2014 BHM Week 2

Character Education Black History Month

Civil Rights in America A publication of the Afro-American Newspapers

Table of Contents 4 Civil Rights in America

The Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper 2519 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 (410) 554-8200

The Washington Afro-American Newspaper 1917 Benning Road NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 332-0080

6 Character Education Profile: Ammanuel Moore

Black History Month 2014

BGE

John J. Oliver Jr. Chairman/Publisher Avis Thomas-Lester Executive Editor Diane Hocker Character Education Project Manager Dorothy Boulware Project Editor Zenitha Prince Contributing Writer Vickie Johnson Denise Dorsey Graphic Designers

7 ‘A Culture of Its Own’ 11 Character Education Profile: Russell V. Kelley,

Ph.D. - College Savings Plans of Maryland

Cover Images: Top row: Malcolm X (Wikimedia Commons), Freedom March in Baltimore (AFRO Archive), The Kings at the Selma to Montgomery March (Stock Image), Angela Davis (Wikimedia Commons) Bottom row: a Black Panther (Wikimedia Commons), Civil Rights sign and button (Stock Images), Church congregation (AFRO Archive), Billie Holiday (Wikimedia Commons)

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Welcome to Character Education 2014

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he Afro-American Newspapers’ Character Education program is designed to promote positive character traits in our public school students. Each year, several corporate professionals and business leaders join our effort and share stories that illustrate how the building of their character not only helps them personally but also in the workplace.

During Black History Month, the AFRO is delivered to public middle schools across the region including Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and Washington, D.C. Each publication contains the testimonies of our corporate partners.

How does it work?

During the AFRO’s Black History Month series – the newspaper’s most active and sought after series each year– we feature a Black History and Character Education publication that profiles diverse corporate professionals, their success stories and helpful strategies for planning a successful career. Each week, eighth graders from Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Howard Afro-American Newspapers

County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and Washington, D.C. Public Schools receive the publication at no cost. The goal is for students to read the featured profiles and Black history content and submit an essay connecting what they’ve learned from a particular profile to the importance of character building. Winners of the essay contest are awarded valuable prizes to further their education and an opportunity to meet the corporate professional they chose to write about.

Why eighth graders?

Our research shows that by the eighth grade, most students have started to seriously think about their career goals and are more receptive to the information shared by the business community.

How can the schools help?

• Allow the AFRO to deliver Character Education to your school on a weekly basis throughout the month of February. In addition, provide the AfroAmerican Newspapers in your school’s media center or library on a weekly basis for the current calendar year.

• Assist in coordinating the distribution of the publication within February 8, 2014

participating school districts.

• Identify a liaison to advise us on information concerning character education that can be included in each edition.

• Encourage teachers and students to participate in the essay contest.

How do schools benefit?

• The AFRO encourages staff and students of participating schools to submit stories, columns, photos, etc., about the importance of education and good character.

• During February, all participating schools receive the Character Education publication to assist students in their learning of Black history and to further promote literacy.

Partnership opportunity Corporations, nonprofits and other organizations are invited to become strategic partners with this campaign.

By becoming a partner, your company will help provide the AFRO as an educational tool to eighth graders throughout the region. In addition, your company will illustrate its support for professional development among today’s youth.

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Civil Rights in America Black History Month 2014 The AFRO examined its own coverage of Civil Rights in America with the research that culminated in the August 2013 special publication, Why We March. We became convinced that such a comprehensive task was totally impossible so we focused on particular decades, 1901-1963, highlighting the March on Washington on the 50th commemoration of the monumental event.

The return to the subject with this year’s Black History Month theme, “Civil Rights in America,” affords us another opportunity, with no less limitation.

The real struggle for justice began, not on a specific date with a specific event, but the moment kidnapped Africans found themselves haplessly deposited on land occupied by people who considered the Africans to be less than themselves; who felt the God-ordained position for the Africans was to be permanent servitude and labor for the benefit of their “owners.”

Despite assertions to the contrary, there

was never a peaceful resignation that life should be thus.

As the moth wriggles to exit the cocoon, as the fetus pushes to extricate itself from the womb, Africans pushed against the new framework that forced them into a permanent underclass – something inappropriate for people who’d been told there was nothing greater than themselves under the heavens.

