Tag: hbcu

Hulu’s Freaknik Doc Wrote Me Out of History

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By Michael April 19, 2024 2

My Fifteen Minutes of Fame Never Happen

Today is April 19, 2024, twenty-nine years ago; at about the same time as when I sat down to write this essay, I was sitting in the Walker County Courthouse waiting for the sentencing hearing for a client in a rape case I had tried in February 1995.

While I believed my client, a Black man who used extra-large condoms (a crucial fact in the case), had had a consensual sexual relationship with a White woman he met at a local laundromat in Lafayette, Georgia, at 2:00 a.m. in 1994, her grandfather, a retired State Legislator from the area testified on behalf of his granddaughter, all but sealing the fate of my client. read more

Miles,Albany,Claflin Kentucky State Advances in SIAC Tourney

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By Michael May 5, 2018 Off

Miles College and Albany State squeaked out one-run wins to cap off an exciting day of baseball at the SIAC Baseball Tournament, which will crown a conference champion on Sunday.

Both schools came into the tournament favored to reach the championship game.

They are ranked number one and two in the HBCU National Baseball Poll. Miles sits atop the poll and Albany is in the number two spot.

Miles faced a determined Tuskegee team and trailed most of the game as they could not ruff up Christian Marshall who kept them at bay with his fastball for seven innings.

Tuskegee took an early lead on a homer to left by Josh Lewis. Miles came back to take a 4 to 1 lead in the eighth.Tuskegee started a rally in their half of the eighth.

They had runners sitting on first and second when Miles pulled off a hidden ball trick on a pick-off attempt at second.

The runner thought the ball had sailed into center field, only to be caught in a rundown when he discovered the ball was in the shortstop’s glove.

Tuskegee rallied for two runs in their half of the ninth, but fell short 4-3.

In an elimination game later in the day, Tuskegee lost another one run game, 8-7, to Kentucky State.

This game was marred by charges of unfairness from the Tuskegee coaching staff to the umpires before the crew left the field.

When the umpires were escorted past the Tuskegee cheering section by security, they were taunted with charges of racism.

In the seventh inning a controversial call on a ball hit down the right field line was ruled a fair ball and resulted in a double that tied the game.

The ball appeared to be at least 10 feet in foul territory when Tuskegee right fielder Ryan Green dove to catch what everyone in the ball park thought was a foul ball. The ball popped out of Green’s glove.

Hank Aaron, Jr. Scouting the SIAC Tourney for the Atlanta Braves said, “That Ball was clearly foul.”

Kentucky State advanced to play Claflin University, who plummeted Lane College and Clark-Atlanta University to stay alive in the losers bracket.

Albany State earned the right to met Miles College after a hard fought 8-7 victory over CAU. The game was won on a homer in the top of the ninth off the bat of the right fielder Rilan Familia. It was his second blast of the day.

CAU had led the game most of the day on the strength of a two homer day from Andredus.

According to Albany head coach, Scott Hemmils, both teams will start their number one pitcher in the matchup between the two top HBCU small college baseball programs in the country.

Sex, Pimping, and Sorority Pledging at A Georgia University?

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By Michael April 22, 2018 Off

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called in to probe sexual misconduct allegations against one of the nation’s oldest Black College Sororities, on the campus of Fort Valley State University.

The university was founded in 1895 as Fort Valley High and Industrial School to provide education for descendants of people who had been enslaved on Middle Georgia cotton and peach plantations. read more

Tuskegee Alumni Should Take Boycott Lessons From David Hogg

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By Michael April 3, 2018 Off

David Hogg, 18 years-old and a survivor of the Parkland High School Massacre can teach a thing or two to alumni of Tuskegee University about the art of the boycott.

Last month, Laura Ingraham, host of the Fox News Show, The Ingraham Angle mocked Hogg because he has been turned down by four colleges for fall admission.

Ingraham’s mock angered Hogg, so he resorted to a tactic skillfully used by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a modern day twist. He called for a boycott of Ingraham’s sponsors.

Nothing novel about calling for a boycott, as King was very successful in exercising the power of the boycott to bring about change.

Hogg issued his threat of a boycott from his twitter account, a megaphone that was not available during King’s lifetime.

