Editor's Note: This post is part of the Celebrating Black History Month series, highlighting the contributions of African Americans whose work is helping advance the President's goal of winning the future.
My parents had the greatest influence on who I am today. My father was a Tuskegee Airman and earned a PhD in Physics, and taught college for many years. My mother, also a World War II veteran, was a school teacher and taught me to read and write. They both instilled in me the values of h
ard work, honesty, and being humble; as well as my faith. My mother completed college while I was in elementary school, and I remember studying history together. She would check out children’s books covering the topics she was learning about. Growing up when I did during the height of the Civil Rights movement and the 100th anniversary of the American Civil War were important influences on me.
I was born in Washington, DC and attended the public elementary schools in Northeast and Southeast Washington before my family moved to Norfolk, and then Virginia Beach. After high school I attended Williams College, and then graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There I earned a Masters and PhD in economics, served as the co-president of the Teaching Assistants’ Association, American Federation of Teachers Local #3220, and most importantly met my wife of 25 years.
For six years I headed the National Urban League’s Institute for Opportunity and Equality, which was the Washington office for the National Urban League. As the Director I had the opportunity to hire and work with and learn from some amazing young bright minds including Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, a noted and outstanding voice on important issues to the African American community; Cheryl Hill Lee, who now heads the U.S. Census Bureau’s office on state and local finance; and Dr. Valerie Wilson a noted young economist and current Research Director for the National Urban League. And it was a big honor to be mentored by Hugh Price, the President of the National Urban League during most of my time there. The opportunity he gave me to work with the League placed me working alongside the Congressional Black Caucus, Civil Rights icons like Dr. Dorothy Height and Rev. Joseph Lowery, and labor leaders like Norman Hill and Bill Lucy.
Fonte: White House