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12 rules to success

Old fashioned. Not relevant. Stupid. These are some of the adjectives that might be applied to the 12 rules of conduct espoused by Nannie Helen Burroughs (1879-1961) way back when, but think again. Today as thousands of our young men and women leave college and begin their search for jobs, it might not be a bad idea to take a second look at these rules which have carpeted the road to success for many young adults.
Miss Burroughs, who came to Washington, D.C. at an early age and graduated with high honors from the old M Street High School, wanted to become a domestic science teacher. She was turned down by the D.C. public school system despite her qualifications, and later established the National Training School for Women and Girls in 1909; a private school still in existence today under the name Nannie Helen Burroughs School, 601-50th St., N.E. Washington, D.C. Her rules might bring a smirk to your face but on second thought, just imagine what would happen if just one fourth of our Black youth, and their parents, would take some of them seriously. For better or for worse here are the 12 rules which can be found with detailed explanations in a pamphlet published by the school.

Subject: 12 Things Nannie Helen Burroughs Said the Negro Must Do....
By Nannie Helen Burroughs (Circa Early 1900's)

1. The Negro must learn to put first things first. The first things are: education, development of character traits, a trade and home ownership.
2. The Negro must stop expecting God and White folk to do for him what he can do for himself.
3. The Negro must keep himself, his children and his home clean and make the surroundings in which he lives comfortable and attractive.
4. The Negro must learn to dress more appropriately for work and for leisure.
5. The Negro must make his religion an everyday practice and not just a Sunday-go-to-meeting emotional affair.
6. The Negro must highly resolve to wipe out mass ignorance.
7. The Negro must stop charging his failures up to his "color" and to White people's attitude.
8. The Negro must overcome his bad job habits.
9. The Negro must improve his conduct in public places.
10. The Negro must learn how to operate business for people -- not for Negro people, only.
11. The average so-called educated Negro will have to come down out of the air. He is too inflated over nothing. He needs an experience similar to the one that Ezekiel had --(Ezekiel 3:14-19). And he must do what Ezekiel did
12. The Negro must stop forgetting his friends.

Reading these rules can explain why some African Americans have made it and others have fallen by the wayside. One cannot have it both ways. Worthy of note are the students seen on Morgan State University’s campus these past couple of weeks in their business suits who appeared to be heading for job interviews. They have been taught that in today’s world the rule is to “dress for success” and look and act like professionals.
Also worthy of note are the young students going out for interviews for summer internships. Employees are reporting that more are coming looking like they have been prepared for their interviews with a keen desire to get the job. But, they say, there are far too many gum chewing, loud mouthed teens out here that seemed to feel someone owes them something.

Black Child's Pledge

I pledge allegiance to my Black People.
I pledge to develop my mind and body to the greatest extent possible.
I will learn all that I can in order to give my best to my People in their struggle for liberation.
I will keep myself physically fit, building a strong body free from drugs and other substances which weaken me and make me less capable of protecting myself, my family and my Black brothers and sisters.
I will unselfishly share my knowledge and understanding with them in order to bring about change more quickly.
I will discipline myself to direct my energies thoughtfully and constructively rather than wasting them in idle hatred.
I will train myself never to hurt or allow others to harm my Black brothers and sisters for I recognize that we need every Black Man, Woman, and Child to be physically, mentally and psychologically strong.
These principles I pledge to practice daily and to teach them to others in order to unite my People.

THIS MONTH IN BLACK HISTORY

MAY
1	Howard University in Washington, D.C., opened in 1867.	16	Sammy Davis, Jr., died in 1990.
2	Elijah McCoy, inventor and holder of over fifty patents was born in 1844.	17	Brown vs. Board of Education made "Separate But Equal" in public schools unconstitutional in 1954.
3	Sugar Ray Robinson, middleweight boxing champion was born in 1920.	18	Reggie Jackson, baseball player, was born in 1946.
4	Freedom Rides began in 1961. Plessy vs. Ferguson upheld "Separate But Equal" doctrine in 1896.	19	Malcolm X was born in 1925.
5	Gwendolyn Brooks *became the first Black person awarded a Pulitzer Prize, for Annie Allen, in 1950.*	20	Robert N. C. Nix was elected to United States Congress in 1958
6	Civil Rights Act signed by President Eisenhower in 1960.	21	Lowell W. Perry was confirmed as chairman of the Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1975.
7	J.R. Winters patented the fire escape, 1878.	22	Claude McKay, poet, died in 1948.
8	Rev. Henry McNeal Turner died in 1915.	23	Bob Marley 30, reggae legend, dies in 1981.
9	Slaves in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina were freed, 1862.	24	Hal McRae was named manager of the Kansas City Royals in 1991. Patti LaBelle was born in 1944.
10	P.B.S. Pinchback, first Black state governor, born, 1837.	25	Madame C. J. Walker, entrepreneur, died in 1919. Miles Davis, jazz musician, born in 1926.
11	Dancer Martha Graham was born in 1854.	26	Althea Gibson won the French Open, becoming the first Black tennis player to win a major tennis title, 1956.
12	Robert Smalls seized Confederate warship in 1862.	27	Louis Gossett, Jr., actor, born in 1936.
13	Joe Louis was born in 1914.	28	Eliza Ann Gardner, underground railroad conductor, born, 1831.
14	In 1804 a slave known only as York accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition.	29	Thomas Bradley was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1973.
15	Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, founded at Indiana University, was incorporated in 1911.	30	Countee Cullen, poet, was born in 1903.
		30	NAACP held first conference (as the National Negro Committee), in 1909.

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