The Importance of Political Awareness

Posted by Kristen J. Owens
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Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet" emphasizes the need for African Americans to engage in the voting process.

For decades our ancestors bled, fought and died in order to ensure our rights as equal citizens. The Ku Klux Klan, than a legal militant terrorist organization, developed as a result of white southerners’ violent opposition to blacks being able to play a part in legislature and voting elections. Hundreds of black people were mobbed, beaten, raped and murdered in order to be kept from voting. As a prelude to our freedoms, they risked their lives and the lives of their loved ones to make it possible for us to voice our opinion by vote.

Where has that initiative gone? We as a people have lost sight of our duty as American citizens to utilize our voices in the presidential elections. As soon as something goes down that we don’t like or agree with, we are the first ones to complain about whoever is in office and what they’re failing to do. I can bet half of us didn’t even know there were 3 African-American candidates running for presidency in 2012 (Barack Obama, Herman Cain, and Stewart Alexander.)

We do not pay as much attention as we should. When Barack Obama was running for the 2008 presidential election, a large number of young, black people I know voted for him more so for the fact that he was a black Democrat than for his political views and policies. Last month, Herman Cain, an African-American Republican presidential candidate, and Morehouse graduate, made the following comment on CNN’s “The Situation Room:

“African-Americans have been brainwashed into not being open-minded, not even considering a conservative point of view.”

I know for a fact that if I asked my friends why they voted for President Obama, almost every single one of them could not give me a valid reason. After President’s Bush presidency, most African-Americans voted for Obama thinking he was a “black savior” who would miraculously come into office and with the snap of a finger, fix everything. What they failed to realize is the decision-making is not solely on him, but it relies heavily on his legislature. But how many of us really took the time out to educate ourselves on those names below President Obama’s on the ballot?

I strongly believe it is urgent that we as a people take the time and effort into investigating and researching our possible political leaders: where they come from, what they stand for and who they have accompanying them in the decision-making process. Our ancestors fought too long and too hard for our voices to grow idle. Regardless of how strong of a belief you have in politics or even if you are in complete opposition to voting, knowing is always better than not knowing. The biggest road block we have in front of us is ignorance and we need to do all that we can change to that. We have the power to contribute and change and at least for our ancestor’s sake, we cannot let it slip away.

Kristen Joy
HBCU Buzz Staff Writer

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Christian A. Drye of Central State University

Posted by Tommy G. Meade Jr.
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Attending Central State University has granted me the opportunity to meet some amazing, talented, and well-rounded individuals. Our campus is thriving with great minds who will be successful in every endeavor, and are the future leaders of tomorrow. One in particular created a buzz last year with his catchy brand and logo, and is now “starting a movement.”

I had the incredible opportunity to meet and become colleagues of Christian A. Drye last year at Central State when he was a graduating senior. Drye is the creator of Complex Heart, an up-in-coming clothing brand with tremendous potential, and a message that helps motivate people to the top.

“The concept is very simple. I was always counted out,” Drye said. “I wanted to show all [of] my teachers that they were wrong, and I did in fact have greatness to offer to the world. Of course I’m not the only person who faced this type of situation, but I do want to be the voice of it.”

The struggle for triumph and recognition is the driving force in Drye’s life, and the motivating reason why Complex Heart was ultimately created. Drye visualized his concept as a junior in high school, and became one-hundred percent confident with the idea while in college at Central State, in which he wanted to have a “street wear/hipster” type of brand. By 2011, Drye was ready to tackle new obstacles.

“I began my interest in clothes about my junior year of high school in 2006, just taking chances wearing pastels, fitted jeans, vans, dress shoes, suits, and just being different from everybody around me,” the young fashion stylist said about his personal style. “I had a great response from people, and I knew I could do my own clothes.”

It took him four years to feel one-hundred percent comfortable with the idea. Drye said he had to have a purpose, and not just slapping a logo on a t-shirt and selling it because he was popular on campus. “I wanted people to believe in it and reference back to a lesson I gave out from a shirt design.”

The acronym “Heart” stands for: “Helping Every Average Radiant Talk”. Each symbol on the heart logo has a significant meaning, in which Drye thoroughly explained.

“Your heart is the center of your personality. Instinct, emotions, and personality all come from your heart. We all face trials, depression, defeat, and other negative things. That symbolize the cracks in my logo,” he said. “However, it’s folks who are dead and gone, or even in situations where they wish they can have a “bad day” because there is nothing left for them, and that’s where the band-aid comes in on my logo. The band-aid helps symbolize that you can start over and regain victory tomorrow. Pain is relative things, we have the power to define it. Persevering through life to accomplish your goals is the concept behind the Complex Heart movement.”

