With a plan to pursue a postsecondary degree, Frederick Kakumba left Uganda in 1964 to come to the United States.
“The opportunity came and I wanted to use it to help people in Africa,” said Kakumba, a retired professor at Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) located in New York.
However, the transition was not easy. In school, Kakumba experienced racism and found it difficult to adjust to American culture. He was also not accustomed to being one of the few — if not the only — Black people in the room. Seeing the poverty among African Americans within the United States also came as a shock.
“In Africa, we have racism,” said Kakumba. “Of course, we have tribalism. Our interactions with Whites are very limited. But the whole experience was really shocking when you first come. You are the only Black person in class. The professor doesn’t want to answer your questions if you should raise your hand.”
As an undergraduate student at Miami University in Oxford, Kakumba studied banking and finance. His interest in the finance field stemmed from his time working at a bank in Uganda.
In 1967, he completed an internship at Key Bank and went on to earn his master’s degree in economics at The State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany. He eventually became the first Black minority manager in the Capital Region.
Originally planning to become a bank officer, Kakumba’s interest shifted to a career in higher education after hearing about an opportunity at HVCC. He applied and became a professor of economics and African studies in 1970.
