22
Ujima
Lifting as We Climb to Develop the Next Generation of African American Leaders
LYNN PERRY WOOTEN, SHANNON POLK, and WHITNEY WILLIAMS
Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.
—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The term beloved community was coined by the American philosopher Josiah Wright to conceptualize the goal of an inclusive community where we bring our best selves to work collaboratively to improve humanity. In the 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. popularized the term when he spoke about the civil rights movement and the need for all people to share in society’s wealth. Fifty years later, we believe there is still a need to persevere in the creation of the beloved community, and as members of the academy who are committed to the mission of educating leaders, we have become particularly mindful of the investments needed for African American millennials to thrive.
Millennials are defined as the generation born between 1980 and 2000. For African Americans of this generation, their leadership journey has involved opportunities and challenges as they experienced the first Black president, navigated life in a “postracial” society, and lived with movements such as Black Lives Matter, bans on affirmative action, and the economic shifts associated with a digital economy. Moreover, the lived experiences of Black millennials are different from those of other millennials, as reported in research conducted by the Black Youth Project and summarized in table 22-1 (Rogowski & Cohen, 2015). Black millennials are more likely to live below the poverty line and have higher unemployment rates than white and Latino millennials. Although college attendance has increased among Black youths, there is still a significant disparity between the college attendance of white youths and that of young people of color, and graduation rates are substantially higher among white youths, resulting in sizable racial disparities for millennials receiving college degrees. Moreover, Black youths who attend college experience higher debt burden, and this affects their long-term financial well-being.
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The lived experiences of Black millennials |
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Black (%) |
White (%) |
Latino/a (%) |
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|
Unemployment rates (age range 25–34; collected second quarter of 2015) |
10.8 |
4.5 |
6.7 |
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College enrollment status, 2013 (two-year and four-year colleges) |
38.5 |
42.8 |
38.8 |
|||
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Average college graduating rates for 2002–2006 entering cohorts |
20.4 |
41.0 |
27.7 |
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Postcollege student loan debt burden, 2009—$35,000+ |
35.7 |
23.3 |
22.1 |
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|
Source: Rogowski & Cohen (2015). |
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These statistics speak to our desire to work continuously toward the creation of the beloved community for Black millennials and future generations, and to support this vision, we propose four specific actions. First, we argue that education systems and especially universities should develop the infrastructure for nurturing and developing their African American students. Second, we propose that an entrepreneurial mindset is a necessity for their success. Third, we contend that to advance issues of justice and equality, we must empower African American millennials with the tools to challenge the status quo and engage in collective action for positive change. Fourth, we emphasize the importance of instilling the principles of living an integrative life.
Institutions of Higher Learning and the American Dream
Throughout America’s history, a college education has been a pathway for socioeconomic mobility and a key for launching young adults in their pursuit of the American dream. American colleges are viewed as the institutions responsible for empowering young adults to mature by developing their organizational, problem-solving, technical, analytical, and communication skills while exposing them to diverse groups of people and thoughts (Immerwahr & Foleno, 2000; Immerwahr & Johnson, 2007). Given the important role of colleges in our society, it is not surprising that research conducted by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education indicates that 87 percent of Americans believe a college education has become as important as a high school diploma used to be and that American families are willing to make an investment to ensure their young adult has opportunities associated with a college education.
Given the significant role of higher education in our society, it is important that we create the infrastructure for African American college students to not only graduate within a reasonable time but also experience personal growth while attending college and thriving after college. Research by Gallup (2015) has identified factors contributing to thriving college experiences that produce long-term well-being outcomes. Interestingly, when Gallup researchers analyzed the data for African Americans in the sample, they found that those who attended historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were more likely to recall the support of professors and mentors and to have participated in engaged learning through internships, long-term projects, and extracurricular activities, as summarized in table 22-2. Furthermore, the African American HBCU graduates in this study were more likely to agree that their university prepared them for life after college and for thriving—being strong, being consistent, and progressing—particularly in their financial, purpose, and social well-being, as presented in table 22-3.
The results of the Gallup study call to our attention the essential role that higher education plays in supporting and developing African Americans and the positive deviance outcomes (i.e., extraordinarily positive outcomes) of HBCU students and graduates. Even with limited resources, HBCUs have mastered a formula for transformational learning environments and instilling the self-efficacy necessary for building a rewarding career and life. Institutions and individuals committed to the development of African American millennials and the generations after millennials can learn from the practices of HBCUs. We believe HBCU professors, administrators, and staff, through their missioncentric behaviors, take co-ownership for ensuring that their students succeed by helping them navigate the complexities of academics, identity formation, and career preparation. Moreover, HBCUs convey their commitment to reinforcing the stance that Black lives do matter by creating welcoming and safe spaces for students. In these spaces, students are not ignored, marginalized, or stereotyped and have a learning environment where they are valued for their intellect and considered the heart, soul, and hope for a better future (Green, 2015).
