African Americans | Rosetta Thurman

28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders: Geoffrey Canada

February 7, 2010 by rosettathurman · 1 Comment

Geoffry Canada

Geoffrey Canada is the President and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone.

From the Harlem Children’s Zone website:

In his 20-plus years with Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc., Geoffrey Canada has become nationally recognized for his pioneering work helping children and families in Harlem and as a passionate advocate for education reform.

Since 1990, Mr. Canada has been the President and Chief Executive Officer for Harlem Children’s Zone, which The New York Times Magazine called “one of the most ambitious social experiments of our time.” In October 2005, Mr. Canada was named one of “America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News and World Report.

In 1997, the agency launched the Harlem Children’s Zone Project, which targets a specific geographic area in Central Harlem with a comprehensive range of services. The Zone Project today covers 100 blocks and aims to serve over 10,000 children by 2011.

The New York Times Magazine said the Zone Project “combines educational, social and medical services. It starts at birth and follows children to college. It meshes those services into an interlocking web, and then it drops that web over an entire neighborhood….The objective is to create a safety net woven so tightly that children in the neighborhood just can’t slip through.”

The work of Mr. Canada and HCZ has become a national model and has been the subject of many profiles in the media. Their work has been featured on “60 Minutes,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” “Nightline,” “CBS This Morning,” “The Charlie Rose Show,” National Public Radio’s “On Point,” as well in articles in The New York Times, The New York Daily News, USA Today and Newsday.

See also: Julian Bond’s 2009 interview with Geoffrey Canada for University of Virginia’s Explorations in Black Leadership Series (video)

Photo credit: Harlem Children’s Zone

Filed Under: 28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders, African Americans, Leaders of Color · Tagged With: 28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders, African American nonprofit leaders, African Americans, black history month, Black nonprofit leaders, Geoffrey Canada, Harlem Children's Zone

28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders: Erica Hunt

February 3, 2010 by rosettathurman · 2 Comments

erica hunt

If you run in social justice philanthropy circles, you’ve probably heard of Erica Hunt, President of the Twenty-First Century Foundation in New York. What you may NOT know is that Erica Hunt is also a marvelous poet. A woman after my own English major, free verse-loving heart.

From the Twenty-First Century Foundation website:

Erica Hunt, a leading expert on Black social justice and economic issues, was a Senior Program Officer with the New World Foundation, before joining 21CF in 1998 where she has led new work in the field of Black philanthropy. During her tenure, 21CF has sought to strengthen Black giving and community-based philanthropy through donor education; grant making through donor-advised funds and special national initiatives; and applied research to document trends in Black philanthropy and community impact. Under her supervision, 21CF has grown from an all volunteer organization, to a premier national $8 million public foundation. Hunt holds a B.A. in Literature from San Francisco State University, and is a past Fellow in the Duke University/University of Cape Town Center for Leadership and Public Values. She currently serves as a participant to Diversity and Effectiveness in Philanthropy; the International Working Group on Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace; and Rye Collaborative National Progressive Foundations. Her past professional leadership affiliations include: the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers; National Center for Black Philanthropy, and the Coalition for New Philanthropy. Hunt, a published author of numerous articles and essays on Black philanthropy, was the 2008 recipient of Spelman College’s award for National Community Service.

From the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing at the University of Pennsylvania:

Erica Hunt works at the forefront of experimental poetry and poetics, critical race theory, and feminist aesthetics. She has written three books of poetry: Arcade, with artist Alison Saar, Piece Logic, and Local History (Roof Books, 1993). Her published and forthcoming essays include “Notes for an Oppositional Poetics” (The Politics of Poetic Form,, ed. Charles Bernstein), “Parabolay” (Boundary 2), and “Roots of the Black Avant Garde” (Tripwire, forthcoming). Hunt’s poems can be found in Moving Borders: Three Decades of Innovative Writing by Women (ed. Mary Margaret Sloan), Iowa Poetry Review, and the Virago Anthology of Women’s Love Poetry. Hunt has also worked as a housing organizer, radio producer, poetry teacher, and program officer for a social justice campaign. She is currently president of The Twenty-First Century Foundation which supports organizations addressing root causes of social injustice impacting the Black community.

Photo credit: BMoreNews.com

Filed Under: 28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders, African Americans, Leaders of Color, Philanthropy · Tagged With: 21st Century Foundation, 28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders, African American nonprofit leaders, African Americans, black foundation leaders, black history month, Black nonprofit leaders, Erica Hunt, Leaders of Color, Philanthropy

28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders: W.E.B. Du Bois

February 2, 2010 by rosettathurman · 2 Comments

W.E.B. Du Bois with delegates from the Junior NAACP, Cleveland, 1929

W.E.B. Du Bois with delegates from the Junior NAACP, Cleveland, 1929

W.E.B. Du Bois is probably best known as a scholar and author, but he was also one of the founding board members of the NAACP.

From the W.E.B. Du Bois Library at UMass Amherst:

At a time when Booker T. Washington counseled acceptance of the social order, [W.E.B.] Du Bois sounded a call to arms and with the founding of the Niagara Movement and later the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People entered a new phase of his life. He became an impassioned champion of direct assault on the legal, political, and economic system that thrived on the exploitation of the poor and the powerless.

