The Ravens hosted 65 students from seven HBCUs for an all-day HBCU Career Combine, the first event of its kind. Ozzie Newsome, Head Coach John Harbaugh and numerous sports professionals spoke to the students.

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — California Sen. Kamala Harris has described her experience as a student at a historically Black college as “one of the most important aspects” of her life. Now, her Democratic presidential campaign is using that experience to connect with voters.

Not only is she one of only two Black candidates in a field that’s expected to grow to more than 20 candidates, she’s also the only candidate who attended a historically Black college or university, commonly called an HBCU. And she’s the first major-party candidate to have graduated from an HBCU — Washington’s Howard University — since Jesse Jackson ran for president in the 1980s.

To be sure, she is not the only candidate focusing on such institutions.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke have campaigned at historically Black colleges. So has the other Black candidate in the 2020 race, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.

At a CNN town hall last month in Orangeburg, home to two of South Carolina’s HBCUs, Booker noted that his parents and grandparents were educated at historically Black institutions and that “the majority of Black doctors, Black lawyers, Black generals are produced by HBCUs.”

But Harris’s campaign has visited more historically Black colleges than any candidate, and she is burnishing her personal ties to this community, and not just to current students.

“Presidential candidates are recognizing HBCUs as a political and cultural center for the broader Black community,” said Aimee Allison, the founder of the political network She The People, which plans a candidate forum Wednesday at Texas Southern University, a historically Black college.

Allison said that holding events at these schools is an “essential part of a long-term strategy to build trust and relationships” with Black voters.

Harris’s focus on historically Black colleges could be particularly important in South Carolina, home to eight HBCUs. Black voters are vital to success for Democratic primary candidates anxious to win the South’s first primary.

In Orangeburg, Harris’s town hall Saturday night was moderated by Bakari Sellers, a former South Carolina state representative who recently endorsed her campaign.

Turning to a group of South Carolina State students seated on bleachers, Harris talked briefly about the value of attending a historically black institution.

“At an HBCU, everything you are told is that you can be whatever you want to be, and there will be no barriers to that success,” she said. “And you are told as a young black student that you do not need to make choices and fit into anyone’s narrow definition of what it means to be a young black person in America.”

Harris added later that historically black colleges “teach us that there will always be a community that will support us, whatever we will decide to do,”

Including, perhaps, running for president.

Joann Berry, a 66-year-old who worked at South Carolina State for more than two decades, said that historically black colleges don’t just give diplomas, “they’re more like family.” She said that the fact that Harris had attended an HBCU could give her an advantage with connecting here.

While Berry has yet to decide who to support in South Carolina’s primary, she said Harris is among the candidates she’s considering.

“I’m proud of her. I have faith in her just like I had faith in Barack Obama,” said Berry. “A lot of people said he couldn’t do it — and he won.”

Harris’ campaign has made a number of overt appeals, in South Carolina and elsewhere, to the network of HBCUs.

One of Harris’s early congressional backers, California Rep. Barbara Lee, held events at Benedict College in Columbia on her behalf.

Harris also waded into the local issue of Denmark Technical College, which primarily serves residents of rural Allendale, Bamberg and Barnwell counties, and has been battling declining enrollment.

Her first significant policy rollout, aimed at increasing teacher pay nationwide, specifically calls for the federal government to support programs dedicated to teacher recruitment, training and professional development, particularly at HBCUs.

Harris’s first news conference as a presidential candidate was held at her alma mater, with the leaders of the Howard University Student Association on hand. She recalled that she had run her first political campaign as freshman class representative.

“This is where it all began,” she said.

On Twitter, her campaign even took note of Beyonce’s “Homecoming,” which was released this past week and paid homage to the musical legacy of historically black colleges. Harris said “Homecoming” ”exemplifies and rightly celebrates the spirit and legacy of HBCUs.”

“She brought our culture and tradition to the world stage and as a proud Howard graduate, I can’t wait to watch,” Harris wrote.

Other times, the exchanges come unprompted.