Like any other young mogul, Drye is very zealous with his ingenious brand, and hopes that everyone will continue to support him. He thanks his Complex Heart Team, Escoe Sayz, and August Jade for their continuing support, and credits www.spkngintongues.com for the inspiration.

“It’s not the best brand, and I don’t want it to be. I do want my message to get out, and I know it will… [Through Complex Heart,] I plan to spread the good news about success, happiness, survival, and most importantly, God.”  — Christian A. Drye

Be sure to check out www.complex-heart.com to get a piece of the movement. At the website, show him some love, and sign the guest book as well.

Contact Information: www.complex-heart.com, @dryehumor on Twitter, Complex Heart on Facebook.

 

SWAC Offensive Player of the Week: Grambling State’s Dawrence Roberts

Posted by Kev Keise
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Dawrence Roberts (News-Star file photo)

 

Who would have imagined, a player who finished last season with no carries for no yards and no touchdowns would be emerging as one the top rushers in the SWAC conference.

Dawrence Roberts, a 5-foot-9, redshirt sophomore from Clearwater, FL, was an inconsistent special teams player last season. But, this season after a slow start, he has exceeded all of Grambling State University expectations. At the start of the season he backed up senior running back Kenneth Batiste and true freshman Juwan Martin.

“I expected to start off great for the season,” said Roberts. “I had big goals set ahead of me, and when I found I wasn’t starting I honestly felt hurt. I felt like my hard work was for nothing and felt like giving up.”

It would be the fourth game on the Tigers’ schedule, in a home match up against Alabama A&M when Roberts got a chance to show his capabilities due to a struggling ground attack.

Though the Tigers lost, 20-14 Roberts’ performance made him the clear-cut starter. He finished with 27 carries for 198 yards and one touchdown.

“I felt great,” said Roberts emphatically. “I knew God had answers, that’s why I never gave up.”

Before Roberts, the Tigers haven’t rushed for over a 100 yards in a game all season, but through eight weeks of a reviving season, Roberts has totaled three 100 plus yard games in the four games he’s started.  He has taken the pressure off quarterbacks Frank Rivers and D.J. Williams and given the Tigers a balanced offensive attack.

The slow start for Roberts has prevented him from being included in the league’s top rushers, but he has a higher per-night rushing average and a better per-rush average than any running back in the SWAC.  

So far this season Roberts has 82 carries for 581 yards and three touchdowns. His efforts in the Tigers tightly contested victory over the Mississippi Valley Delta Devils has earned him the SWAC’s offensive player of the week award. Roberts finished with 18 carries for 136 yards.

If Roberts remains consistent he would be in contention to be nominated for the HBCU Buzz male MVP award.

“I’d never been an MVP in college, so that would be like a dream come true.” Said Roberts. “It will be a big accomplishment getting me closer to my goal.

Roberts’ biggest aspiration is to be playing for one of the 32 NFL teams, but he knows he has much more work to put in. He said he will continue to work hard on the field and in the weight room, study film and since he’s a student first then athlete he said the most important thing will be to attend class.

 

 

Kev Keise
HBCU Buzz Staff Writer

NYPD’s “Blue Code of Silence” Screams Injustice & Prejudice

Posted by Tommy G. Meade Jr.
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Earlier this month, a New York Police Department narcotics officer (often shortened to narc), blew a troublesome police scandal wide-open when he testified against corruption inside the department. Although I have always believed that there is a significant amount of corruption within police agencies as well as our government, this is the first case that I can remember where an actual officer essentially
testified against injustice.

According to StoptheDrugWar.com, Stephen Anderson, the former narc who testified as a cooperating witness in the trial of another officer after he was arrested for planting cocaine on four men in a bar in Queens, New York, described how rules were routinely broken or ignored so that narcs could make their monthly arrest quotas.

By testifying, Anderson shone a new and unflattering light on the department, which has been under investigation for decades for several indignities and allegations. This scandal was originally cast as police not turning in all their drug evidence so they could give it to their snitches as rewards for services rendered.

After being questioned on what his thought process was in terms of saving his career at the cost of those four people who had seemingly no involvement in the transaction, Anderson stated, “The practice was called “attaching bodies” to the drugs. It was something I was seeing a lot of, whether it was from supervisors or undercovers and even investigators.”