So they pooled their human resource as they learned each other’s dialects and languages; they pulled together to hide their native worship gatherings; and they performed their duties with determination despite the inborn knowledge that freedom was

Pages from AFRO American Newspaper ‘Why We March’ Issue Aug. 2013

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more than a gift, but a right of their very existence.

Even after the law mandated the justice that was long overdue, previous owners enticed them to return with promises of freedom later on, regaling them with tales of unknown and unseen dangers that awaited them beyond the constraints of the familiar environment they’d occupied during their enslavement.

They fought individually. They fought collectively. And in the late 1800s, early 1900s they began to organize with the first meetings of the Niagara Movement that evolved into the NAACP. They owned businesses. They earned degrees. They found careers. They opened schools and churches. The demand was never quieted. The shout is still heard.

Civil Rights in America has its own history and culture, its own heroes and sheroes, its own footprint and fingerprint and has been the seed of justice seekers throughout the world.

During these four weeks, we’ll talk about the unsung heroes, whose names may never be called during Black History Month commemorations but whose selfless sacrifices reverberate through the ages.

We’ll discuss the culture that evolved almost surreptitiously.

Not everyone who participated in the struggle professed to be a Christian, but the faith of the movement derived its energy from the words of Jesus – the “turn the other cheek” manifesto that fueled demonstrations and weeded out ineligible candidates.

A distinctive lingo. Words took on new meaning when they were used in the freedom fight. Fighting words became melodious. “I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus” morphed into the mind being stayed on freedom. “I’ll Overcome Some Day,” penned by Methodist Bishop Charles Albert Tindley, became “We Shall Overcome.” The spiritual that served as a work song as well as a worship theme became the voice of determined fighters – “I Shall Not Be Moved.”

There even emerged a uniform.

Determination morphed into militancy.

The naturals of the ‘50s grew into the afros of the ‘60s. Clothing became more relaxed – less like “Sunday go-tomeeting” clothes for church; more like clothes for work.

We will also look at how the word was transported, the media for the message: how the news of the struggle traveled, how the media evolved from beginning through social media, with its hashtags, memes and selfies-along the way highlighting key journalists.

Most poignantly we’ll focus on the key legislation and the legislators who championed their enactment in the areas of education, public accommodations, voting and much more.

All this will offer little more than a glimpse into the history of a struggle that propelled its participants into a just space and continues to fight for the maintenance of that justice in all spheres of influence for all people.

Wikimedia Commons Images clockwise from top left: Diagram of a slave ship from the Atlantic slave trade. 1790 Niagara Movement leaders W. E. B. Du Bois (seated), and (left to right) J. R. Clifford, L. M. Hershaw and F. H. M. Murray at Harpers Ferry

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Bishop Charles Albert Tindley Original six members of the Black Panther Party, top l to r: Elbert “Big Man” Howard; Huey P. Newton, Sherman Forte, Bobby Seale. Bottom: Reggie Forte and Little Bobby Hutton.

Nov. 1966 Slaves Waiting for Sale painting

by Etre Crowe, 186

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Stay Positive I have been fortunate to come across so many people who have inspired me – from my parents and teachers to coaches and friends. They have all helped me prepare for life’s challenges and opportunities.

Being raised in a military family, I had to constantly make new friends and adjust to new schools and surroundings. I viewed this experience as an adventure, because my parents taught me to accentuate the positive in every life experience.

During middle school, I discovered a passion for writing and the art of storytelling. I wrote for the school newsletter and morning announcements with a focus on positive and encouraging stories. Years later, my interest in writing inspired me to earn a bachelor of arts in communications at Morgan State University, and throughout my career I’ve had the opportunity to develop my skills in communications, public relations and marketing.

I have spent the last six years in BGE’s corporate communications department.

Three years ago, I took on the challenge of helping to incorporate social media with our other communications strategies. This communication channel was new territory for the utility and required detailed research and strategic planning. In 2012 and 2013, BGE was recognized as one of the top 10 utilities in the United States for its use of social media. My professional accomplishments were also paired with a personal achievement of earning a master’s degree in communications from The Johns Hopkins University in 2013.

This month, I find myself ready to embark on another adventure − transitioning into the new role of BGE’s economic development manager. In this position, I will rely on my communications skills to work with local government officials to assist with strengthening the economy to benefit BGE customers and Maryland residents.

Throughout my career, I have held on to my inspirational teachings and relied on my adaptability. Most importantly, I have always stayed positive, and I encourage you to do the same.

