Ramona Edelin, who helped popularize the term ‘African American,’ dies at 78

Ramona Edelin, an academic-turned-activist who helped popularize the term “African American” in the late 1980s through her association with the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, and who later helped make charter schools a dominant force in D.C. education, died Feb. 19 at her home in Washington. She was 78.

That began to change more than a decade later, when the term “African American” was adopted by 75 national Black leaders in the lead-up to a 1989 gathering called the African-American Summit. The meeting was convened by Jackson, the civil rights leader and formerBy all accounts, he and other Black leaders in the group decided to adopt the term at the suggestion of Dr. Edelin, who had traded scholarship for advocacy and was leading the National Urban Coalition, a Washington-based nonprofit.

Dr. Edelin’s interest in economic and educational issues deepened during her years at the National Urban Coalition, which she joined in 1977 as an executive assistant to, the group’s longtime leader. She succeeded him as president and chief executive, leading the organization from 1988 to 1998 while overseeing programs that included a STEM initiative to promote math and science education, especially among children of color.

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