![]() | This article contains promotional content .(February 2020) |
![]() | |
Formation | 1963 |
---|---|
Type | Service club |
Headquarters | 141 Auburn Avenue NE Atlanta, Georgia |
Membership | 10,000+ |
Chairman of the Board | Thomas Dortch (1950-2023) |
Website | Official website ![]() |
100 Black Men of America is a men's civic organization and service club that works in the field of education and empowerment of African-American children and teens. As of 2009, the organization has 110 chapters and more than 10,000 members in different cities in the United States and throughout the world. The members are predominantly African-American professionals, businessmen, civic leaders and administrators, educators, and other occupations. [1]
The stated mission of 100 Black Men of America, Inc. is to improve the quality of life within within African American communities by enhancing educational and economic opportunities.
The initial idea for 100 Black Men of America was conceived in New York in 1963 by a group of African American professionals who wanted to improve the quality of life and economic opportunities for the black community by fostering better education and youth development. Elements of the organization’s creed that dated from this era (e.g. no member shall be without transportation, no member shall be without legal representation, etc.) provide some insight into the challenges faced by many African American organizations during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s. Some of the early members were David Dinkins and Jackie Robinson. [2]
By 1976, a separate chapter was formed in New Jersey, and before 1987, other chapters formed in most major U.S. cities. Between 1983 and 1986, these chapters held several national conferences with the aim of forming a more official national organization. On May 27, 1987, 100 Black Men of America, Inc. held its first national conference in Atlanta, Georgia, with businessman Nathaniel Goldstein as its first president and chairman of the board. [3]
In 1994, the organization established the Collegiate 100 as an auxiliary to its chapters throughout the nation. The Collegiate 100 is composed of only young men actively enrolled in college. The Collegiate 100 members provide support for the chapters as well as receive mentoring from chapter members.
In 2010, the organization established an auxiliary for young professional men known as the Emerging 100. The Emerging 100 focuses on the recruitment and engagement of men between the ages of 22 and 35. Atlanta was the first city to establish an Emerging 100 auxiliary. [4]
100 Black Men consists of over 98 local chapters, each named after their respective region, e.g., 100 Black Men of New York, 100 Black Men of Atlanta, etc.. 100 Black Men of America is the overarching organization that provides a national governing structure, charters new chapters, and provides for inter-chapter coordination. 100 Black Men is a non-profit 501 c3 organization and has no political or religious affiliations or ties.
Membership procedures vary by chapter; generally, speaking members can apply to a local chapter at specific times of the year. Candidates are screened and then interviewed by a panel to ensure that individuals have the character and standing to serve as community role models and youth mentors. Members generally refer to the organization simply as “The 100.”
100 Black Men has five principal program areas: Mentoring, Education, Health and Wellness, Economic Development, and Leadership Development. As of 2017, 100 Black Men has more than 100,000 students enrolled in its mentoring and outreach programs. The organization also has some 36 chapters of the Collegiate 100 at colleges and universities throughout the nation. The Collegiate 100 was created at Prairie View A&M University in August 1994 and adopted by the national organization in December 1994 as part of its Success Programs. The 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee is credited with launching the national program in 1996 with Tennessee State University.
In 2015, the 100 Black Men of America became an active partner of the Celebration Bowl held in Atlanta, GA. [5]
In 2009, several leaders of the organization were interviewed by CNN’s T.J. Holmes to discuss their views on President Barack Obama’s first 100 days as US president. [6] 100 Black Men’s Health and Wellness programs were the subject of a news story feature by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta About how former Surgeon General David Satcher is leading a charge to promote healthy eating among African American youth. [7] CNN also featured a video article on 100 Black Men of Atlanta’s youth “Robotics Team” that is competing on a national and international level. [8]
According to an August 27, 2007, article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , 100 Black Men of Western Pennsylvania teamed up with Carnegie Mellon University to provide a 14-week summer program for teenagers to learn about computer science. During the program, which was free to participants, the teenagers learned the basics of computer science, information technology, and the World Wide Web. This is the seventh summer that this program has taken place. [1]
In 2001, the 100 Black Men of Long Island Development Group purchased a former bus terminal in Hempstead. The organization proposed converting the building into affordable housing, and housing for people with disabilities. Questions about the organization's ability to fund such a project were raised [9] and continued for several years [10] before being resolved in 2016 by a sale of the building. [11]
According to a May 24, 2004, article in the San Francisco Chronicle , the Bay Area (San Francisco) chapter signed a pledge not to accept funding from tobacco companies. [12]
Morehouse College is a private, historically Black, men's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. Anchored by its main campus of 61 acres (25 ha) near Downtown Atlanta, the college has a variety of residential dorms and academic buildings east of Ashview Heights. Along with Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, and the Morehouse School of Medicine, the college is a member of the Atlanta University Center consortium.
Spelman College is a private, historically Black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a founding member of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman awarded its first college degrees in 1901 and is the oldest private historically Black liberal arts institution for women.
Medgar Evers College is a public college in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), offering baccalaureate and associate degrees. It was established in 1970 in central Brooklyn. It is named after Medgar Wiley Evers, an African American civil rights leader assassinated on June 12, 1963.
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. (ΩΨΦ) is a historically African-American collegiate fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. The fraternity has chartered over 750 undergraduate and graduate chapters. Over 250,000 men have been initiated into Omega Psi Phi.