Ammanuel Moore Economic Development Manager

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‘A Culture of Its Own’

By Zenitha Prince Special to the AFRO It was in the way they walked, talked and the melodies they sang; evident in the clothing they wore and the way they styled their hair; through their art, theater, literature they made it clear: the Civil Rights Movement lived and breathed through the cultural expressions of the African-American community.

“The Civil Rights Afro-American Newspapers

Movement had a culture of its own,” said academician and author Molefi Kete Asante, of Temple University.

Through their cultural expressions—words, songs, fashion and other cultural forms—the Movement’s Freedom

Fighters affirmed their humanity and identity, gave wing to their hopes, declared the implacability of their will and claimed the righteousness of their cause.

It was culture that fueled the Movement by legitimizing its messages, broadening its appeal and empowering its foot soldiers.

“They used our culture in order to develop the courage to challenge and face the Image: AFRO Archives

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violence that was very present in the South,” said Dianne Pinderhughes, a professor of Africana Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

integrationists found its corollary in a counterculture, which became less conciliatory and more focused on Black self-determination. For the Black Power Movement, culture was more essential, said author William L. Van Deburg in New Day in Babylon: The Black Power Movement and American Culture.

“They used cultural forms as weapons in the struggle for liberation,” he wrote.

In this article, the AFRO takes a look at how the Civil Rights Movement was defined by its spiritual/philosophical underpinnings, by music, jargon and fashion.

But that culture was not monolithic, changing as the Movement itself changed.

The resistance of younger activists, Black nationalists and proponents of the Black Power Movement to the nonviolent, incremental approach of Southern

Spirituality of the Civil Rights Movement

Trapped in the hell of slavery, bereft of their homeland, their loved ones, their culture and their very identity, Black slaves in America turned to Christianity for succor. To them, the God of the Israelites became the ultimate liberator who would deliver them from their wretched enslavement.

And as the battle for freedom morphed from the abolitionist movement to the Civil

Rights Movement, Christianity continued to be the framework upon which the struggle was built.

“The culture of the Civil Rights Movement heavily orbited around the Black Church,” said the Rev. Jamal H. Bryant, pastor of Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, and previous leader of NAACP Youth Division. “When you look at the songs they sang and their leaders, they came out of the church; meetings were usually held in sanctuaries not halls; marches would often begin in prayer.”

One of the seminal pieces of literature from the movement, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was written to ministers, Bryant added, and a turning point of the movement occurred when a Black church was bombed in Birmingham.

The early Movement’s tactic of nonviolent resistance was built on a religious Continued on Page 10

Images: AFRO Archives

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Legg Mason is proud to support Black History Month and the 2014 AFRO Character Education Campaign

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foundation.

“Much of the guiding ideals of the Movement was based on Dr. King’s rich understanding of the theology of Jesus Christ as it regards forgiveness and compassion,” Rev. Bryant said, such as the concept of “turning the other cheek.”

In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King answers White ministers, who berate him for his advocacy of nonviolent resistance and accuse him of being an

The religious moorings of the early Civil Rights Movement soon gave way to more secular influences that were more sociopolitical in nature and reflected a geographical shift from the South to the North.

“The Black Nationalist Movement came out of the housing projects and street corners and not out of the church,” Bryant said.

Black nationalists, such as Nation of

met with violence if necessary.

The Black Power Movement was also based on the ideas of racial solidarity, African-American self-sufficiency and Black pride. Its proponents’ sense of moral authority and guidance did not come from Jesus, but from Black nationalists like Marcus Garvey and, in the case of groups like the Black Panther Party, from Communist and socialist theoreticians like Mao Tse-Tung, Karl Marx, Friedrich

“extremist,” by turning to the Bible.

“There is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire,” he said.

And he drew on even higher moral authority: “Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you,’” he said, quoting Matthew 5:43-44.

Islam figurehead Malcolm X, repudiated the idea of assimilation into American society, instead advocating Black autonomy and separatism and the community’s control of its own politics and economy.

He rejected the Judeo-Christian tradition as just another suspect aspect of a corrupt Western culture, and denigrated the tactic of nonviolent resistance as the “philosophy of a fool.” For Malcolm, there was no “turning of the other cheek;” White violence had to be

Engels and Vladimir Lenin.

