Black Entrepenuership

Speaking of entrepreneurs, today I want to talk about some contemporary entrepreneurs: Harold Hughes & Steven Hughes. I met these two brothers at Clemson (no we aren't related); by the time I started school both of them were leaders on campus. In the era where too many college students are graduating and unable to find a job, or graduating buried in student debt, these two stand out. Steven started Know Money Inc to promote financial literacy and help stop generational poverty. Harold started Bandwagon, an organization to aid in purchasing sports tickets. These two are proving that Black entrepreneurship is not a thing of the past but a continuing legacy. #MakeItCount #BlackHistoryMonth2016 #BlackEntrepreneurs

Photocredit: ShutterStock.com/ARENA Creative

Family CEO

Today's #BlackHistoryMonth2016 post is about my aunt: Liz Bellamy. My aunt is the middle child on my dad's side and the family entrepreneur. She was also the first computer scientist in the family :) Like the rest of my aunts and uncles, she went to school during segregation, and graduated from Durham Business College. My aunt has owned a few different business and properties to lease. Eventually she settled on owning and running Color Tile & Carpet with a friend (also a Black woman #BlackWomenEntrepreneurs). Not only is she a successful business owner but she raised 2 daughters (who I also followed around when I was a little girl) who also went on to be successful in the medical field. My cousins and I used to follow her around, playing in jewelry, and learning to do our hair. She made sure I knew that real women aren't just pretty or good at cooking and cleaning, but they handle business. #MakeItCount #MyFamilyTaughtMeBlackAndProud

Photocredit: ShutterStock.com/Miles Studio

Role Models Pt. 2

Yesterday I talked about female role models, but we learn and take shape from both genders. Also, since there are people in America who think all Black men are violent thugged out criminals, I thought it was important to share the gentlemen who I saw as role models when they were in their teens and I was a young girl: Tony Gaines & Brett Gaines. Possibly because I was a tom boy growing up, I always wanted an older brother—I don't have any brothers though, so I ended up looking up to my older cousins. Whenever they played games nearby, or whenever my parents were willing to drive lol, I'd go see them play. Mostly basketball, sometimes football. And I just knew i was gonna get taller and be a great basketball player too. I didn't have to look up to Shaq & Kobe because I could look up to Tony & Brett. When I finally did try out for a basketball team, I wasn't in the best shape, so after the 2nd day of tryouts I couldn't really walk lol. I was upset and disappointed, but no matter what my parents said I was still upset; so my mom called these two to talk some sense into me. I'm sure they had homework, friends, and much cooler things to do that to talk to a little kid about basketball tryouts, but they took the time to reassure me that it was perfectly normal and to tell me I couldn't quit. We have a no quitting policy in my family! I may not have ever ended up playing basketball (or grown any taller -_-), but I learned about committing to a challenge, sportsmanship, and perseverance from these two, and these lessons apply to everything you do in life. They reminded me that you have to go through some pain to achieve your goal, that you always have to strive for your own best, then keep pushing yourself to be better. Both of them recently welcomed into the world daughters, whom I have no doubt will be daddy's girls :) For those of you who for some reason don't already understand this, just because a Black man is tall, big, athletic...Black lol, doesn't mean he's a thug, he may be the best role model out there. And for those of you who are Black men, you probably have little brothers, maybe even sisters, who are looking at you the same way I looked at those two. You're setting the example of how to survive as a Black man in this world. So #MakeItCount #BlackHistoryMonth2016 #TeensMakeDifferencesToo #AllMyRoleModelsWereReal

