Wake Forest apologizes for slavery in university’s past

By TOM FOREMAN Jr. Associated Press
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — The president of Wake Forest University issued a public apology Thursday for the institution’s past involvement in slavery.

President Nathan Hatch’s apology, delivered in a speech during the school’s Founders’ Day ceremonies, comes after a series of events stirred up racial tension on the campus, including anonymous, racist emails sent to faculty members last year. Schools around the South and beyond have been grappling in recent years with what to do about past ties to slavery or white supremacy.

“It is important and overdue that, on behalf of Wake Forest University, I unequivocally apologize for participating in and benefiting from the institution of slavery,” Hatch said during his remarks on campus. “I apologize for the exploitation and use of enslaved people – both those known and unknown – who helped create and build this university through no choice of their own.”

He made no mention of the recent tension on the campus resulting from a threatening email that caused the head of the sociology department to shut down his building and suspend classes for a week. A statement issued after his remarks noted that Hatch last year convened a committee to look at race issues and the legacy of slavery on campus.
During Hatch’s remarks, some students stood up in a silent demonstration. Senior Alexander Holt, who helped organize the gesture, said in an emailed statement before the event that they planned to stand in recognition of the involuntary sacrifices of enslaved people and the continuing impact of slavery’s legacy on current students.

Jonathan Walton, dean of the divinity school, told the audience at Wait Chapel that Wake Forest must acknowledge that “our history is both beautiful and terrible, noble and tragic, honorable and despicable.”

“We owe our very existence in part to the exploited lives of enslaved labor of people of African descent,” Walton said. “Precious people whose humanity was sacrificed to prepare young, white Baptist men for ministry, Baptist young men whose conception of of Christ supported America’s serpentine system of slavery.”

Sierra Deveaux, 19, a sophomore from New York, said Hatch’s public apology resonated with her, but she said there must be a plan that follows up on the apology.

“They need to put action to their words,” Deveaux said. “Through policy on this campus, more transparency on how they go about condemning acts of white supremacy on this campus and making it clear that they do not support white supremacy and making clear through their actions that certain behavior is not OK and that certain behavior will have consequences, and actual, written-down consequences if this is to happen.”

Other universities have apologized for their role in slavery, including the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2018.

The post Wake Forest apologizes for slavery in university’s past appeared first on TheGrio.

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Oprah Winfrey foundation gives $5 million to New Jersey-based after school program

The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation has given a $5 million donation to a Newark, New Jersey-based and nationally-operated after school program that helps prepare students of color for college.

Judith Griffin, founder of Pathways to College, said she learned her program had received the donation last September, but first shared the news on Thursday with Pathway students and family members during a luncheon in Montclair, reported NJ.com.

READ MORE: Oprah Winfrey gives Morehouse student new iPhone 11

“Of all the charities in the country, she would choose to give this contribution to us because she believed in what we do. I don’t even know how you put a price on that,” Griffin told NJ.com.

During the luncheon, a video message was played of Winfrey praising the program. The kids were thrilled.

“I celebrate and honor the work Pathways to College does in securing futures for young people who want to go to college,” Winfrey said in the video, according to NJ.com. “I am proud to sponsor and support all of these young people and their dreams for a better life through education.”

Established in 2003, the program is offered nationwide for students of color from school districts with limited resources. Through the program, which aims to prepare students for college success and support then in achieving successful lives, students visit college campuses.

The national program has been in Newark the longest, but is in a total of 20 sites across the country, including Gary, Indiana, Detroit, Michigan, and Pine Bluff and Altheimer, Arkansas. Since its inception, Pathways has supported more than 4,000 students and 100% of program attendees have gone on to college, NJ.com reported.

When Oprah’s message played on the screen, Sumwen Osagie, 18, told NJ.com was in disbelief.

“Oprah knows Pathways to College,” Osagie said. “It’s something that motivates me to keep on going no matter what.’’

Osagie, a senior at Arts High School, applied to 13 colleges and was accepted at all of them. She told NJ.com she is going to Fairleigh Dickson in the fall.

READ MORE: Black teen who applied to 20 top colleges gets full ride to all of them

Were it not for Pathways, Osagie added that she “would have been all over the place’’ in her college search and preparation.

Last year, Winfrey also donated $500,000 to “Lights On,” another Newark-based after school program, which operates at West Side High School and keeps kids off the streets in the evenings.

