Connect with us

#NNPA BlackPress

Coca-Cola UNITED ‘Pays It Forward’ With Internships For HBCU Students

BIRMINGHAM TIMES — The week-long internship gives students a chance to experience a range of roles available at Coca-Cola, including sales operations, productions, marketing, packaging, pricing, event planning, and philanthropy and community relations.

Published

on

By Erica Wright

Alabama State University student Bryant Williams, a junior, on Monday said he’s learning a lot during his internship with Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED. And it’s been less than a week.

“I’m learning a lot about Coca-Cola that I never knew and taking away advice from all of the other HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) students and graduates,” said Williams, “I can say that it is of key importance to network and I’m proud of how I got here and how far I’ve come.”

Williams is one of eight HBCU students from around the state part of the 2019 class of Coca-Cola UNITED’s internship program, “Pay It Forward.”

The “Pay It Forward” program, in its fourth year, provides African-American youth with opportunities to celebrate achievements and further their success.

In April, the company reviewed applications for the program through participating HBCUs and selected 25 students. From the Alabama region, the eight chosen were: Williams and Jada Jamison-Belser, Alabama State University; Brianna Jones, Miles College; Gabrielle Williams and Pablo Vallejo, Stillman College; Simone Brown and Kendarius Hale-Youngblood, Talladega College and Zalkari Thornton, Tuskegee University.

The week-long internship gives students a chance to experience a range of roles available at Coca-Cola, including sales operations, productions, marketing, packaging, pricing, event planning, and philanthropy and community relations.

Pam Cook, Director of Multicultural Marketing and Community Affairs at Coca-Cola UNITED, said continuing the legacy of Paying It Forward is “the right thing to do.”

“HBCUs are so much more than halftimes and homecomings,” she said, “the program . . . brings students to our facilities this week and teaches them how to go to work, how to read different statements, how to network, all of the skills that will get you ready for the job market.”

Students began familiarizing themselves with the program during the day Monday and in the evening participated in a meet and greet at Top Golf in downtown with other HBCU graduates and listened to a panel discussion about the importance of “Paying It Forward.”

Bryant Williams said he looks forward to sharing his experiences in the program with others.

“Other students at our schools don’t know, but it’s our job to help each other out as peers so we can all be on the same track and that’s what I have learned today,” he said.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Gabrielle Williams, a junior at Stillman College, said she also learned a lot from her first day.

“Being here with great HBCU alumni, I’ve learned about empowerment, giving back,” she said. “Being a Stillmanite, we learn a lot about networking, but being here today has just reinforced that to me.”

One of the panelists, Eric Guster, of Guster Law Firm and an Alabama State graduate, said, ASU taught him the confidence to walk into a room and fear no one.

“I spent time in New York where I was doing work for CNN and MSNBC, I knew walking in that room I could handle it and a lot of that came from [the] confidence that I received at my HBCU. You are just as good as or greater than anyone else and that’s the type of confidence you must carry wherever you go. Confidence paired with preparation, you’ll be prepared wherever you go.”

Casi Ferguson, Area Development Director Birmingham, with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and Talladega College graduate, said it’s important to give back, given the history of the institutions.

“You have to understand historic, understand what the ‘H’ means and understand these schools were started with a lot less, having no resources that we have now, but they were started for a very good reason and that is the same reason today,” Ferguson said. “[Giving back] can be $2 or it can be $10 but we should be in a position where we understand that these are our schools and each of you are our students… because we continue to ‘pay it forward’ and build relationships… it is so important to give back. Don’t think you don’t have enough, don’t think there is not enough to give.”

Zillah Fluker, principal with Activate l Elevate, and Alabama State University graduate, said “the greatest thing I took away from my HBCU experience is the need to always remember who I am. That’s what they told me. The other thing they taught me was the idea of a standard of excellence, you may not have everything you need and you certainly won’t have everything you want, but not being excellent is not an option. We always maintained a standard of excellence no matter what we had.”

Panelists also included D’Aundria Foster, Hayah Beauty Stylist and Tuskegee University student; Sylvia Bowen, City of Birmingham Mayor’s Office and Tuskegee University graduate; James Gettys, Birmingham Times Sales Director and graduate of Stillman College; and Deanna “Dee” Reed, Program Coordinator with Woke Vote and a graduate of Miles College.

Also in attendance were Dr. Quinton Ross, president of Alabama State University and Dr. Billy Hawkins, president of Talladega College.

Cook said she is proud of her work and Coca-Cola’s partnership with HBCUs. “I get to be the champion of that for the schools. I know what it’s like to need a class and it isn’t being offered that semester and you’re so close to graduation, I know what it’s like to be away from home… all of those wonderful things that HBCUs provide, that sense of family, all of that is so priceless and it’s an excellent thing to do.”

In addition to the Birmingham and Montgomery markets, the company offers internships in Georgia and Louisiana.

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

#NNPA BlackPress

Trump Set to Sign Largest Cut to Medicaid After a Marathon Protest Speech by Leader Jeffries

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S.

Published

on

By Lauren Burke

By a vote of 218 to 214, the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed President Trump’s massive budget and spending bill that will add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S. With $175 billion allocated in spending for immigration enforcement, the money for more police officers eclipsed the 2026 budget for the U.S. Marines, which is $57 billion. Almost all of the policy focus from the Trump Administration has focused on deporting immigrants of color from Mexico and Haiti.