On an earlier trip to South Carolina, Harris was addressing a gathering of more than a dozen female leaders in Columbia when 83-year-old Marjorie Hammock arrived. Hammock, wearing a crew-neck Howard University sweat shirt, slowly made her way through a throng of reporters and onlookers.

When Harris noticed her, she immediately called to her.

“Hey, Bison, I know you,” Harris said, referencing Howard’s mascot, as the women laughed.

“We both went to Howard,” said Harris, 54, and joked, “I was there before her.”

Hammock, who attended Howard in the 1950s, said later that Harris’s campaign “gives me also hope for this country” and that seeing a Howard graduate run for president “reinforces the fact that the legacy continues.”

Billionaire businessman Robert F. Smith and award-winning actress Angela Basset will be recognized with honorary degrees at the Morehouse College commencement ceremony next month. Smith, who donated $1.5 million to the HBCU earlier this year, will also deliver the keynote address at the annual event.

“As Morehouse College celebrates its 152nd year of serving students, we are honored to welcome our community partner Robert F. Smith, one of the greatest business minds of our time, back to campus to share in the ceremony that is the highlight of the year,” said David A. Thomas, President of Morehouse College, in a press release. “His words of inspiration, and the presence of our other honorary degree recipients, will give the Class of 2019 a memorable experience that will challenge them to take the lessons that they learned as Men of Morehouse and become game-changers in their future endeavors.”

Smith, the founder and CEO of Vista Equity, donated $1.5 million to Morehouse in January, which will primarily be used to fund their new Robert Frederick Smith Scholars Program for underserved students who lack the resources to attend the prestigious Atlanta-based college. About $500,000 of his donation will go towards the creation of a new park and outdoor study area for students.

Smith and Bassett are just two of the more than 300 scholars who will receive honorary degrees for their dedication to leadership, service, and excellence at the 2019 Commencement. Smith will receive the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, which will also be bestowed to Edmund W. Gordon, a leading psychologist and a professor emeritus at Yale and Columbia universities.

Smith’s company currently has $46 billion of assets under management and was recognized last year as the top private equity firm on the BE100s — BLACK ENTERPRISE’s annual list of top black-owned companies in the nation. With a $5 billion net worth, Smith also tops the list of wealthiest African American billionaires in the country.

Morehouse College’s 135th annual commencement will be held May 19.

This post was written by Selena Hill, a writer at Black Enterprise, where it was originally published. It is published here with permission.

Saying that the interment will take place on Thursday, May 2, 2019, the official Instagram account for Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. announced that Lt. Col. John D. Slade will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. ”Those attending the burial should arrive at 8:15 AM (eastern) in front of the Administration Building,” the fraternity says. The fraternity is still mourning the death of Slade but celebrates his life and legacy, too. ”The preferred fraternal attire for the interment of Slade is black suit, black tie, white shirt, black shoes, and yellow rose.” The fraternity went on to mention that those who are veterans or active members of the United States Armed Services may wear their ceremonial uniforms.

In a unanimous decision, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees named Felecia M. Nave the next president of Alcorn State University on Wednesday.

Nave, a 1996 graduate of Alcorn State with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, is currently Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C. She received her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Toledo in Ohio.

Nave will take the reins at Alcorn State on July 1.

“Dr. Nave has many years of experience as a leader in higher education,” said Trustee Shane Hooper, in a news release.

“Through positions of progressive responsibility, Dr. Nave has provided leadership in every facet of the university, including academic program offerings, research activity, budget management, fundraising activities and student services, including recruitment, financial aid and student success. We are very pleased to welcome her back to Alcorn,” added Hooper, also chair of the Board Search Committee for the Alcorn State University Presidential Search.

Prior to joining North Carolina Central University, Nave served in various academic and administrative roles at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas from 2003 until 2018.

Beyonce’s new Netflix movie about her Coachella performance exposes the audience to the culture of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). HBCUs appeal to people because of their history and tradition.