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President Parasite Slams Foreign Movie for Winning Best Picture Oscar, and They Clap Back, ‘Understandable, He Can’t Read’

At this point, Trump is touring more than Kevin Hart, Doug E. Fresh and the black-famous Maze featuring Frankie Beverly. The Root Senior Writer Michael Harriot has already found that Trump is the 10th highest paid athlete in the country, but did you know that he’s the most sought-after masturbating comedian? Fine,…

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JPMorgan Chase Beefs Up Commitment To Build Black Wealth With Fresh $5 Million Investment and New Initiatives

JPMorgan Chase is investing $5 million to reaffirm its commitment to Advancing Black Pathways (ABP) and supporting new initiatives to create economic opportunities for black Americans.

This month marks the one-year anniversary since the nation’s largest bank launched ABP, a drive to help African Americans achieve sustained economic success. The action builds on the bank’s existing efforts to help communities of color by focusing on three key areas where blacks have historically lagged behind other ethnic groups: wealth creation, educational outcomes, and career success.

“We’re committed to bringing the full force of our firm to provide improved access to education, job training and wealth creation for the black community,” stated Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase. “We believe we’ve laid a strong foundation for Advancing Black Pathways to achieve lasting, meaningful impact, but recognize that we have a long way to go towards accomplishing that goal.”

The bank’s push is aimed at helping to address the racial wealth divide between black and white Americans

If current trends persist, the median wealth of black Americans will fall to $0 by 2053, reports the economic advocacy group Prosperity Now. Plus, despite accounting for nearly 13% of the U.S. population, black people occupy less than 8% of the nation’s white-collar jobs. The educational achievement gap is significant as well. Only 46% of black college students complete four-year degree programs within six years, compared to 69% of white students and 77% of Asian American students.

“JPMorgan Chase launched Advancing Black Pathways last year out of a belief that making the economy work for more people is both a business imperative and a moral obligation, stated Sekou Kaalund, Head of Advancing Black Pathways.

Thasunda Duckett, CEO of Chase Consumer Banking and executive sponsor of ABP, added, “We’re proud of the progress we’ve made through Advancing Black Pathways to hire more black talent, invest in black-owned businesses and help black Americans of all wealth levels achieve their long-term financial goals. We look forward to building on these efforts for years to come.”

Here’s a glimpse at some new initiatives the bank is backing to boost black economic opportunity.

• Student Financial Hardship Fund: Through ABP, JPMorgan Chase is committing $1 million each year to help students attending HBCUs cover the cost of personal finance emergencies. The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) will evenly administer the funds to students who attend publicly supported HBCUs within their respective networks of 84 member schools.

Helping Nonprofit Organizations Advance Racial Equality in Local Communities 

• Prosperity Now: JPMorgan Chase announced a $3 million commitment over two years to help nonprofit leaders of color in Minneapolis and Seattle address racial economic inequality. The new investment expands a partnership with the bank through its corporate philanthropy program. First launched in 2015, JPMorgan Chase has invested more than $8.8 million in Prosperity Now’s Racial Wealth Divide Initiative. The initiative was previously launched in Dallas, Wilmington, New Orleans, Miami, Baltimore, and Chicago.
• Inclusiv: The firm is making a $1 million commitment over the next year to Inclusiv to help people in low- and moderate-income communities in Detroit and Cleveland, improve their financial health.
•  Advancing Black Entrepreneurship: JPMorgan Chase also announced the formation of “Pathways to Capital by Chase for Business,” to improve access to capital and business advisory services for black small business owners. Pathways to Capital will prepare black entrepreneurs for the loan application process and provide improved access to Chase’s Business Banking advisory services. Pathways to Capital is still under development and will launch later in 2020.

To create the program, ABP and Chase’s Business Bank formed a coalition with four partners: the National Minority Supplier Development Council, National Urban League, U.S. Black Chambers, and Black Enterprise.

McKinsey & Co. and E. Smith Advisors will assist the effort as consultants.

“In addition to homeownership, entrepreneurship holds an important key towards closing the racial wealth divide,” says Kaalund, Head of Advancing Black Pathways. “Black entrepreneurs are job creators, and possess a net worth that’s 12 times higher than black non-entrepreneurs, so we must do our part to promote and advance small business ownership.”

In its news release, JPMorgan Chase also reflects on several highlights the bank achieved through ABP to help black Americans in 2019 in other key areas such as wealth creation as well as education and careers.

