Wildcats represent in Miami SEE PAGE 7
East Central Florida’s Black Voice
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DR. SINCLAIR GREY III: Why education is important for the Black community SEE PAGE 4
BLACK DAYTONA BEACH IN THE 1940S SEE PAGE 3
SEPTEMBER 10 - SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
YEAR 40 NO. 37
www.daytonatimes.com
Online college helps students go the distance BY PENNY DICKERSON DAYTONA TIMES
Kevin Finnie was a BethuneCookman University star running back in 1989. An athletic scholarship helped him break stats as one of former Coach Larry Little’s best rushers. But for Finnie, life and learning have since slowed down. Today, the 48-year-old father lives in Miami. He is a prostate cancer survivor who dropped out of college nine credits short of earning his bachelor’s degree. But thanks to B-CU’s newly certified online college, he re-enrolled in January to complete studies as a liberal arts major and minor in criminal justice. Finnie is scheduled to meet all academic requirements by December and will finally achieve his life’s missing link - an earned degree as a B-CU Wildcat.
Determined to finish
GORDON PARKS
Above and below: These two pictures, were taken 70 years apart of the same intersection.
Black Daytona, 70 years ago Exhibit showcases ‘Midway’ through Gordon Parks photos BY DAYTONA TIMES STAFF
CHARLES W. CHERRY II / DAYTONA TIMES
In 1943, Gordon Parks, a young African-American photographer with the Office of War Information in Washington, D.C., was sent to Daytona Beach to photograph Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. COURTESY OF GORDON PARKS FOUNDATION
T
he photographs of Gordon Parks artfully captured the lives of African-Americans in the mid-20th century with compassion and empathy. In 1943, a federal assignment brought the world-renowned photographer to Daytona Beach to capture photos of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of Bethune-Cookman University. Parks stayed for weeks, capturing images of the Daytona neighborhood known as “Midway.” He photographed classes and sporting events at Bethune-Cookman College as well as everyday life in the neighborhood. From Sept. 11 through Jan. 15, “Midway: Portrait of a Daytona Beach Neighborhood’’ will be on display at the Yvonne Scarlett Golden Cultural and Education-
al Center. The exhibition includes 40 photographs taken in Daytona by Parks, who is perhaps best remembered for his photo essays in Life magazine. Parks died in 2006 at age 93.
Midway ‘Revisited’ In addition to the Parks photographs, “Neighborhood ‘99: Midway Revisited’’ photographs will be on display. Neighborhood ‘99 is a photography project made up of images of the same areas and intersections photographed by Parks over 50 years earlier. The images were produced in 1999 during a workshop led by photojournalist Eli Reed that provided Daytona Beach Community College students an opportunity to document these same neighborhoods from an updated perspective. A selection of Reed’s images and work by two of the student participants, Aaron Mervin and Jim Gavenus, were donated to the museum’s permanent collection at Please see PHOTOS, Page 2
Brittany Starling’s academic path parallels Finnie’s with a few exceptions. The 26-year-old St. Petersburg native enrolled at BCU in 2007 as a traditional student, but through 2012, her enrollment status remained intermittent. At one juncture, Starling left to attend South Daytona’s International Academy where she earned a cosmetology certification. Her initial goal was to obtain her Exceptional Student Education degree and become an ESE teacher, but “life happened.” She returned to Albany, Ga. to live with her mother and three college-enrolled siblings. As the oldest, Starling wanted to send a resonate message to them all: “We have to finish what we start.” Once again, the B-CU Online College enabled a student to achieve a dream. Starling is currently enrolled online in six courses as a psychology major who says, “I’ve grown older and my own experiences have influenced my decision to become a counseling psychologist.” These two stories illustrate the significance of B-CU’s Online College as the first college in the state and second HBCU to obtain certification as reported last week by the Daytona Times.
Stamp of approval “Certification is not a gatekeeper to high-quality programs, but as an HBCU that’s first in the state, this stamp of approval means you have been recognized as a member of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) certification team,” stated Dr. Arletha McSwain, dean for the Online College and professor of education at B-CU. McSwain previously held the position as the dean of extended learning and professor of education at Norfolk State UniverPlease see ONLINE, Page 2
Alfonso ‘Pangy’ Williams dies DAYTONA TIMES STAFF
Alfonso “Pangy” Williams, a lifelong Daytona resident, died Sept. 2 at Halifax Health Hospice of Volusia-Flagler, Port Orange. He was 69. Born May 29, 1946 to the late Eugene Williams and Irene WilAlfonso liams, he gradu“Pangy” ated from CampWilliams bell Senior High School in 1964. Williams was a former football
ALSO INSIDE
coach at Campbell Junior High, basketball coach for the Holly Hill Highlanders and baseball coach. Williams was also a member of Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church and served as minister of music, an ordained deacon and assistant Men’s Sunday school teacher. He worked as the outside supervisor at Mainland High School, recreation director at the Salvation Army and was an insurance agent. He loved fishing and watching Westerns and was a mentor to many young men in the community. Williams, along with Robert
‘Buggy’ Reed, the late Herman Moore, Sr., and the late Ralph Robinson, was one of the first four community mentors recruited by Eldridge Van Geter, the legendary recreation director of the Cypress Street Recreation Center, to coach local area boys in the basketball league Geter originated in the late 1960s. “They got kids from the South Street, PPU (Palmetto Park) and Pine Haven housing projects, and put together a basketball league. The purpose was to get young men off the streets, teach them the game, camaraderie and discipline. They had to have passing grades and good conduct to play. ‘Pangy’ was one of the founding members,” explained Percy Williamson, Sr., director for Daytona
Beach Leisure Services. Known as the Neighborhood Basketball Association, the league was wildly popular locally for almost a decade. In 2002, Daytona Beach Leisure Services, the Daytona Times, WPUL-AM, and some of Williams’s former players got together to honor Williams and his cohorts. The Dickerson Center was filled to capacity and the ceremony was broadcast live on WPUL-AM. Williams and his colleagues received keys to the city from the late Mayor Yvonne Scarlett-Golden. Williams leaves to cherish his memory his sister, Eugenia Moss; caregiver and nephew Tony Ragans (Michelle), Jacksonville; caregivers Diane Welch and
godson Rod MacIntyre (Monica); niece Irene Edwards (Rolo); faithful friends Pastor and Mrs. Isaiah Paul; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. His sisters Dorothy Jones and Claudia Jones and his brother Alvin Vernon Willis preceded him in death. Viewing is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11 at R.J. Gainous Funeral Home, 804 Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd., Daytona Beach. A homegoing service will be Saturday, Sept. 12, at 11 a.m. at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Tony Ragans, c/o Alfonso Williams, 7190 Oxfordshire Ave., Jacksonville, Fla. 32219.
COMMENTARY: GEORGE E. CURRY: BLACK LIVES MATTER IS NOT A BLACK HATE GROUP | PAGE 4 HISTORY: ORIGINAL AUNT JEMIMA BURIAL PLACE FOUND IN CHICAGO | PAGE 5