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Black History

Colin Powell: ‘Not Allowed to Fail’

Via jobs as military assistant to high-level government officials and a stint as national security adviser to then-President Ronald Reagan, Powell rose quickly through the ranks. He became the youngest and first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He was instrumental in the 1991 Persian Gulf War victory but struggled over the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003—at which time he was serving as secretary of state under then-President George W. Bush, Powell’s most difficult assignment.

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Gen. Colin Powell (Public domain photo)
Gen. Colin Powell Public domain photo.

By Tamara Shiloh

Gen. Colin Powell (1937–2021), born in Harlem to Jamaican immigrant parents Luther and Maud Powell, rose to the highest reaches of the U.S. military: four-star general. He would go on to become the country’s first Black Secretary of State. His successes weren’t without support and the foundation set early on.

Propelling Powell to exceed his own expectations were those of his parents: “We were not allowed to fail,” he said during a 2006 New York Daily News interview. Powell said those words “didn’t mean you had to be a general or a doctor or a lawyer. In fact, that was the furthest thing from my mind when I was a kid in New York City. But you had to stay in school, and you had to do well, and you had to meet (their) expectations: ‘We didn’t come to this country for the next generation to blow it.’”

Powell’s childhood was storied. Raised in a four-bedroom, third-floor apartment on Kelly Street in the South Bronx, Powell came from modest means. His father worked in Manhattan’s Garment District, and his mother was a seamstress. He often said that he loved his tenement neighborhood.

Surrounded by a large extended family as well as people of varied cultures, Powell described his childhood experiences in New York City as being exposed to “every type of person you could imagine,” and that it “meant so much to me as I grew up and learned the importance of diversity.”

Powell attended New York City’s public schools before enrolling at City College of New York and later earning an MBA from George Washington University. It was at City College that he found his calling: The Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He began to build relationships that later led him to the U.S. Army—a move that would eventually direct his future.

Via jobs as military assistant to high-level government officials and a stint as national security adviser to then-President Ronald Reagan, Powell rose quickly through the ranks. He became the youngest and first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He was instrumental in the 1991 Persian Gulf War victory but struggled over the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003—at which time he was serving as secretary of state under then-President George W. Bush, Powell’s most difficult assignment.

As the Pentagon’s top officer, Powell, who viewed himself as a problem-solver, called for “applying military might only with overwhelming and decisive troop strength, a clear objective, and popular support,” the Washington Post reported. Journalists later dubbed this method “the Powell Doctrine.”

Interestingly, throughout his career, Powell avoided racial activism. He believed “race factored much less in his professional success than his ability to work within institutions, where he competed with whites on their own terms,” according to the Washington Post. “My race is somebody’s else’s problem … It’s not my problem,” he had said.

After retiring from public service, spending time on the lecture circuit, and becoming founding chair of America’s Promise, Powell died Oct. 18, 2021. He was 84.

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Black History

From Louisville to the Olympics: The Legacy of William DeHart Hubbard

William DeHart Hubbard, born on November 25, 1903, in Cincinnati, Ohio, was a trailblazing figure in American sports history. Hubbard grew up in Cincinnati. While attending Walnut Hills High School he excelled in academics and athletics. This earned him a scholarship to the University of Michigan in 1921, where he studied in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. In college, he quickly made a name for himself as an exceptional track and field athlete.

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William DeHart Hubbard made history in 1924 when Hubbard made Olympic history by winning the Gold Medal in the long jump. Public Domain.
William DeHart Hubbard made history in 1924 when Hubbard made Olympic history by winning the Gold Medal in the long jump. Public Domain.

By Tamara Shiloh

William DeHart Hubbard, born on November 25, 1903, in Cincinnati, Ohio, was a trailblazing figure in American sports history.

Hubbard grew up in Cincinnati. While attending Walnut Hills High School he excelled in academics and athletics. This earned him a scholarship to the University of Michigan in 1921, where he studied in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. In college, he quickly made a name for himself as an exceptional track and field athlete.

Hubbard was the only African American on the school’s track team; he was also the first African American varsity track letterman at the university. In his college career, Hubbard won several meets including being a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion, eight-time Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) champion, and seven-time Big Ten Conference champion in track and field. His 1925 outdoor long jump of 25 feet 1012 inches stood as the Michigan Wolverines team record until 1980, and it is still second. His 1925 jump of 25 feet 3.5 inches stood as a Big Ten Championships record until Jesse Owens broke it in 1935 with what is now the current record of 26 feet 8.25 inches.

In 1924, he was selected to represent the United States at the Paris Summer Olympics.

Competing against some of the best athletes in the world, Hubbard made history by winning the gold medal in the long jump by jumping 24 feet 5.5 inches. This victory made him the first African American to win an individual gold medal in the history of the modern Olympic Games.

In 1925, Hubbard broke the long jump world record with a leap of 25 feet 1078 inches at the NCAA championships. In 1927, he bettered that with a jump of 26 feet 2.25 inches — which would have been the first ever over 26 feet — but meet officials disallowed it, claiming that the take-off board was an inch higher than the surface of the landing pit. He also competed in the hurdles at the 1926 AAU championships. He graduated with honors in 1927.

He specialized in the long jump, a sport that would soon bring him international fame.

Hubbard’s Olympic success was not just a personal triumph but a milestone for African Americans in sports. His victory challenged the prevailing stereotypes of the time and inspired a generation of Black athletes to pursue their dreams in the face of adversity.

After his Olympic success, he continued to excel in track and field. He set an additional world record in 1925 with a jump of 25 feet 10.75 inches, which stood for several years. His accomplishments were not limited to athletics, as he also became involved in civic and business endeavors after his graduation from the University of Michigan in 1927.

Following his athletic career, Hubbard returned to his hometown of Cincinnati, where he took on various roles serving his community and the progress of African Americans. He worked as a manager for the Department of Colored Work for the Cincinnati Public Recreation Commission and later became a race relations adviser for the Federal Housing Administration.

Hubbard passed away on June 23, 1976. As the first African American to win an individual Gold Medal in the Olympics, he not only paved the way for future generations of athletes but also demonstrated the profound impact that sports can have on societal change.

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Oakland Post: Week of September 25 – October 1, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 25 – October 1, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of September 18 – 24, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 18 – 24, 2024

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