Riffing off of Bowen it might be interesting to see exactly what former BSU leaders are doing. The University of Michigan's BSU was in some ways distinct...as there is a long history of black activism that goes back to the twenties. And we were also distinct in that we received a significant amount of money for programs. Finally...Michigan as a school is about as far from chopped liver as you can get without being private.
But off the top of my head...
1987's BSU president is now a consultant in Detroit. Used to work for one of the big three I think, now he has his own firm. His wife (who used to be VP i think) is a hospital executive.
1988's BSU president used to work as a lawyer for the armed services...now he's working on his PhD in political science at the University of Hawaii.
1989's BSU president is in Detroit...though I'm not quite sure what he's up to.
1990's BSU president is an Assistant Professor in Psychology back at Michigan. She received a young investigator's award for her work on racial identity, and she's got a massive grant that she's running out of the psych program.
1991's BSU president is working in New York in sales.
1992's BSU president just started her own foundation. It deals with issues of education and family in Detroit.
Though I can name the names until 1995...I don't know what they're doing necessarily. I was actually secretary in 1990, and my wife was vice-president in 1991.
Through the old school concept of antagonistic cooperation, we pushed Michigan to be better, even as it pushed US to be better. We've come a long way from Steve Cokely.
The BSU's aren't structured to produce non-school centered activists. At schools like Michigan, the black nationalist activists were activists WITHIN THE SCHOOL. Through that process they gain the schools to become professionals outside of the school.
Grace Boggs received a PhD but renounced it in the forties. James Boggs never went beyond...maybe 8th grade. So you're talking about two totally different models.
Posted by: lks at January 30, 2004 09:28 AMI understand Doc just wondering why activism is limited to time i.e.sixtys etc
tootsie
Hey LKS from an old school guy,as I read it, activism , mainstream ,getting paid;where are the Boggs ,who institutionalize activism
Posted by: tootsie at January 30, 2004 07:33 AMTootsie