Cuba Gooding Takes Legal Action to Protect HBCUs In Florida

(Atlanta Daily World) By Donald James – Cuba Gooding Sr., long-time lead vocalist of the Grammy-nominated R&B ensemble, The Main Ingredient, and Father of Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr., thought it was a great idea to hold two benefit concerts in Orlando late last year during the annual Florida Classic Weekend – a historic and annual college football game between Bethune-Cookman University and Florida A&M University – to raise needed money for the two historically black colleges. Both schools agreed.

Gooding is accusing executives of The Dr. Phillips Center (who took over the day-to-day operations of The Bob Carr Theater) of multiple mistakes and failure of its obligations as a venue, most glaringly, to offer viable opportunities for people to purchase tickets to the benefit concerts, via Internet or the venue’s box-office.

In a gesture to correct its many wrongs, Dr. Phillips’ executives, according to Gooding, offered to donate $1,000 to each of the two black universities, to which Gooding, said, “No Way!.” He finds the offer insulting, not only to himself and his family, but to the two schools as well. Gooding said, “If Dr. Phillips Center had good intentions to help the two black schools, the venue would not have made so many unprofessional mistakes, blunders, and oversights.” Read Full Atlanta Daily World