Dr. Carla Hayden

Oprah Winfrey

2016Best College Majors

'If we think EDUCATION is expensive, Ignorance is even more costly.'

Dr. Ruth Simmons

First African American Woman President of an Ivy League School

Brown University

2001

Historically Black Colleges and Universities / HBCU's

(Today an average of one in four students of HBCU's are non-African American)

There are approximately 105 Different Institutions

Lamesha has been teaching in the NYC Dept. of Ed. for 15 yrs. She has a double Masters Degree. One in Early Childhood Ed. & Sch. Guid., and the other in Mental Health. Both Ladies participated in this year's Family Reunion.

Lamesha

Self

W.E.B. DuBois

Education

Education is the act of imparting or acquiring knowledge, information and training, in theory and from practical applications. It becomes a stimulus for mental growth and cognizant development through the powers of reasoning and judgment. The acquisition is designed to help facilitate a means towards maturity of the intellect and continual growth.

Education can occur both in a formal and informal setting. The brighter the light, the more illuminated becomes the path. The formality of learning is a discipline with a greater regard to its setting as often times in colleges or universities as places of higher learning and education.

Any experience which has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts can be considered educational. Education is an enlightenment of the mind from our nescience state upon entering the world, knowing nothing. What we learn becomes a personal property of our intellect. Normally, information obtained should be the first step toward realizing that the more we think we know, the more we will come to realize just how much we don't.

In fact, this could rightfully be considered the stage of which the intellect has really begun to develope. The right to a formal education was not always a privilege for the African American. The challenge to keep one illiterate and without knowledge fosters an opportunity to hinder the ability to reason logically and think critically.

Aqcuiring knowledge and information of one's own is a part of the building blocks to think both rationally and independently. There were some who became interested in seeing an educational system be passed on to the equivalent of what became known as "classical education."

The Path of Formal Education for the African American in History

This effort became known as "the talented tenth." The phrase is said to have originated in 1896 among Northern White Liberals who designated leadership into the 20th century. These such Northern White Liberals were considered to be philanthropists They were among groups such as the American Baptist Home Mission Society which had the strong backing of John D. Rockefeller of upstate Richford, New York. He was one of the wealthiest men of his day becoming an American oil industry tycoon. He partnered as a founder of the Standard Oil Company known today as ExxonMobil.

Between the period of the mid-1890's into the 1920's became known in American History as the 'Progressive Era,' For the African American, it helped to permeate a period to advance out of the Jim Crow Laws of the south. During this time several African American organizations emerged such as the Niagara Movement founded in 1905 led by W.E.B. Dubois and William Monroe Trotter.

The goal to establish black colleges in the south to train black teachers and elites had already begun and became one of generality. The use of the term, "talented tenth" by W.E.B. Dubois described the likelihood of what he thought as one in ten black men becoming leaders of their race in the world. He thought this need through methods of continuing education, writing books, and becoming directly involved in social change.

It was his strong belief that African Americans referred to as "Negroes" in those days needed a "classical education." W. E. B. Dubois differed in many ways on education with Booker T. Washington, who both were leading advocates of their day. Although of stark difference of opinions and approaches, they were able to make substantial contributions for the advancement of African Americans of their time and beyond. W.E.B. Dubois did not believe that the African Americans of that time could reach their full potential through the methodology of an industrial education promoted by the "Atlanta Compromise" which was endorsed by Booker T. Washington and some white philanthropists.

W.E.B. Dubois saw 'classical education' which advocated a form of education based in the study of literature, poetry, drama, philosophy, history, art, and languages as a basis towards public intellectuals. In one instance he stated, "Men we shall have only as we make manhood the object of the work of the schools intelligence, broad sympathy, knowledge of the world that was and is, and of the relation of men to it this curriculum of that Higher Education which must underlie true life. On this foundation we may build bread winning, skill of hand and quickness of brain, with never a fear lest the child and man mistake the means of living for the object of life."

W.E.B. Dubois writes in his Talented Tenth essay, "The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst."

The regard for formal education in more contemporary times divided it formally into stages as; preschool or kindergarten, elementary, high school, college/university, and/or apprenticeship, and graduate school. Its development goals are to prepare the average individual in pursuit for whatever its objectives are to secure a lifetime career in a particular field(s) or endeavor(s).

A formal education in the 'new millennia' centers around four major areas much in improving upon the early years of the three "r's," reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, once considered not only fundamental but sufficient. These four major areas today are known as "STEM," which is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. They are considered to be the prerequisites of a contemporary "formal education" to advance in any field of endeavor in proportion to global standards as a world-class education.

It is rather evident that education does become a personal property once obtained. In the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, an article on the appointment of the first African American Librarian of Congress reads, "the U.S. Congress has confirmed the appointment of Carla Hayden as Librarian of Congress. She is the 14th Librarian of Congress and first African American and the first woman to hold the post. The position formerly was an appointment for life, but new legislation calls for a 10 year term which can be renewed.

Dr. Hayden was the CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore and previously served as the deputy director of the Chicago Public Library. She has been widely praised for her efforts to incorporate technology into infrastructure of the libraries with which she has been associated. The Library of Congress has been criticized for its slow adoption of the latest technologies.

Dr. Hayden was approved by a vote of 74-18 in the U.S. Senate. The vote on her nomination was held up by GOP senators who had concerns that her views on the free flow of information would allow access to pornography in public libraries.

A native of Tallahassee, Florida, Dr. Hayden is a graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago. She holds a master of library and information science degree and a doctorate in library science from the University of Chicago. Dr. Hayden is a former assistant professor of library science at the University of Pittsburgh."