This week Morgan State University (MSU) and Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) joined Coppin State University in announcing a leadership shake-up. David J. Wilson and Carolane Williams joined Reginald S. Avery as soon-to-be ex-presidents. What’s going on?

Coppin president Reginald Avery’s announcement in October that he would step down in January 2013 was not entirely unexpected. During his five-year administration, retention rates increased from 62 to 66 percent in two years, but graduation remained below 25 percent and there was no meaningful increase in student enrollment. Over time faculty and staff’s disenchantment continued to grow, culminating in an increase in staff lay-offs and protest from faculty who gave him a vote of no confidence in February 2012.  In his resignation statement, Dr. Avery agreed, “It was …time…to step aside.”

On the other hand, Carolane Williams’ “separation” from Baltimore Community College “came as a surprise” to her. While she has headed BCCC for six years, her administration has been plagued by a drop in student enrollment and a vote of no confidence from the faculty senate in 2010. The “surprise” must have the speed and abruptness of the board’s action, not the action itself.

Now comes MSU president David Wilson. On December 4, 2012 Morgan’s Board of Regents voted 8-7 not to renew his contract in June 2013.

While there has been a spate of upheavals on the campus in recent months which include two shootings, a student being accused of cannibalism, a misdirected e-mail about replacing the school’s football coach and faculty member’s indictment for   receiving grants fraudulently, these incidents cannot be directly placed upon the president’s shoulders. He neither could not nor cannot prevent these types of occurrences.

What has he done? Since becoming Morgan’s 12th president in December 2009, he has worked to increase scholarship money, donating $100,000 of his own; he has seen the university break ground for a $72 million business school and he has started an effort to improve areas around the campus. What’s more, university enrollment is up and graduation rates are steady.

So why is he being fired? Scuttlebutt has it that some regents believe that he will not remain at Morgan for the long haul for the following reasons:

1. He had been a finalist for the University of Albany presidency, but withdrew his name from consideration in July; and 2. Supposedly his name was mentioned about a possible position in the second Obama administration. Are nearly half of the regents saying “We’ll fire you before you can walk away to a bigger, more prestigious job?”

They’re cutting off their noses to spite their faces. He came with glowing praise for work in connecting college campuses with the surrounding urban area; he led off a scholarship drive with $100,000; he withdrew from another job search and, oh yes, President Obama, in 2010, appointed him to his advisory board for black colleges and universities.

Morgan has gotten itself an excellent president. He is supported, in the main by students, faculty and staff and he certainly is well-equipped to guide Morgan’s growth in this century.  

In the last several years there has been a rumbling just under the surface of higher   education in Maryland. Most of the rumors have been centered on the boards of trustees and the presidents of three important institutions— Coppin State University, Morgan State University and Baltimore City Community College.

Recently, much of the whispering has become public. In the cases of Coppin and BCCC, the handwriting had been on the wall for some time. Faculty and student groups had expressed a lack of confidence in Presidents Reginald S. Avery and Carolane Williams and tensions have been evident on the campus. Both schools have suffered from funding and enrollment issues and the frostiness between these two leaders and their governing boards has been obvious for months. 

Avery announced his exit earlier this fall and Williams’ fate was sealed when BCCC’s board terminated her this week. President Avery determined he was in a losing battle but Williams is clear, she is not happy about losing her job. She, rightly so, worries that after making some gains at the school, albeit not quickly enough for some BCCC faculty and leaders, the board has given the impression that she was incompetent. This firing may not end well.

However, the announcement that Morgan’s Dr. David J. Wilson’s contract would not be renewed caught many off guard. Despite recent advances for research and national partnerships under his tenure, the school suffered a public relations nightmare with recent shootings on campus and numerous episodes of nationally reported violence.

Dr. Wilson was also considered somewhat aloof and not as personal and engaging as previous presidents. 