From that one tweet, 11 advertisers on The Ingraham Angle have dropped Ingraham. It only took one tweet and one week for Ingraham to issue a public apology to Hogg.

Hogg declined to accept Ingraham’s apology.

Last month, Tuskegee alumni called for the replacement of John Page as chair of the Tuskegee University Board of Trustees.

The alumni argued an alum should chair the university’s board.

Floyd Griffin, an alum and the former secretary of the board decided to have his name placed into nomination for the chair position.

Griffin was supported by the Tuskegee National Alumni Association, The Concerned Tuskegee Alumni for Change, the Tuskegee Golden Tigers National Athletic Association and former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes.

On the day of the vote, Griffin was not able to gather support from other members of the board, including sufficient support from other alumni on the board, so he withdrew his consideration before nominations were received by the nomination committee. Also, all officers were re-elected to serve for another term, but not Griffin, he was removed as the board secretary.

The alumni were disappointed in the outcome. A few suggested that John Page’s company, Golden State Foods should be targeted for a boycott. Golden State Foods is a major supplier of hamburger meat and buns to McDonald’s.

McDonald’s is an easy target to boycott. But the alumni, older, more mature and armed with college degrees that Hogg can’t seem to get in position to acquire, voiced fears of Page if they called for a boycott of Golden State Foods or McDonald’s.

One alum expressed fear of bodily harm. A fear this alum believes is well-founded because of Page’s braggadocio about his hood upbringing in Brooklyn.

Others fear Page’s legal acumen. He has argued a case before the United States Supreme Court. They fear Page will sue them and take their personal possessions if his company is embarrassed by a boycott.

The Tuskegee alumni have spent two weeks debating their fears of physical harm and of being sued by Page and Golden State Foods as a reason not to use the most powerful negotiating tool at their disposal.

Meanwhile, in one tweet, young Mr. David Hogg has received a public apology from Ingraham. He has gotten his boycott. Ingraham is not suing and her sponsors are dropping like flies.

All the while, Page still controls the Tuskegee board, non alumni board members remain on the board without making any financial contribution to the university. The Tuskegee alumni are left to fret and stutter over a well established method to bring about change.

Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist. He is a Contributor at The Hill, SCLC National Magazine, Southern Changes Magazine and Black College Nines. He can be contacted at hmharvey@haroldmichaelharvey.com

 

Tuskegee-Alabama State Renew Rivalry Brings Families Together

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By Michael September 3, 2017 Off

They have not met on the gridiron since 2012. That year Alabama State University christened its new stadium with their 61st loss to it’s intrastate rival.

The two schools are about 35 miles apart. They started playing football against each other on Thanksgiving Day back in 1924. The series continued with minor interruptions for 88 years.

Because the two schools competed on Thanksgiving Day, Tuskegee was prevented from accepting an invitation to participate in the NCAA Division II playoffs. So the two historic Black universities in Alabama ended their athletic relationship.

Alumni from both schools wanted to renew the rivalry and worked with their respective schools until a plan could be developed to bring the game back.

When the two schools determined that they had an open date during the Labor Day weekend, a four year deal was struck which gave the schools a chance to start another historic tradition.

Larry Sankey expressed his regrets when the game was cancelled in 2012.

“When I was growing up, ” Sankey a native of Abbeville, Alabama about 100 miles south of Montgomery said, “we would drive over to Montgomery’s Crampton Bowl to watch the Turkey Day Classic, then drive back home and have Thanksgiving Dinner.”

Sankey grew up to enroll into school at the historic Tuskegee University. He recalled that the Turkey Day Classic was the big social event for many Black Alabamians during the 20th century.

“I’m glad the game is back,” said Tracy Larkin, a veteran on the Montgomery City Council.

“It always was a boost to the local economy, especially for mom and pop businesses in the arts and crafts and food service enterprises,” Larkin added.

Larkin a graduate of Alabama State University stated “There is a buzz in Montgomery this week that has been lacking for the last four years. The people are really talking about this game and are happy that the schools worked it out.”

