Real PR Power

Real PR Power

By: Gwen McKinney

The art of winning friends and influencing people. 

That’s how public relations pioneer Ofield Dukes sums up the profession.

This is a man who has easily cleared more paths to progress in his long and storied career than an army of public relations professionals could attempt in their collective lifetime. Better yet, match one Ofield Dukes for 50 PR Powerbrokers and he still comes out on top! 

Fifty is the magic number that PR Week designated for its controversial July edition saluting the mostly white men and women who they decreed worthy of their listing of most powerful PR leaders. Not a single African American PR professional made the list.

A chorus of outrage ensued. And after a volley of emails that ended with me and PR Week Editor Steve Barrett agreeing to disagree, I let it rest – but not die. As one of my Linked-In pals suggested, why let power be defined by a magazine that makes their picks from big PR agencies and corporations based on the size of their ad budget to the book? That wasn’t just a question, but a call to action.

So to my Linked-In buddies who agreed to join me, this is the grand kickoff of our “Real PR Power” campaign.

To others, I say, “Y’all come too!”  Nominate, educate and help us salute deserving people whose work and impact deserve attention.

That takes me back to Ofield Dukes. The founder of the National Black Public Relations Society, he insisted African Americans stake out a voice and role in the profession. He has mentored more people than anyone can count and is a reliable stalwart for diversity in the industry and beyond. Having served as a communications counselor to every Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson, Ofield recently relocated from DC after 46 years to his native Detroit. There, he can be close to family as he wages a battle against Multiple Myeloma, a bone cancer that he describes as unpredictable “but not a death sentence.”  While his health is ailing, his spirit of sharing and believing remains immense. 

We talked recently when I reached out to ask him to join me on a panel to surface the Real PR Power nominees.  He graciously said, “of course.” While panel members can’t nominate themselves or be nominated, I reserve the right to use this kickoff of Real PR Power campaign to issue a round of applause to the inimitable Ofield Dukes, who embodies all that we want to convey.

A  speech he gave last year to communications students in Buffalo reminds me of his charm and magic. Cheers to Ofiled and look out for Real PR Power role models soon!

Diversity: Seeing in Color

Diversity: Seeing in Color

By T. Braunstein

Do a Google News search for “diversity” and the results are as varied as the word itself implies. But one thing most of the resulting articles have in common is the acknowledgement that for whatever reason, in whichever industry or field being discussed, diversity is lacking.  

Why is that? If so many people, communities and leaders are talking about diversity – more specifically about improving diverse racial representation – why are the results not there?

One answer may be that too many people are adopting a form of enlightened ignorance: The idea that ignoring race equals approaching everyone with equality and therefore eliminating racial bias and discrimination.

It’s not hard to find examples of this – take a look at Forbes contributor Bill Frezza’s response to the recent NIH grant study, for instance. Frezza argues that, among other things, because the “peer-review process is entirely colorblind, with reviewers having no indication of an applicant’s race,” there is no reason to cry foul. Even as he admits that Blacks are underrepresented in the medical and science fields, and that the community “would be well served if many more students graduated high school, went to college, pursued advanced degrees and considered degrees in science,” he asserts that it would be utterly preposterous for the NIH to “fall for” applying such advances as Affirmative Action and other racial quotas to its review processes.

Frezza’s viewpoint, as common as it is, misses the mark in a major and extremely detrimental way. Given the sensitive history of minority populations suffering abuse at the hands of the majority, popular culture’s attempt at making amends by way of strengthening pride in racial diversity cannot be attained by simply adopting colorblindness. Putting a car in neutral after driving it in reverse doesn’t mean it’s all of a sudden moving forward. Diversity must be consciously driven.

True diversity can only be attained through a sincere effort to see and acknowledge race and then act against the abounding disparities that accompany it.

Frezza is right about one thing: it is a downright shame that minorities remain underrepresented in such advancing industries, and the Black community would most definitely benefit if more of its members had access to higher educational and employment opportunities. But that very notion serves to explain why ignoring race won’t do much to mend discrepancies.

How can we expect the members of our minority communities to truly reach equal levels of potential – including receiving government grants and funding – by ignoring the fact that they often begin with an opportunity deficit in many steps along the way?