Perhaps it is now time for Maryland’s legislature to exercise some level of oversight in reviewing what appears to be a perception of instability in the administration of these schools.

Although no one wants “Big Brother” government to second-guess the independent power of these boards to operate with a level of autonomy, the reputation of these colleges and the faith of thousands of students, parents and faculty is being impacted.

With the Christmas season in full bloom, I am amazed how such a simple celebration has now become so controversial. How can people find a way to criticize the meaning of Christmas that I grew up with? Christmas has always meant recognizing the birth of the baby Jesus, giving one’s family their time and presence, not presents.

Having Christmas without Christ is like having basketball without the basket, like having Sunday school without Sunday, like having hamburger without meat. In other words, the very name describes the essence of the event or item.

So, this time of year has become one of the most controversial times in our country, even more than our presidential elections. Secular liberals want no mention of Christ in the public square; non-Christians demand equal access to public space for their demonstrations; and atheists want nothing that remotely hints of the existence of a God. By the way, why do atheists spend so much time arguing about something that they claim doesn’t exist?

The underlying issue that this time of the year brings up is: How does America manage its diversity? When I grew up, you would be run out of town if you tried to take the Christ out of Christmas. A retail store would have never thought about using the phrase “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”

Now, America is so diverse. We have Muslims, atheists, Agnostics, Secularists, Hindus, Buddhists, among others. Everyone is quick to assert what their rights, are in the public square— and that’s where the controversy begins.

These other groups have a right to celebrate their religions and holidays any way they chose. However, the issue becomes more problematic when everyone is arguing that their view should be given the same status as Christmas. I am leaving all legal arguments out of this discussion so as to not cloud my point.

In Washington, D.C., some Muslims are upset that their school systems are closed during Christmas, but open during their Muslim holidays. Their argument is why should they have to take a day off from work for Christmas when they don’t celebrate that holiday?  Should the school system be open so they can work and only Muslim students attend class? Of course not! Sometimes you simply have to accommodate the majority for practical reasons.

I offer another example. A Jewish student wants to join a fraternity and according to their bylaws, all pledges must cook a midnight meal on the Friday of their pledge week for the leaders of the fraternity. This would be in direct conflict with the Jewish student’s religion that he cannot do anything from Friday evening until Saturday morning. Should that disqualify him from being able to join the fraternity? If so, is it discriminatory? If not, is it fair to the other pledges who followed all the rules for joining?

My point is that these issues are not always black and white. I grew up celebrating a Christ-centered Christmas and I am not willing to give it up simply to make others feel good. I will not allow these same people to force me to give up my beliefs to prove to them that I am not against theirs.

Why should a Muslim woman be allowed to refuse me service at the grocery store because I have pork in my basket? Why should one atheist be allowed to prevent an opening prayer at a school graduation? Why should a Muslim taxi driver be allowed to refuse me a ride because I have a bottle of wine with me?

We are a Christian nation founded upon Christian principles. Why should I have to deny my beliefs in order for you to have yours?

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a Washington, D.C.-based public relations/government affairs firm. He can be reached through his website: www.raynardjackson.com.

It seems so natural today. Having cable television in our homes, giving us a vast selection of channels from which to choose is a given condition for the vast majority of us. I can remember in my early years it was not like that. We had the three networks and a few local channels. A black face on television doing something productive was very few and far between. When the great singer Nat King Cole got his own television show in Los Angeles we were all so proud. Our music was available to us and we were indeed becoming a valuable part of American culture. Gone are those simple years that discounted and downplayed black intellect, talent and culture.

It was 1948, when entrepreneurs would introduce cable television to three markets—  Arkansas, Oregon and Pennsylvania. They would service the mountain areas of these states where normal television signals were extremely difficult to pick up. In just four years, there were 70 cable systems servicing over 14,000 households. By the 1960s, there were over 850,000 households and 800 cable providers. This was phenomenal growth but was seen as a great threat to the local television owners. They convinced the federal government, Congress and the FCC to slow the pace down and bring in tighter controls through enhanced regulation.

