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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 iv'^irvjn j i— r- > ■' -l / * - - ' - ** ; 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.