The Olatunji Foundation

Let it be known that I am not simply a blogger who sits back behind my computer and shoots off at the mouth about what Black people ought to be doing. I put my money where my mouth is. This post is a reminder to students attending HBCU's to apply for the scholarship(s) offered by the Olatunji Foundation for Pan-Africanism. The deadline for applicants is May 1, 2006.

This is also a call for all like minded and financially able visitors to donate to the Olatunji Foundation so that we may give as many scholarships to deserving students of African descent. We cannot sit back and wait until we "Hit the numbers" or that we get that six figure salary to start being philanthropic. We must finance our own liberation by following the principle of Ujamaa and Ujimaa. We ask that as a minimum donors give $25. What is $25? $25 is what the average person spends on lunch for one week. $25 is less than the cost of a weekend date. It is less than a new pair of shoes at Payless Shoes. is 160 people give $25 dollars the Olatunji Foundation would cover it's entire operating costs for a full year, which includes 5 scholarships. To the right you'll note that there is a bar graph that has been stuck at $600 for about 3 months now. That is from my own pocket and two donors. I would hope that of the 2,300 people who have been to the blog in the past 3 months, that some of you agree that we have to put our money where our mouths are, if Black people are going to develop the leaders of our communities for tomorrow.

Let me tell you, everyone else is after our best and brightest. Every corporate foundation out there is offering more money that I have at hand to our students. Who do you think our students are going to look out for when they graduate? The people who made it possible for them to be where they are, that's who. It's a rough truth, but it's like that. People talk about the meddling into black organizations that is done by white corporate interests. But no one is looking at why these corporations are able to do so. It is because we do not support our own. Are our people supposed to just roll over and die because we won't shop, trade, or philanthropise (not a word) our own? Are black institutions supposed to just go away because some people believe that such institutions are "passe?"
So if HBCU's are not responsive to the demands of black people, then we should not be surprised when we did nothing to maintain their allegiance.

So the Olatunji Foundation was founded on the same idea that drove Marcus Garvey to incorporate the Black Star Line: Black people must invest and have ownership of the vehicles of their liberation anything else is slavery by proxy.

So, people may disagree with my opinions on various subjects, but it can never be said that I was a fast talker and never an actor. What about you?

The Scholarship application:http://olatunji-foundation.org/application.html
Donation page: http://olatunji-foundation.org/donations.html