Cable television hit an anemic growth rate throughout the 1960s because of the above obstacle. They would limit cable operators offering movies, sporting events and syndicated programming.  It was actually an assault on freedom of speech. Please keep in mind that the cable growth was coming from private funds such as venture capitalism and equity investment. There was not a drop of government money— county, state nor federal. This was true Americana as the founders of our government intended it to be.

The FCC was, in fact, a prohibitive entity to the growth of this new technology, which targeted information, entertainment and thought.

Champions of the upstart cable industry finally convinced the government authorities to lessen the blockage they created and let this valuable technology grow and become available to the American marketplace. The demand should determine if it should expand and the demand was about to blow up to incredible levels. The creation of satellite technology along with friendlier regulation caused a spike in available capital.  Great American entrepreneurs like Jack Kent Cooke, Charles Dolan and Ted Turner would gather the needed capital and revolutionize programming based on the demands of the American consumer. By 1980, nearly sixteen million households were subscribing to cable companies. It was just the beginning.

As these entrepreneurs began to populate and jobs were being created exponentially, Black Americans happily found that they were included. Thank the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act for this. Local regulation and licensing would come from the city and county level. The face of city and county government had now become a “rainbow” in most local communities. The newly formed cable companies knew they had to be inclusive. Job hires, training and ownership were being “dipped in chocolate.” Cable companies were coming with diversity in the entertainment and ownership industry. The late Mayor Coleman Young of Detroit and past D.C. Mayor Marion Barry along with other vanguard black mayors in the nations demanded black ownership participation. Two notable beneficiaries of this new opportunity were the late Don Barden of Detroit and BET CEO Robert Johnson of Washington, D.C.

As cable progressed and the more successful ventures became multi-billion dollar empires, telecom giants such as Verizon and AT&T have joined the industry which includes Comcast, Fox and others and provide great competition in our larger markets which ensures competitive pricing and even more jobs and careers with very diverse populations. The largest union in telecommunications is the Communication Workers of America— CWA. It is probably the most diverse union and has been very fair when it comes to African American workers. Management at all of these cable providers has an appreciable share of black participation.

Every genre of black music is now available on cable television. Black produced movies, talk shows, history segments, news and individually owned channels exist today and that is a very good thing. Children, millennial and seasoned black adults can find what they are looking for and are educated to new ideas and happenings. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the greatest industry sector for economic opportunity amongst black Americans. Stories like this keep America great and strong.

To keep this story growing and succeeding it is very important that regulating authorities at the local and federal level realize that regulations must support free enterprise, encourage private capital and promote diversity.  The best model for this is the Cable Story. 

Harry C. Alford is the co-founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®. To contact Harry Alford, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Millions of black American families observed Thanksgiving this week. We have much to be thankful and grateful for. Yet, we should also be cognizant of the challenges and struggles that lie ahead in the pathway to future economic empowerment and social sustainability not only in America but throughout a changing world as well. In other words, this is a time for reflection, self-assessment, self-improvement and collective development and progress.

I know that there are some cynics even among us who prefer to see the plight of black Americans only from a pathological or from a continuously negative critique. It is true that unemployment in our communities, in particular for our youth, remains devastatingly high. Prisons and jails across the nation continue to overflow disproportionately with black American inmates and defendants. Abject poverty continues to have an alarmingly mortal grip on too many of our families and communities. Improving the systematic quality education of our children remains one of the highest priorities. Constructive criticism does have its place and value. But isolated and even well intentioned criticism concerning the ongoing struggle to eliminate racism, injustice and inequality without a concomitant plan of action to advance the cause of freedom, justice and equality is just a nonproductive waste of time and energy.

