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Today’s Black History WOW!
The City of Detroit (my hometown), the State of Michigan, and the entire United States recently lost a business titan and visionary.
Dr. William “Bill” Pickard was born on December 15, 1941, in LaGrange, Georgia, and his family soon migrated “up north” to Flint, Michigan. He first received an associate’s degree from Flint’s Mott College in 1962.
Later, after earning a Bachelor's degree in social science from Western Michigan University in 1964, Pickard received a Master's Degree in labor and industrial relations from the University of Michigan in 1965, and was awarded a Ph.D. in psychology from Ohio State University.
A strong advocate for education, Dr. Pickard later became a professor at Grand Valley State University, located near Grand Rapids, where he taught courses on business and entrepreneurship.
Dr. William Pickard founded and managed several businesses:
In 1971, Dr. Pickard purchased his first McDonald’s franchise, later expanding that number to eight stores in Detroit.
In 1982, Pickard was appointed as the first Chairman of the African Development Foundation by President Ronald Reagan.
In 1984, Pickard purchased Regal Plastics Company, a company that specialized in producing plastic moldings that were used in automobile parts.
In 1987, Bearwood Management Company, Inc. was founded and Pickard became its president.
In 1998, Dr. Pickard founded both Grupo Antolin Primera Automotive Systems and ARD Logistics.
In 1999, he helped found Vitec LLC. In addition, he became an investor with MGM Grand, Inc. for the construction of a casino in Detroit.
In 1999, Dr. Pickard founded the Global Automotive Alliance, a logistics and manufacturing company that became one of the largest African-American-owned businesses in the United States, generating over $5 billion in sales.
In 2003, he was part of a group that funded the media company, Real Times Media, LLC and purchased the Chicago Defender, the Michigan Chronicle, and other African American-owned newspapers.
In 2004, Dr. Pickard became the director of Asset Acceptance Capital Corporation.
Dr. Pickard was well-known for his philanthropy:
During his lifetime, Dr. Pickard donated millions of dollars to local and national organizations, mostly investing in the Black community. in Detroit and Michigan. His range of investments included: Western Michigan University, his alma mater, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Motown Historical Museum, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Wayne County Community College District, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
A proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Dr. Pickard was deeply invested in uplifting the Black community.
He donated over $3 million to his alma mater, Western Michigan University.
Additionally, he donated over $2 million to Morehouse College to support Black male students from Detroit, Flint, and his birthplace, La Grange, Georgia.
Dr. William Pickard received many awards and accolades during his life:
In 1980, Pickard was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by Western Michigan University.
In 1990, he was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Trade Policy by President George H.W. Bush.
In 1991, Dr. Pickard was appointed to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board of the Indianapolis Bank.
In 2001, he was named “Michiganian of the Year” by the Detroit News.
In 2016, he was appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to serve as a trustee on the Western Michigan Board of Trustees.
In 2017, Western Michigan University named a residence hall in his honor.
In 2019, Dr. Pickard was awarded the “The Michigan Lifetime Humanitarian Award" by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and he was awarded “Michiganian of the Year” for his exemplary business success, civic leadership, and philanthropy.
In February 2021, Dr. Pickard was appointed by the Commonwealth of the Bahamas as the first-ever honorary consul for the State of Michigan.
In 2017, Dr. Pickard published his book, Millionaire Moves: Seven Proven Principles of Entrepreneurship.
Dr. William “Bill” F. Pickard died June 12, 2024, at his West Palm Beach, Florida, home at age 83.
Today In Black History
In 1862, Congress authorized President Abraham Lincoln to accept Black men in the Union Army.
In 1890, Black inventor P.B. Downing patented an electric railroad switch.
In 1897, William Frank Powell, a New Jersey educator, was named minister to Haiti and Chargé d’Affaires for the Dominican Republic.
In 1972, Frank Wills, a Black security guard at the Washington, D.C. Watergate Complex, foiled a break-in of the offices of the Democratic National Committee by President Richard Nixon’s Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP).
In 1958, Nigerian writer and poet Chinua Achebe published his book “Things Fall Apart,” which is considered the most widely-read book in African literature.
In 1976, hundreds of civilians and children were killed when the South African government deployed an armed military to quell student protests in Soweto.
In 1983, Rev. Nelson W. Trout of Columbus, Ohio, was elected Bishop of the American Lutheran Church’s South Pacific District, becoming the first Black U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Bishop.
In 1991, South Africa abolished the last of its apartheid laws.
In 2015, 21-year-old white supremacist Dylan Roof murdered Pastor and State Representative Clementa Pinckney and eight others after they invited him to join their Wednesday night prayer service at the Mother Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, which was founded in 1816. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting at a place of worship in U.S. history and the deadliest mass shooting in South Carolina history.
In 2019, the mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, Kate Gallego, apologized for the local police who threatened to shoot an African-American family after their four-year-old shoplifted a doll.
In 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act making June 19th a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people.
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