Emiere Scaife is a senior at Georgia State, but he’s not your average college senior. He’s an athlete that plays for the Georgia State football team and is the president of a campus organization that he founded, B.L.A.C.K. The Signal got to sit with Emiere and talk to him about his organization, talk some football, and find out how he keeps it all balanced.
Q: What does B.L.A.C.K. stand for and why did you create it?
Scaife: It stands for Brothers Leading And Cultivating Knowledge. The original purpose of it was to be a call to action for black men, especially the millennials, to step up and be the leaders our community needs.
Q: What about the women?
Scaife: It’s nothing against the black women because they are exceptional in everything they do in the community and careers, but me as a black man myself, I see the need in the community for us to step up.
Q: When did you found B.L.A.C.K.?
Scaife: We were officially chartered on campus last year in May, so this is actually our first semester as an official organization.
Q: What are your goals for B.L.A.C.K. this year?
Scaife: Our biggest thing was getting established and getting known on campus, and I think we did a good job on that. We hosted the block party at the beginning of the year, and it had a great turnout. Our Jay-Z 4:44 Panel went really well too. The overall goal is to become a nonprofit.
Q: How do you balance your presidency and playing football?
Scaife: Honestly, if there’s a will, there’s a way. My mom was a single parent and took care four to five kids by herself, and made a way. If she can do that, there’s no reason for me not to be able to balance two things and be successful at those two things.
Q: Your mom’s a huge inspiration in your life, isn’t she?
Scaife: She’s my biggest motivation
Q: Why?
Scaife: Honestly seeing her. Seeing her struggle. Seeing her work so hard to give me and my siblings everything she couldn’t get. It puts something in you. I want to give her everything back, and not just to her, but to mothers like her.
Q: Has football taught you anything to be a better president?
Scaife: Yes it’s taught me so much. The two things I took from football would be patience definitely, and people skills. With football, it comes with a lot of different personalities, different cultures, different backgrounds and different attitudes. Football teaches you kind of how to manage that.
Q: How could fellow students get involved in B.L.A.C.K.?
Scaife: Right now we are currently not taking any more memberships, but next semester after some people graduate, we will open up memberships again. Until then, hit us up on Instagram @GSU_BLACK. The email is in the bio. Or you contact me on Instagram @Escaife_xii. [That is the] best way to get in contact with us.