A Black Thanksgiving this year and every year should be focused on taking the time as family, friends, colleagues and simply as “brothers and sisters” to adequately assess and plan for further advancement of the interests, intelligence, and institutions of the black American community. This is also a time for the elders of the freedom movement to share wisdom with our young emerging activists and leaders in spirit of acknowledging that every inch of progress that has been accomplished over the past 400 years has come as a consequence of struggle and sacrifice.

This is not, however, the time for carelessly taking anything for granted. We all should be first and foremost appreciative for the very breath of life to be alive in this day and time. We have come a mighty long way, and yes, we still have a long way to go toward the fulfillment of the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the realization of the aspirations and prayers of past generations. A Black Thanksgiving is the time for us to affirm the importance of giving back to help our communities to better develop and prosper. This is the time for sharing what we have with those who are less fortunate. More than 40 million black Americans now spend more than $1 trillion annually.

“Thanksgetting” presupposes “Thanksgiving.” Let’s assess how we spend that much money every 12 months. How much is for our empowerment as a people? How much do we spend to educate our children? How much do we invest in our own businesses and institutions such as our Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)?  How much to we give to our churches and charities that serve the interests of our communities? How much do we give back to Africa? We should at Black Thanksgiving be financially supporting the NAACP, SCLC, National Urban League, NAFEO, Rainbow Push Coalition, National Action Network, Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, Diamond

Empowerment Fund, Georges Malaika Foundation, the NNPA and other organizations and institutions that continue to make a positive difference in the United States, in Africa and the world community. We should be particularly aware and supportive of the African Union and other Pan African organizations.

A Black Thanksgiving should show utmost respect and solidarity with our Native American brothers and sisters who still are struggling for self-determination, freedom and development. It is also important to note here that we should be more proactive in building lasting coalitions with our Latino brothers and sisters because with have mutual interests, anthropological and cultural roots, as well as sharing strategic political goals and objectives as just witnessed on Election Day. The future success of our advancement is dependent upon our unity and solidarity with others who know from history and from the present day realities the importance of standing up, speaking out, taking action, and working tirelessly for the freedom and equality of all people throughout the world.

We are very thankful for the re-election of President Barack H. Obama. This election was triumphantly won by the massive voter turnout against the backdrop of voter suppression. The world is continuing to change for the better and the varied prospects for black Americans to prosper going forward are significantly enhanced. We just have to stay focused and to avoid the regressive temptations of hopelessness and cynicism. Lastly, when you have an “undying love,” respect and a sense of giving for the help of your own family and community, you are clear about the necessity to have love, respect and a sense of giving for the help of others. Thus, a Black Thanksgiving in the truest sense is a Thanksgiving for all people.

Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is president of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and Education Online Services Corporation and can be reached at:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

It seems like the more we watch our elected officials debate, argue and accuse, the more of the same keeps happening. For the sake of our future they need to come to terms with our dire economy and start managing our financial affairs. America is in great danger and no one seems to be very concerned. Iran will soon have nuclear weapons and China is building its military at a scary and phenomenal rate. Russia is as slick as ever and the whole Middle East is erupting. If we don’t remain strong, peace will soon go away.

President Obama has an excellent opportunity to build on his legacy. This term he needs to be a “healer” and cross the aisle to negotiate the best path for America. Politics is supposed to be about compromising and negotiating. Both parties must begin a give and take on the important issues that lay ahead.  Let’s look at some of these make or break issues.

The last time we faced this upcoming financial disaster we called it “Taxmageddon.” We would not solve the matter or bring it to closure. Instead we kicked the can down the road and raised our debt limit. Now, we face it again and call it the “Fiscal Cliff.” The Fiscal Cliff becomes a reality on January 1. If Congress doesn’t come to terms with this matter soon, our economy will crash. Half of our military budget will be cancelled which would cause the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs and many business closures. Or, we can do like the last time, which was to raise our debt limits and kick the can down the road again. A wise government would adjust our spending and revenues to begin chopping away at our $16 trillion debt.