“Around mid-day on Saturday my family will be here from out of town,” said W. J. Fluker a resident of Montgomery. He taught at both his alma mater, Alabama State University and Tuskegee University, where he retired after 40 years on the Tuskegee faculty.

Fluker grew up in Talladega, Alabama. He added, “By dinner time, my wife’s family from the Eufaula area will be here. We will probably have to serve dinner on the outside to accommodate all the family members who will be here for the game.”

Tuskegee won the game 14-6 in a defensive battle with it’s Division I opponent. Tuskegee leads the series 62-34-4. The win increases Tuskegee’s total wins to 639, the most wins by any HBCU (Historically Black College and University) in the history of Black College football.

Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist. He is a Contributor at The Hill, SCLC National Magazine, Southern Changes Magazine and Black College Nines. He can be contacted at hmharvey@haroldmichaelharvey.com

Johnson Rumored Out At Tuskegee

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By Michael May 26, 2017 Off

CASCADE PRESS (CP) Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, It is rumored that Dr. Brian Johnson, seventh president of Tuskegee University has been relieved of his duties at the university.

A call to Johnson’s office around noon central standard time could not confirm whether the rumor was true.

According to Robin Gray, Executive Assistant and Office Manager to President Johnson, the campus has been abuzz all day with talk that the President has been terminated.

“I can not confirm or deny the rumors,” she said. Then added, “All I can say is that I have not received an official word that he has been terminated, no one from the Board of Trustees or my boss, Dr. Johnson, has told me that it is true.”

Dr. Johnson is not on campus today. According to Ms. Gray, Johnson was not expected to be in his office today, as his calendar previously had him scheduled for traveling.

Johnson was appointed president by the board on April 29, 2014, following the resignation of Dr. Gilbert Rochon.

According to the university’s website, prior to coming Tuskegee Dr. Johnson was “the Interim Vice President for Strategic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness and Assistant Provost/Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee.”

The school’s press release announcing the appointment, boasted that the historical university had found “strong, energetic leadership in the new president.”

That fall,he quickly came under scrutiny from student activists and alumni when he banned a popular local pastor from the campus and had the pastor, Harold Lusk detained by campus police. After student protests, the ban was eventually lifted and Johnson was advised by the Board of Trustees to apology to Rev. Lusk.

The president came under additional attack from students and alumni when he failed to meet with Cynthia Smith, a mother grieving the loss of her son B. J. Smith, who was shot when strangers began firing handguns toward a group of students gathered at an off campus block party.

The president later met with Mrs. Smith, but had a court reporter to record every word that he spoke in the meeting. The court reporter did not record the words of Smith.

Last year the Atlanta Tuskegee Alumni Club took a “No Confidence Vote,” on Johnson’s handling of the school’s accreditation problems.

When Johnson supporters inside the Atlanta Tuskegee Alumni Club decided not to forward the “no confidence vote” to the board of trustees, a splinter group calling themselves “The Concerned Tuskegee Alumni” sprung up. This group led by Cathea Simonelton  keep the pressure on the board calling for the firing of Johnson.

This is a developing story.We will follow-up as more information becomes available.

Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round, Easier to obtain Than to Maintain: The Globalization of Civil Rights by Charles Steele, Jr.; and the host of Beyond the Law with Harold Michael Harvey. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com.

Kellyanne Disses HBCU Presidents

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By Michael February 28, 2017 Off

Kellyanne, if my grandmother, a proud Spelman College woman, had been in the Oval Office yesterday when you knelt down to have your picture taken with Presidents of our leading Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), she would have politely whispered in your ear: “Girl close your legs.”

She probably would have had you quickly and quietly escorted out of the room so those college presidents could have a picture taken with the full solemnity a picture with the nation’s President deserves.

Unfortunately, she could only look down from eternity, shake her head, and perhaps sigh, “Somebody needs to teach Kelly Anne some manners.”

Someone should, although it is doubtful that you would accept the lesson or adhere to it, but somebody should encourage you to have a little self-respect. Not to mention respect for the men and women who run Black colleges and universities in this country.

From the beginning, the job of a Black college president has been a difficult task, one finding the financial resources needed to keep the doors open and to house and educate primarily the progenies of people this country once enslaved. In 2017, the quest for money is still the mission of Black college presidents.

