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United College Action Network (U-CAN) Celebrating 20 years

SACRAMENTO OBSERVER — Dr. Alan Rowe founded the United College Action Network (U-CAN) with his wife Donna Rowe in 1988 and the couple has built it into an opportunity for young people to obtain educational freedom. As they prepare for the 20th-year of their signature college recruitment event this week, Dr. Rowe shared with the OBSERVER, the organization’s origins and its continued efforts.

Published

5 years ago

September 16, 2019

Sacramento Observer staff report

United College Action Network (Photo by: sacobserver.com)

By Genoa Barrow

He started out to help his son choose a college and three decades later has helped secure a higher education for thousands.

Dr. Alan Rowe founded the United College Action Network (U-CAN) with his wife Donna Rowe in 1988 and the couple has built it into an opportunity for young people to obtain educational freedom. As they prepare for the 20th-year of their signature college recruitment event this week, Dr. Rowe shared with the OBSERVER, the organization’s origins and its continued efforts.

It all started with a trip to Jackson State University with their oldest son Alan “Tchaka” Rowe II. Dr. Rowe says the visit to the Mississippi campus was transformative. Growing up, he’d heard that civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had attended Morehouse University, but didn’t really know what a historically Black college was.

“I didn’t have the knowledge of what they mean and the history and the legacy of our institutions, but when I went to Jackson State and I walked on that campus, I realized I was at home.”

The Rowes chose Jackson State and chose to entrust leaders there with the care and education of their son. Thoroughly impressed, they returned to Sacramento knowing they had to share the experience with other local families.

“We were focused on sharing the message and being a beacon,” Dr. Rowe shared, “Being like Harriet Tubman and getting as many young people as possible and bringing them to the promised land, if you will, of higher education at the schools, colleges and universities where people look like us, they care about us and that are going to support us and nurture us and make sure we’re gaining our educational freedom.”

Ten years after “birthing” U-CAN, the Rowes started putting on the HBCU recruitment fair. It started with a one-day event introducing a small number of students to five schools. In 2018, the fair tour reached 2,500 and made stops throughout Northern and Southern California and Nevada. The event offers juniors and seniors a chance to meet one-on-one with representatives from HBCU, with some earning on-the spot admission and scholarship offers.

This year’s College Fair tour comes home to Sacramento this week with events at Grant Union High School and El Camino Fundamental High School on Thursday, Luther Burbank and Sacramento Charter high schools on Friday and Monterey Trails High in Elk Grove on Saturday.

There will be representatives from schools such as Alabama A&M, Alcorn State, Fisk University, Hampton University, Prairie View A&M, Spelman University, Tuskegee University, and Morehouse University.

Recruiters, Dr. Rowe says, spending much of their annual travel budgets to participate in U-CAN events.

“You don’t do that unless it’s worth it,” he said.

“It’s very powerful and important for people to know that these colleges and universities respect and appreciate what they’ve gotten from UCAN. If they didn’t get students, if they didn’t know it was a quality program, if they didnt know it’s making a difference for their institutions, trust me they would not be coming,” he shared.

So sold on the HBCU experience, the Rowes sent their youngest son Tsean Rowe to Grambling and he later transferred to Morgan State and their nieces attended Virginia State and Tuskegee.

The Rowes say they consider all those they’ve helped to be extended members of their brood.

“Instead of having two sons, I began to have 20 sons and daughters and then it became 100 and after a while there’s now thousands of U-CAN members that are our family,” Dr. Rowe shared.

“My wife says our third child became U-CAN,” he continued.

U-CAN turned 30 in 2018 but Dr. Rowe and his staff waited to mark the milestone in order to celebrate it along with the 20th anniversary of their college fairs. They’ll host an event in Spring 2020 that will invite students back to share their experiences and what their lives are like now, having attended HBCUs with the help of U-CAN.

Dr. Rowe is particularly proud of expanding support services to four local school districts– Sacramento City Unified, San Juan Unified, Twin Rivers, and Natomas Unified. The partnership, he says, also allows U-CAN to reach schools with fewer African American students who may feel disconnected from the community and support and access to information on campus.

“It gives us an opportunity to go to a Rio Americano and expose those students who otherwise wouldn’t be exposed or wouldn’t be aware that these colleges are here and that they can provide as similar a quality, as same as or better than others,” Dr. Rowe said.

For more on the local venues for the U-CAN college recruitment fair, visit ucangotocollege.org.

This article originally appeared in the Sacramento Observer.

