Radio host challenges Stillman students

Radio personality Tom Joyner Sr. greeted the students at Stillman College’s fall convocation Thursday with the message their collegiate journeys represent a gateway to something bigger than themselves.

“This is your time, this is your day, this is your moment, how you spend it here matters,” Joyner said.

Joyner, an advocate and supporter of historically black colleges and universities, talked to an audience of a few hundred in Birthright Alumni Hall during the annual event to welcome new students and faculty. Earlier this year, Joyner’s nonprofit, The Tom Joyner Foundation, helped raise funds for Stillman by selecting the private school as its School of the Month for May.

“Stillman, like most of my beloved HBCUs, loves you, nurtures you and wants the best for everyone of you,” Joyner said. “HBCUs are doing great things. They may be doing it with less money, and sometimes with fewer resources, but never, never with less heart and commitment to students who are the lifeblood of any college. You are part of something bigger or more important than you realize.”

Joyner, host of the Tom Joyner Morning Radio Show, told the students as graduates of a historically black college, they would have important roles to play in the future of the country. As graduates, they could find themselves in places to shape national events.

Joyner used the example of Nike’s new ad featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose protest of police brutality and social injustices during the national anthem at professional football games sparked a debate that has spread from sports to national politics.

Kaepernick is among the athletes featured in Nike’s 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign. The ad is portrait of the quarterback with the message “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt.”

Joyner called the ad a powerful message.

“Nike clearly had someone in that room that convinced someone else to stand with Colin,” Joyner said. “From Waffle House to the White House, it is apparent that there is no one in the room that looks like us, to represent us at the table.”

As an HBCU graduate, Joyner said the students have the opportunity in the future to be a voice at the table.

“That means you will more than likely be there in the room with people who don’t look like you with a seat at the table. That is half the battle. The other part is what will you do when you get there?” he said. “When it counts will you be the voice that will say, ‘No, that is unacceptable,’ or, ‘Yes, that has to happen?’ Or will you be silent and sit back and not make waves? That is not what your ancestors fought for. We need you. Black America needs you. America needs you.”

Joyner was introduced by state Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, who encouraged the students to take advantage of the educational opportunities at Stillman.

“I want you to be the new Bill Gates of this world,” he said.

Reach Ed Enoch at ed.enoch@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0209.