Tuskegee Alumni Should Take Boycott Lessons From David Hogg

David Hogg’s call for a Boycott of Laura Ingraham’s show is thinking outside the box at its best.
Photo Credit: Nikita Kachanovsky

David Hogg, 18 years-old and a survivor of the Parkland High School Massacre can teach a thing or two to alumni of Tuskegee University about the art of the boycott.

Last month, Laura Ingraham, host of the Fox News Show, The Ingraham Angle mocked Hogg because he has been turned down by four colleges for fall admission.

Ingraham’s mock angered Hogg, so he resorted to a tactic skillfully used by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a modern day twist. He called for a boycott of Ingraham’s sponsors.

Nothing novel about calling for a boycott, as King was very successful in exercising the power of the boycott to bring about change.

Hogg issued his threat of a boycott from his twitter account, a megaphone that was not available during King’s lifetime.

From that one tweet, 11 advertisers on The Ingraham Angle have dropped Ingraham. It only took one tweet and one week for Ingraham to issue a public apology to Hogg.

Hogg declined to accept Ingraham’s apology.

Last month, Tuskegee alumni called for the replacement of John Page as chair of the Tuskegee University Board of Trustees.

The alumni argued an alum should chair the university’s board.

Floyd Griffin, an alum and the former secretary of the board decided to have his name placed into nomination for the chair position.

Griffin was supported by the Tuskegee National Alumni Association, The Concerned Tuskegee Alumni for Change, the Tuskegee Golden Tigers National Athletic Association and former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes.

On the day of the vote, Griffin was not able to gather support from other members of the board, including sufficient support from other alumni on the board, so he withdrew his consideration before nominations were received by the nomination committee. Also, all officers were re-elected to serve for another term, but not Griffin, he was removed as the board secretary.

The alumni were disappointed in the outcome. A few suggested that John Page’s company, Golden State Foods should be targeted for a boycott. Golden State Foods is a major supplier of hamburger meat and buns to McDonald’s.

McDonald’s is an easy target to boycott. But the alumni, older, more mature and armed with college degrees that Hogg can’t seem to get in position to acquire, voiced fears of Page if they called for a boycott of Golden State Foods or McDonald’s.

One alum expressed fear of bodily harm. A fear this alum believes is well-founded because of Page’s braggadocio about his hood upbringing in Brooklyn.

Others fear Page’s legal acumen. He has argued a case before the United States Supreme Court. They fear Page will sue them and take their personal possessions if his company is embarrassed by a boycott.

The Tuskegee alumni have spent two weeks debating their fears of physical harm and of being sued by Page and Golden State Foods as a reason not to use the most powerful negotiating tool at their disposal.

Meanwhile, in one tweet, young Mr. David Hogg has received a public apology from Ingraham. He has gotten his boycott. Ingraham is not suing and her sponsors are dropping like flies.

All the while, Page still controls the Tuskegee board, non alumni board members remain on the board without making any financial contribution to the university. The Tuskegee alumni are left to fret and stutter over a well established method to bring about change.

Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist. He is a Contributor at The Hill, SCLC National Magazine, Southern Changes Magazine and Black College Nines. He can be contacted at hmharvey@haroldmichaelharvey.com

 

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Published by Michael

Harold Michael Harvey is a Past President of The Gate City Bar Association and is the recipient of the Association’s R. E. Thomas Civil Rights Award. He is the author of Paper Puzzle and Justice in the Round: Essays on the American Jury System, and a two-time winner of Allvoices’ Political Pundit Prize. His work has appeared in Facing South, The Atlanta Business Journal, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Magazine, Southern Changes Magazine, Black Colleges Nines, and Medium.

5 replies on “Tuskegee Alumni Should Take Boycott Lessons From David Hogg”

  1. My God, so they punished Floyd. Tuskegee has no damn shame. What’s crazy is that Tuskegee Alums don’t want to get out there. Sometimes in order to change, you have to stand alone?

    1. Yes, Griffin was punished for taking a stand.The alumni on the board let it happen. You are right. Sometimes you have to stand alone to get the necessary results.

  2. I was wondering if the Alums knew how to boycott silently. Starting with their families and spread to friends. You know the way they did things with social media.

  3. Who were the Alumni that removed him? Maybe the boycott should start there. Let the Alumni chapters of each board member that voted him out try to remove those PUPPETS. So as Tuskegee Alumni on the BOD, what have they contributed to TU to make a change for the better. We the scarest race on this earth, We pray and sit back so GOD can handle it..Then our excuse is I’m gonna let GOD handle it..Then we forget James Brown, I don’t want nobody to give me nothing, OPEN UP THE DOOR I’LL GET IT MYSELF.” YEA I went from GOD to the GODFATHER. Just think how many would have drowned in the Sea of Galilee. I stopped eating at McDonalds 3 years ago, the burgers are too dry anyway.

  4. Puppets is the correct analogy. Until we get tired of being PIMPED by Page this is what we get. Who trust these non-giving, non-supporting, non-able to raise or contribute. They have not been members or are not members of any alumni club CTAFC or TNAA until the past few years. These recent appointments graduated more than 20 years ago and barely have donated a total until
    most recently of barely $500. PUPPETS JP put on the board to kiss his behind? Anyone? Not me!

    Where the hell is McConnell’s raggedy butt? I was on a call and he said he would get info to us through Burt Rowe. Does he understand only 70 people voted for Rowe? Does he understand that .over 90% of alumni are not members of that half-cocked group? Does McConnell understand his constituents don’t respect or rely on Rowe for anything. Does McConnell understand he was voted in by a much larger constituency and has an obligation to them? Does he understand we have not received a single communication from his raggedy behind? Does he understand he is getting an “F” at doing his job! You work for US the alumni not Pimp Page or PissPoor Rowe!

    I have never seen a weaker group of men than these new school Tuskegee Alumni Men. Where is Pan-Hell?

    I’m taking my demand to Page’s front door in California. I will be contacting his employer and telling them how he acted at a meeting I attended. I’m getting the video and sending it and going to create a Facebook Page. When you want a visitor to leave your home and they refuse you must use force. JP can leave by choice now or by force later. Either way he and his non-revenue generating and non-fund raising butt has got to go.

    CTAFC needs to get in gear and let us know what we need to be doing. Where are you all? TNAA is useless, archaic and a waste of time and energy. We need marching orders now. At least with the placement of the new trustees we understand You don’t have to be a member of TNAA to be appointed by the Pimp Page to be a trustee.

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