Ramona Edelin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ramona Edelin
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Edelin testifying at the United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform in 2011
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Ramona Hoage Edelin
September 4, 1945 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Fisk University |
Ramona Hoage Edelin, born on September 4, 1945, is an American scholar, activist, and advisor. She is famous for helping to make the term "African American" widely used. Ebony magazine has called her one of the most important Black Americans. Today, she works as the executive director of the DC Association of Charter Schools.
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Early Life and Education
Ramona Hoage was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 4, 1945. Her parents were George and Annette Hoage. She was their only child. Her family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she went to elementary school.
Later, her family moved to Carbondale, Illinois. She briefly attended high school there. Then, her family moved again to Massachusetts. Ramona graduated from Stockbridge High School in 1963. In 1967, she married Kenneth Edelin. They had two children together before they divorced.
Ramona earned her first degree from Fisk University in 1969. While at Fisk, she joined Phi Beta Kappa, an honor society. She then earned her master's degree from the University of East Anglia in 1969. In 1981, she completed her PhD in philosophy at Boston University.
Career Highlights
After finishing college in 1969, Ramona Edelin taught at several universities. These included the University of Maryland, Emerson College, and Brandeis University. In 1972, she started the first African American Studies program at Northeastern University. Around this time, she also helped introduce the term "African American" to scholars.
She left Northeastern University in 1977. She then began working for the National Urban Coalition.
Popularizing "African American"
In 1988, Ramona Edelin met with Jessie Jackson and other Black leaders. During this meeting, she explained the meaning and importance of the term "African American." Soon after, Jessie Jackson started using the term often. This helped make it a common word in American language.
By 1989, she became the president and CEO of the National Urban Coalition. She created special programs there. These included the M. Carl Holman Leadership Development Institute and the Executive Leadership Program. She also developed important education programs for African American children.
Leadership Roles
In 1991, Edelin joined the board of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. In February 1998, she became the executive director of the Foundation. That same year, President Bill Clinton appointed her to the Presidential Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She also traveled to South Africa with President Clinton that year.
She left the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in 2002. For one year, starting in 2003, she was Vice President of Policy and Outreach for the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Today, she is the executive director of the DC Association of Charter Schools.
Personal Life
Ramona Edelin lives in Washington, D.C..