“Seeing it so much, it’s almost like you have no emotion with it.” Anderson said, adding that those four years of life as a narc had numbed him to corruption. “The mentality was that they attach the bodies to it; they’re going to be out of jail tomorrow anyway, nothing is going to happen to them anyway. That kind of came on to me and I accepted it.”

While Anderson has done a great deed in our eyes, to the NYPD and other police departments around the nation, he has broken a “sacred” police officer code.

Police officers follow a set of guidelines known as Blue Code of Silence; occasionally referred to the “blue wall” or the “curtain”. The Blue Code of Silence is an unwritten guideline that officers in the United States follow by in which they abide not to report on another officer’s misconduct. All in all, this is corruption in simplest forms, which lead me to reflect on even a bigger picture.

If police officers really follow this set of rules in regulations where they would intentionally look the other way in times when justice should prevail, who’s to say that the O.J. Simpson or Troy Davis cases were wrongly trialed because of such actions? If we cannot count on our police to positively promote honesty, integrity and justice, who can we count on?

Paine College Alumna LaShon Sturgis ’02 to receive the Herbert W. Nickens Award

Posted by Michael Livingston II
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 (Augusta, GA)‐ The Association of American Medical Colleges announced the recipients of the Herbert W. Nickens faculty fellowship and medical student scholarships. Among the recipients is LaShon Cherry Sturgis, ’02. She will receive the Herbert W. Nickens Award on Monday, November 7, 2011 at the Association of American Medical Colleges Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado.  The winners will receive their awards at the Future Leaders of Academic Medicine session.

The award is given to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to promoting justice in medical education and health care equities for people in the United States. Dr. Nickens believed that a multidisciplinary approach is needed to address inequities in health. Because of this, nominees may come from a wide range of fields, including medicine, dentistry, education, law, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and social and behavioral sciences.

This is a tremendous recognition for Sturgis and her work over the years at Paine College, Georgia Health Science University/ Medical College of Georgia.

“This award is a huge honor and a culmination of the things I’ve accomplished over the years, “ she said. “You can open a lot of doors by working hard and giving back. I encourage others to work hard and give back to help make things easier for others that will follow in their footsteps.”

This year’s faculty fellowship recipient is Tumaini Coker, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He will receive $15,000 to support academic and professional activities.

For more information, contact the Office of Communications & Marketing at 706-396-7591 or Ncarter@paine.edu.

Dillard University gets $25 Million to Study, Correct Health Disparities

Posted by Michael Livingston II
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Dillard University has been awarded a $25 million federal grant — the biggest in its history — to expand its research of health-care disparities among minorities and to underwrite attempts to correct them. The five-year grant, which is to be announced today on the Gentilly campus, will let the university hire scientists and improve health programs. It will also let Dillard recruit promising students from minority groups and fund their research.

“This is a giant step for Dillard because it puts the university in a position of leadership in helping to address health inequities,” said Marvalene Hughes, who started working to land the grant a year before she stepped down in June from the university’s presidency.

She will be at the announcement ceremony in Dillard’s Professional Schools and Sciences Building, as will Interim President James Lyons and Dr. John Ruffin, a Dillard graduate who is the director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, which made the award.

Dillard was one of three schools to be awarded $25 million from this arm of the National Institutes of Health. The other recipients are Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta and Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles.

The departments at Dillard that will most directly be affected are nursing, public health, social sciences, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, said Phyllis Worthy Dawkins, the university’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

The award will go into Dillard’s research endowment. Earnings from that fund will underwrite work on health disparities, university spokesman Brendan Twist said.

Twist said the university expects to hire as many as seven tenure-track faculty members who specialize in tracking diseases and noting disease patterns, performing research in clinics and using computers to collect, classify, store and analyze biochemical and biological information.

Dillard also hopes to use the grant to recruit a renowned scholar and set up an endowed chair to underwrite that researcher’s work, Twist said.

John Pope can be reached at jpope@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3317.

Battle of the Bay Poetry Slam Makes History at Norfolk State & Hampton University

Posted by Michael Livingston II
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(Norfolk, VA) –  On November 10, 2011 a group of students will write their way into history with the first annual Battle of the Bay Poetry Slam. This will be the first ever poetry event featuring two prominent Historically Black Universities.

Jarel Barnes of Norfolk State University (NSU), and Mack Curry of Hampton University (HU) along with others have worked nearly six months to put the event together. The poetry slam will be a five on five competition with three rounds: A sacrificial round, prop round and rivalry round.