These colleges continue to provide an education to black students, although all races are welcome to attend, that emphasizes being positive members of our community. While people like Beyonce and billionaire Robert Smith shining the spotlight on HBCUs can benefit the institutions, I fear mainstream culture has began to corrode the mission of some of these colleges. That includes my alma mater, Morehouse College, which has been an all-male institution — until now.

Morehouse, the Powerhouse

Morehouse is an all-male college that boasts alumni such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Howard Thurman. The Atlanta-based college, like the city it is located in, has a strong gay male culture. In 2009, students cross-dressing on campus led administrators to create a dress code that explicitly forbade students from wearing women’s clothes.

Despite the dress code, the shifting culture around gender identity brought many young men who consider themselves gender non-conforming. I attended Morehouse with several non-conforming students who are biologically male, and I consider them just as much my Morehouse brothers as any other alumnus.

When Morehouse hired last year its first non-alumni president in five decades, I feared he would bring the sort of corrosive liberal policies that define predominantly white colleges and universities. This fear may have been founded, since the men’s college has recently changed its admissions policy to include the acceptance of transgender people who are biologically female.

The new policy states, “Morehouse will consider for undergraduate admission those applicants who live and self-identify as men, regardless of the sex assigned to them at birth.” This makes it clear the agenda of its Ivy League-educated president is to make Morehouse just like the liberal, white campuses that he is accustomed to. The “who live” part of the policy is the most troubling.

When I was a student at Morehouse, we were able to celebrate our differences and learn from one another. This was, in large part, due to the fact that the majority of us were black men. That common understanding is what makes Morehouse different from other colleges. This is undermined by stretching the definition of “black man.” If anyone can be a black man, this cheapens the experience of students currently on campus.

It is unsettling that a bureaucrat will get to determine what it means for a student to “live” as a man in order to determine whether someone with two X chromosomes should be allowed to attend an all-male college. Accepting students who are biologically female undermines the fact that the campus is historically all-male.

Morehouse was founded in 1867 to provide black men a college education. This tradition has stood more than 150 years, only to be undermined by people who don’t care about the history of the college. Spelman College, an all women’s HBCU located next to Morehouse, has instituted a similar policy to allow transgender males to attend. They celebrated when a trans man graduated from campus, even though this person was biologically female.

Gender Ideology Undermines the Unique Value of Each Sex

This redefinition of biological “sex” is merely the tool of destructive identity politics, and it does not belong at HBCUs. These sorts of policies are especially out of place at single-sex campuses that don’t even allow students to have overnight visitors of the opposite sex.

Single-sex colleges and the notion that sex is assigned at birth cannot coexist. An astute Twitter commenter pointed out that the logical end of these liberal gender policies is also the end of single-sex institutions. A student at Morehouse has suggested that because “they” do not use masculine pronouns the college should stop using masculine pronouns. While these single-sex colleges might seem out of date, upholding tradition is the greatest defense against the degenerative, liberal forces that threaten our nation.

HBCU traditions are under threat thanks to outside influences that promote a western universalism based on faulty leftist ideology. Just like feminism has been used to manipulate women, identity politics continues to be used to manipulate minorities. The fact that Morehouse and Spelman have accepted these policies points out how dangerous it is to be beholden to external parties. Accepting this foolishness is little more than a cash grab. HBCUs will quickly find out that chasing liberal validation will only result in fool’s gold.

Paying lip service to the liberal elite plays on people’s emotions to gain political power. Statements like this from the current president of Morehouse: “I think Morehouse having the courage to speak to issues of masculinity in today’s environment is important,” diverts attention from the real issues facing America’s black communities. A positive black masculinity is best used to address the issues we have building strong family structures. Accepting a belief system that views traditional masculinity as toxic diverts this mission.

HBCUs have remained a beacon of hope in promoting traditional values, but they are clearly not impervious to the constant threat of liberal thinking.

The Far-Left Doesn’t Represent Black Men

Morehouse and black people in general are in no way advanced by the far left’s views. The slippery slope toward “eliminating sex distinctions” is a threat to the black nuclear family.

