to supporting African American communities. In 1794, Hennessy arrived in the U.S. and has consistently demonstrated a progressive vision to amplify multicultural voices since. As an early supporter of the Tuskegee Institute and the first corporate sponsor of the NAACP, the brand continues to champion those who “Never stop. Never settle.” with its new fellowship program in partnership with TMCF.

Yet, ascending to the highest levels of corporate leadership requires having access to more than just an ivy-league education. African American leaders need opportunities to learn development skills, build their network, develop business acumen, and gain tangible professional experiences. Not to mention, the unspoken corporate rules that many HBCU students don’t have ready access to. Hennessy Fellows is designed to unlock the C-Suite’s secrets by equipping leaders with access and mentorship.

Executive Mentorship to Build Future Leaders 

To see our success, we often seek someone who looks like or can relate to us; especially African American students, who often desire mentors who resonate on both a cultural and personal level. With approximately 75% of Fortune 500 companies offering formal mentorship programs, corporate America has embraced the idea, but are these programs effective?

The inaugural cohort of Hennessy Fellows is comprised of 10 MBA students from HBCUs, who were recently invited to New York City to engage with executive leaders at Hennessy and other national corporations as part of the program. The intensive Boot Camp welcomed students from Florida A&M University, Howard University, North Carolina A&T State University, and Morgan State University. The results? Fellows built strong relationships and were made to feel validated, supported and championed in their individual career trajectories.

Investments to Fuel Corporate Diversity 

Beyond mentorship, the Hennessy Fellows program aims to increase the number of African Americans in corporate leadership through financial assistance. To achieve this, Hennessy has pledged $10 million to TMCF that will extend over the next decade, providing students with up to $20,000 per academic year, a $10,000 annual stipend for educational expenses, as well as VIP access to various professional networking events.

Unlike their counterparts, student loan debt weighs more heavily on students of color, which can often present barriers for things like applying for unpaid internships or frequenting professional events. An estimated 86.8% of black students borrow federal student loans to attend four-year public colleges, as opposed to 59.9% of white students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Hennessy Fellows seeks to offset these financial burdens – focusing on graduate-level candidates who don’t have as many financial assistance opportunities – with an investment designed to maximize students’ full potential across educational, professional and personal pursuits.

Over the next decade, Hennessy and TMCF will continue to provide the tools, knowledge, and insight necessary to change the trajectory of minorities in Corporate America. And together, our organizations have the unprecedented opportunity to diversify the talent landscape and make an immeasurable impact.

Harry L. Williams is the president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the largest organization exclusively representing the black college community. Before joining TMCF, he spent eight years as president of Delaware State University. Follow him on Twitter at @DrHLWilliams.

In his role as Senior Vice President, Giles Woodyer brings unparalleled expertise in distilled spirits to Moët Hennessy USA, where he manages the portfolio for Hennessy, the world’s best-selling cognac.

By The Birmingham Times

Taylor Player, a graduate at Oak Mountain High School, earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. Player earned her Gold Award for her project, “The Four Little Girls Patch Program.”

Her project focused on the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing. In 1963, members of the Ku Klux Klan placed dynamite on the side of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. The church had a predominantly black congregation and served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders. Four girls from the congregation were killed in the blast.

The bombing marked a turning point in Civil Rights history. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave the eulogy and called the girls “victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity. They are the martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human dignity.” The bombing contributed to support for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Player was touched by this story, particularly by the fact that one of the girls, Carole Robertson, was a Girl Scout like herself. Player realized that not enough people knew about this tragic turning point in Civil Rights history and wanted to take action to spread awareness so the Four Little Girls’ story would not be forgotten.

Player began the process by learning more about the girls, including meeting with their families and getting first-hand accounts. She met one-on-one with Senator Doug Jones, who successfully prosecuted two Ku Klux Klan members and put them behind bars, after the case was reopened nearly 40 years after the bombing. She talked to him about his role in the case and to ask that the Four Little Girls be in the state-wide curriculum.

