The NBSM needs Baby Boomers – A GDN Exclusive

Afi Osakwe, GDN contributing writer

One of the more significant contrasting aspects of the former Black Campus Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s and today’s New Black Student Movement (The NBSM) is a clearly defined inclusion of redress to economic injustice. While the former movement mainly targeted desired social and educational outcomes, there was a residual “trickle down” expectation of positive financial results. Politics is about “Who gets what,” and that is one of the reasons The NBSM encourages Baby Boomers to become involved with the current generation of students so that the current generation of students does not make past mistakes. If the economic policies and practices of the past are to be corrected, students must be better informed and organized. To that end, a call to informed action, including experienced mentors (Baby Boomers), is necessary for more strategic planning and effort by The NBSM. 

The primary purpose of The NBSM is to fill the void left by student activism of previous decades. Veterans of the former Civil Rights Era serve as mentors and are student-driven. It is a think tank/forum for ideas developing The NBSM potential through replication. It requires the knowledge of nonpartisan organizations supporting the more than one hundred HBCUs and students in coalition with Predominantly White Institutions, Minority Serving Institutions, Black Student Unions, and student organizations.

These coalitions must embrace the value of this initiative and move forward with the following suggestions.

1. Respond to The NBSM outreach, strategizing to defeat voter suppression tactics employed now and during the 2022 Midterm Elections and beyond. Reach out to The NBSM at the link below.
2. Go to the online publication of Greater Diversity News (GDN) http://greaterdiversity.com and sign up for eNews, register to attend Zoom strategizing meetings, and encourage others to do likewise. 
3. Publicize your endorsement of The NBSM.
4. All designated chapters within your organization should be encouraged to create standing “Civic Engagement and Advocacy Committees” (CEACs).
5. Endorse and advocate for collective goals and objectives that maintain residual support for The NBSM strategy, which targets student activists.
6. Become part of The NBSM “Call for volunteer Writers” and notify us that you wish to write and publish on our platform or be interviewed for an activity your organization promotes.
7. Critically brainstorm with The NBSM strategists (and help actualize a strategic advisory role) to expedite replication of the model at all HBCUs and partnerships of “It’s A Family Affair: NAACP membership” initiative. 
8. Register and post-solution-oriented ideas about The NBSM goals and objectives in its think tank.

To remain current with relevant local, state, and national news and Civic Engagement activities, including The NBSM initiative: sign up for GDN’s free eNews publications at www.greaterdiversity.com

  “read” our Greater Diversity News page. Also, please ask your organizations, friends, and associates to do the above to generate and maintain greater mass participation with The NBSM initiative, that being register and post at www.nbsm.greaterdiversity.com including joining “It’s A Family Affair: NAACP Membership” initiative.