The Meet the Speakers Reception featured many distinguished alumni and personalities representing minority leadership.
“The main issue today is the future of minority leadership in this country,” associate professor of political science and Director of the Frederick Douglass Center for African and American Studies Fredrick Harris said.
The panel members included author Julianne Malveaux, A’lelia Bundles, James Forman Jr., Kathy Walker ’80, Chairman and CEO of Latino Sports Ventures Inc. and co-founder of the National Puerto Rican Business Council Julio Pabon, Director of Integrated Systems centered at University of Southern California Adam Clayton Powell III and the present year’s mayoral candidate and 15 year member of the Rochester City Council Wade Norwood ’85.
Malveaux first asserted the need for the African-American community to agree on a unified goal.
“The issue of minority leadership is something that flies in the face of the tensions of our community,” she said. “What our leadership will look like depends on what we want as a group and what we choose about our engagements.”
Malveaux also examined the issue of the direction the leadership should take. “In terms of young professional organizations we see today, most of it is leadership at the side levels, not the community levels,” she said. “I am waiting for the day when African-American leadership will include women.”
Norwood then professed his views by pointing to three main factors he sees as hindrances to minority leadership – residential segregation, class division and the issue of economic independence.
“Residential segregation has a huge impact on leadership and communication,” he said. “When we live together and worship together, we are stronger as a group.”
Pabon, representing the Latin-American community, said this situation is analogous to that of the black community.
“Going across the country and meeting personally with Latinos has led me to believe that like the black community, we too are not a homogeneous group,” Pabon said.
Speaking from a political perspective, he asserted an urgency to get independent candidates elected, which requires a strong economic base.
“In most stable communities, the dollar circulates an average of 67 times before exiting. In mine, 10 cents stays, while the rest of the 90 cents goes out,” he said.
He ended by urging women to take an active part in minority leadership. Students were inspired by the discussion.
“I was very impressed with what Julio Pabon had to say,” Delta Sigma Theta Sorority member and junior Cendrine Robinson said. “I loved the way they addressed the economic aspects of the leadership.”
Many alumni also attended the event.
“Such a session was long overdue,” Adriana Garcia de Hester ’92, ’93W(Mas) said. “If we can just take this as a starting point and push it to the next step, that would be great.”
Krishnan can be reached at skrishnan@campustimes.org.
