Image via Emmanuel Lee

Written By: Emmanuel Lee, Contributing Writer

Although Morehouse College is known as a school for premier Black male excellence, the College intentionally works to highlight the excellent black women involved in our community. On Feb 1, Becky Pringle, President of the National Education Association(NEA), was praised and featured at Morehouse’s sacred Crown Forum sessions looking to invoke action. 

The NEA is the largest professional labor union in the nation, currently three million members. Since the gathering of this union in Philadelphia during the mid-19th century, the NEA has championed the pursuit of quality public education. The organization remains the voice of our public school system today, calling attention to and fighting against issues such as minimal funding for public schools, the current teacher shortage, and the lack of black educators.

Hailing from the City of “Brotherly Love” herself, Pringle currently leads the charge in this battle for education. Through 30 years of classroom experience, she has developed strategies and devoted countless hours to battle those who oppose the NEA’s work for improved public education.

As the final installment of Morehouse’s series of Crown Forums dedicated to the life of, Morehouse Alum, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Pringle utilized her platform to emphasize her continued battle for equity in education with passion and protest at the highest levels. 

She began her lecture with the powerful words of Dr. King, immediately establishing her thematic point of power. Power within the hands of those who do not deserve it, and power within the hands of the youth.

“Power, properly understood, is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, economic, and political change.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

King’s words, voiced through Pringle, brought about complete silence in Sale Hall Chapel, intimation that she had caught the eyes and ears of the students populating the pews.

With the attention of the AUC, Pringle delivered her message in a way similar to how sparks fly. Sparks of passion, trust, belief, and education flew beneath the seats of students in attendance lighting fires within. Amid her speech, hand claps and yelps of approval were genuine and frequent.

“I need you to understand because you have a role to play,” Pringle said.

With every word, Pringle not only educated students in attendance but reminded them of their significance. Her selective use of repetition and delivery assisted in underlining the gravity of the situation at hand, while also placing a certain responsibility in the hands of the youth. A responsibility to join the fight.

When asked what she would like to leave the students of the AUC with, Pringle spoke to the power of solidarity and collective action when it comes to enacting change. She then left the AUC with a quote from the late Gwendolyn Brooks, an influential 20th-century poet.

“We are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.”

Pringle tasked all Morehouse Men to hit the ballots this year and bring everyone they know with them.

Copy Edited By: Elijah Megginson, Features Editor