None of those men have time to fulfill your fancies or engage you in afternoon delights in the style of Clinton-Lewinsky. Your provocative pose seems to be crying out for such an outcome.

What other way can you spin it, Kelly Anne? To paraphase Bubba’s mom speaking to Forest Gump: “Is you a tramp or what?”

Black men are accustomed to white women thrusting their sexuality upon them, when white men are unaware. White women have been striking that pose in front of Black men since the days of enslavement. I for one am highly offended for every Black man in the Oval Office yesterday.

Perhaps, Trump offered you – a poster child for the dizzy blondes of America – as red meat to the Black college presidents, a Trump ruse of sorts, to divert attention away from the reality that his much anticipated executive order on HBCUs turned out to be merely aspirational in nature. Trump’s HBCU executive order carries with it none of the money those institution desperately need to meet their mission of educating descendants of the people who built this nation without benefit of wages, health care or the right to marry the person they loved absent the interference from the boys living in the big house.

We in the Black community, especially those of us who graduated from an HBCU, detest your flippant presentment in the presence of the men and women who are charged with sustaining our beloved HBCUs throughout this century. Money is what they came for and it is only money that will turn their heads.

SOURCES:

https://haroldmichaelharvey.com/2016/12/09/beleaguered-hbcus-face-uncertainties-in-the-age-of-trump/

Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round, Easier to obtain Than to Maintain: The Globalization of Civil Rights by Charles Steele, Jr.; and the host of Beyond the Law with Harold Michael Harvey. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com.

 

 

Tuskegee Hosts First Baseball Alumni Classic

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By Michael October 23, 2016 Off

Tuskegee Institute, Alabama Tuskegee University under the leadership of first year Head Baseball Coach Reggie Hollins hosted its first Tuskegee University Alumni Baseball Classic, October 21, 2016, during the homecoming festivities at the historic university in East Alabama.

Hollins, a 2010 graduate of Tuskegee University, where he starred as a middle infielder for the Golden Tigers, took over the helm of the Tuskegee program this summer from Montressa Kirby, who had been doubling as the quarterback coach on the highly rated Tuskegee football team since 2009.

The move freed Kirby to concentrate on his role as quarterback coach. Hollins, a product of Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta, Georgia, wasted little time in getting his program off to a roaring start.  He organized the first ever Alumni Baseball Classic and brought together former players from 1969 through 2015 to give his current players an opportunity to talk with the athletes who had made the Tuskegee Baseball Program one of the top programs in the nation in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

About 150 fans in town for Tuskegee’s 135th homecoming, turned out to watch the current team compete against the old-timers on James Washington Field. The baseball park on campus is named for the school’s first baseball coach and brother of the school’s first principle, the legendary educator, Booker T. Washington. Washington field was laid out in 1894 by its namesake and William Clarence Matthews, the university’s first shortstop and a 2013 inductee into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Tuskegee team currently plays its home games in a former minor league ball park in Montgomery, Alabama. President Brian L. Johnson dropped by the game and pledged his support for bringing baseball back to campus by making improvements to the field and building a state of the art baseball facility.

“I can get it done with $700,000; we could do a little more if we had a million dollars. We are going to bring baseball back to Washington Field,” Johnson said.

In recent years, the Tuskegee baseball program has not exhibited the caliber of play of previous generations. Coach Hollins said he wanted to bring current players into contact with baseball alumni who had set a high standard for Tuskegee baseball.

“Look around you,” Coach Hollins told his current team and alumni players following the game. “I planned this game so the current players could get to see the alumni and so that the alumni could get to see the current Golden Tigers. These are some good young men, doing the right things, now that you have seen them, I hope you will get involved and support what we are doing in Tuskegee baseball,” Hollins said.

Indeed, it was an excellent opportunity for the current players to talk with alumni about things other than baseball. One current player, Ryan Green, a junior from Westlake High School, in the metro Atlanta area, wanted to know how he could parlay his Engineering Degree from Tuskegee into a career as a lawyer.

Green, the team’s right fielder posed the question to a 1971-73 Tuskegee right fielder, a retired lawyer. It was suggested to him that he could practice construction law. You could see a light bulb go off inside his head. The two men agreed to keep in contact as Green pursues his career goals.