“He told me that my generation, people like myself, we’re going to change the world,” Player said of their meeting.

Player created a Girl Scouts patch program so girls in Birmingham and all over the country can learn about the Four Little Girls. Some of the activities to earn the patch include: watching the Spike Lee documentary, visiting a Civil Rights museum, talking to a Civil Rights activist or someone who was alive during that era, visiting a historical African American church, and discussing why the story of the Four Little Girls is important today.

“No matter what you pick to earn your Girl Scout Gold Award, it will leave a legacy, it will make the world a better place,” Player said.

Player is interested in studying law and is attending the University of Alabama this fall.

“By earning the Girl Scout Gold Award,” said Karen Peterlin, chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama, “Taylor has become a community leader. Her accomplishments reflect leadership and citizenship skills that set her apart.”

The girl who goes for the Gold embraces challenges, achieves excellence, and works diligently to make the world a better place, in her own unique way. Her leadership, vision, and boundless energy is an inspiration to all Girl Scouts. Each girl earning her Gold Award demonstrates excellence through a leadership project totaling more than 65 hours. Girls who earn their Gold Award are also recognized by the President of the United States, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Armed Services, state legislatures, colleges and universities for admission and scholarship opportunities, and the American Legion. Some universities and colleges offer scholarships unique to Gold Award recipients, and girls who enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces may receive advanced rank in recognition of their achievements.

About Girl Scout Gold Award

Since 1916, Girl Scouts have been making meaningful, sustainable change in their communities and around the world. The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn, acknowledges the power behind each recipient’s dedication to not only empowering and bettering herself, but also to making the world a better place for others. These young women are courageous leaders and visionary change makers. They are our future, and it looks bright! To learn more about the Girl Scout Gold Award, visit girlscoutsnca.org.

About Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama

There are over 9,700 girls and 3,800 adults in 36 counties in the state of Alabama who believe in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, and Leader) to change the world. Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama is a United Way partner. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, visit www.girlscoutsnca.org or call 800-734-4541.

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

As part of its ongoing efforts to promote customer courtesy, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) today announced that it is offering, for the first time ever, free “Baby on Board” buttons for pregnant riders. The buttons are an extension of the agency’s award-winning courtesy campaign, which is currently displayed throughout the bus and rail system and addresses a variety of topics designed to promote courteous behavior among CTA customers.

The new buttons, which feature the message, “Baby on Board! Could we please sit down?” are a tool to help improve communication between CTA riders. Not all pregnancies are easily visible, which can make it difficult for other riders to determine whether to offer up their seat. The buttons are intended to make it easier for pregnant riders to seek a seat.

“CTA is always seeking out ways to promote a courteous and welcoming environment for all customers,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “These new buttons are the latest effort toward that goal, and we hope they help foster courtesy and consideration among all customers.”

As part of the pilot program, the free buttons are available through a variety of channels, including online ordering via CTA’s website (transitchicago.com/babyonboard) or picking up at CTA Headquarters, 567 West Lake Street, at the 2nd Floor Customer Service Desk.

CTA has also partnered with the OB/GYN practices at several area hospitals, including: Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women’s Hospital, Rush University Medical Center, John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County and Saint Anthony Hospital. The hospitals will serve as button distribution locations for pregnant riders.

CTA promotes courteous behavior via announcements, signs, and a Courtesy Campaign seen on buses, railcars and digital screens. Developed in-house by CTA staff, the campaign won the American Public Transportation Association’s Grand Award for informational campaign in 2015.

For more information about the “Baby on Board” campaign, visit transitchicago.com/babyonboard.

This article originally appeared in the Chicago Defender.

