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Chancellor's Spring Convocation Former RNC chair Michael Steele implores students to take ownership of themselves and the world around them by Alicia Dorn | Courtesy of the Pine Bluff Commercial
“It is time to stand for something different, it is time to do something different, it’s time to be about something different” said Michael Steele, Political Analyst for MSNBC, former lieutenant governor of Maryland (2003), and former Chairman of the Republican National Committee (2009), as he stood before an audience at the Chancellor’s Convocation. The event was presented April 19 in collaboration with the Males of Color Initiative, an initiative to increase the retention, graduation and career and post-baccalaureate placements of African-American male students by engaging them in the types of co-curricular and leadership activities. Steele reminisced about the day he was inaugurated as the first African-American to a statewide office as lieutenant governor of Maryland in 2003, which he credits as one of the favorite moments of his life behind getting married and having his sons. “The day of my inauguration, I stood on those State Capitol steps and I realized in that historic moment that 157 yards behind me, from where I stood being sworn into office as the first African-American elected to a statewide office, Kunta Kinte was sold into slavery, at the Annapolis Harbor in Annapolis, Maryland. That is history meeting present,” Steele said. Instead of doing what everyone expected — being overly political — Steele said he focused on the African-American youth and informed students of the opportunities that are available to them only because of the struggles, fighting and sacrifices made by those who have come before them. “Your generation of black talent, politically, economically and socially, are leaders among dreamers,” he said. “You are risk takers among managers and owners. What you decide together, what you say in unison, what you demand of our politics, your successes and failures demonstrate what it means to be a black man and a black woman in America. You are defining the American Dream.”
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UAPB Magazine • University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Steele ended his speech by reminding students that they are the future. He asked them: “What will your agenda be?” He also asked everyone to place their faith in each other and engage. “It is time to take ownership of your dream; it is time to take ownership of yourself. You have to use your voice at all times, in all circumstances,” he said. “You can be polite about it, or you can be a little Malcolm X about it, but you have to use your voice because your generation will cement to the foundation of this nation the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness otherwise, we will lose it.” As chairman of the RNC, Steele said he was charged with revitalizing the Republican Party. Under Steele’s leadership, the RNC broke fundraising records (over $198 million raised during the 2010 Congressional cycle) and Republicans won 63 House seats, the biggest pickup since 1938. According to Steele, his commitment to grassroots organization and party building at the state and local levels produced 12 governorships and the greatest share of state legislative seats since 1928 (over 600 seats). According to information provided by Steele, as lieutenant governor of Maryland, his priorities included reforming the state’s Minority Business Enterprise program, improving the quality of Maryland’s public education system (he championed the State’s historic Charter School law), expanding economic development in the state and fostering cooperation between government and faith-based organizations to help those in need. Having appeared as a contributor on several TV shows, Steele also writes on politics for The Grio and his writings on law, business and politics have appeared in The Root.com, BET.com, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, Politico.com, Townhall.com, and The Journal of International Security Affairs and Catholic University Law Review, among others.