The game was won by the current Golden Tigers 9-4. Coach Hollins said he is pleased with the progress of his team thus far in fall practice. He said that his catcher Ron McGee played particularly well in the Alumni Classic. McGee threw out three base runners.

The old-timers Most Valuable Player was the designated hitter. He went 2 for 2, with one stolen base, two runs scored and one RBI. The designated hitter just happens to be the person whose words you are reading.  Joe Colvin from the 1972 team drove in one run and Stephen Duval from the 1973 SIAC Championship team scored on a bases loaded walk.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0siTZMkBTx7RjhmMTgtX2FiblU/view. Click the link to view Harvey’s bases loaded blast to left center.

In addition to being the conference champions, the ’73 team beat the SIAC All-Stars 2-1 in old Herndon Stadium in Atlanta. This was the only All-Star game in SIAC history. They went on to compete in the NCAA Mid-East Regional Tournament.

The oldest alumni playing in the Tuskegee Baseball Classic were 66 year old Joe Colvin, 66 year old Stephen Duval, 65 year old Harold Michael Harvey, 65 year old Richard “Buck” Shaw, the university’s first Major League Baseball draftee (St. Louis Cardinals) and 63 year old McArthur “Spook” Shivers.

Hollins said he plans to make the alumni classic an annual event.

Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round; and the host of Beyond the Law with Harold Michael Harvey. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com.

 

Tuskegee Faces Accreditation Issues

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By Michael June 16, 2015 Off

Tuskegee University faces accreditation issues. Last week the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) gave the school a warning notice. Tuskegee’s embattled President Brian Johnson was told that documentation he supplied was inadequate. The requested information related to the five year plan that was submitted in 2014.

SACSCOC warned Tuskegee that if it does not receive the information within the next twelve month period, its accreditation may be in jeopardy.

The inadequate information was supplied during Johnson’s administration and has prompted some graduates of the school to question whether Johnson has the administrative ability to steer Tuskegee through the intense investigation  SACSCOC is known to conduct.

Johnson is entering the last month of his one year contract. He spent much of his time blogging on social media, attending student block parties and micro-managing every department in the university. His antics led to a student protest during the 2014-2015 academic school year. Students alleged that Johnson was out of touch with the campus community and was deceptive when asked direct questions about campus governance.

Also, a group of former students started a petition on Change.Org calling for the Board of Trustees to dump Johnson before he does further harm to the Tuskegee brand.

Momentum appears to be growing for Johnson to step down, as alumni learned that the popular adopt- a- dorm program failed to receive support from the president’s office.

Twenty-six years ago a dedicated group of Tuskegee graduates gave up much of their summer to travel to Tuskegee to renovate the various dormitories on campus. This project was also used to recruit students to Tuskegee, particularly from the Cleveland, Ohio area. This will be the first year in over a quarter century that the university will not get this assistance from former students.

Early efforts to get alumni involved in protecting the Tuskegee brand were futile. Many argued that pointing out problem with Johnson’s administrative ability only hurt the school. We now know that SACSCOC also has the same misgivings about Johnson’s administrative acumen.

The questions now become: Does Johnson know what the Tuskegee brand is? Can Johnson protect the Tuskegee brand? Does Johnson understand the complexities of a SACSCOC audit?

The Tuskegee Board of Trustees meets this weekend. Hopefully they will answer these questions. If the answer is no to any one of them, Johnson should be jettisoned and the university should look to replace him with an experienced administrator who has served as a university president.

There is an experienced administrator in the Tuskegee family, Dr. Luther Williams, who fits this bill. To hire him, the chairman of the Board of Trustees, Charles Williams, will have to step down in order for the university to be in compliance with SACSCOC regulations.

All eyes are on the Kellogg Center this weekend. What happens there could be crucial to the university’s ability to avoid further sanctions from its accrediting agency.

Harold Michael Harvey, is the author of the legal thriller “Paper Puzzle,” and “Justice in the Round: Essays on the American Jury System,” available at Amazon and at haroldmichaelharvey.com. He can be contacted at hmharvey@haroldmichaelharvey.com