DON'T PLAY SECRETARIES CHEAP!
"Secretary" is one contemptible term and position in too many of our black organizations.
Some dilettantes deplore its drudgery. Other persons despise its perceived docility. Yet, its association with gender-identity--being deemed best fitted for the female--is its big turn-off, for men and for women. Worst of all, perhaps,is that "secretary"is deemed to be substantively subordinate to more exalted positions like President, Vice President, even Treasurer.
In truth, however, Secretary is one of the most important posts that any organization could have!
Many states require a Secretary's sworn attestation or seal on all official documents, when no other exalted inscription is required.
The term "secretary" has fallen into contempt unfairly and improperly in this era. Another term for secretary is "scribe," a term from ancient civilizations that denoted those that were most learned and literate,most capable of good record-keeping.
Another synonym for secretary is amanuensis, a most mysterious-sounding name. These are they that are employed to take dictation or to copy documents. http://i.word.com/idictionary/amanuensis
This subject came to mind when I reflected that I had proudly and diligently served as Secretary in several organizations that I had founded over the years.
Then, today, in affirmation, I read that John Wesley Cromwell, Esq., who graduated Howard Law School in 1874, and whose outstanding history book I am now reading--THE NEGRO IN AMERICAN HISTORY; MEN AND WOMEN EMINENT IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE AMERICAN OF AFRICAN DESCENT (1913)--, which book inspired the great Carter G. Woodson to found the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History; when I read that Cromwell had been the Secretary for the American Negro Academy, founded by the esteemed Episcopal priest Alexander Crummell in 1897, I just stopped threw up both of my hands and shouted, "Hallelujah!" http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/cromwell/bio.html
I could also add that Richmond, Virginia's Maggie Lena Walker, a colored woman, who was the first female banker in America, at the turn of the 20th century, had famously, formerly been the Secretary of the Independent Order of the Sons and Daughters of St. Luke, which fact explains its long term efficacy and vitality.
I need not mention that the great, Cathy (Liggins) Hughes, the Chief Executive Officer of RadioOne, and a multimedia empire, had also started out as Executive Secretary to the General Manager of Radio Station WHUR-Fm, 96.3.
Don't play Secretaries cheap. Put your best person in that position!
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
DON'Y PLAY SECRETARIES CHEAP!
DON'T PLAY SECRETARIES CHEAP!
"Secretary" is one contemptible term and position in too many of our black organizations.
Some dilettantes deplore its drudgery. Other persons despise its perceived docility. Yet, its association with gender-identity--being deemed best fitted for the female--is its big turn-off, for men and for women. Worst of all, perhaps,is that "secretary"is deemed to be substantively subordinate to more exalted positions like President, Vice President, even Treasurer.
In truth, however, Secretary is one of the most important posts that any organization could have!
Many states require a Secretary's sworn attestation or seal on all official documents, when no other exalted inscription is required.
The term "secretary" has fallen into contempt unfairly and improperly in this era. Another term for secretary is "scribe," a term from ancient civilizations that denoted those that were most learned and literate,most capable of good record-keeping.
Another synonym for secretary is amanuensis, a most mysterious-sounding name. These are they that are employed to take dictation or to copy documents. http://i.word.com/idictionary/amanuensis
This subject came to mind when I reflected that I had proudly and diligently served as Secretary in several organizations that I had founded over the years.
Then, today, in affirmation, I read that John Wesley Cromwell, Esq., who graduated Howard Law School in 1874, and whose outstanding history book I am now reading--THE NEGRO IN AMERICAN HISTORY; MEN AND WOMEN EMINENT IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE AMERICAN OF AFRICAN DESCENT (1913)--, which book inspired the great Carter G. Woodson to found the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History; when I read that Cromwell had been the Secretary for the American Negro Academy, founded by the esteemed Episcopal priest Alexander Crummell in 1897, I just stopped threw up both of my hands and shouted, "Hallelujah!" http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/cromwell/bio.html
I could also add that Richmond, Virginia's Maggie Lena Walker, a colored woman, who was the first female banker in America, at the turn of the 20th century, had famously, formerly been the Secretary of the Independent Order of the Sons and Daughters of St. Luke, which fact explains its long term efficacy and vitality.
I need not mention that the great, Cathy (Liggins) Hughes, the Chief Executive Officer of RadioOne, and a multimedia empire, had also started out as Executive Secretary to the General Manager of Radio Station WHUR-Fm, 96.3.
Don't play Secretaries cheap. Put your best person in that position!