The birth of this idea took place after Hampton’s Sarcen Lietrary Journal invited the Norfolk State Creative Writing Club to an open mic in the spring of 2011. From there, John Hamilton II and Adrianna Vargas of NSU and the Verbiage Society from HU began carving out the details. The Battle will alternate on a yearly basis.

On October 28, 2011, the Norfolk State University Honors College and English Department will be hosting an Open Mic Contest as a part of the festivities for Norfolk State University’s Homecoming.

 

HBCU Alumna & Pulitzer Prize Winner Isabel Wilkerson Comes to Bennett College

Posted by Robert Hoggard
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For the first time since arriving at Bennett College, I was in the throes of a panic attack.

I couldn’t turn down this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  I had been researching and studying her writings in courses for two years.  So, I inhaled, exhaled – and then inhaled and exhaled a few more times before beginning to write an introduction for a woman whose words rejuvenated my passion for journalism when I was sure that I had lost my fervor.

An hour-and-a-half later, Isabel Wilkerson was standing and applauding.  She was pleased with the introduction!  “I have heard tons of introductions,” she said.  “But that introduction was the most accurate and inspiring of them all.” I am still beaming with pride.

Bennett College was the first of several HBCUs featured on Wilkerson’s college book tour.  Along with her campus book signing, she was the featured speaker for the annual Fall Honors Convocation on October 20, 2011.  In her 30 minute speech, she emphasized the importance of knowing our histories.

“The Great Migration had such an effect on almost every aspect of our lives — from the music that we listen to the politics of our country to the ways the cities even look and feel, even today,” she told us.

Wilkerson’s latest masterpiece, “The Warmth of Other Suns” details three people in different decades who are participating in the Great Migration.  According to the NPR website, the Great Migration brought more than 6 million African Americans from the south to northern and western cities from 1915 through 1970.  Due to Jim Crow Laws, African Americans were facing continuous prejudice which forced them to leave in search of better opportunities and fairer treatment.

“There were colored and white waiting rooms everywhere, from doctors’ offices to the bus stations,” Wilkerson said in her speech. “It was illegal for black people and white people to play checkers together in Birmingham. And there were even black and white Bibles to swear to tell the truth on in many parts of the South.”

After fifteen years of research and 1200 interviews, Wilkerson, who is also a product of the Great Migration, captures the essence of this movement in her narrative. “The Warmth of Other Suns” has won several awards since its’ release including the 2010 National Books Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the 2011 Lynton History Prize from Harvard and Columbia universities, and the Independent Literary Award for Nonfiction.

  At the conclusion of her speech, students stood and applauded the renowned journalist. Senior Jasmine Lewis, Journalism and Media Studies  major at Bennett, was deeply moved by her chance to interact with Wilkerson.

“I couldn’t believe she was actually standing there talking to me,” she says.  “To us, she is considered the Holy Grail.”

In journalism, Isabel Wilkerson writes herself into history – literally. She is the first African-American to ever win the Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of a nine-year-old child living on Chicago’s south side and the 1993 mid-western floods. Currently, she is a Professor of Journalism and Director of Narrative Nonfiction in the College of Communications at Boston University.

Even after her speech, an intimate dinner, and the chance to speak to one-on-one with such an acclaimed journalist, the best part of Isabel Wilkerson’s visit to Bennett was receiving a free autographed copy of “The Warmth of Other Suns.”

Evette Dionne
HBCU Buzz Staff Writer

National HBCU Conference Launch Pad for Entrepreneurs

Posted by HBCU Editors
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Data Solutions & Technology Incorporated (DST) today announced that it is making available its Alabama State University-Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Conference white paper.  The report addresses outcomes from the Conference held on March 7-10, 2011.

The entrepreneurship conference goal was to serve as a launching board for economic development initiatives benefiting HBCUs and ultimately our great nation.  Leaders attending the first Alabama State University HBCU Conference cited entrepreneurship, innovation, and global development as the keys to future growth and development of the nation’s economy—and of African-American wealth building, in particular.

Highlights covered in the report include:

  • Impetus for the Conference
  • Entrepreneurship mindset
  • Globalization of the economy
  • Collaboration across the academies
  • Government and industry involvement
  • Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)

For a copy of the report, go to www.asu-hbcu.org.