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IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, activist Ramona Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.
The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Once upon a time, Black Americans were simply known as colored people, or Negroes. That is until Ramona Edelin came along. The activist, renowned for her pivotal roles in advancing civil rights, education reform, and community empowerment, died at her D.C. residence last month at the age of 78. Her death, finally confirmed this week by Barnaby Towns, a communications strategist who collaborated with Dr. Edelin, was attributed to cancer.

Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.

Edelin’s contributions to academia and activism were manifold. She was pivotal in popularizing the term “African American” alongside Rev. Jesse L. Jackson in the late 1980s.

Jackson had announced the preference for “African American,” speaking for summit organizers that included Dr. Edelin. “Just as we were called Colored, but were not that, and then Negro, but not that, to be called Black is just as baseless,” he said, adding that “African American” “has cultural integrity” and “puts us in our proper historical context.”

Later, Edelin told Ebony magazine, “Calling ourselves African Americans is the first step in the cultural offensive,” while linking the name change to a “cultural renaissance” in which Black Americans reconnected with their history and heritage.

“Who are we if we don’t acknowledge our motherland?” she asked later. “When a child in a ghetto calls himself African American, immediately he’s international. You’ve taken him from the ghetto and put him on the globe.”

The HistoryMakers bio noted that Edelin’s academic pursuits led her to found and chair the Department of African American Studies at Northeastern University, where she established herself as a leading voice.

Transitioning from academia to advocacy, Edelin joined the National Urban Coalition in 1977, eventually ascending to president and CEO. During her tenure, she spearheaded initiatives such as the “Say Yes to a Youngster’s Future” program, which provided crucial support in math, science, and technology to youth and teachers of color in urban areas. Her biography noted that Edelin’s efforts extended nationwide through partnerships with organizations like the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Education.

President Bill Clinton recognized Edelin’s expertise by appointing her to the Presidential Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1998. She also co-founded and served as treasurer of the Black Leadership Forum, solidifying her standing as a respected leader in African American communities.

Beyond her professional achievements, Edelin dedicated herself to numerous boards and committees, including chairing the District of Columbia Educational Goals 2000 Panel and contributing to the Federal Advisory Committee for the Black Community Crusade for Children.

Throughout her life, Edelin received widespread recognition for her contributions. Ebony magazine honored her as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans, and she received prestigious awards such as the Southern Christian Leadership Award for Progressive Leadership and the IBM Community Executive Program Award.

The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.
The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s only public historically Black college and university (HBCU), faces a tumultuous future as Gov. Bill Lee dissolved its board, a move supported by racist conservatives and MAGA Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly, who follow the lead of the twice-impeached, four-times indicted, alleged sexual predator former President Donald Trump. Educators and others have denounced the move as an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and a grave setback for higher education.

Critics argue that TSU’s purported financial mismanagement is a manufactured crisis rooted in decades of underinvestment by the state government. They’ve noted that it continues a trend by conservatives and the racist MAGA movement to eliminate opportunities for Blacks in education, corporate America, and the public sector.

Gevin Reynolds, a former speechwriter for Vice President Kamala Harris, emphasizes in an op-ed that TSU’s financial difficulties are not the result of university leadership because a recent audit found no evidence of fraud or malfeasance.

Reynolds noted that the disbanding of TSU’s board is not an isolated incident but part of a broader assault on DE&I initiatives nationwide. Ten states, including Tennessee, have enacted laws banning DE&I policies on college campuses, while governors appointing MAGA loyalists to university trustee positions further undermine efforts to promote inclusivity and equality.

Moreover, recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.

The actions echo historical efforts to suppress Black progress, reminiscent of the violent backlash against gains made during the Reconstruction era. President Joe Biden warned during an appearance in New York last month that Trump desires to bring the nation back to the 18th and 19th centuries – in other words, to see, among other things, African Americans back in the chains of slavery, women subservient to men without any say over their bodies, and all voting rights restricted to white men.

The parallels are stark, with white supremacist ideologies used to justify attacks on Black institutions and disenfranchise marginalized communities, Reynolds argued.

In response to these challenges, advocates stress the urgency of collective action to defend democracy and combat systemic racism. Understanding that attacks on institutions like TSU are symptomatic of broader threats to democratic norms, they call for increased civic engagement and voting at all levels of government.

The actions of people dedicated to upholding the principles of inclusivity, equity, and justice for all will determine the outcome of the ongoing fight for democracy, Reynolds noted. “We are in a war for our democracy, one whose outcome will be determined by every line on every ballot at every precinct,” he stated.

The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy

May 24, 2023 – Walker West Music Academy gets an early start on expansion. Join us for a Wednesday episode of The …
The post Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy first appeared on BlackPressUSA.