A mind is a terrible thing to waste

Earlier this month, Dr Michael L. Lomax, President of the United Negro Fund (UNCF) delighted the audience at the British Library Conference Center, London, discussing the rich history and importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Organised by the US Embassy in partnership with the Eccles Centre, the event was held as part of the US Black History Month which is in February.   Dr Michael L Lomax is the current President and CEO of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), a role he has held for 10 years.  As he asserted during his speech, although his mandate is challenging, he is delighted to drive the UNCF on its mission to elevate the quality as well as the educational opportunity for ethnic minorities.

Dr Lomax took the opportunity to share some of the history of African American people, addressing issues like racial segregation and then looking at the current state of affairs. His main focus was the importance of going to school and being educated. At the event he expressed how fundamental education is, not only for young people, but for everyone, regardless of age, color, religion etc. and cited social reformer Frederick Douglass who stated that “Education is the pathway from slavery to freedom” . Dr Lomax argued that education is important because it helps people in order to prepare them critically, to transform lives by eliminating barriers and removing challenges  to create real life opportunities.

The UNCF was founded in 1944 and aimed to assist African American students excluded from other colleges and universities. It now educates over 60,000 students every year and is now a multicultural as well as a multiethnic environment attended not only by black men and women, but also by people from diverse ethnic backgrounds and from different parts of the world.

The need for the UNCF was obvious during its inception, but Dr Lomax argues that changes still need to happen. Citing Barack Obama, Dr Lomax said,

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

Dr Lomax's determined efforts have brought significant access to the educational system, to those whose talents would otherwise be wasted. He  set and achieved a goal of raising $1billion dollars fund for the UNCF, receiving assistance from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The fund provides financial assistance awarding over 10,000 students every year with scholarships for their tuition fees and also for academic and personal support

The success of the UNCF is unquestionable in helping to reform and challenge some of the inequities of the US education system. Looking closer to home,   one question raised by a member of the audience asked the reason why there are so few black professors in the UK.

Dr Lomax responded by saying that education still has a long way to go and to arrive at a point where the number of black teachers will equal the number of white ones. He said,

"The only solution is that we shall start early and we shall work hard."

Cinzia C Ezeanyim