By William A. Foster, IV
“Patience is not simply the ability to wait – it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.” – Joyce Meyer
Are we there yet? Any adult remembers asking this as a child and any parent remembers hearing this from a child. The trip could be to the grocery store or a road trip. Sometimes we think children are being impatient when it could be they are just excited and ready to explore all that awaits them at their destination. For myself and the building of HBCU Money, we are that metaphorical child.
Expecting to be much further, bigger, and covering far more ground by now. My HBCU Alumni Owned media contemporary Steven Gaither of HBCU Gameday recently put it best in a tweet, “Just because HBCU Gameday doesn’t show up at your school consistently doesn’t mean we are biased or hating. We don’t have the resources (manpower and money) to provide the same level of coverage for everyone consistently.” That really hit home for me. Steven and his team have been doing amazing work and have built an amazing following in a very short period, but like most HBCUpreneurs there is little in the way of resources available. We are often competing with major media and asked to cover our subject matter with the same level of quality all while doing it with 1/1000th of the resources. And yet, we know the work must be done and we will continue to do it. HBCU Money, HBCU Gameday, HBCU Digest, and other HBCU Alumni Owned media is not a luxury to our ecosystem, it is a necessity, imperative, and vital. The HBCU narrative, all of it from the good, the bad, and between absolutely must be controlled by those who know, love , and want to see the very best for our institutions.
In HBCU Money’s eighth year there is significantly more building to be done. The hiring of HBCU journalism graduates, YouTube channel to launch, acquisition of radio and television station, internship programs, and more. One day we will be ranking HBCU b-schools, graduate programs, and more. The vision is grand as I am sure it is for our colleagues, but patience is key because whether it happens in the next year or the next ten, we are here to stay, here to grow, and here to be a force. Thank you for eight years of support.
Rest In Peace Kobe & Gianna Bryant. May this year be a tribute to their work ethic from all of us at HBCU Money.
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