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Different experiences for Black HBCU and non-HBCU grads |
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% Black US college graduates who strongly agree |
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HBCUs (%) |
Non-HBCUs (%) |
Difference (pct. pts.) |
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|
My professors at my university cared about me as a person. |
58 |
25 |
−33 |
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I had at least one professor at my university who made me excited about learning. |
74 |
62 |
−12 |
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While attending my university, I had a mentor who encouraged me to pursue my goals and dreams. |
42 |
23 |
−19 |
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Felt support |
35 |
12 |
−23 |
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While attending my university, I had an internship or job that allowed me to apply what I was learning in the classroom. |
41 |
31 |
−10 |
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While attending my university, I worked on a project that took a semester or more to complete. |
36 |
30 |
−6 |
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I was extremely active in extracurricular activities and organizations while attending my university. |
32 |
23 |
−9 |
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Experiential learning |
13 |
7 |
−6 |
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Source: Gallup-Purdue Index, 2014–2015, Gallup. |
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Black HBCU graduates more likely to be thriving in financial and purpose well-being |
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% Black US college graduates who are thriving in each element of well-being |
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HBCU (%) |
Non-HBCU (%) |
Difference (pct. pts.) |
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|
Purpose well-being |
51 |
43 |
−8 |
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Social well-being |
54 |
48 |
−6 |
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Financial well-being |
40 |
29 |
−11 |
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Community well-being |
42 |
38 |
−4 |
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Physical well-being |
33 |
28 |
−5 |
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Thriving in all five elements of well-being |
7 |
7 |
— |
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Source: Gallup-Purdue Index, 2014–2015, Gallup. |
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An Entrepreneurial Mindset and Economic Equality
Although African American millennials are more educated than previous generations, economic inequities still persist, and it is predicted that it will take 228 years to close the wealth disparity gap between Black and white families (Asante-Muhammad, Collins, Hoxie, & Nieves, 2016). Suggested remedies for reducing these economic inequities include changes in monetary, collective bargaining, and employment discrimination policies. In addition to these policies, we advocate for educational programming that focuses on developing an entrepreneurial mindset—a state of mind oriented toward entrepreneurial activities and outcomes that produce opportunities, innovation, and value creation (Financial Times Lexicon, n.d.).
Educational programming that focuses on developing the entrepreneurial mindset of African American millennials should begin with the premise that entrepreneurial activities come in many forms. For example, this education should inform them of how to act as entrepreneurs in a “gig economy,” where organizations hire freelancers and independent contractors for contingent employment. This may entail directing them to educational experiences that are competency based and develop skills that are in high demand and aligned with industry trends. In addition to managing gigs, young African American entrepreneurs need to know how to create their own businesses by identifying market opportunities, analyzing competitive dynamics, and understanding consumer behavior, and they need the accounting skills to recognize the drivers of profitability and the ability to manage human capital. Hence, for an entrepreneurial mindset to play a major role in our beloved community, we must provide our youths with an educational foundation that opens up multiple pathways to achieve economic security and exposes them to entrepreneurs through activities such as internships, co-ops, apprenticeships, and job shadowing.
Challenging the Status Quo through Collective Action
The African American community has a history of its young adults challenging the status quo for positive social change. To continue this trajectory, we must remind them that challenge is the crucible for greatness and that accepting the status quo breeds societal stagnation, mediocrity, and injustices (Kouzes & Posner, 2014). Challenging the status quo calls for African American millennials to “rise up” and realize they can lead from any position by knowing themselves and collectively working with others who embrace ideals of the beloved community. From our perspective, “leaders as learners” is the central tenet of this approach, which is achieved by inspiring young leaders to do great things, have an openness to the contributions of others, make sense of systems, and view leadership as service (Preskill & Brookfield, 2009).
For African American millennials to develop the capacity to engage in purposeful leadership activities that will result in positive social change, we believe our beloved community must encourage them to have a strong consciousness of self and to pursue areas where they can challenge the status quo that are aligned with their values, identities, and interests. This entails reinforcing the notion that they are citizens of an ecosystem and we all are responsible for the care of each other and stewardship of resources (Komives & Wagner, 2017). Also, to groom African American millennials for this citizenship behavior, we must provide them with the opportunities for planned and grassroots civic engagement within their communities.