A longtime grassroots activist, Ray Curry is a member of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Nashville, a Silver Life member of the NAACP, and member of the NAACP National Board of Directors. He is also an active member of numerous community and social organizations including but not limited to the Michigan State Democratic Party, American Legion Post 177 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Unique Masonic Lodge #85, Charlotte Consistory #35, and Rameses Temple #51 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and various others. He resides in Detroit.

By Ray Curry, Secretary-Treasurer, UAW

“The machines stopped at the Ford Motor Company’s River Rouge plant in Dearborn in June 1990. Workers held aloft unfurled “Local 600” banners to welcome the South African leader on what was dubbed his “Freedom Tour.” When Mandela finally appeared, he was greeted by United Auto Workers president Owen Bieber and vice president Ernie Lofton. Mandela recalled the struggle to organize the plant in the 1930s and told the assembled workers: “It is you who have made the United States of America a superpower, a leader of the world.”
— John Nichols writing in The Nation

In framing the profound impact that organized labor has had on the civil rights movement and why this relationship must be shored up and strengthened at every turn, I wanted to start with Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner and first president of the new South Africa. Mandela, upon being released from the South African jail where he spent 28 years, made Dearborn, Michigan, one of his very first stops on a trip that included addressing the United Nations. He stopped to speak to UAW Local 600 members to thank them for their anti-apartheid efforts to bring freedom to South Africa and to extol the America labor movement.

“It is you who have made the United States of America a superpower, a leader of the world,” he told his audience.

And he was right.

It was the middle class that UAW President Walter Reuther and this union began hammering into shape in the 1930s, both at the head of and alongside America’s other great unions, that brought our nation to prosperity. And it was unions, every step of the way, that created wage parity and opportunity for Black America. And over time, that movement broke apart many of the ugly racial divisions so long held in not only the Jim Crow South, but in the industrialized North as well.

They will not silence us

Sadly, the efforts to weaken the labor movement, under non-stop withering attack from the anti-labor forces on the right, could imperil all that we have gained. Their efforts threaten the middle class existence that all of us have worked so long and so hard to achieve. And, make no mistake, these forces are at work to silence our collective voice.

So, I say, “No, to that.” Hell no!

As Americans, we must stand strong — union strong — for every one of us, against any and all threats to our civil liberties. One of the most pivotal moments in the struggle for equal rights came in 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Walter Reuther walked in solidarity in the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

The Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. — Leaders marching from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963. In the front row, from left are: Whitney M. Young, Jr., Executive Director of the National Urban League; Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, American Federation of Labor (AFL), and a former vice president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); Walter P. Reuther, President, United Auto Workers Union; Arnold Aronson, Secretary of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

We, African Americans and organized labor, have a shared history of fighting in solidarity for wages, for health care, for better working conditions, for education, for retirement, for respect — for the American Dream. And for a role in building and living in a better nation.

As I write this, I invoke Mandela and Dr. King and Reuther because I see America at a tipping point. America has better angels than those in the political headlines we see today. There is a lack of vision coming out the Administration these days. In its stead, we have finger pointing and division, race baiting and xenophobia. We have the most anti-labor administration since Ronald Reagan and with ever more lax business restrictions and consumer protections. We have a labor board that might as well be the Chamber of Commerce, courts stacked with union busters and we’re seeing voter suppression across the country.

I see a light ahead

But I invoke heroes because they inspire. They see a better place, an inclusive place and I am seeing that light, too. I am seeing people, like voters in Missouri, who said ‘No’ to Right to Work. I am seeing presidential candidates increasingly talking up unions and making it part of their platforms. I see a push for a livable minimum wage. I see organizations like the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) fighting tooth and nail to “use the full Constitutional power, statutory authority, and financial resources of the federal government to ensure that African Americans and other marginalized communities in the United States have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.”

I see the CBC taking the facts to the President in a hand delivered 130-page policy document entitled, “We Have a Lot to Lose: Solutions to Advance Black Families in the 21st Century.”