The vote occurred as members were pressed to complete their work before the arbitrary deadline of the July 4 holiday set by President Trump. It also occurred after Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the House floor for over 8 hours in protest. Leader Jeffries broke the record in the U.S. House for the longest floor speech in history on the House floor. The Senate passed the bill days before and was tied at 50-50, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “my hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.” There were no changes made to the Senate bill by the House. A series of overnight phone calls to Republicans voting against, not changes, was what won over enough Republicans to pass the legislation, even though it adds trillions to the debt. The Trump spending bill also cuts money to Pell grants.

“The Big Ugly Bill steals food out of the hands of starving children, steals medicine from the cabinets of cancer patients, and equips ICE with more funding and more weapons of war than the United States Marine Corps. Is there any question of who those agents will be going to war for, or who they will be going to war against? Beyond these sadistic provisions, Republicans just voted nearly unanimously to close urban and rural hospitals, cripple the child tax credit, and to top it all off, add $3.3 trillion to the ticking time bomb that is the federal deficit – all from a party that embarrassingly pretends to stand for fiscal responsibility and lowering costs,” wrote Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in a statement on July 3.

“The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 17 million people will lose their health insurance, including over 322,000 Virginians. It will make college less affordable.  Three million people will lose access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And up to 16 million students could lose access to free school meals. The Republican bill does all of this to fund tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations,” wrote Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a statement. The bill’s passage has prompted Democrats to start thinking about 2026 and the next election cycle. With the margins of victory in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate being so narrow, many are convinced that the balance of power and the question of millions being able to enjoy health care come down to only several thousand votes in congressional elections. But currently, Republicans controlled by the MAGA movement control all three branches of government. That reality was never made more stark and more clear than the last seven days of activity in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

Continue Reading

#NNPA BlackPress

WATCH: NNPA Publishers Pivot To Survive

7.2.25 via NBC 4 Washington

Published

on

7.2.25 via NBC 4 Washington

https://youtube.com/watch?v=9oZc5Sz0jQQ&feature=oembed

Continue Reading

#NNPA BlackPress

Congressional Black Caucus Challenges Target on Diversity

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — we found that the explanations offered by the leadership of the Target Corporation fell woefully short of what our communities deserve and of the values of inclusion that Target once touted

Published

on

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

Target is grappling with worsening financial and reputational fallout as the national selective buying and public education program launched by the Black Press of America and other national and local leaders continues to erode the retailer’s sales and foot traffic. But a recent meeting that the retailer intended to keep quiet between CEO Brian Cornell and members of the Congressional Black Caucus Diversity Task Force was publicly reported after the Black Press discovered the session, and the CBC later put Target on blast.

“The Congressional Black Caucus met with the leadership of the Target Corporation on Capitol Hill to directly address deep concerns about the impact of the company’s unconscionable decision to end a number of its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts,” CBC Chair Yvette Clarke stated. “Like many of the coalition leaders and partner organizations that have chosen to boycott their stores across the country, we found that the explanations offered by the leadership of the Target Corporation fell woefully short of what our communities deserve and of the values of inclusion that Target once touted,” Congresswoman emphasized.  “Black consumers contribute overwhelmingly to our economy and the Target Corporation’s bottom line. Our communities deserve to shop at businesses that publicly share our values without sacrificing our dignity. It is no longer acceptable to deliver promises to our communities in private without also demonstrating those values publicly.”

Lauren Burke, Capitol Hill correspondent for Black Press of America, was present when Target CEO Cornell and a contingent of Target officials arrived at the U.S. Capitol last month. “It’s always helpful to have meetings like this and get some candid feedback and continue to evolve our thinking,” Cornell told Burke as he exited the meeting. And walked down a long hallway in the Cannon House Office Building. “We look forward to follow-up conversations,” he stated. When asked if the issue of the ongoing boycott was discussed, Cornell’s response was, “That was not a big area of focus — we’re focused on running a great business each and every day. Take care of our teams. Take care of the guests who shop with us and do the right things in our communities.”

A national public education campaign on Target, spearheaded by Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the NNPA’s board of directors, and with other national African American leaders, has combined consumer education efforts with a call for selective buying. The NNPA is a trade association that represents the more than 220 African American-owned newspapers and media companies known as the Black Press of America, the voice of 50 million African Americans across the nation. The coalition has requested that Target restore and expand its stated commitment to do business with local community-owned businesses inclusive of the Black Press of  America, and to significantly increase investment in Black-owned businesses and media, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU, Black-owned Banks, national Black Church denominations, and grassroots and local organizations committed to improving the quality of life of all Americans, and especially those from underserved communities. According to Target’s latest earnings report, net sales for the first quarter of 2025 fell 2.8 percent to $23.85 billion compared to the same period last year. Comparable store sales dropped 3.8 percent, and in-store foot traffic slid 5.7 percent.

Shares of Target have also struggled under the pressure. The company’s stock traded around $103.85 early Wednesday afternoon, down significantly from roughly $145 before the controversy escalated. Analysts note that Target has lost more than $12 billion in market value since the beginning of the year. “We will continue to inform and to mobilize Black consumers in every state in the United States,” Chavis said. “Target today has a profound opportunity to respond with respect and restorative commitment.”

Continue Reading

Subscribe to receive news and updates from the Oakland Post

* indicates required

CHECK OUT THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE OAKLAND POST

ADVERTISEMENT

WORK FROM HOME

Home-based business with potential monthly income of $10K+ per month. A proven training system and website provided to maximize business effectiveness. Perfect job to earn side and primary income. Contact Lynne for more details: Lynne4npusa@gmail.com 800-334-0540

Facebook

Trending

Copyright ©2021 Post News Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.