The second National Alabama State University HBCU Conference is March 5-7, 2012.  The theme is Entrepreneurship: Transforming Education, Government and Industry. The goals of the conference are to enable attendees the opportunity to learn about business development, entrepreneurship, grants, contracting and fellowships.

About Alabama State University
Alabama State University, founded in 1867, offers nearly 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, from its historic teacher education program to its new, high-demand programs in health sciences, new Ph.D. in microbiology  and minor in international business.  The more than 5,600 students who attend ASU are as diverse as its academic offerings, with students from more than 40 states and various countries seeking a top-notch education that extends far beyond the walls of a classroom.

About Data Solutions & Technology Incorporated (DST)
Founded in 1994, DST is a global company whose employees provide a full spectrum of professional services in Information Technology, Aviation Management, Logistics and Operations, Management Support, and Scientific and Technology Support that result in cost-effective solutions of strategic value to our customers, government and commercial clients worldwide. The company is ISO 9001: 2008 certified, has a top secret facility clearance, and is veteran- and women-owned. For more information go to the website at www.dstincorporated.com.

Contact

Tammi L. Thomas, Vice President for Strategic Management, tthomas@dstincorporated.com, 301-583-3500

Alonzo Guyton – Howard University Student Athlete Shot and Killed

Posted by HBCU Editors
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Alonzo Guyton, Howard University

A 24-year-old Howard University student was shot and killed early Tuesday morning in Mount Rainier.

The student was identified as Alonzo Guyton by the university.

“He always seemed to have a smile… It has affected everyone,” said senior Matia Johnson.

Police said Guyton was found shot on the sidewalk in front of an apartment building in the 4200 block of Kaywood Drive at about 12 a.m. Tuesday. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Mt. Rainer Police believe the 24-year-old sophomore was the victim of a botched robbery just after midnight Tuesday. Police were patrolling the apartment complex Wedneday night.

“He was the kind of person that if we went out to eat… (he would) pay for everyone every time,” said Guyton’s friend Jordan Taylor.

Guyton played in the U.S Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. He was athletic, a member of Howard’s football and baseball teams. Close friend and baseball teammate Taylor was with him in church this past Sunday.

“Last time I saw he was playing the gospel choir… Never saw him again,” Taylor said.

The former marine is described as a gentle and caring soul. His friends are still not sure why he was in this complex, which houses hundreds of Howard students.

“I was actually one of the ones who encouraged him to go to Howard,” said Darryl Ward, a friend of Guyton.

“We deeply regret the untimely death of this promising young man who was very active at Howard and well loved by his peers, faculty and the staff who worked closely with him,” Howard University stated. “We extend our condolences and prayers to his family, friends and those who knew him.”

Referenced Article from ABC.com

HBCU Football Preview: Grambling State vs. University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Posted by Kev Keise
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Grambling State vs. University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Arkansas Online)

The Tigers are riding a two game winning streak as their next match up will be against University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, whose roster is shortened by 25 players including 11 starters, due to a suspension after a brawl took place in the midst of their victory over Southern University on Oct.15.

Key players that will miss Saturday’s game include: leading scorer receiver Desmond Beverly and No. 2 running back Stephen Jones who’s responsible for nine of the 18 total touchdowns, sack leader Joe Dalton and No. 4 tackler Ryan Shaw.

For a team that does much damage on the ground, the absence of Jones will not be favorable in the match up against a developing Tiger team. Back-up running back Justin Billings, who amazingly rushed for 101 in their game against Southern, will be suspended as well.

The growing pains for the Tiger offense seems to be ending and they’re building continuity.

In the Tigers Homecoming game Rivers targeted five different receivers and for the first time all season, the Tiger offense completed no turnovers in the victory over the Delta Devils.

“Super” Mario Louis had a career game scoring three touchdowns and emerging running back Dawerence Roberts doesn’t seem to be slowing down from erupting on the SWAC college football scene.  He was honored as the SWAC offensive player of the week. According to SWAC.org, Roberts rushed for 136 yards on 18 carries for a 7.6 yard average, including a SWAC season-long rush of 87 yards in GSU’s 30-24 overtime victory over Mississippi Valley State.
This is the third time in the last four games that Roberts has rushed for more than 100 yards.

What was impressive with the G-men offense was their supporting cast. Louis and Roberts are heavy targets to the opposition consequently, in the Mississippi
Valley game Oshae Hamilton caught five passes for 74 yards, Terry McGill and Jeremy Hernandez both caught two passes for 35 yards and Kenneth Batiste
finished with eight carries 19 yards and one touchdown.

