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Earlier this month, the 100 Black Men of Atlanta hosted its signature fundraiser, the 100 Honors Gala, in person for the first time in four years. 

Over a thousand people attended the black tie event to help the organization support its Project Success programs. 

“Project Success is composed of several smaller initiatives like our Pathways of Development where we bring in individuals from various professions and they speak with the kids about their educational journeys, what their career paths look like and what they need to do if they want to pursue a similar career path,” said Keith Milliner, Immediate Past Chair of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta. 

Heeding the social distancing recommendations due to the pandemic and transitional issues prevented the members from hosting the gala for the past four years. 

The 100 Atlanta’s chairman, Sidney Barron, said they recently attempted a virtual format of the gala but were not as successful as in the past. 

“This was our first gala in four years due to COVID and we haven’t been able to get off the ground with something since 2019,” said Louis Negron, Executive Director for the 100 Black Men of Atlanta. 

Barron said now was a great time to return the program to its original form. 

Now adapting to the new normal due to the pandemic, Negron said it was almost like a reintroduction to the Atlanta community. 

With “Empowering Our Youth” as its theme, the 100 used the opportunity to celebrate local companies and individuals doing that today.

Ranging from education, entertainment and social action, the 100 selected those who demonstrated the same efforts they try to instill in their mentees — mentorship, education, economic empowerment and entrepreneurship, and health and wellness. 

“The biggest thing for us was securing who to honor and since it was four years since the last time we honored somebody, we thought about honoring some of our local heroes,” Negron said. 

This year’s Andrew Young Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Songwriters Hall of Famer and Atlanta native Jermaine Dupri, Atlanta Falcons cornerback AJ Terrell received the John Lewis Emerging Leader Award, President and CEO of the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship Jay Bailey was awarded the Maynard Jackson Community Impact Award, Dr. Kevin James, President of Morris College with the Nathaniel Goldston Trailblazer Award and Delta Airlines receiving the Chairman’s Circle Corporate Responsibility Award. 

A new award presented this year was the Thomas W. Dortch, Jr. Civic Leadership Award, dedicated to the 100 of Atlanta and 100 Black Men of America former chairman who died earlier this year. 

Uncle/nephew duo Joshua and Richard Byrd were the first to receive this honor, commending them with their anti-gun violence leadership program.

With Dortch having a social and financial impact on African Americans in Atlanta, Barron said no better person deserved to have this award named in his honor. 

“One of those things where a lot of members from now — in perpetuity —  who will never meet Tommy and will never get to know who he was or what he contributed to [the 100] but they will see the impact that he had on the 100 of America as well as the 100 of Atlanta,” Barron said. 

By night’s end, the 100 raised over $500,000 that will help them continue their efforts to mentor the capital’s youth. 

“I mean, it’s amazing that the Atlanta community, both corporate and individuals, have been good to us,” Negron said. “It’s a blessing that people support and believe in the program and the mission of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta. We are still a relevant organization that makes a change here in the city, so we feel good.”

The funds raised will help the 100 grow and scale their purpose of helping the lives of youth grades 6 to 12 by assigning a mentor to every Atlanta Public School student that wants one and continuing their Project Success programs at schools like Best and Coretta Scott King Academies. 

“We have a 100 percent graduation rate and a 100 percent college acceptance rate for all of our students who participate in Project Success at Best Academy and 96 percent at Coretta Scott King Academy this year,” Milliner said. “Those numbers have been consistent for the past decade.” 

Log onto their website to donate to the 100 Black Men of Atlanta.

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The new historical fiction “A Right Worthy Woman” tells the story of the ambitious and unafraid woman, Maggie Lena Walker, who was determined to gain wealth for her community.

Written by Atlanta-based author Ruth P. Watson, “A Right Worthy Woman” begins shortly after the Civil War in the predominantly Black Jackson Ward community in Richmond, Va. 

The novel is loosely based on Walker’s life, telling the story of the daughter of a formerly enslaved woman and a Confederate soldier who dares to make a better life for her family and the people of Jackson Ward.

When Watson pitched to her publisher a new romance novel similar to her bestsellers “Blackberry Days of Summer” and “Cranberry Winter,” they were interested in something different. 

“Maggie Lena Walker has been in every book I’ve ever written, but nobody ever asked about her,” Watson added. So she was surprised that they were interested in learning more about Walker. 

Watson said the more she did research on Virginia’s capital, the more Walker kept talking to her — as if she wanted her to write her story. 

The story began when Walker was 12 when her stepfather died from an apparent suicide. When her mother sought financial refuge from the Independent Order of St. Luke to pay for the funeral costs, Walker was intrigued by their work in her neighborhood. 

The Order was a fraternal organization that initially began financing burial costs for African Americans and offered life insurance to provide death benefits for the families. 

Walker became fascinated with the Order’s purpose to help the people of Jackson Ward, so she joined and ran the youth sector of the organization. 

