FINALISTS: African American & Hispanic Unity Scholarship. Members, vote here!

Growing up in a community that is 90% Hispanic, I have been witness to the many unfortunate lifestyles that they experience. My own family has also had its share of financial, drug and gang problems and because most Hispanics, like my family, are lower to lower-middle class, the neighborhoods they live in are not ideal. Much like the neighborhoods that many African Americans live in, which I later learned when I began going to school at Purdue University. I’m currently majoring in African American Studies and in the classes alone I have seen how African Americans and Hispanics tend to segregate themselves from the rest of the class, sitting together on the opposite side of the Caucasian students. When speaking on cultural or political situations, the Black and Hispanic students often agree on many of the burdens that spoil their communities. It’s not unusual in either community to see teenage mothers, single parent families, to experience stereotypes at their worst, or to lose a loved one to jail, **** or death due to various criminal activities. Often the families have similar financial and housing circumstances, living with extended family in the projects or ghettos, so they understand each other on a higher level when addressing values in family, respect, religion, and hard work. This experience has taught me that African Americans and Hispanics, being the growing minorities in the United States, should come together as a group to address the issues they both face on a daily basis in their communities. Young African Americans and Hispanics have already come to an understanding that they are both minorities and have many of the same disadvantages. To my experience, going to a university where the majority is White and Asian, African American and Hispanic students have brought it upon themselves to form a unity as a single minority. While this grouping of the two minorities is not necessarily geared toward fixing the problems they face, it can be brought to their attention that by forming this unity they will have more power in making a difference both politically and culturally for their communities. It can also be brought to the attention of the Latino and Black Cultural Centers that by unifying the two communities they can work to do the same for other universities around the United States. Inviting successful African American and Hispanic government and community leaders to speak at seminars held at either center at the university would help in creating that understanding of influence to make changes for both ethnicities. And once that understanding is made the students can extend what they’ve learned out to the surrounding communities. The existing programs that I have been exposed to in my own city are geared toward helping the large Hispanic population to make a greater difference in the community when it comes to post education and career paths for young Hispanics. I am not aware of such programs for African Americans in my city however, they do exist in larger urban areas. By bringing these programs to recognize the significance they play in the lives of the people, student or not, that participate in them, they can connect with the Cultural centers of the universities to strengthen the union of the African American and Hispanic populations. The historically Black colleges and universities, in my perspective, already have an advantage in assisting the African American community by creating the positive outlook for post education with its scholarships, grants, and other various programs that aid in paying for their tuition. As before mentioned Hispanics, as well as Afro-Hispanics, have the same disadvantages getting into a college or university because of financial, family or living situations. By opening their educational resources to the Hispanic and Afro-Hispanic communities the Black colleges or universities would be helping in filling the existing gap that separates the three minorities. Creating more scholarships and encouraging the Hispanic and Afro-Hispanic communities to apply would open doors to a better education and a stronger unification of the African American, Hispanic, and Afro-Hispanic populations.

"African American & Hispanic Unity" Essay Contest As an African American and Mexican American woman I sometimes find myself in situations in which I must choose a side to take in debates among my friends, or in politics, or in social settings when the Black community and Hispanic community are pitted against each other. I am forced to choose a side, but why must this be so? Why must I be forced to choose a side in a dispute amongst two fellow minority groups? Would it not be best for the two minority groups to join together, to help each other against the majority? African Americans and Hispanics in the United States need to work together to “address political, cultural, communication, and community issues” because united both groups create a forceful power base, whilst divided they are weakened and produce more obstacles for each other. Both the African American and Hispanic communities need to realize that they are fighting for much of the same things. They both desire equality, representation in government, cultural identity, and a strong united community. Yet it is interesting just how much each group battles over who is the most significant minority group. Would it not make more sense for both groups to unify and stand up together for what they want? This in fact is the first step to strengthening the relationship between the Black and Hispanic communities: cease battling each other and realize the similarities shared among each group. The campaign for justice in America for African Americans and Hispanics is an arduous one, and it must constantly be waged for if not there is a very real possibility that the majority will have complete control over the minority. However, with a combination of two minority groups fighting the same battle, the campaign becomes less arduous for the combination’s hand wields more power against the majority. The second step to strengthening the relationship between the two communities is that individuals need to be made aware of the other group’s plight; they need to be made aware that one group’s plight is not worse or better than the other’s, for Blacks as well as Hispanics have faced a plethora of hardships in this country. I have spoken with friends of both the Black community and the Hispanic community and they relay their problems as if they were the most important and then dismiss the problems of the other group as insignificant. As a member of both communities I know that no one group’s problems are more or less important, and as soon as individuals begin to recognize that, the two communities will not need to be pitted against each other, they can be united together. Historically Black Colleges and Universities have done a laudable job of supporting the black community, they have consistently and continuously supported African Americans and their goals. And although HBCUs have helped tremendously in bringing in more and more African Americans into the academic world, the help needs to carry on, for not only do HBCUs advance individuals in the academic arena they provide a sense of community, they provide a safe place for Blacks to be among their peers, to freely express themselves, and that needs to continue in order to give the community strength to endure in their fight for justice. And all HBCUs need do for these things to endure is to keep their doors open. All they need do is continue accepting black students into their halls. Now, if these powerhouses of support could lend some support to the Hispanic/ Afro-Hispanic communities, not only would the Hispanic community be reinforced, but a bond would also be created between the African American and Hispanic communities. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.” The African American and Hispanic communities “are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,” and thus need to help each other in their battles for social and political justice and equality. Unified both groups are strong, divided they are weak.