While the Golden Lions offense is disrupted, the Tiger offense is coming together. The lack of offensive firepower from UAPB gives the Tigers an advantage, but the question is will they take advantage?

Kev Keise
HBCU Buzz Staff Writer

Buzz Killer: Mother in Brooklyn Killed Trying to Protect Children

Posted by Jerome D. Bailey Jr.
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Zurana Horton (The Horton Family)

A Brooklyn mother, Zurana Horton, 33-year-old pregnant woman was killed on Friday afternoon as she tried to protect schoolchildren at Public School 298 in the borough’s Brownsville section from a gunman perched atop a nearby roof.

Horton was hit in the head in front of the Lucky Supermarket at Pitkin Ave. and Watkins St. after she threw herself over a group of children, cops and witnesses said. The gunman’s spree began about 2:30 p.m. where he fired at least a dozen shots with an automatic pistol onto Watkins Street from his perch atop a five-story building on Pitkin Avenue, the police said. A second woman, 31, was also shot and was in stable condition on Friday night at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center.

An 11-year-old girl, identified as Cheanne McKnight, a 6th-grader at P.S. 298, also involved in the chaos was being treated at Brookdale for a graze wound to the cheek. The police said, about 15 minutes after the last students were dismissed from Public School 298, at 85 Watkins Street, where about 540 children in prekindergarten through eighth grade are enrolled.

For a crime so devastating, it’s a mystery why it isn’t receiving national attention, or is it? Brownsville remains one of the more crime-plagued areas, one in the city where police officers are most likely to stop people in the street to question and sometimes frisk them — a tactic that has drawn criticism as racially motivated, but that the police say saves lives.

The crime has not yet resulted in an arrest. Horton’s bravery should not be ignored. Ms. Horton was a devoted mother with several children, according to friends.

Jerome D. Bailey Jr
HBCU Buzz Staff Writer

Recap: Grambling State University Homecoming 2011

Posted by Kimberly Monroe
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           The students at Grambling State University had an awesome homecoming week. The Favrot Student Union Board (FSUB) planned all events with hopes of keeping all entertained.

             On Sunday, there was a university wide picnic at 2 p.m. with the gospel explosion following at 7 P.M. Student Government Association member Jonathan Allen and Miss Grambling State University, Jamesia Leonard, hosted the show.  Jessica Reedy for BET’s Sunday’s Best was originally suppose to perform but because of miscommunication she did not. However, Jamar Dawson with the Church of Champions praise team filled that void.

The campus praise teams Entourage, Greater Purpose, Strong Tower and Campus Community worship center performed two songs each. It was a very spirit filled occasion. Fear Factor was Monday at 3 p.m. on the yard and the home going celebration for the opponent’s mascots, the Delta Devils, was at 7p.m. in the T.H. Harris auditorium.

On Tuesday the weather brought confusion to many. It went from hot to freezing in one night. The sidewalk step show was supposed to take place on the yard at 11a.m. but because of the weather students did not come out. Although the night got very interesting for the pajama jam, which began at 9p.m., people made their way to the men’s gym for the dance in the cold.

A wing and pie-eating contest was at 3 p.m. on the yard. The student talent show was at 7 p.m. in the T.H. Harris auditorium. Anya Washington, Abriyanna Hill, and Veondra Riley, who called themselves “sisters with soul”, won the $500 first place prize singing, “Endow Me”. In second place was senior Baldwin Lewis playing the piano and third place went to junior Karlie Robinson, who sang a medley of R&B greats.

Thursday there were various daytime events including face painting, wax hands and others. At 7 p.m. the comedy show featuring Double D and Arnez J brought tons of laughter to all who attended.

Friday was the 90’s concert featuring DJ Jubilee, Ginuwine, SWV, and Dru Hill. Both alumni and students filled the auditorium for the event. Then it was game day. On Saturday at 9a.m. there was the homecoming parade. Many students, faculty, alumni, and high school bands were all apart of the parade. Later on that day was the game, kickoff started at 2 p.m as the G-men took the field against Mississippi Valley. With the G-Men winning 30-24.

The day wasn’t over yet, everyone joined in the auditorium for the Greek show at 7p.m. The Delta Sigma chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha took first place for the men, putting Phi Beta Sigma in second, and Iota Phi Theta in third. In the women’s portion the Alpha Theta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha received first, second place was to Delta Sigma Theta and Zeta Phi Beta received third.

