Over the past several months, we as a campus have had to take an intentional inventory of what we deem as fair and what is equitable with regards to race and being student-ready for all students. I am often asked the question about racial equity and how do we address this equity without breaking any laws like Prop 209. When someone mentions Prop 209, I think about my many summer nights as a little boy in Jamieson, Florida walking to my grandmother’s house and having to hide in a ditch not knowing whether white men in the truck coming towards us were Klansmen. When I think about Prop 209, I think about how many times I have been pulled over by police at gunpoint, which happens to be over 10 times. When I think about Prop 209, I think of the words of the late Congressmember John Lewis when he said, we need to “Get into good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America.”

Last year, President Conoley uttered the words “One Beach” meaning to bring us all together. As the Co-Chair for the President’s Equity & Change Commission, we have been working hard to examine and interrogate hiring policies and practices for faculty and staff, close opportunity gaps for our historically underserved students, and create accountability mechanisms for equity and change just to name a few.

Many of you stood with me and other groups who were harmed and traumatized by racism, hate, and ignorance. I and others called you allies. This year and moving forward, I respectfully would like my allies to become my accomplices, my collaborators, and my co-disrupters to address Equity and Change. I know we have all heard the saying that a mind is a terrible thing to waste, I would hate to think what inaction on our part as thought leaders and thought partners would be. In the words of the great James Baldwin, “For these are all our children, we will all profit by or pay for what they become.”

I welcome you all to support our efforts for One Village, One Purpose.

The vision was the first. It was a first-time event. It was virtual. It was in the middle of a pandemic. With all the challenges that were put before us, we still raised $126,215 for CSULB Black Scholars.

As of 7/31

Donations: $126,215

2^nd row: Tiffany Robertson, Shonnick Anderson, Imani Moses, Tracy Kelly, Celeste Prince, Cheryl Crumble, Ashley Dawkins;

3^rd row : Curglin Robertson, Jeremy Scruggs, Greg Guest

It’s a true testament to what we can do when we work together. Our Community Opportunity drawing yielded two recipients, Myla Thomas and Blossom Adanike, you’ll hear their stories next month. The Black Alumni Scholarship is up and open. The deadline is September 30^th. We will be able to give out $15,000 in scholarships in the Fall and another $15,000 in the Spring and we will celebrate the recipients at the 2^nd Annual CSULB Black Alumni Scholarship Gala on Saturday, April 23, 2022.

In the next few weeks, you will be able to see clips of our Inaugural event on the Black Scholars website as well as a list of the names of the people in our Black Scholars Village and all of those that participated in the Tribute Journal. One of our supporters, Michael Persaud of Morgan Stanley will fulfill his commitment to providing a wealth and Investment webinar for our community on September 29th. We are looking forward to providing more ways for us to come together to celebrate our history, lift, encourage and support our students, faculty, staff and community.

We all worked together as a team to build this beautiful village in support of our Black Scholars and because we worked together as a village, we can now present the following:

Dr. Karyn Scissum Gunn, Provost and Senior Vice President

Dr. Devery Rodgers - Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership

Jeremy Scruggs - Assistant Director Of The Black Resource Center.

Congratulations to Blossom Adanike , the winner of the Inaugural Black Alumni Scholarship Gala Opportunity Drawing. She received $700 in Beach Bucks toward the purchase of her books for this fall semester. You will hear her story in next month’s news and find out just how much our support helped this student.

Congratulations to Myla Thomas who was the 2^nd winner of the Inaugural Black Alumni Scholarship Gala Opportunity Drawing. She won $500 in Beach Bucks to support her school year. Hear her story in next month's Black Scholars Community News and find out just how much our support helped this student.

Congratulations to Dr. Maulana Karenga on the passing of Assembly Bill No. 1460: Resisting the White-Washing of Ethnic Studies: Keeping Color in Life and Learning - Los Angeles Sentinel | (lasentinel.net)

Have you heard the news? Our very own Dr, Keith Claybrook, Instructional Faulty in Africana Studies, has released his new book. "Building the Basics: A Handbook for the Pursuit of Academic Excellence in Africana Studies" is now in print in collaboration with publisher Kendall Hunt.

Congratulations to Doris Robinson, Executive Director of The Math Collaborative for celebrating their 10-year anniversary in May 2021

September 1 – June 27, 2022 - Academic Year Support

Math-Is-Me-tician Program (Hesabu Circle)

Featuring Michael Presaud, Wealth Management and Investment Advisor with Morgan Stanley

See now retired Dr. Pamela Ashe’s Black Cultural Events page for information on other black events around town.