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Continued on Page 12

Images: AFRO Archives

Afro-American Newspapers

Achievement Requires a Plan, Plus Hard Work As a 10th grader in Norfolk, Va. at Booker T. Washington High School, I wanted to become a forest ranger and protect campers from wild animals such as black bears. As the second oldest of six children, I realized that my parents struggled to meet all of our basic needs, so I never mentioned my hopes of attending college, and neither did my parents.

One day, I overhead two of my buddies discussing whether they ought to select a college with great sports teams or whether they ought to apply to colleges with good professors, since one guy wanted to become a lawyer, and my other buddy wanted to become a physician, but I had no idea whether I would be able to attend college at all.

My older sister, Glondese, announced a few days later that she had gotten an after-school job cleaning offices in a medical building so she could save money for college. My brother, Eugene, replied that he would never lower himself by accepting a job requiring hard or dirty work, not even to raise money for college.

I wondered if I should follow my sister’s example and get an after-school job to start my own college fund, or whether my brother was right to reject hard work, and therefore the chance to go to college.

Every Saturday, I watched as my sister counted the bills in the gallon jug which held her college savings fund, and the more she counted, the more passionate she became about her goal of becoming a teacher.

My brother, on the other hand, knew what kinds of jobs he did not want to do, but he had no college or career goal for which he was willing to work. It became clear to me that I needed a plan for reaching my career goal, and that I would need to work and save to achieve my goal.

To build my college fund, I accepted a job with a building

contractor as a carpenter’s helper. My mathematics skills improved as I learned to use a saw and level, and to assist with the framing of windows and doors. During the following summer, I added a job as a bus boy at a restaurant in Virginia Beach. My work was hard and dirty, but it paid off, and my own college savings were sufficient for my first two years while I lived at home and commuted to school.

During my final two years as an undergraduate, I added work during Christmas holidays at the Norfolk post office, as well as employment at the student center on campus at Virginia State College.

As it turned out, while I did plenty of hard and dirty work to pay for my college education, I learned a lot, including that I no longer wanted to be a forest ranger, but a biology professor, a career that I enjoyed for 42 years at Morgan State University.

During those years, I emphasized to hundreds of my students and mentees that just dreaming about academic achievement or a better life is no substitute for a plan, coupled with hard work.

Russell V. Kelley, Ph.D.

Retired Professor, Morgan State University College Savings Plans of Maryland Board member

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Music of the Civil Rights Movement

and “Freedom Rides” mirrored the spirituals sang by slaves as they worked in cotton fields and the hymns of Black Music was an Church traditions, which integral aspect of brought to mind the the Civil Rights suffering of the slaves: “Oh Movement.

Freedom,” “Keep Your Eyes “They did as on the Prize (Hold On),” much singing “This Little Light of Mine,” as they did and “Go Tell it on the protesting; Mountain” were just a few of both during the those songs. march and when “‘We Shall Overcome’ they were in was a song they sang in jail, they sang,” traditional Black chorus.

Pinderhughes said.

‘Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Dr. King Turn Me Around’ was a song himself spoke members of the usher board to the singular would sing as they marched power of music down the aisle (of the to mobilize and energize the Movement’s did. church). They co-opted these songs when troops.

At first, the soundtrack to their marches they went from the sanctuary to the street ‘‘The freedom songs are playing a strong corner,” Rev. Bryant said. and vital role in our struggle,’’ said As the Student Nonviolent King, as quoted by in an Aug. Coordinating Committee (SNCC) 20, 1962 New York Times article and other younger activists came titled “Songs a Weapon in Rights to the fore during the sit-ins of Battle.” He added, “They give the the early 1960s, however, the people new courage and a sense songs of the Movement moved of unity. I think they keep alive a beyond traditional spirituals and faith, a radiant hope, in the future, hymns as they added new lyrics particularly in our most trying to old standards, reflecting their hours.” unwillingness to wait for a Promised Saying that music was the “soul Land in the “bye and bye” and their of the movement,” he explained in demand for freedom, now. his 1964 book Why We Can’t Wait In the Negro Spiritual “I’m that civil rights activists ‘‘sing the Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table,” freedom songs today for the same for example, the lyrics were changed reason the slaves sang them, because to “I’m gonna sit at the Woolworth Attendees at the March on we too are in bondage and the songs Washington enjoying Mahalia counter.” add hope to our determination “I woke up this mornin’ with Jackson singing (top) Images: AFRO Archives 12

that ‘We shall overcome, Black and white together, We shall overcome someday.’’’