The Niagara Movement emerged out of years of struggle against racial oppression in the United States and frustration with the slow pace of change on the one hand and the moderate, accommodationist policies of Booker T. Washington on the other. In February 1905, W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter helped call together an all-black “national strategy board” to chart a new and more radical course toward social and racial justice. Inviting fifty nine like-minded intellectuals and activists to a conference on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls in July 1905, twenty nine of whom attended, they established the Niagara Movement, an early and strident voice for equality.

From the outset, the Niagara Movement defined itself against both racial oppression and Washingtonian conciliation, demanding immediate freedom of speech and press, full suffrage, the “abolition of all caste distinctions based simply on race and color,” a “recognition of the principal of human brotherhood as a practical present creed,” and a belief in the dignity of labor. Their demands were simple, but radical for America in 1905: “We want to pull down nothing but we don’t propose to be pulled down. We are not ‘knockers’ save at the Door of Liberty & Opportunity. We are ‘out after the Stuff’ but that ’stuff’ includes education, decent travel, civil rights, & ballots. . .”

With Du Bois as General Secretary, the Movement grew rapidly, establishing chapters in twenty one states by mid-September and reaching 170 members by year’s end. Symbolically, they selected Harper’s Ferry, W.Va. — the site of John Brown’s raid — for their second annual conference in 1906, and they met subsequently in Boston, Oberlin, and Sea Isle City, N.J. Through its committees and branches, the Movement organized against segregation in travel and education and worked to secure voting rights and civic equality.

Weak finances and internal dissension, however, increasingly hampered the effectiveness of the organization. After a bitter feud within its Massachusetts branch and continuing conflict with Washington, the momentum of the Movement slowed and by 1910, it was disbanded altogether. Their work, however, was not abandoned. Du Bois and most of the original members were instrumental in the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909, a less radical movement that nevertheless shared the same basic goals.

More history of W.E.B. Du Bois’ involvement in the NAACP:

1905-1909 Founder and General Secretary of The Niagara Movement.

1910-1934 Director of Publicity and Research, Member Board of Directors, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

1910-1934 Founder and Editor of The Crisis, monthly magazine of the NAACP.

1920 Receives the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP.

1934 Resigns from the NAACP.

1944-48 Returns to NAACP as Director of Publicity and Research.

1945 Attends founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco as representative of the NAACP.

Image credit: W.E.B. Du Bois Library at UMass Amherst

Filed Under: 28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders, African Americans, Leaders of Color · Tagged With: 28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders, African American nonprofit leaders, African Americans, Black History, black history month, Black nonprofit leaders, Leaders of Color, NAACP, W.E.B. Du Bois

28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

February 1, 2010 by rosettathurman · 3 Comments

Everyone knows that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement. What many people don’t know is that he was also a nonprofit CEO and board member.

From the King Center:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a vital figure of the modern era. His lectures and dialogues stirred the concern and sparked the conscience of a generation. The movements and marches he led brought significant changes in the fabric of American life through his courage and selfless devotion. This devotion gave direction to thirteen years of civil rights activities. His charismatic leadership inspired men and women, young and old, in this nation and around the world.

Dr. King’s concept of “somebodiness,” which symbolized the celebration of human worth and the conquest of subjugation, gave black and poor people hope and a sense of dignity. His philosophy of nonviolent direct action, and his strategies for rational and non-destructive social change, galvanized the conscience of this nation and reordered its priorities. His wisdom, his words, his actions, his commitment, and his dream for a new way of life are intertwined with the American experience.

Dr. King was a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement. He was elected President of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization that was responsible for the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955 to 1956 (381 days). He was arrested thirty times for his participation in civil rights activities. He was a founder and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from 1957 to 1968. He was also Vice President of the National Sunday School and Baptist Teaching Union Congress of the National Baptist Convention. He was a member of several national and local boards of directors and served on the boards of trustees of numerous institutions and agencies. Dr. King was elected to membership in several learned societies including the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Image credit: Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Filed Under: 28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders, African Americans, Leaders of Color, Leading by Faith · Tagged With: 28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders, African American nonprofit leaders, African Americans, Black History, black history month, Leaders of Color, Martin Luther King Jr, Southern Christian Leadership Conference

28 Days of Black Nonprofit Leaders

February 1, 2010 by rosettathurman · 4 Comments

come celebrate

with me that everyday

something has tried to kill me

and has failed.

- Lucille Clifton, “won’t you celebrate with me”

I love Black History Month. If you don’t know the story of how Black History Month came about, I’ll give you about 60 seconds to go read about it and then come right back. I love Black History Month because it gives everyone a dedicated time of year to reflect on the positive contributions that Black people have made over the years. I love Black History Month because it makes me think about how proud I am of my people and how far we’ve come all the way from being oppressed by that “peculiar institution” called slavery in this place called America.

I also love Black History Month because it reminds me of how far we still have to go in this country in terms of race relations and giving everyone a fair chance to take part in the “American Dream.” How far we still have to go before Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream of social justice and economic opportunity for everyone will be realized. Fortunately, there are countless leaders out there who are continuing to address so many aspects of social change.

This month (inspired by Wayne Sutton), I’ll be highlighting 28 Black nonprofit leaders who have done or are doing their part to make our world a bit better, a bit more hopeful for the generations that will come. No original interviews, just photos; bios; videos and links to their amazing work. Every day, I’ll showcase a different leader. I hope you’ll tune in and share this series with your colleagues!

Photo credit: bermy onionpatch