Living an Integrative Life
Parker Palmer, author of A Hidden Wholeness (2009), espouses the theory that an integrative life begins with the deep exploration of one’s soul to uncover strengths and fears so that a person may utilize this knowledge to embrace the entirety of his or her being. Millennials should be encouraged to spend significant reflection time in a process of transformational development in which they identify their core values and motivations. Equipped with this knowledge, millennials can align their professional interests with their personal values and transition from simply meeting occupational benchmarks to achieving vocational fulfillment. Identifying the employment or entrepreneurial spaces where their career aspirations and their personal values strongly align allows millennial leaders to spend less energy covering and code-switching and increases their freedom to engage more authentically in the workplace. Essentially, millennials want to work in environments where they can bring their whole selves to that space.
However, one’s whole self may be composed of multiple identities for millennials, which, according to the US Census, is the most ethnically diverse generation to date (US Census Bureau, 2018). In addition to race, ethnicity, and gender, salient identities for African American millennials may include sexual preference, religion, and level of physical ability. Utilizing the tool of intersectionality can assist millennials with embracing any (perceived or experienced) paradoxical inconsistencies in their identities. In a Harvard Business Review article (Caza, Ramarajan, Reid, & Creary, 2018), the authors emphasize the importance of helping millennials recognize how existing in spaces where they may simultaneously experience majority privilege and the bias of otherness strengthens their emotional quotient and expands the versatility of their leadership skills. Thus, millennials should be encouraged by knowing their professional success will likely be bolstered by embracing their varied identities and deploying the unique behavioral skills learned from living in intersectional and marginalized spaces to navigate their work environment.
It is critical that in a world fueled by (seemingly) perfect social media photos and narratives that portray everyone’s highlight reels, millennials are given permission to experiment in living authentically. On the journey of achieving congruency between work, family, home, and community, Stew Friedman (2014) of the Wharton Business School encourages the process of integration through experimentation. A person must be willing to overcome the temptation to abandon the process too early because of the difficulty in finding the right personal strategy for work-life integration. It may take several attempts to learn what an individual needs in order to bring his or her life into congruency. Additionally, millennials should expect to repeat the process of experimentation several times as they move into various stages of their professional and personal lives (Dutton, Roberts, & Bednar, 2010). This process of growth, self-acceptance, and self-transparency in the journey will help solidify their leadership.
REFERENCES
Asante-Muhammad, D., Collins, C., Hoxie, J., & E. Nieves. (2016). The ever-growing gap: Without change, African-American and Latino families won’t match white wealth for centuries. Washington, DC: Corporation for Enterprise Development and the Institute for Policy Studies.
Caza, B., Ramarajan, L., Reid, E., & Creary S. (2018, May 30). How to make room in your work life for the rest of yourself. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://
Dutton, J. E., Roberts, L. M., & Bednar, J. (2010). Pathways for positive identity construction at work: Four types of positive identity and the building of social resources. Academy of Management Review, 35(2), 265–293.
Financial Times Lexicon. (n.d.). Entrepreneurial mindset [Def. 1]. Retrieved from http://
Friedman, S. (2014). Leading the life you want: Skills for integrating work and life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Gallup. (2015). Gallup-USA Funds minority college graduates report. Retrieved from http://
Green, A. (2015, November 19). Do historically Black colleges provide the safe spaces students are after? The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://
Immerwahr, J., & Foleno, T. (2000). Great expectations: How the public and parents—white, African American and Hispanic—view higher education. San Jose, CA: National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
Immerwahr, J., & Johnson, J. (with P. Gasbarra, A. Ott, & J. Rochkind). (2007). Squeeze play: How parents and the public look at higher education today. San Jose, CA: National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
Komives, S. R., & Wagner, W. (Eds.). (2017). Leadership for a better world: Understanding the social change model of leadership (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2014). The student leadership challenge: Five practices for becoming an exemplary leadership. San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
Palmer, P. (2009). A hidden wholeness: The journey towards an undivided life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Preskill, S., & Brookfield, S. (2009). Lessons from the struggle of social justice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Rogowski, J., & Cohen, C. (2015). Black millennials in America. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, Black Youth Project.
US Census Bureau. (2018, January 19). Millennials outnumber baby boomers and are far more diverse. Retrieved from https://