The next financial trauma is the Dodd-Frank bill implementation. Senator Dodd and Congressman Frank steered this fiasco through Congress and then announced their retirements. President Obama signed it. The bill has done much harm in terms of capital access, business growth and job creation. By law, regulators must write 398 rules to fully implement the bill. So far they have issued 133 final rules (33 percent), proposed 133 more, which are pending and another 133 are yet to be proposed. This bill is making banks too timid to lend money to businesses. Our major corporations are refusing to further invest in this nation and are considering growing their businesses abroad. It may end Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and force us to come up with a new way to provide mortgage financing to homeowners. We need to undo this law and start over using common sense.

International trade is another area that needs to pick up the pace of the new global market. The last administration closed on free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Columbia. Maybe the second Obama administration will be more robust. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is starting to get on the negotiating table. If completed, we will have free trade agreements (duty and tariff free transactions) with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The National Black Chamber of Commerce is all for this. After we complete it, let’s consider some of the larger African nations. Also, wouldn’t it make sense to include the European Union, our nation’s biggest trading partner? We are talking business development and sizeable job creation.

It would be very important to the Obama legacy if we were to arrive at energy independence. Yes, we know he is all for the “all of the above” strategy in meeting our energy needs through every means available. Again, we are talking about a serious number of new jobs and business development. We must build the Keystone Pipeline. We should expand the new technique of natural gas drilling— Fracturing or “fracking.”  Off shore wells should now be allowed on all of our coastlines. We cannot become independent without these forms of energy gathering. The president is going to have to face this if he is to achieve his goal. He will have to do this with an absence of cap and trade legislation. That won’t happen and this position is non-negotiable.

If the new administration can work with Congress and complete the above, it would signal a new day for America. We are at risk and I pray that the turning point can happen sooner than later. It would be so nice to have some camaraderie and

respect on Capitol Hill and a happy Wall Street. If we can just get it together within the next year, the economy would start turning around, and may even start to boom in the second year of this administration. President Obama, Congress, it is all up to you. Let’s do it for the future of our great nation.

Harry C. Alford is the co-founder, president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®. He can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

When the dust settles on this year’s presidential election, the real winner will prove to be Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Christie is finishing his first term as governor and will be seeking reelection in 2013. He has built a reputation as a rare no-nonsense, straight-talking politician. The public claims they want an honest politician, but when they see one, he gets roundly criticized for being honest.

The governor has been given high marks for his response to the aftermath of super storm Sandy, which devastated both New Jersey and New York City. He is a living example of how a politician can set aside partisanship for the betterment of the people. The way he and President Obama joined together to comfort and help those affected by the storm was remarkable in light of the polarization of our body politic.

Christie served as one of Mitt Romney’s most visible and staunchest surrogates. Christie, can be very partisan but seems to have the maturity and wisdom to know when to put partisanship aside. This seems to have led him to be in trouble with many in the Republican Party.

Christie has been effusive with his praise of President Obama’s handling of the storm. The president, in turn, has been just as effusive in praise of Christie.

As a top surrogate for Romney, many in the party seemed to be taken aback at this “love-fest” between two politicians from opposite parties. Many Republicans thought Christie was providing a huge “political” boost to Obama at a critical time in the election.

Christy made it perfectly clear to media outlets that his focus was totally on getting help for his people without any political considerations. But, Fox News would not accept the governor’s words and proceeded to ask him about whether he would tour the state with Romney. In classic Christie style, he smacked the Fox anchors right across the lips with a stinging rebuke, “I have no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested. I’ve got a job to do here in New Jersey that’s much bigger than presidential politics, and I could care less about any of that stuff… If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics then you don’t know me,” he said. The Fox anchors looked like a deer in the headlights.

In other interviews Christie said, “The federal government response has been great. I was on the phone at midnight again last night with the president personally,” he told NBC’s “Today” program.

