NASSAU CELEBRATION FOUNDERS’ DAY 17TH BIENNIAL NATIONAL THE BAHAMAS JANUARY 7-11, 2026
NATIONAL FOUNDERS’ DAY THE BAHAMAS
Grand Polemarch Jimmy McMikle recognizes the dynamic afternoon panel following a distinguished leadership dialogue reflecting Kappa Alpha Psi’s strong ties to civic and higher-education leadership.
“YOU CAN’T STICK WITH THE STATUS QUO ANY LONGER. YOU JUST CAN’T STAY STATIC. YOU CAN’T USE THE SAME OLD TOOLS TO SOLVE ALL OF THE NEW PROBLEMS.” - The Honorable Andre Dickens, Mayor, City of Atlanta
the undergraduates in the ballroom. Now in his second term as Atlanta’s seventh consecutive Black mayor, Brother Dickens is blunt about the need to break old molds without disre- specting past giants. Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first Black mayor, reminded the audience that he was the one who transformed the economic landscape for Black businesses in the 1970s. Jack- son didn’t have social media, AI-driven policing dashboards, or the scrutiny of 24-hour news cycles. “You can’t stick with the status quo any longer. You just can’t stay static,” Dickens said. “You can’t use the same old tools to solve all of the new problems.” He set audacious goals for Atlanta: to be the safest large city in America, to keep annual homicides under 100, and to raise the high school graduation rate from 83 percent to 90.5 percent within four years. “We
called it the Year of the Youth,” he said. “We pushed the envelope very much.” His most memorable thought may have been about temperament. “You can be arrogant and right,” he said, drawing knowing laughter. “You can be humble and wrong. But you can’t be arrogant and wrong.” The Honorable Paul Young, the mayor of Memphis, TN, brought a
different vantage point: the challenge of running a predominantly Black city in a largely conservative state. The son of two preachers, Brother Young described a formative moment of lis- tening to his mother preach a sermon called “The Purpose Driven Life.” “God’s purpose for your life will never be about you,” she said from the pulpit. “It will always be about someone
44 THE JOURNAL ♦ WINTER 2025-2026
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