It is important for Black Americans to reestablish a sense of community in order to promote our race to be highly in tuned with our heritage and culture, and to bring more respect to our race as a race that is highly intellectual and strongly influential in this country and in the world in its entirety. As a race, Black Americans should go beyond just being socio-economically connected and band together as a community and as a culture to uplift each other as to ensure our future as a race whose impact on the world can not be overlooked. Black Americans should not only stick together when seeking business gains but also when raising a child and pushing ourselves mentally in education. As the old proverb states, “It takes a village to raise a child,” and to ensure the appropriate development of our youth we need to act as one village not a group of individuals looking out for themselves but a village looking out for all that are in their community as well as others. There should not just be a high amount of praise given to musicians and entertainers but also to the inventors and entrepreneurs to allow for our youth to look upon a wide variety of options and careers for them to embark upon when they grow up. In addition, negative characteristics and situations of Black Americans in the past has served to discredit our race as a whole and put a negative connotation next to the name of a Black American. Negative facts about Black Americans are being preyed upon by people looking to show how Black Americans are inferior to Whites or other races. But this is not true! Although we can not physically stop people from voicing this downbeat view of our race, we can prove them wrong by changing the typical pessimistic facts about our race that have become characteristic of our people. Such as in the case of the number of Black Americans in jail or missing a father figure in their home. However this can all change by uplifting the providence of having a high education and being more involved in our community as a way to combat the commonplace of having **** and the police prominently seen in our communities. Tools such as the internet are largely at our disposal to be used positively. The internet is one of the fastest ways to communicate information to a large array of people in a short amount of time. Sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and HBCU Connect can be used to spread information around to people in the community easily. These sites are free to use and are immensely efficient. Voting information can be passed around through these sites to inform people of upcoming elections, where to vote, among other useful information such as community cultural events. To add, colleges HBCU’s should encourage and support Blacks and Hispanics to enter their colleges and ascribe to attain a degree. For this would ensure that Blacks and other minorities keep education at the top of their priority lists and see that through education they can achieve their goals in life. Colleges and universities are apart of the communities set in place for our race where the rules and ideologies held in the village should still be practiced and emphasized at the schools because it is important in the development our people.

These are your finalist for the 2007 African American & Hispanic Unity Scholarship. Help us choose an awardee by reading the essays of the finalists and then voting on them. Thank you for all who participated and congratulations to all who have become finalists! HBCUConnect Staff

My apologies. The rules are: You must write an essay that is between 500 and 2,500 words explaining your thoughts and solutions to the following points: 1. Why should African Americans and Hispanics in the United States work together as minorities to address political, cultural, communication, and community issues? 2. What can be done to strengthen the relationship between the African American and Hispanic communities living within the United States? 3. How and why should Historically Black College & Universities continue to support the needs of African American Students and possibly the needs of the growing Hispanic (and Afro-Hispanic) population in the United States?

Congrats to the finalists! Looks like it's going to be a tight race between 2 of the finalists! I'll be back on the 9th fa sho! What's the prize(s), Mr Admin?

the get some $$$$!!!!!!!

I wonder if the members are the sole factors in deciding who wins? :thinking2:

At this stage, the members are the sole factors!