During a press conference Christie said, “The president has been outstanding in this. The folks at FEMA… have been excellent…I don’t give a damn about Election Day. It doesn’t matter a lick to me at the moment…I’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

Wow! We heard a national Republican who actually believes that there is a legitimate role for the federal government to play in our lives. Maybe Christie is that “adult” the Republican Party needs to get our party back on track and to tone down some of the craziness happening within the party— “legitimate rape,” “the president is lazy,” “the president should learn how to be American,” etc.

In a country that has become hyper-partisan to the point of total gridlock, you have a politician who is determined to put the people first, even if it helps the opposition party right before a major election. Did Christie want Romney to defeat Obama in the election? Certainly he did. However, it was more important that he get the help that his people needed.

Without a doubt, Christie was the true winner of this year’s election. The Republican Party can win, too, if it adopts his road map for balancing partisanship with governorship. This is the only way to get the GOP back to relevancy.

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a Washington, D.C.-based public relations/government affairs firm. He can be reached through his website: www.raynardjackson.com.

There is abundant evidence that this will be a close contest between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Of course, the election is not really about race, religion or about a random celebrity or publicity quotient. This election is actually about the future of the nation politically and economically as well as the global leadership of the United States for the next four years. For many people who have already voted early or who plan to go out to the polls in record numbers on Tuesday, the campaign endorsements by various public officials does have a significant impact.

Even though former Secretary of State General Colin L. Powell explicitly stated the public policy issues and leadership qualities of President Barack Obama as the reasons for his endorsing the re-election of President Barack Obama, one of Mitt Romney’s most senior campaign officials, former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, asserted that General Powell’s endorsement of President Obama was based on race.

Sununu’s racially motivated slur to attack General Powell for having the political courage as a Republican statesman to endorse President Obama was not just some random rhetorical misstatement. Sununu knew exactly was he was doing a few days before the election. Sununu deliberately interjected the issue of race into the presidential campaign hoping to make a “backward” political gain to assist Mitt Romney’s ambition to defeat President Obama.

It is important to state for the record that General Colin Powell not only made the right move, but also he did it with admirable courage and brilliant statesmanship. As the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Secretary of State who has served Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, General Colin Powell is an iconic, retired four-star general, veteran leader and seasoned visionary admired by millions of Americans. Thus, Powell’s endorsement is important, timely and very significant. The fact that General Powell is also a moderate Republican is noteworthy and could help other Republicans and independents to see the value of reelecting President Obama.

Powell stated, “I think we ought to keep on the track that we are on.” In reference to his choice of President Obama over Romney, Powell further affirmed, “I voted for him in 2008 and I plan to stick with him in 2012.” He listed President Obama’s outstanding record in effective counter-terrorism and the ending of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as points of strategic leadership that are important to maintain in the White House. In terms of the prospects about Governor Romney, Powell emphasized, “There’s some very, very strong neo-conservative views that are presented by the governor that I have some trouble with…… I’m not quite sure which Governor Romney we’d be getting with respect to foreign policy.”

In the aftermath of Sununu’s charge that Powell endorsed President Obama because both are black, the general’s former chief of staff, retired Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, candidly stated that the Republican Party is “full of racists.” Wilkerson went on to explain, “And the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to with the content of his character, nothing to with his competence as commander in chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin.  And that’s despicable.”

We are proud of General Colin Powell. We are proud of President Barack Obama. It is not about race, it is about leadership and accomplishment. Let no one make you think that this election is not important and vital to all Americans. This obviously also transcends partisan politics. Both Democrats and Republicans should be voting to reelect President Barack Obama. The old plantation tricks, divisive mischief and vile rhetoric of the past will not suffice in diverting our attention and responsibilities from pressing “forward” in 2012. We, therefore, are resolute in our expressions of recognition and tribute to General Powell’s courage on the battlefield for freedom, justice and equality. In short, we salute General Powell and vote for President Obama.

Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is president of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) and Education Online Services Corporation and can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it