The week was fun and full of excitement. Everyone is anxious and looking forward to Homecoming 2012.

United We Stand — Central State Students Remember the Lives of Jasmine Crenshaw and Kordero Hunter.

Posted by Tommy G. Meade Jr.
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The students at Central State University lost two fellow Marauders within one year. While the lost greatly affected the morale of most students, the campus ultimately united for a greater cause.

Jasmine Crenshaw, a twenty-two year old junior from Chicago, Illinois majoring in Criminal Justice, unexpectedly died in a lake at a resort outside of Orlando, Florida in late March of 2011. “Smart” and “very athletic”, Crenshaw excelled academically while running track for the Central State Track & Field team. She was an aspiring police officer.

“Everybody loved Jasmine.” Jackie Crenshaw, the mother of Jasmine said. “She always had a smile on her face, she made everybody happy, she loved going to school, [and] she loved sports.” Twenty-one year old Kordero Hunter, a sophomore residing in South Holland, Illinois, sadly passed away just months later in late September from a gunshot wound to the abdomen while attending a nightclub in Dayton, Ohio.

Hunter was known to have a strong desire to shine in all areas, especially on the field. Hunter played defensive back on the Central State Football team, and was considered to be an up-and-coming leader on and off the field.

Head Football Coach E.J. Junior was quoted saying, “Mr. Hunter was an energetic and hard working student.” Students’ campus wide reacted with agony for the lost of both students and remorse for their family and friends.

Dion Sampson, a graduate of Central State who now speaks at the campus’s Interfaith Ministry as a pastor, said “If this type of unity can be created due to death, I know this unity can exist any other time.”

The recent death of Kordero Hunter undeniably hit home for most students, especially the Intro to Communications course on campus in which I was his classmate. The following Tuesday in class after his passing felt empty and unreal because he was no longer with us physically, however, we sensed his presence spiritually.

“It made the campus become more aware of their surroundings,” Amanda Kilgore, a Psychology Major at Central State University said about the death of Hunter. “Although students grieved over his death, students are now more focused on what they came here for: an education.”

Today, the campus community is still coping with the lost of our fellow Marauders. These individuals were not only students at Central State University, they were our colleagues, our friends, our sister, and our brother. We will forever keep them in loving memory.

Final 8 HBCU Bands Chosen for 10th Annual Honda Battle of the Bands

Posted by HBCU Editors
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The nation’s marching band fans have spoken, and have chosen the top eight marching bands at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for the 2012 Honda Battle of the Bands. Now marking 10 years of celebrating the heritage, showmanship and scholarship of HBCU bands, the Honda Battle of the Bands will bring “The Homecoming” to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for the Invitational Showcase, Saturday, January 28, 2012.

Following are the HBCU marching bands that will earn a $20,000 grant for their music education programs and an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2012 Honda Battle of the BandsInvitational Showcase:

Albany State University “Marching Rams Show Band” (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)
Bethune Cookman University “Marching Wildcats” (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)
Jackson State University “Sonic Boom of the South” (Southwestern Athletic Conference)
Prairie View A&M University “Marching Storm” (Southwestern Athletic Conference)
South Carolina State University “Marching 101” (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)
Tennessee State University “Aristocrat of Bands” (Independent)
Virginia State University “Marching Trojan Explosion” (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association)
Winston-Salem State University “Red Sea of Sound” (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association)

For the eight winning bands, the journey to the Invitational Showcase involved months of practice and training, all in preparation for their Georgia Dome performances, where each band will have 12 dazzling minutes to showcase the musical excellence, distinctive style and superior showmanship that earned them a place in the 2012 Invitational Showcase. The Showcase bands are chosen via online voting, with votes by fans, students and alumni accounting for one-third of the selection criteria, and band directors and school presidents accounting for the balance of the selection process.

This year’s event theme, “The Homecoming,” reflects on the 10th anniversary of the Honda Battle of the Bands and calls for all HBCU marching band alumni, current HBCU students and the many fans of the event to meet in Atlanta for this special anniversary showcase event. The homecoming theme also highlights the importance of marching band culture to black college homecoming celebrations.

We are excited to be celebrating 10 years of the Honda Battle of the Bands as we continue to support the music education programs of our nation’s HBCUs” said Marc Burt, senior manager, Office of Inclusion and Diversity for American Honda. “We hope that Black college marching band fans and alumni will attend this year’s Invitational Showcase as we anticipate a great community turnout and even greater performances by the top eight HBCU marching bands.”