Along with ABP, JPMorgan Chase has multiple programs designed to help people of color achieve economic and career success. Those programs include the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund, The Fellowship Initiative and Advancing Black Leaders (ABL).

 

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JPMorgan Chase Beefs Up Commitment To Build Black Wealth With Fresh $5 Million Investment and New Initiatives

JPMorgan Chase is investing $5 million to reaffirm its commitment to Advancing Black Pathways (ABP) and supporting new initiatives to create economic opportunities for black Americans.

This month marks the one-year anniversary since the nation’s largest bank launched ABP, a drive to help African Americans achieve sustained economic success. The action builds on the bank’s existing efforts to help communities of color by focusing on three key areas where blacks have historically lagged behind other ethnic groups: wealth creation, educational outcomes, and career success.

“We’re committed to bringing the full force of our firm to provide improved access to education, job training and wealth creation for the black community,” stated Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase. “We believe we’ve laid a strong foundation for Advancing Black Pathways to achieve lasting, meaningful impact, but recognize that we have a long way to go towards accomplishing that goal.”

The bank’s push is aimed at helping to address the racial wealth divide between black and white Americans

If current trends persist, the median wealth of black Americans will fall to $0 by 2053, reports the economic advocacy group Prosperity Now. Plus, despite accounting for nearly 13% of the U.S. population, black people occupy less than 8% of the nation’s white-collar jobs. The educational achievement gap is significant as well. Only 46% of black college students complete four-year degree programs within six years, compared to 69% of white students and 77% of Asian American students.

“JPMorgan Chase launched Advancing Black Pathways last year out of a belief that making the economy work for more people is both a business imperative and a moral obligation, stated Sekou Kaalund, Head of Advancing Black Pathways.

Thasunda Duckett, CEO of Chase Consumer Banking and executive sponsor of ABP, added, “We’re proud of the progress we’ve made through Advancing Black Pathways to hire more black talent, invest in black-owned businesses and help black Americans of all wealth levels achieve their long-term financial goals. We look forward to building on these efforts for years to come.”

Here’s a glimpse at some new initiatives the bank is backing to boost black economic opportunity.

• Student Financial Hardship Fund: Through ABP, JPMorgan Chase is committing $1 million each year to help students attending HBCUs cover the cost of personal finance emergencies. The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) will evenly administer the funds to students who attend publicly supported HBCUs within their respective networks of 84 member schools.

Helping Nonprofit Organizations Advance Racial Equality in Local Communities 

• Prosperity Now: JPMorgan Chase announced a $3 million commitment over two years to help nonprofit leaders of color in Minneapolis and Seattle address racial economic inequality. The new investment expands a partnership with the bank through its corporate philanthropy program. First launched in 2015, JPMorgan Chase has invested more than $8.8 million in Prosperity Now’s Racial Wealth Divide Initiative. The initiative was previously launched in Dallas, Wilmington, New Orleans, Miami, Baltimore, and Chicago.
• Inclusiv: The firm is making a $1 million commitment over the next year to Inclusiv to help people in low- and moderate-income communities in Detroit and Cleveland, improve their financial health.
•  Advancing Black Entrepreneurship: JPMorgan Chase also announced the formation of “Pathways to Capital by Chase for Business,” to improve access to capital and business advisory services for black small business owners. Pathways to Capital will prepare black entrepreneurs for the loan application process and provide improved access to Chase’s Business Banking advisory services. Pathways to Capital is still under development and will launch later in 2020.

To create the program, ABP and Chase’s Business Bank formed a coalition with four partners: the National Minority Supplier Development Council, National Urban League, U.S. Black Chambers, and Black Enterprise.

McKinsey & Co. and E. Smith Advisors will assist the effort as consultants.

“In addition to homeownership, entrepreneurship holds an important key towards closing the racial wealth divide,” says Kaalund, Head of Advancing Black Pathways. “Black entrepreneurs are job creators, and possess a net worth that’s 12 times higher than black non-entrepreneurs, so we must do our part to promote and advance small business ownership.”

In its news release, JPMorgan Chase also reflects on several highlights the bank achieved through ABP to help black Americans in 2019 in other key areas such as wealth creation as well as education and careers.

Along with ABP, JPMorgan Chase has multiple programs designed to help people of color achieve economic and career success. Those programs include the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund, The Fellowship Initiative and Advancing Black Leaders (ABL).

 

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