After a merely three year absence on Chicago State University's campus, the premier male leadership organization, Teaching and Educating Men of Black Origin, better known as T.E.M.B.O., is back and is preparing to "do the work". Created in 2014 by the honorable Baba Kwesi Ronald Harris, T.E.M.B.O. was designed to take Black men and turn them into leaders. The leadership organization has graduated brothers who are now accountants, lawyers, teachers and more. Although we lost Baba Kwesi in 2016, he left such an impact on Chicago State University that not only was the African American Male Resource Center named in his honor, but so was the rotunda. The legacy continues as the AAMRC is reopened and T.E.M.B.O. Leadership Academy returns under the leadership of Baba Adrian Mercado.
In Africa, tembo is the Swahili word for elephant. Swahili or Kiswahili (known in Swahili itself as Kiswahili) is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique. By studying the social behaviors of African elephants researchers discovered that, among this species, adult males (or bulls) play a pivotal role in the socialization of younger males in the group. Within elephant populations where no bulls were present the
younger males, upon reaching puberty, would often display destructive, antisocial, behaviors that jeopardized the wellbeing of their herds as well as that of other animals in the region.
We selected the elephant as its symbol in order to reinforce the significant role that adult men play in modeling and shaping the attitudes and behaviors of younger males. TEMBO Squad is an organization of State University's African American male students, staff, and faculty who are dedicated to bringing about positive social change through the teaching and learning of traditional African values, customs, traditions and practices. This approach is based on the premise that socialization is a key component of proper education. The primary mission of the TEMBO is to overcome negative stereotypes and restore the positive image, perceptions, and actions of African American males locally, nationally, and globally.
TEMBO is the Black male leadership organization on campus. Open to all male students at Chicago State University who self identify as African-American, interested applicants must complete a membership application. Active student membership is described as being in good academic standing with the university and having participated in at least three (3) TEMBO events per semester.