Photocredit: ShutterStock/Volt Collection

Role Models

Today I want to talk about role models. Lots of little girls want to be like Beyonce or Kim K., people with impossible attributes, who don't even know they exist, but there are always great role models within our communities. For me some of those girls (I'd be posting forever if I named them all) were GeFranya Matrulia Graham, Shakira Brockington, and Faith Smith-Wilson. I remember GeFran telling me what it was like to be in high school, helping me with my homework, and grounding me with the knowledge that one fateful day, I would get a B, maybe even a C, but that wouldn't make me less smart; it just meant I'd have to study harder. Shakira, who I'd eventually be in band with, inspired me to work harder and to not give up on music. I remember being so excited when she was on homecoming court (it wasn't often you saw a Black person on homecoming court and a fellow band geek at that!). Faith, my older cousin, let us sit with her and her friends on the bus, despite the fact that we were lowly 6th graders and they were Juniors or Seniors in high school. She was almost like an older sister, filling us in on what the next few years would be like. It's no surprise to me that they're still out accomplishing wonderful things. These ladies all helped me grow, be confident, and appreciate myself. Even as teenagers, possibly without even knowing it, they were making an impact on the generation below them. Your little sisters, cousins, the girl down the road, they may not say it, but they look up to you. What you do, they will do, because while Mrs. Obama or Beyonce may seem impossibly cool, you are real and tangible--a blueprint to success. What has always made our community great is the passing of greatness from one generation to the next, and that can start even in your teens so #MakeItCount #BlackHistoryMonth2016 #TeensMakeADifferentToo #PassDownWhatYouKnow #BlackWomenEmpoweringBlackWomen

Photocredit: ShutterStock/Samuel Borges Photography

Music Gurus

The next set of heroes I want to talk about are one set of my maternal grandparents (that's a long story, just go with it): Leslie McIver, Sr. and Mary-Ann McIver. They were born a little later than may paternal grandparents, but still during the Jim Crow South. They met while attending Claflin University—1 of 4 of the only schools in South Carolina that accepted Blacks at the time. While at Claflin, my grandfather became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and my grandmother a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. After graduating, both of them began teaching music. My grandfather would go on to become a local legend as a great high school band director. My own high school band director would often bring up this fact and eventually convinced my grandfather to conduct one of the band practices for my high school (while I was still in school). My grandmother continued teaching piano lessons even after retirement, becoming the go-to person for Black children in the community who wanted to learn music. Perhaps this is why I learned to read music while I learned to read words. On top of being great musicians, both were heavily involved in serving the community. Every time I walk into their house, I am greeted by a wall of awards for their service to our community—not a community far away or that I've heard of, but the one I lived in. One little known service that they did was encourage and facilitate the formation of the first integrated United Methodist Church in my hometown. They would later be ordained as Deacons in the Methodist Church. Again, during an era where black people were not afforded many rights, my grandparents were out paving the way for future generations and doing great things. Also, growing up in an era where women were supposed to stay in the kitchen, my grandmother completed both high school and college, taught, and was ordained. They would go on to raise 4 kids, all of whom turned out to be successful, involved with their community and all around great people. ‪#‎BlackHistoryMonth2016‬ ‪#‎OhSnapWeGet29Days‬ ‪#‎MakeItCount‬ ‪#‎BeatTheOdds‬

Surviving in the Early 1900's

This black history month, I want to do something a little different. I think one of the problems in our country is that Black history is synonymous with the past and with slavery to most. I really want to go into a more personal level and highlight people making a difference everyday. People I've met, talked to, and been inspired by. So, this year for my daily spotlights I want to brag on y'all. FYI: if I don't post about you, it's not because you aren't awesome, it's because there's only 29 days in February, and I'm a graduate student so I can't just post until run out of friends and family...

My black history month hero this year (and every year really) is a pair: Howard Hughes (not that Howard Hughes) and Iella Dewitt Hughes, also known as Papa and Granny to me and my cousins. Born in 1903 and 1915, respectively, they lived through some of the most dangerous eras of Southern history. Despite their circumstances and without being afforded any of the opportunities I have today (such as the option to complete high school) they were able to employ hard work to get farm land, a house (2 houses actually), and raise 5 kids. All 5 kids grew up to be strong, successful, and loving, despite also growing up the Jim Crow era. I'm proud of my grandparents (aunts and uncles, too) because they beat the odds. The heart of black history isn't about slavery or racism, but about strength and survival. When I look at what the people who came before me accomplished in the face of blatant adversity, I know that I have no excuse. ‪#‎NotAshamed‬ ‪#‎MyAncestorsWereSlavesButTheyStillCameOutOnTop‬ ‪#‎BlackHistoryMonth2016‬ ‪#‎OhSnapWeGet29Days‬ ‪#‎MakeItCount‬