Many blacks make it difficult for fellow blacks to succeed after they rise – Prof. Enoch Antwi
When individuals break through systemic barriers to achieve success, they bear a responsibility to extend that opportunity to others following in their footsteps. Yet, as Professor Enoch Opoku Antwi, Dean of Academic City University College, observed in a recent interview, this principle is often honored more in breach than in observance within Black communities.
Speaking on The Career Trail programme on Joy Learning TV and Joy News, Prof. Antwi articulated a painful paradox: those who have struggled hardest to overcome obstacles frequently become the very impediments to others’ advancement once they reach positions of influence. This phenomenon, he suggests, reveals a troubling inversion of communal solidarity—where hard-won success becomes a means of pulling up the ladder rather than extending it downward.
Drawing from his personal journey provides compelling context for this observation. After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Cape Coast, Antwi pursued graduate work at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he distinguished himself as the best graduate student in the entire university with a 3.9 GPA. His intellectual contributions at a Ghana association meeting in the United States unexpectedly led to a leadership opportunity, though it came with constitutional financial requirements he had to fulfill.
The victory, however, precipitated an unexpected social shift. ‘When I was voted for, some of the friends I knew withdrew from me. Most of them were Blacks,’ he recalled with palpable disappointment. This experience crystallized what he describes as a deeper societal challenge that transcends individual anecdotes: ‘Many Blacks struggle so hard to break the ceiling, and when they finally succeed, they make it difficult for others to rise.’
Prof. Antwi’s critique extends beyond individual behavior to question prevailing notions of achievement and community responsibility. True success, he argues, should be measured not by personal accolades or exclusive access to opportunity, but by the extent to which it creates pathways for others. ‘It doesn’t matter how many professors or doctors we have,’ he explained. ‘The one who does a good job is who people will choose. There’s enough room in the world for everyone to succeed, so don’t make it hard for people.’ This perspective challenges zero-sum mentalities that treat communal advancement as a finite resource where one person’s gain necessitates another’s loss.
The professor’s outlook is deeply rooted in formative mentorship experiences that shaped his understanding of leadership. He credits Professor Ron White at Mount St. Joseph University with imparting guidance that has remained foundational to his approach: ‘You will struggle before you succeed, but when you get there, make it easier for others to rise.’ This principle has stayed with me,’ Antwi revealed, describing how it continues to influence his leadership philosophy at Academic City University College.
This perspective carries particular relevance for Ghana’s ongoing development trajectory. As the nation seeks to expand its professional class, strengthen educational outcomes, and compete in global knowledge economies, the waste of talent through internal community barriers represents not just a moral failing but a strategic impediment. When successful individuals prioritize exclusivity over mentorship, they diminish the collective human capital available to address national challenges.
Prof. Antwi’s vision of leadership—as opportunity creation rather than restriction—offers an alternative framework. It suggests that communities thrive most when success metrics include not just individual achievement but the multiplication of opportunity through deliberate support systems. Such an approach aligns with emerging understandings of effective leadership in complex societies, where sustainable progress depends on broadening participation rather than narrowing access.
The implications extend beyond immediate interpersonal dynamics to institutional practices and cultural norms. Educational institutions, professional organizations, and community leaders might examine whether their structures inadvertently reward hoarding opportunity rather than distributing it. Mentorship programs, sponsorship initiatives, and inclusive leadership training could serve as corrective mechanisms to realign incentive structures toward communal uplift.
Ultimately, Prof. Antwi’s observation touches on a universal tension within social movements and professional communities: how to transform the experience of overcoming adversity into a catalyst for collective advancement rather than a basis for exclusive privilege. His testimony suggests that the measure of true success lies not in how high one climbs, but in how many others one helps rise along the way.
This phenomenon that Prof. Antwi describes finds echoes in sociological research on what some scholars term ‘last-place aversion’—the tendency of those who have barely escaped disadvantage to resist efforts that might improve the position of those still below them. Studies across various contexts have shown that upward mobility can sometimes generate protective behaviors around newly acquired status, particularly when the mobility journey was perceived as exceptionally difficult or when the previous disadvantage carried significant stigma.
What makes this pattern particularly consequential in the context of Black communities globally is the historical backdrop of systemic barriers that have made individual achievement extraordinarily difficult to attain. When success requires navigating entrenched obstacles—whether educational discrimination, professional exclusion, or social prejudice—the achievement can feel intensely personal and hard-won, potentially fostering a protective mindset around the gained position. Yet as Prof. Antwi’s experience illustrates, this protective instinct can mutate into a barrier against others attempting similar journeys.
The alternative path he advocates—where success becomes measured by the opportunities created rather than the heights attained individually—requires both individual reflection and systemic support. It demands that communities celebrate not just the first to break through barriers but those who actively widen the openings for others. It calls for recognizing that the true test of leadership in overcoming historical disadvantage lies not in singular triumph but in multiplying pathways to triumph.
In Ghana’s specific context, where investments in education and professional development are seen as critical to economic transformation, such an ethos could prove particularly valuable. As the nation works to build competitive industries, strengthen democratic institutions, and address persistent inequalities, the full participation of its talented populace—optimally supported through communal advancement models—becomes not just desirable but essential. Prof. Antwi’s challenge, therefore, extends beyond interpersonal relations to touch on the very foundations of national progress: will communities choose to see success as a limited commodity to be hoarded, or as an expanding possibility to be shared?