Identity politics foster “a spirit of resentment” that pits the sexes against one another. The worst aspect of identity politics is that it makes citizens easier to control. This agenda conveniently makes all struggles the same.

A white man once proclaimed to me it was okay for him to refer to himself as a “pink n—er” because he is gay. Intersectional thought like this compels people to compare struggles and assume they are equal. Predominantly white colleges have disavowed their own traditions in order to keep up with the times, causing much of the value in American higher education to be watered down. HBCUs should not follow suit.

HBCUs are going down that same path because out-of-touch bureaucrats believe that is in the best interest of these institutions’ future. Yet these campuses are too precious a resource to water down in a time where all forms of tradition stand against the agenda of America’s corrupt elite.

My professional writing journey started approximately three years ago while attempting to discover ways to increase my impact and influence online. I didn’t earn a degree in journalism like most of my colleagues. I didn’t have connections with publishers and editors, and I generally had no idea how to contribute content and pitch newspaper editors. Fast forward to the present day, I am not only honored to contribute to Black Enterprise (a life-long aspiration), but I am also one of the youngest African American nationally syndicated columnists in the nation. Regardless of your background or educational level, you too can become a more influential blogger, contributor, or contributing writer (and possibly syndicated writer). As an award-winning columnist, I have four rules to increase content visibility that I have developed through writing content for brands such as Forbes, Entrepreneur.com, The Business Journals, and many other global publications. Check out my top four content rules and leave a comment below and share your best tips and tricks to increase content visibility.

INCREASE DISTRIBUTION PHYSICALLY

Newspapers are not dead, they have simply expanded. While contributors and bloggers shy away from writing for physical newspapers, I have expanded my content to them. This has not only helped me make history, but it also brings more eyes to my content. I write for traditionally non-diverse publications, anytime a reader sees an African American writing content in their trusted business publication they investigate online. Sometimes out of curiosity or simple plain amazement. After all, who would imagine that a “young black guy” could write business content for their prestigious online publications? I do, and it plays well into the increase in my online visibility.

STAY HYPERFOCUSED

I try to stay in my lane. My content both in print and online has remained aligned. Google (smaller search engines) and my readers know what to expect when they see a Jeff Shuford article, this also helps when pitching editors. I see too many contributors writing about anything at any time, it not only can confuse a reader but it also doesn’t let a writers voice develop through consistent content (Google Searchability is key).

PERSONAL BLOGS (FOR ME) ARE A NO-GO

I don’t run a personal blog; I believe that it would do a disservice to my print and online publishers. I also don’t send people through a funnel on my personal website; it keeps readers searching for content through search engines and utilizes my website simply for validation and information gathering. When readers stumble upon my personal and business website, they are redirected to my published articles and not to a personal blog section. Simply put, the views are redirected to the individual publication that I contributed the piece to. Major Key Alert: Editors and publishers appreciate the effort to keep readers on their website as opposed to yours!

BECOMING LEGENDARY

My goal has always been to be memorable and to build a legacy. Last year I discovered the power of sticking to my content roadmap. Having my content named one of the top articles on LinkedIn Business (No. 3) was a great learning experience. It has also led to more people searching for my content, this helps my editors more than myself due to the fact that I don’t monetize my readers. Publications like the Jacksonville Business Journaland other publications in my network of syndicated partners bring me in to speak at their events, also increasing my digital footprint. I maintain great relationships with newspaper and digital editors throughout the 44 regions that I write for, they teach me a great deal about distribution, networking, and content market strategy. My marketing team emails editors and influencers about my new content (Thanks Celeste Everett & Cher Davis!). I am not saying that this strategy works for everyone but it sure works for me.

NATIONAL SYNDICATION IS KEY

It all boils down to distribution points and brand footprint. A Google search of my name (Jeff Shuford) yields a ton of results, all pointing back to me and my content. The newspapers do a great job of generating interest for my name, and with 44 regions with an average readership (of the physical newspapers alone) of 100Kk (3.6 million readers total), I do very well (and you can too!).

This post was written by Jeff Shuford, a writer at Black Enterprise, where it was originally published. It is published here with permission.