The document addresses the importance of trade unions and the negative impact of Right-to-Work laws, as African Americans are particularly vulnerable when unions falter. The Center for Economic and Policy Research states it best:

African American union workers are “13.1 percentage points more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and 15.4 percentage points more likely to have employer-sponsored retirement plans.”

For black union workers who haven’t completed high school: black union workers in this category benefit from a “wage advantage of 19.6% over their non-union peers and are 23.4 percentage points and 25.2 percentage points more likely to have health insurance and a retirement plan, respectively.”

The strength of millions

But that’s not all the CBC is working toward.

With a historic 55 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, the CBC represents 82 million Americans and more than 17 million African-Americans. Their accomplishments are many:

• Joining the fight to combat voter suppression: The CBC has worked tirelessly to enhance access and make voting easier via initiatives such as early voting and automatic voter registration.
• Supporting the Affordable Care Act to make sure all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care.
• Working diligently to ensure across-the-divide access to quality education, business opportunities and capital, and resources to be a part of developing industries and technology.

Nelson Mandela went from the UAW local back to South Africa to become exactly what he preached that day four years later as president.  To the end of his days, he served as the honorary president of South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers. He publicly stated he was “fully committed to the protection of the integrity of the collective bargaining system.”

For me this lifetime honorary member of the UAW and fulltime champion of the oppressed underscores the unbreakable bond of civil rights and the labor movement and along with the memory of Dr. King and Walter Reuther, and CBC past and present members, stirs in us the will to fight forever on — on both fronts.

By Senator Chuck Schumer, Exclusive to NNPA Newswire

It seems like every few months, our nation is rocked by another mass shooting. El Paso and Dayton are only the latest of a list of tragedies that stretches from Parkland to Pittsburgh, Charleston to Columbine, San Bernardino to Sandy Hook, and to Las Vegas.

And while these high-profile mass shootings dominate headlines, they are only the tip of the iceberg. Every day, communities across the country are ripped apart by gun violence. This reality is especially harrowing for Black Americans. Consider these statistics from the gun rights advocacy group Everytown:

• Nearly 7,500 Black Americans die by gun homicide every year, a rate10 times higher than that of white Americans.
• Black children are10 times more likely to be hospitalized from gun violence than other children, and are 14 times more likely to die from their injuries.
• Within the 50 cities with the highest murder rates, Black Americans are81 percent of the victims, despite making up only 38 percent of the population.

The conclusions are clear: Black Americans face a greater risk of being victims of gun violence compared to their peers. The only question that remains is what will be done about it.

It is obvious that our current laws are not doing enough to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands. Now, more than ever, we must do more to protect our children from the scourge of gun violence.

And the simplest, best place to start is for the Senate to have a vote on H.R. 8, the House-passed bipartisan bill to close the loopholes in our federal background check system. For years, Democrats have argued that we must close these loopholes because the rest of our gun safety laws will continue to be undermined if this problem isn’t fixed. In the minds of almost all Americans, it’s not remotely controversial: over 90% of Americans support this idea — including a majority of Republicans and a majority of gun owners.

The only roadblocks remaining are President Trump and Senate Republicans, led by Senator Mitch McConnell, whose fealty to the gun lobby has stymied any progress.

Astonishingly, the unthinkable violence that has plagued our communities for years has done little to push Senate Majority Leader McConnell and President Trump into action. They have repeatedly refused to join Democrats in taking meaningful, lifesaving action on commonsense gun safety legislation.

But we are not giving up, and neither are the American people. Every day, people are raising their voices and making this issue impossible for Republicans to ignore. The activism we see — from students who have lost friends or classmates and fear they may be next and from parents who have lost their children to gun violence or fear they may one day face that unthinkable reality — has brought an unprecedented level of attention to this struggle. They are not giving up the fight to end our nation’s gun violence epidemic and neither will Senate Democrats.

