12 posts tagged “morehouse college”
Morehouse College is one of my greatest loves. I was very intrigued to read this news from my alma mater about the valedictorian of this year's graduating class. Very interesting indeed ... http://tinyurl.com/57m25v
How many documentaries on PBS have I watched only at the end to hear at the end that the program was brought to me by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation?
I was just going through my email feeds and reading the "Berkman Buzz" which is a summary of online and Internet currents emanating from The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. For the week of April 7 there was an announcement that an organization known as Public Radio Exchange had won an award from the MacArthur Foundation that recognizes "Creative and Effective Institutions". This led me to wonder how much do I really know about the MacArthur Foundation and made me realize I should really familiarize myself with an organization that does such great and just right on work.
Before I get to the MacArthur Foundation, let's begin with Public Radio Exchange which the MacArthur Foundation recently recognized with the award for "Creative and Effective Institutions". Public Radio Exchange is, as described in it's "about us" section on its web site, "an online marketplace for distribution, review, and licensing of public radio programming. PRX is also a growing social network and community of listeners, producers, and stations collaborating to reshape public radio. The mission of PRX is to create more opportunities for diverse programming of exceptional quality, interest, and importance to reach more listeners." The MacArthur Foundation chose to recognize Public Radio Exchange for having "invented an ingenious system for bringing a wide variety of high quality programming to public radio stations and directly to audiences." The foundation describes PRX as "leading public radio to become more interactive, diverse, and participatory".
Now who were John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur? John D. MacArthur was born in 1897 in Pennsylvania. MacArthur was the son of a Baptist minister. He made his fortune in the insurance arena and through real estate deals in Florida. John D. MacArthur married Catherine T. Hyland in 1928. Catherine was very intimately involved with the management of her husband's insurance and real estate businesses. John D. died in 1978 and his wife soon followed in 1981. Their foundation was started in 1978. The foundation describes itself as a "private, independent grantmaking institution dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition". The major focus of the organization is fostering knowledge and the spread of information through "public interest media".
Who is on the board of the MacArthur Foundation?
The board members of the MacArthur Foundation are
Robert E. Denham,
Lloyd Axworthy, Drew Saunders Days, III, Jonathan F. Fanton,
Jack Fuller, Jamie Gorelick,
Mary Graham,
Donald R. Hopkins,
Will Miller,
Mario J. Molina, and
Marjorie M. Scardino. I am proud to note that board member, Donald R. Hopkins is a graduate of my alma mater Morehouse College and I am a huge fan of Marjorie Scardino who I am became familiar with while working for Allyn/Bacon a division of Pearson Education in Boston.
What is the MacArthur Foundation up to these days?
For a perspective of recent grants given by the foundation go here.
I am particularly intrigued by the work the foundation is doing with MIT Press in a series of publications called The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Technology and education---one of my most salient points of intellectual interests these days, is brought to the fore in this series of publications that examines youth, media, and learning.
Let's go back to Public Radio Exchange which I mentioned at the beginning of this post. As this blog is a testament I am a HUGE fan of public radio and do my best to support it at every instance I can.
I've recently been reconnecting with people from my past, most specifically graduates of Spelman College and Morehouse College. I have been using the professional networking site LinkedIn, good old fashioned "Google" searches, as well as a social networking site specifically geared toward Morehouse and Spelman grads called SpelHouseRoundup.net. Through these channels I've been able to reconnect with several good friends and classmates from my past who I have been out of touch with over the years. However there is one fellow Morehouse alum that I am really interested in reconnecting with because of his involvement with public radio---Maxie Jackson. Maxie has had a distinguished career in public radio. The last I heard from him he was acting general manager of WEAA 88.9 FM at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. Currently Maxie is with one of my favorite pubic radio entities WNYC as Senior Director of Program Development. Maxie and I crossed paths after Morehouse during my years in Ann Arbor, Michigan and kind of fell out of touch after that. I was very pleased to be surfing YouTube and came across a series of interviews that Maxie did as a judge for a Public Radio Exchange sponsored event called Public Radio Talent Quest.
Maxie if you're out there give me a shout. I know we'll connect eventually. I'd love to catch up and talk to you about the future of public radio.
Do you know where the Cape Verde islands are? Not many people do has been my experience. Forturnately I learned of these islands off the coast of West Africa when I learned African geograpy during my freshman year at Morehouse College. I gained further knowledge of Cape Verde while living in Boston which is home to many Cape Verde migrants.
Even here in ABQ I have met a young man named Enrique from Connecticut who has Cape Verde roots. He's become a pretty good friend. I have long been a fan of perhaps the most famous Cape Verdean, Cesaria Evora, whose morna music fills my iTunes database. Today I was pleased to learn of Sara Tavares on NPR. Click on the link and learn of the music and life story of Sara Tavares. Rest assured I will acquire some music by this young woman as soon as money and time permits. Her voice is golden ...
There was also a very good story of recent activity in Cape Verde in the New York Times. Click here.
One of the signatures in my email messages from my Gmail account is from Frantz Fanon, the psychoanalyst from Martinique. It reads "Mastery of language affords remarkable power". I have lived by this mantra since my college days. I take great pride in the fact that from the sixth grade straight through my sophomore year of college I was engaged in the academic study of the Spanish language. If I could go back and do it again I would have majored in Spanish. I thank God that Morehouse College being the great liberal arts institution that it is, required in its general requirements for graduation, 2 years of foreign language study. I am even more thankful for my Peace Corps experience which allowed me to learn French, Kiluba (the local language of the Baluba people), and some Ki-Swahili.
