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I NEWS
INSIDE MOREHOUSE, OCTOBER 2014
BET and International Colloquium Bring Discussions
Centered Around Black Manhood to Morehouse
BY ADD SEYMOUR JR.
ACTOR HOSEA SANCHEZ’S best lesson on
manhood came from his father, who was
strung out on drugs.
During the H.I.S. BET/Morehouse
Town Hall discussion last month, Sanchez
said the negative choices his father made
formed the foundation for the positive choic
es he made in his own life.
“My dad was a crack head,” said
Sanchez, star of the BET show “The Game.”
“But the beauty of what was so negative
shaped the rest of my life. He gave me the
best thing I could ever have. Not because he
gave me such a great example of what it is to
be a man, but because he showed me what
it is to not be. I learned everything I never
wanted to do because of my father.”
This was just one of the life-altering
roads to black manhood that came out dur
ing discussions of the black male held at
Morehouse in September and October.
First, was the BET Town Hall “Reclaim:
Changing the Narrative of the. Black Male
in Media” to kick off the network’s initiative
“H.I.S.,” which addresses black male health,
image and service.
Sanchez joined former NBA star
Alonzo Mourning, rappers Killer Mike and
David Banner, Morehouse professors David
Wall Rice ’95 and Bryant Marks ’94, music
entrepreneur Chaka Zulu, White House
Initiative on Educational Excellence for
African Americans director David Johns, and
the Rev. Rapheal Wamock ’91. Moderators
for the discussion were Jeff Johnson and
Morehouse professor Marc Lamont Hill.
The spirited discussion hit on everything
from early mentors to how media images
affect black males.
“The media is not designed to make
black people look good,” said Marks. “It’s
an economic endeavor. Once we understand
that, that gives us some context. And that
turns us to you. What do you watch?
“When you’re flipping through, why are
you stopping at certain shows, reality type
shows. Because it’s titillating. ‘Scandal.’
The name of the show is ‘Scandal.’ When
you think about the story lines, what are we
feeding our spirit when we watch that show?”
“In order to change their scope in life,
you have to meet kids where they are,”
Sanchez countered. “They are not going
to sit at home and watch “Good Times.”
They are not going to watch all this family,
programming and all positive, lovely stuff.
You’ve got to meet them where they are and
help to change their perspective. You can’t do
it by isolating them.”
Marks said, “I agree with the notion of
meeting them where they are. But do we have
to meet them through negativity all the time?”
A week later, the Internationa]
Colloquium of Black Males in Education
was held at the College. Scholars and educa
tors from around the world converged at
Morehouse for four days to talk about prob
lems and solutions facing black males when it
comes to education.
Ricky Jones ’92, professor and chair
of Pan-African Studies at the University
of Louisville and founding director of the
Center on Race and Inequality, talked about
how Morehouse was his saving grace after an
early life of negativity.
But he said academics must do more
than try to get fame and name recognition if
they truly want to make a difference.
“For those of us who have the privilege
of education, it seems to me we have to be
dedicated to something other than ourselves
- and other than publishing scholarly articles
read by ten or 15 people who study exactly
what we study,” he said.
“There are more of us who are much
more interested in personal gratification than
they are in any collective movement,” he
added. “So, hopefully, people who are here
are trying to develop something to absolutely
shame them in making them use their talents
to do something bigger and better. That’s
what Morehouse instilled in us.” M
David Johns, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans (second
from right), makes a point during the H.I.S. BET/Morehouse Town Hall in the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center.
MLK Cafe
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David Collins, tech support analyst in the Office of Institutional Advancement, sings
during the MLK Cafe in the African American Hall of Fame. The MLK Cafe features
faculty and staff performing during a brown bag lunch once a month. For more
information about MLK Cafe, contact Terry Walker at (404) 215-6196 or terry.
walker@morehouse.edu.
Platform Conference to Focus on
Innovation Economy’s Lack of Diversity
BY ADD SEYMOUR JR.
TECHNOLOGY INNOVATORS from across the coun
try will converge on Morehouse Oct. 24-26 for
Platform, an innovative conference focusing on
diversifying the innovation economy.
Hosted by Morehouse and Georgia Tech in
the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center, Platform
gives some of the trendsetters and leaders in the
technology industry a chance to offer vital infor
mation and advice to help address the industry’s
lack of diversity.
“It brings together policy makers, entrepre
neurs, researchers, businessmen, venture capital
ists, this whole ecosystem of the stereotypical
Silicon Valley environment and tries to foster it,
duplicate it and enhance it for minorities and
women,” said Philip Howard ’87,
“There is no other forum that can attract a
Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T
Mobile & Business Solutions or a filmmaker
Topper Carew, who is the Urban Design Director
for MIT’s Innovation Center Initiative, here to
talk about this topic. There are Ted Talks, which
is a much broader series of discussions. But just
for minorities and women, as far as getting their
businesses going, nothing else exists.”
Hank Williams, founder and CEO of
Platform, created the event after he was featured in
a 2011 installment of CNN’s “Black in America”
series, which focused on the lack of diversity in
Silicon Valley. Platform is to be a development
resource and enabler for a new generation of
entrepreneurs, thinkers and leaders, but with the
mission to increase the participation and success
for blacks, Latinos and women in the innovation
economy, according to Platform’s website.
Speakers this year include Jesse Jackson, who
has been pushing technology companies to be more
diverse; CNN “Crossfire” host Van Jones; James
Shelton ’89, deputy director of the U.S. Department
of Education; and singer Janelle Monae.
“This is part of President John Silvanus
Wilson Jr’s effort to advance this notion of
STEM and STEAM, because we don’t want to
leave out those in the arts, as important impera
tives of his administration,” aid Philip Howard
’87, executive director of Technology Transfer
and Innovation. ■
For more information about Platform,
go to www.platform.org.