“One of the things that she admired about the Order was the fact that they gave money to people in need,” Watson said. “Her empathy came from leadership and she said to herself, ‘Okay, I’m going to get in here and work with the juveniles and see if we can come up with something we can do for other people.”

Walker’s motivation to become involved with the Order in a leadership capacity was unorthodox for women at the beginning of the 20th century and she was even called “bossy” on some occasions. 

“When it comes to success, the choice is simple. You can either stand up and be counted or lie down and be counted out.”

Maggie Lena Walker

“We should know about Maggie and feel very proud that back in 1903, there was a woman who had the audacity to try and make things different,” Watson said.

Walker befriended sociologist and Atlanta University professor W.E.B. DuBois and educator Mary McLeod Bethune who used their platforms to help in her mission. The three knew that working together would make Richmond a bustling metropolis for African Americans, and it eventually became the state’s financial hub. 

“Maggie, Bethune and DuBois got together and knew there were some things that we can’t control, but there’s a lot we can control when we work together,” Watson said.

Watson hopes readers will learn that prayer and faith outweigh fear when they read Walker’s story and see themselves in there as well. 

“A Right Worthy Woman” was published by Atria Books and distributed by Simon and Schuster. It can be purchased at Charis Books and More in Decatur or on Amazon.  

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Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a 20-year-old rule on how students are evaluated by institutions of higher learning. Friday’s reversal of affirmative action is now in the history books, but we have yet to turn the pages to find out how much damage this decision will ultimately cause.

Oral tradition in Black culture has pressed that “you have to work twice as hard to get half of the reward” for your endeavors. But now that affirmative action has been taken from us, we will have to work even harder. 

Affirmative action is the thread of American culture that stitches centuries of bondage during its creation. Now that it has been deconstructed before our eyes, we are left with tattered patterns of lost progress that looked nothing like equality.

“[The ruling] has the potential to alter college admissions policies across the nation drastically,” said Dr. George French, President of Clark Atlanta University (CAU). With the school’s motto being “I’ll find a way or make one,” he says it is important to note that the decision applies explicitly to institutions that use race as a determinative factor in their admissions decisions.

Affirmative action is not new to education in America. It has been, in some form, helping minorities have an equal footing since the late 1800s. But these actions have always had detractors. The majority has been whitewashing who and what people are privy to access since Lincoln wrote his signature on the Emancipation Proclamation. 

This disdain for equality in education is why Historically Black Colleges and Universities — aka HBCUs — were established in the first place and will be critically important in the coming years.

“Attendance at PWIs [Predominately White Institutions] too often overdetermines the likelihood of gaining access to powerful and influential positions,” said Dr. David Thomas, President of Morehouse. “One needs only to examine the resumes of our Supreme Court Justices and their clerks over the last 40 years to see the evidence.”

Thomas and other academic leaders are disappointed by the ruling but not surprised.

“Affirmative action has long been an essential tool in the fight against systemic inequalities experienced by marginalized communities and has expanded access to educational opportunities that contribute to creating a more just society,” Thomas said.

French agrees and said that many PWIs have already considered racial factors in their admissions decisions before the ruling.

“While the court’s decision has struck down an effective remedy for racism and discrimination, it inadvertently presents an opportunity for HBCUs, such as CAU, to anticipate increased enrollment opportunities for students of color who may be denied access to these schools,” French said. 

People want to feel welcomed – not shunned – when choosing a school to call their alma mater and Black and Brown students will get that along with a family-friendly environment that encourages them to prosper at an HBCU. 

We shouldn’t be in this position, though.

The six justices that voted in favor of this ruling will weaken this country and send us back to 1619 when the first ships holding human cargo from Africa docked at the shores of Virginia. 

They have disgraced the legacy of our first Black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, and they should explain their actions at the foot of his grave and ask the future generations they just disenfranchised for forgiveness. 

“As a nation, we must not only engage in thoughtful and constructive conversations about creating inclusive pathways for all individuals seeking higher education but also take action with our time and wallets to ensure our discussion becomes sustainable realities with real impact,” Thomas said.  

The emotion of having opportunity deflated from our dreams overwhelms people of color and comes at the cost of hope for this country. This ruling has made me feel hollow and now we have proof that I am three-fifths of a person in the eyes of justice. 

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The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation Thomas W. Dortch, Jr. Institution will develop and support community-based leaders addressing racial, social and economic issues in the South.

Last month, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) opened its new Clark Atlanta University (CAU) campus Southern Regional Office to help strengthen its work in the southern U.S.

“This institution will play a part in ensuring democracy thrives for all of us. That economic opportunity is there for all of us. That political empowerment is there for all of us and so much more,” said Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of the NCBCP. 

The NCBCP Thomas W. Dortch Jr. Institute for Leadership, Civic Engagement, Economic Empowerment and Social Justice is a hub for the organization to train future leaders on serving their communities and accumulate research on issues affecting African Americans, like voting rights, social and economic justice and civic engagement. 