The music evolved just as the Movement

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my mind stayed on Jesus” became “Woke up this mornin’ with my mind stayed on freedom.”

In Albany, N.Y., young activists changed the words of the old spiritual “Go Down Moses,” in which Pharaoh is commanded to let the Israelites go, to: “Go down Kennedy (President John Kennedy) / Way down in Georgia land / Tell old Pritchett (Albany Chief of Police Laurie Pritchett) / To let my people go.”

The Black Power Movement took that

change even further. Just as its adherents’ political rhetoric became much more strident and militant in its demand for justice and equality, so, too, did its mixtape of songs feature the hard-driving rhythms of soul and funk, and lyrics that declared Black pride, screamed Black rage and offered little comprise with “Whitey.”

The musical revolution can be traced to Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit,” a notso-genteel exposé of American racism, particularly, the lynching of Blacks in

Words of Power: Jargon of the Civil Rights Movement

From abolition to the Civil Rights Movement, words were used as weapons in the struggle for liberty, equality and justice. Even the way African Americans greeted each other, as “Sir” and “Ma’am” or “Brother” and “Sister” was their means of reclaiming the dignity and awarding the respect that society had otherwise denied them.

But catchphrases and slogans became a tool of expressing the collective sentiment of the movement; a means of belying the assertions and stereotypes White society had used to oppress an entire people and of rallying the community around a common cause.

During slavery, for example, when Blacks were considered three-fifths human and Black men pejoratively referred to as “boy,” abolitionists countered that with the phrase “Am I Not a Man and a Brother?”

And Henry Highland Garnet’s militant slogan, “Rather Die Freemen, Than Live to Be Slaves” put the slaves’ oppressors on notice that the battle would be waged until all Blacks were set free.

Buttons and graffiti proclaim the Civil Rights message Images: Stock Images

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the South; and includes Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” and the Isley Brothers’ “Fight the Power.” Nina Simone’s vitriolic “Mississippi Goddamn,” Sly and the Family Stone’s sneering “Don’t Call Me Ni**er, Whitey” and James Brown’s unapologetic “Say It Loud! I’m Black and I’m Proud” were all part of this new musical inspiration.

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During the Southern integrationist movement, the “resounding jargon would have been ‘we shall overcome;’ it was both

On June 16, 1966, Stokely Carmichael, then leader of SNCC, gave his most popular speech, which birthed the

attend the University of Mississippi, had embarked on a solitary “Walk Against Fear” from Memphis, Tenn., to Jackson,

clarion call—and its symbolism in a raised clenched first—of the Black Power Movement. James Meredith, a civil rights activist and the first Black student to

Miss., during which he was shot. SNCC and other civil rights groups decided to complete his journey, and on arriving in Greenwood, Miss., an incensed Carmichael made official his disenchantment with Dr. King’s campaign of nonviolence and its goal of integration and birthed a new rallying cry for a generation of younger more radical Blacks equally disillusioned by the slow pace of progress.

“We been saying ‘freedom’ for six years,” he said. “What we are going to start saying now is ‘Black Power.’”

Carmichael further explained the concept in his 1968 book, Black Power: The Politics of Liberation as such: ‘’It is a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of community. It is a call for black people to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations.’’

The Black Panthers’ “Power to the People” was a similar mobilizing cry; its “Off the Pigs” declared its intention to protect the Black community from police brutality and “Move on over or we’ll move on over you” declared the activists’ intention to grab hold of their own destiny.

The Kings (center) and others at the Selma to Montgomery March

a prayer and a devotion,” Rev. Bryant, the Baltimore minster, said.

“But you really didn’t find slogans being used until SNCC and the youth movement and the Black Nationalist Movement came to bear,” he added.

For example, young activists would bear signs declaring “Freedom Now!” as they chanted in call-and-response: “What do we want?”

“Freedom!”

“When do we want it?”

“Now!” As they fought for their constitutional rights to vote, activists would chant “One Man, One Vote.” And during the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike, marchers fought back against systemic attempts to belittle and dehumanize them with the declaration, “I AM a Man!” “Those slogans were a mobilizing factor so they would stay focused,” said Rev. Bryant. “It helped them keep their equilibrium knowing that at any moment a billy club could be used against them, or dogs could be set upon them, or that fire hoses could be unleashed on them.”

