…retool through our words: our publications, our grants, and our speaking engagements.
Many will say, “White schools do the same thing and have problems, too!” And I will respond the way my mother did, “They ain’t my damn child!” In some cases, we have forgotten the mission of our schools. The way out of shrinking budgets, diminishing enrollment, and fleeting public confidence is writing and research. Upfront infrastructural investments (buildings, students, faculty and staff) absconded to the dubious process of naming buildings and the tri-annual search for a new leader.
I appreciate great teaching but it should not come at the sacrifice of research time for great Black minds. How can professors increase their intellectual real estate teaching four to six classes per semester? Staff support is minimal and doesn’t extend beyond the departmental administrative assistant. The erudite process is stifled. Skillful administrators, not just presidents, can launch plans that involve writing grants and that secure more space and people to ensure the successful journey to research.
Lastly, corruption at one HBCU sadly indicts all HBCUs. We are a brand. If you can’t protect and promote it, you have to go. Protect the brand. Imagine what we have accomplished with the bare minimum! Protect our brand. Sometimes you have to find your heartbreak to feel your heart beat! They’ve tried to break us but it will only make us stronger. We are the answer. Can I keep it real!
Dr. Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins is a dynamic speaker, author, and scholar who serves as a Vice-Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. After obtaining his bachelor’s (NC Central University) and master’s (Florida A&M University) degrees focused in medical and legal history, Dr. Jenkins earned a Ph.D. in Sociology and Criminology & Law from the University of Florida. This two-time national journalism award winner examines the influence of race, racism, and law within medicine. High-powered corporate clients, such as McDonalds and ProQuest, have invited him as a keynote speaker for state and global events. Dr. Kevin Ahmaad Jenkins is a blue-collar academician who is one of America’s emerging voices.