The Honda Battle of the Bands website is the sole online destination and clearing house for all HBOB information, updates, polling status, photos and video footage, and is a one-stop resource for all questions about the program. Fans are encouraged to also follow Honda Battle of the Bands on Twitter (@the_honda) and to become a fan of the Facebook page (Honda Battle of the Bands) where they can share memories, photos and engage in trivia, and get updates on the 2012 program. For more information about the Honda Battle of the Bands, please visitwww.HondaBattleoftheBands.com.

Honda on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HondaBattleoftheBands
Honda on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/the_honda
Honda on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/hondabotb

The Fight for the American Dream

Posted by Robert Hoggard
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On September 17th, protesters began to demand more accountability for CEOs on Wall Street (Sheldon Richman)

American citizens have been protesters for change for decades. From the rallies against the inclusion of Americans in the Vietnam War to the marches throughout Georgia and the entire U.S. to  prevent the execution of Troy Davis, protesting is as common among citizens as their love for apple pie and baseball.  Struggling against the establishment is normal for those who are seeking a vast difference in what is deemed incorrect in their communities. On October 15, thousands of Americans of all ages and ethnicities lined the Washington, D.C. streets with signs declaring their disapproval of the rising unemployment rates in this nation.  Led by the Reverend Al Sharpton and other leaders in the current Civil Rights Movement, this protest was in tribute to one that happened more than three decades ago in hopes of affecting a larger issue that had plagued Americans for more than four hundred years.

As America unveiled a memorial for one man whose words sparked a revolution, these protesters channeled his non-violent spirit and brought to life his vision.  On August 28, 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was focused on securing equality for all.  According to the Info Please website, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the culmination of several marches throughout the United States combatting against the racial injustices occurring during that time.

At the forefront of that revolution was the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a powerful man who used his words to influence others to act and expect positive changes.  Dr. King was the face of a larger movement to bring all citizens together in all capacities with equal rights and access to the same freedoms.

In his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, spoken during that March on Washington, Dr. King’s words were loud, clear, and explosive.  “And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.  It is a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream.”  Defined by the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary as, “an American social idea that stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity,” the American Dream is a concept that has brought immigrants to the United States for decades.  It is an idea that all Americans can be as successful as they desire to be with vision, fortitude, and tons of hard work.

So as Dr. King’s dream was grown out of the soil that is the American Dream, so is Gerlyne Maitre’s.  Maitre is a Hunter College graduate with a degree in sociology who can’t seem to find full-time employment, so she accepts several part-time jobs with the hope that these part-times will equal one full-time paycheck.  As she and 50 others occupied Zuccotti Park last week, her sign read, “Where is my American Dream?”

Maitre’s sentiment reflects the attitude of thousands of Americans who refer to themselves as the “99 percenters.” According to the Occupy Wall Street website, the 99 percenters are “fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that caused the greatest recession in generations.”

Frustrated with the top one percent of the wealthiest Americans controlling the financial sector, the 99 percenters raised their voices as Dr. King did in the ‘60s with a non-violent occupation of Liberty Square in Manhattan’s financial district and subsequently, 100 cities across the U.S. including Chicago and 1,500 cities around the world.

Cornell West at Occupy Wall Street

Though no public figure has been elected as the leader of Occupy Wall Street because it’s a grass roots movement, activist Cornel West has been arrested twice in recent weeks for his role in OWS protests.  Since his first arrest for trespassing on the Supreme Court steps last week, the Princeton University professor has been on the media circuit. In his first television appearance after being released on MSNBC’s The Ed Show, it was clear that Dr. West believed that Dr. King would have supported the OWS movement and that the 99 percenters occupation of different cities is the full circle of Dr. King’s mission.

Dr. West was arrested on the same date when President Obama was dedicating the memorial in Washington, D.C. to Dr. King, which brings his legacy and the current struggle for equality around the bend of life together.

The Occupy Wall Street Movement and current March on Washington continue to push for that American Dream that we have all been promised.  In their demonstrations, the spirit of Dr. King lives. It is his dream coming into fruition. Blacks and whites of all heritages are coming together in cities that were once segregated to call attention to new injustices that are affecting them and thousands of others.

43 years after the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we are still striving for the equality that he marched on Washington and was arrested in Birmingham for.  But, at some point in the United States’ history, we will all be equal.  Good God almighty, we are free at last.

Evette Dionne
HBCU Buzz Staff Writer