David Satcher is an American physician, and public health administrator. He was a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the 10th Assistant Secretary for Health, and the 16th Surgeon General of the United States.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (ΔΣΘ) is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two women at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Membership is open to any woman, regardless of religion, race, or nationality. Women may apply to join through undergraduate chapters at a college or university or through an alumnae chapter after earning a college degree.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (ΑΚΑ) is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen students led by Ethel Hedgemon Lyle. Forming a sorority broke barriers for African American women in areas where they had little power or authority due to a lack of opportunities for Black Americans in the early 20th century. Alpha Kappa Alpha was incorporated on January 29, 1913.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (ΑΦΑ) is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved into a fraternity with a founding date of December 4, 1906. It employs an icon from Ancient Egypt, the Great Sphinx of Giza, as its symbol. Its aims or pillars are "Manly Deeds, Scholarship, and Love For All Mankind," and its motto is "First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All." Its archives are preserved at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.
The Student African American Brotherhood (SAAB) is an American professional organization for college and high school students. It founded on the campus of Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Georgia, on October 17, 1990. SAAB mentors young African American men by educating them on their responsibilities as United States citizens. The general objective of the program is to make each young man aware of his potential, purpose, and life goals; however, much emphasis is focused on leadership development and training. It has over 168 chapters in the United States and abroad.
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. (ΦΒΣ) is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as charter members. The fraternity's founders, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, wanted to organize a Greek letter fraternity that would exemplify the ideals of Brotherhood, Scholarship and Service while taking an inclusive perspective to serve the community as opposed to having an exclusive purpose. The fraternity exceeded the prevailing models of Black Greek-Letter fraternal organizations by being the first to establish alumni chapters, youth mentoring clubs, a federal credit union, chapters in Africa, and a collegiate chapter outside of the United States. It is the only fraternity to hold a constitutional bond with a historically African-American sorority, Zeta Phi Beta (ΖΦΒ), which was founded on January 16, 1920, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., through the efforts of members of Phi Beta Sigma.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (ΖΦΒ) is an International collegiate sorority that is historically African American. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achievement, and foster a greater sense of unity among its members. They believed that sorority elitism and socializing overshadowed the real mission of progressive organizations. Since its founding Zeta Phi Beta has historically focused on addressing social causes.
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. (ΣΓΡ) is a historically African American sorority, international collegiate, and non-profit community service organization that was founded on November 12, 1922. The organization was formed as a sorority in 1922, by seven African American women in Indianapolis, Indiana. At its inception, the sorority was created to support Black women pursuing degrees in education. It was incorporated within Indiana in November 1922 as a sorority for school teachers and held their first national conference in 1925. The sorority became a national collegiate sorority on December 30, 1929, when a charter was granted to the Alpha chapter then established at Butler University that year. The sorority was incorporated as a national collegiate sorority in 1930. Sigma Gamma Rho is the only sorority of the four historically African American National Pan-Hellenic Council sororities founded at a predominantly White institution instead of at Howard University. The sorority's slogan is "Greater Service, Greater Progress".
SkillsUSA is a United States career and technical student organization serving more than 395,000 high school, college and middle school students and professional members enrolled in training programs in trade, technical and skilled service occupations, including health occupations.
Youth mentoring is the process of matching mentors with young people who need or want a caring, responsible adult in their lives. Adult mentors are usually unrelated to the child or teen and work as volunteers through a community-, school-, or church-based social service program. The goal of youth mentoring programs is to improve the well-being of the child by providing a role model that can support the child academically, socially and/or personally. This goal can be accomplished through school work, communication, and/or activities. Goals and settings within a mentoring program vary by country because of cultural values.
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. (ΙΦΘ) is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded on September 19, 1963, at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth largest Black Greek Lettered Fraternity. Members of the close-knit afrocentric fraternity proudly embrace the organization’s youth, uniqueness, individualism and modern idealism. As a contemporary organization, many members have had the great honor of meeting, fellowshipping with, and/or engaging in personal or virtual discussions with one or more of their founders. Today there are over 301 undergraduate and alumni chapters, as well as colonies located in 40 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, The Bahamas, Colombia, South Korea, and Japan.
The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) is a national non-profit academic honor society for college students in the United States. NSCS has active chapters at nearly 300 colleges and universities in the United States, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary is an international Catholic fraternal service order. Founded in 1909 by the Josephites and parishioners from Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Mobile, Alabama, it is the largest and oldest Black Catholic lay-led organization still in existence.
The African-American upper class, sometimes referred to as the black upper class, the black upper middle class or black elite, is a social class that consists of African-American individuals who have high disposable incomes and high net worth. The group includes highly paid white-collar professionals such as academics, engineers, lawyers, accountants, doctors, politicians, business executives, venture capitalists, CEOs, celebrities, entertainers, entrepreneurs and heirs.
Kappa Alpha Lambda (ΚΑΛ) is an American sorority established for professional lesbians. Founded October 19, 2003, in Atlanta, Georgia, on the campus of Clark Atlanta University. The sorority's mission is to "develop and maintain positive visibility of lesbian women in our communities."
Kisha Braithwaite Holden is a scientist known for her research on mental health of African-Americans and members of other minority groups. She is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and community health & preventive medicine and interim director of Satcher Health Leadership Institute (SHLI) at Morehouse School of Medicine.