In moments like this, we cannot settle for half measures or lip service. We are calling on Senate Republicans to honor the lives lost to gun violence by bringing the House-passed bipartisan universal background checks bill to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

It is our solemn duty to the victims of gun violence to cure this terrible plague that claims tens of thousands of lives every single year. They cannot speak for themselves, but their memory calls down to us for justice.

By TSD Newsroom

A federal judge has blocked Tennessee’s new restrictions for registering voters from taking effect on Oct. 1 while a challenge of the law proceeds.

Judge Aleta Trauger wrote Thursday that there’s no basis in the record to conclude the law will provide much benefit to Tennesseans, and less reason to think any benefit will come close to outweighing the harm to Tennesseans who wish to exercise core constitutional rights.

The law goes beyond other states by fining groups that pay workers when too many incomplete registration forms are submitted. It also criminalizes intentional infractions of a new set of rules with misdemeanor charges.

Republican Secretary of State Tre Hargett has argued adding penalties bolsters election security. His office didn’t immediately comment on the ruling.

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Tennessee, Campaign Legal Center, and Fair Elections Center challenged the law, which had imposed substantial penalties on groups that foster political participation via voter registration efforts. The case was filed on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, American Muslim Advisory Council, Mid-South Peace & Justice Center, Rock the Vote, Memphis Central Labor Council, and Headcount.

Tennessee ranks 44th in voter registration, but during the 2018 midterm election the state saw a surge in registrations. The Tennessee General Assembly subsequently passed a measure that creates criminal and civil penalties against those who fail to comply with  requirements and turn in “incomplete” applications

The court granted a preliminary injunction today.

 “Today’s ruling indicates that the court understands the dangerous burdens this law places on organizations simply trying to ensure that as many eligible voters can participate in the democratic process as possible,” said Hedy Weinberg, executive director, ACLU of Tennessee.

“This decision allows our clients to continue their important work of registering voters — including those who have been historically disenfranchised — this election season. We look forward to the day when this unconstitutional law can be struck down for good.”

Theresa Lee, staff attorney for ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said, “By allowing civic organizations to continue their critical work helping people register to vote, this ruling derails a law that sought to undercut democracy.”

The League of Women Voters is pleased with the preliminary injunction, said Marian Ott, League of Women Voters of Tennessee president.

“We can now comfortably proceed with the important work of registering voters and providing election information,” Ott said. “As importantly, we can tell community partners who have halted registration activities to proceed full steam ahead! The citizens of Tennessee and the exercise of democracy are the beneficiaries today.”

Michelle Kanter Cohen, counsel, Fair Elections Center, called the decision a “significant victory for our clients, and other organizations like them, who help make voting and participation accessible to all citizens. The court’s ruling recognizes the critical role of these efforts in our democracy. Because the court stopped these restrictions from going into effect, the door to participation will remain open to community-based civic engagement efforts to engage fellow citizens, which are so badly needed in Tennessee.”

The court was right today to stop Tennessee’s “punitive law in its tracks,” said Danielle Lang, co-director, Voting Rights and Redistricting, Campaign Legal Center.  “This law punished civic organizations for seeking to help register voters, particularly those in underserved communities. As the court recognized, it struck at the heart of free speech rights and imposed needless and burdensome regulations.

“Now groups working to help people register to vote can continue their activities, as we continue working to ensure that the threat of criminal penalties from the government is eliminated permanently by a final decision in this case. Voter registration drives for years have been a way for historically marginalized groups to empower their communities and gain access to the ballot box, and we are pleased that this tradition will be allowed to continue.”

The lawsuit, League of Women Voters of Tennessee v. Hargett, was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Co-counsel also includes Sherrard, Roe, Voigt & Harbison PLC.

To view the he preliminary injunction, https://www.aclu-tn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/League-Preliminary-Injunction-Order.pdf

NOTE: Early voting for the Oct. 3 City of Memphis Municipal Election begins Sept. 13 and runs through Sept. 28.

This article originally appeared in the New Tri-State Defender