“In the face of pervasive attacks on our rights, freedoms and democracy, the launch of the NCBCP Thomas W. Dortch, Jr. Institute are crucial steps toward countering racial and systemic assaults,” Campbel said. “We are bringing national and Southern state leaders together to strategize and plan for short- and long-term solutions. We are laser-focused on rebuilding hope, justice, equality and equity in Black America.”

Dedicated in honor of community leader Thomas “Tommy” Dortch, the institution’s mission is to amplify its civic education leadership development and community outreach work at his alma mater Clark Atlanta University and other Historically Black colleges and universities in the South. The new institution will be a crucial component of the Coalition’s justice, equity and equality initiatives. 

READ MORE: “Georgia says goodbye to its ‘servant leader’ Tommy Dortch.”

When Campbell discussed opening the institution with Dortch and CAU President Dr. George French in 2019, she envisioned a space that would provide experiential learning opportunities for young people and allow them to fellowship with others who want to make a difference at a local level. 

Dortched passed away earlier this year after a long battle with cancer. Several portraits and pictures of its namesake are throughout the building. 

“Tommy was passionate about equity and social justice and had an unwavering dedication to fighting for the least among us to continue to inspire us today,” Campbell said. 

The institution, housed where Dortch received his Master’s in Criminal Justice Administration, will be a robust platform for building a pipeline of talent at CAU through its business administration, communications and political science programs. 

“[The Institution] is the essence of what we’re talking about,” French said. “We’re talking about doing the research. We’re talking about protecting our democracy like we never thought we would before. As president, I am proud to be a part of this historic moment.”

The NCBCP Thomas W. Dortch Institute for Leadership, Empowerment and Social Justice will also host events and roundtable discussions about Black women, encouraging young people to vote and collaborate with other organizations like the Andrew Young Emerging Leadership Institute and the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Foundation. 

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The relationships between Blacks and Whites during segregation is often studied, but a new documentary shows race relations as another group of people affected as well. 

The film “Blurring the Color Line: Chinese in the Segregated South” highlights race relations between the Whites, Blacks and Chinese Americans in Augusta, Ga., during a pivotal time in American history. 

The documentary follows the filmmaker Crystal Kwok on her journey to learn more about her grandmother Pearl’s family living in the Deep South. It begins by posing questions like, “If the Blacks had to sit in the back [of the bus] and whites in the front, where did the Chinese sit?”

The film chronicles Kwok’s journey of finding out more about her Grandmother’s family in Augusta and the racial climate of the city in the 20th Century.

[The film] disrupts the Black and white narrative that we always see – and continue to see,” Kwok said. 

When the Augusta Canal was built in 1845, people from many countries, including China immigrated to the town to help with the construction.  

Kwok’s family immigrated with a merchant class of Chinese families shortly before World World I and opened grocery stores in the predominantly Black community.

“When they came in [the Black community] needed commissaries. They needed grocery mercantile supplies when they didn’t have access to many of the other larger grocery stores,” Kwok said.

During her research, Kwok found out that some secrets that were kept hidden until recently. 

She knew that her grandmother ran away from Augusta when she was a teen. 

She also found out another secret regarding her Great-Aunt Barbara. After her decision to marry a Black man, they ran away to Biloxi, Miss to start their family. Kwok looked into her aunt’s life and met her daughter, also Kwok’s cousin, for the first time. 

“I grew up thinking I did my family tree information and nobody mentioned that I had a cousin who was half Black and half Chinese because our family pushed that under the rug,” Kwok said. “Nobody ever mentioned my Aunt Barbara just because she married a Black man was something that was more troubling and more revealing.”

When Kwok began filming, she asked Daniel Wu, a famous actor in Hong Kong, to be the Executive Producer. When he accepted, he asked his friends, journalist Lisa Ling and comedian W. Kamau Bell if they wanted to join the project. Both of them discuss race relations in the U.S. in their work and knew that the film would be a great way to continue that conversation. 

Kwok knows that this film disrupts the American history that we were taught in school and brings attention to the fact that this is not a “Black and White” world. 

She encourages viewers to look within the cultures like bi-racial marriages and that her Aunt Barbara marrying an African American man is the reason for her exile from the family. 

“It’s not trying to make things more ambiguous but to look into the in-between spaces that actually reveal a deeper history or knowledge of things that slipped through the cracks of history,” Kwok said.

She is excited for the film to premiere on Public Broadcasting Stations across the country and hopes viewers will appreciate her storytelling. 

“Hopefully people will appreciate that we need to tell these types of stories, to disrupt those older narratives and to make us open up a deeper way of understanding or relearning our histories,” Kwok said.

“Blurring the Color Line: Chinese in the Segregated South” will broadcast on PBS on May 25 and will be available on the PBS app then until June 24. 

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