English is obviously the official language of the United States of America but I find that too many Americans have an aversion to learning foreign languages. As I continue my Spanish study here in New Mexico, I am continually amazed by how many people in ABQ who are natives or have lived here for a significant amonut of time don't speak Spanish or have any interest in learning how to speak it. The Spanish language resources in Albuquerque are so deep and the opportunities to be engaged in the language are endless.
Foreign language study is so important for so many reasons. I was deeply disturbed to read this from eSchool News today about foreign language study in Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the story as well.
On June 30, President Walter E. Massey, 9th President of Morehouse College, will end his tenure as President and pass the mantle of leadership to the next generation as Dr. Robert Michael Franklin '75 becomes the 10th President of Morehouse College on July 3.
Hear the interview with Dr. Massey, in its entirety, as NPR news interviewer (and Morehouse College parent), Tony Cox, asks Dr. Massey about his legacy at Morehouse College. This interview was aired nationally on Thursday and Friday of last week.
Click on the link below to hear the interview:
As stated earlier in this blog I was supporting John Wilson to become the next president of Morehouse College, my alma mater. Unfortunately that was not to be the case as the Board of Trustees has chosen Dr. Robert M. Franklin, Jr. Franklin (Morehouse class of 1975) will officially take office on Monday, July 2, succeeding Dr. Walter E. Massey (Morehouse class of 1958), who will retire June 30, 2007.
Best wishes to Dr. Franklin who has an outstanding reputation in the field of theology and appears to be a top notch academician. My only hope is that the Morehouse legacy is maintained and strengthened during the upcoming reign of Franklin. For the Morehouse press release annoucing the decision click here. For a view of Franklin's resume click here.
I have a good friend that dates back from my freshman year at Morehouse College. We reconnected during the years that I lived in Boston as he lived in Boston for awhile as well. Steve Grevious has been there for me through the proverbial thick and the thin and I know that he always has my back. Steve now resides in the Bay area of California but not a week passes that we don't communicate via email, instant message chats, or by phone call. I truly appreciate this brother's friendship.
One of Steve and my greatest bonds is a passion for music and especially the music of Sly and The Family Stone. Steve and I consider Sly's "If You Want Me to Stay" to be one of the greatest pieces of music in any genre. I was recently made aware by another good friend from my Ann Arbor days, Marty Gosser, of what must be considered a treasure for fans of the music of this seminal funk/soul musical group. Legacy Recordings recently marked the 40th anniversary of the band's signing to Epic Records this week with Sly and The Family Stone: The Collection, a limited-edition box set of seven newly remastered classic albums. I look forward to hearing this work as soon as I can muster up the funds to purchase it. Thank you Legacy Recordings for bringing this music to the world. From what I have been reading about this release there is more to come from the vaults. Now if someone could just find those supposed tracks of Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix playing together, I would be oh so happy (talk about an urban legend/myth). Nonetheless I'll take this new and remastered Sly stuff and enjoy for awhile.
A few posts ago I discussed the stepping down of Walter Massey from the post of president of my alma mater Morehouse College. The presidential search committee at Morehouse has cut the candidates to succeed Massey down to three. The candidates are Calvin O. Butts III, Robert M. Franklin, and John S. Wilson, Jr.
When I lived in Boston one of the things that kept me anchored and gave me hope was my participation in the Greater Boston Morehouse College Alumni Association. Through the GBMCAA I was able to survive the rough and tumble social/cultural atmosphere that I have duly noted about Boston in this blog. For more than 10 years and coinciding with my time in Boston, John S. Wilson, Jr. served as President of the GBMCAA. I had the pleasure of getting to know John and his family. John is simply amazing as an academic, adminstrator and leader.
Let this blog post be a ringing endorsement of John S. Wilson, Jr. to become the next president of Morehouse College. For more about John's qualifications click here. I strongly urge other Morehouse men to make their voices heard about the upcoming presidential selection.
Morehouse College in Atlanta Georgia is where I graduated college. I was an undergraduate there from 1984-1988. I hold many fond memories of my academic career there as well as the unique social/cultural atmosphere I was exposed to by attending college in a progressive Black urban center and the only all male historically Black institution of higher learning in the United States.
It was with great sadness and regret that I learned a few months ago of the coming departure of the current Morehouse president, Walter Massey. Massey has served Morehouse well during his tenure as president. I hope that the current presidential search will yield a man like Massey who was serious about maintaining and bolstering Morehouse's academic reputation as one of the strongest liberal arts colleges in America. Under Massey's watch Morehouse has continued its tradition of building outstanding and dedicated Black men to serve in all types of capacities throughout the world.
Here is a link to a recent New York Times article about Massey and Morehouse.
It's spring here in ABQ and I find myself listening to a great deal of Brazilian music and Joni Mitchell to keep my soul and mind on fire. I'll be writing more about Joni in a few weeks as she has long been a favorite of mine since college days. The first time I took a concious note of Joni Mitchell was in 1987 during my junior year at Morehouse. I was driving my 1985 Nissan Sentra on a school night back to my grandparents house in Atlanta where I lived. I was listening to WCLK, the jazz radio station from then Clark College in Atlanta. I don't remember the tune but it was from her album entitled The Hissing of the Summer Lawns. I was immediately drawn to the track and was surprised when at the end of the tune the announcer said it was Joni Mitchell who I didn't recognize as a "jazz" musician. However after many years of listening to that album, I consider Joni not only a jazz musician but one of the greatest singer song writers in the history of music. As I said ... more later ...
