GM DIVERSITY NEWSLETTER

African American history celebrated
Upholding the Legacy: Past, Present and Future

February is Black History Month; a time to commemorate the many accomplishments of African Americans who blazed trails of success, achievement and perseverance for others to follow.

General Motors and the GM African Ancestry Network (GMAAN) is also using the occasion to foster awareness of African American history and culture in the workplace by educating and sharing information with GM’s entire multicultural family.

The month-long observance culminated with GMAAN’s 4th Annual Black History Month Celebration on Feb. 22. The annual celebration was marked by the presentation of GMAAN’s Trailblazer Award, which was given to Dave Bing, chairman of the Bing Group and member of the National Basketball Association’s Hall of Fame.

Bing, a legendary basketball player who was named one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players in 1996, also gave the keynote address on the theme of this event – “Upholding the Legacy: Past, Present and Future.” After retiring from pro basketball, Bing became a successful entrepreneur, founding the Bing Group, a steel services and company and automotive parts supplier.

Bing is the fourth recipient of the GMAAN Trailblazer Award. Past recipients of the award are Roy Roberts, retired GM group vice president; Stan O’Neal, former CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co.; and Cathy Hughes, founder of Radio One, Inc., the country's largest radio broadcasting company aimed at black listeners.

Although February is an important and busy month for GMAAN, the employee group is active year around, said Jay Prestage, the organization’s communication lead.

Prestage, a GM chassis design engineer and 14-year veteran, said the group’s activities fit into three main buckets – community outreach, employee development and GM market share.

“One of the biggest things that we do is to participate in the UNCF Sole Steppin’ fundraiser,” said Prestage. “Last year, GM employees raised more than $200,000 to benefit the UNCF.”

He added that since 2001, GM has participated and raised more money than any other Michigan company for the UNCF Sole Steppin’ 5K Walk.

GMAAN members also participate in "A World In Motion", which introduces science and engineering concepts to students. On the business side, GMAAN sponsors an employee mentorship program, which, in 2007, involved 110 protégés and 20 mentors from across many functions and disciplines.

“We also encourage our members to use the GM Friends and Family program, which is designed to help persuade friends of GM employees to buy our products,” he said.

Affinity Groups are a formal link between diverse employee groups and GM's diversity management, human resources staff and senior management. Affinity Groups are formed around employee initiatives and are employee-driven. Click here for more information about GM Affinity Groups.

From left to right: Ed Welburn, vice president,
GM Global Design; Maria Lee Rohrer, Buick
marketing director ; Henry Louis Gates Jr.,
Harvard professor; Rod Gillum, vice president,
GM Corporate Responsibility and Diversity

DETROIT — Buick, in celebration of Black History Month, hosted a reception for the critically acclaimed PBS series African American Lives 2 on Feb. 11 at the Charles H. Wright Museum in Detroit. Buick also provided funding for the project that shined a national spotlight on the powerful process of discovering one's family history.

"These discoveries about our ancestors are fascinating stories that
everyone, regardless of race, can identify with and draw inspiration from," said Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. "They're stories that together offer a new understanding of not only the African-American experience, but also of race in America."

In addition to Gates, Rod Gillum, GM Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Diversity, and Ed Welburn, GM Vice President of Global Design, also spoke at the event.

Click the image below to view a video introduction by Gates shown during the Feb. 11 reception.