For the Black Power Movement, the use of incendiary slogans and violent rhetoric were essential to awaken the Black masses.

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The slogans were also essential to reaffirming a sense of historical and cultural pride, self-love and a sense of self among African Americans; empowering them psychologically by “convincing people that they had sufficient power within themselves to escape ‘the prison of selfdeprecation,’” Van Deburg wrote.

For example the slogan “Black is Beautiful” summarized a movement to dispel the assertions that Black people’s natural features were inherently ugly.

As Carmichael said, “We have to stop being ashamed of being black. A broad nose, thick lip and nappy hair is us and we are going to call that beautiful whether they like it or not.”

The ‘Uniform’ of the Civil Rights Movement Just as it had its own spiritual, musical and verbal identity, the Civil Rights Movement had its own fashion. “[Civil rights leaders] were intentional about what they wore,” Bryant said.

At first, reflecting the unifying power of the Black Church and their leadership within those institutions, the Movement’s Angela Davis (left) leaders marched in Afro-American Newspapers

preachers’ robes, Rev. Bryant said.

In some cases, they wore “everyday clothes,” as was the case when Dr. King donned overalls to march with sanitation workers in Memphis.

Mostly, however, the men dressed in suits and the women in Sunday dresses.

“They saw themselves as professionals with work to be done,” said professor Asante.

Those somewhat formal uniforms— reflecting the fashion of the larger White society— may have also been meant to challenge the perceived “otherness” of the Black community and to combat preconceived notions of Blacks being disreputable or criminal.

“It changed the barometer and perception of what Black men were,” said

Nation of Islam members

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Rev. Bryant of the suits.

But while the suits and frocks of the initial era of the Civil Rights Movement reflected, perhaps, the overall goal of its adherents to fit in or integrate into the broader White-dominated society, the uniforms of the Black Power era declared their intention to stand out. It also reflected a changing of the guard and a geographical shift in the movement from the genteel South to the gritty North.

“The Southern movement was much more formal than the Black Power Movement, which rose out of the youth movement in the North and was much more informal, reflecting the urban environment,” Asante said.

Black Power followers also used fashion as another cultural weapon to thumb their nose at White conformity. Just as they took on African names and used expression in their speech, so too did they celebrate their “Blackness” with towering afros, colorful dashikis and ethnic accessories.

The Black Panther uniform of blue shirts, black pants, black leather jackets, black berets, and openly displayed loaded shotguns reflected the Movement’s revolutionary goals, and more practically, its intention of protecting the Black community against the extrajudicial violence of police.

All in all, their uniform made it clear that the Black community was no longer afraid, no longer apologetic and no longer willing to Images: Wikimedia Commons (inset), AFRO accept the lot—economic oppression, political Archives (background) subjugation, and racial Character Education/Black History Month

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Afro-American Newspapers’

Character Education Essay Contest

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Eighth-Graders Only

he Afro-American Newspapers’ Character Education Contest was launched 16 years ago to promote positive character development among the nation’s leaders of tomorrow – our youth.

We believe good character has to be taught and modeled, which is why we have chosen to profile local corporate professionals and business leaders in our publication.

The featured individuals, time and time again, incorporate positive character traits – such as honesty, respect, responsibility, courage and perseverance – in their everyday lives, proving to be positive role models in their community.

For the contest, students are asked to read the featured profiles and choose the one that inspires them most to incorporate positive

character traits in their own lives. Students should then write an essay that best explains why they chose the article and how they plan to use what they’ve learned to shape their future.

• Essays should be between two and four pages in length (doublespaced) and must be typed.

• Essays will be judged on neatness, grammar, punctuation and the student’s ability to give insight on what they learned from the profile.

Judges are impartial volunteers and may include teachers, staff from local colleges and universities and the editorial staff at the AFRO.

For more information concerning the Afro-American Newspapers’ Character Education Contest, please contact: Diane Hocker, 410-554-8243.

Cash prizes to be awarded

Deadline: April 4, 2014 E-mail essays to:

charactereducation@afro.com or mail typed essays to:

Diane Hocker • Afro-American Newspapers 2519 N. Charles Street • Baltimore, Md. 21218 No faxes will be accepted 16

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