Spectacular Magazine June 2016 (on line)

June 2016

SPECTACULAR

MAGAZINE

www.spectacularmag.com

SPECTACULAR PUBLISHING, INC. 3333 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd, Suite A-101 Durham, NC 27707

PRESIDENT – CEO

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Phyllis D. Coley

Gary N. Jones, MBA

PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

PHYLLIS COLEY

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

GARY N. JONES COLUMNISTS

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FELICIA DAVIES SHERRI HOLMES JAYMES POWELL, JR. PHOTOGRAPHERS

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DERON AVERY

Spectacular Magazine enlightens, empowers and entertains with news, features, columns, commentaries and calendars. Spectacular Magazine is published monthly and distributed free in Durham, Wake, Orange, Granville, Vance and Person counties.

DEADLINE FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS IS THE 15TH OF EACH MONTH. CONTACT US: info@spectacularmag.com or by mail: P.O. Box 361 Durham, NC 27702 919.680.0465 4

IN THIS ISSUE

Vol. III, Issue VI Ballin’ Out Briefly Commentary Cover Story Community Health Editorial Entertainment FEATURES Carl Carlton Dixon Brothers D-Wissh John Thorpe Juneteenth Junkyard Band Pam Saulsby Rude Boys Tha Materials From The Publisher’s Desk Health & Beauty Lifestyles News Briefs Out & About Samantha’s Infinite Solutions Sports

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EDITORIAL

From The Publisher’s Desk...

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!

Phyllis D. Coley, CEO/Publisher

pcoley@spectacularmag.com

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COMMENTARY

FAREWELL, AFENI SHAKUR

By Lamont Lilly

successfully secure her freedom. No money. No attorney. No privilege.

Pregnant with her second child, Tupac Amaru Shakur, what Afeni was able to do in that courtroom was nothing short of miraculous. Magical. Mind blowing.

On April 2, 1969, twentyone members of the Harlem Chapter of the Black Panther Party were formally indicted and charged with 156 counts of “conspiracy” to blow up subway and police stations, five local department stores, six railroads, and the Bronx based New York Botanical Garden.

By the early morning hours of April 3, mass sweeps were conducted city wide by combat squads of armed police.

Law enforcement agencies ranging from the CIA, FBI, U.S. Marshalls and NY state police worked simultaneously to coordinate assaults on panther homes and community based offices.

After numerous raids, ten panther men and two panther women were formally arrested, processed and quickly jailed. There was no doubt that the indictment of the Panther ‘New York 21’ was a political and racist frameup to not only “disrupt, discredit and destroy,” but to utterly dismantle the Black Panther Party from the inside out.

For the panthers who, fortunately, weren’t murdered or assassinated, exiled or imprisoned, the courts became a convenient and effective form of legal lynching, a straightjacket beyond the walls, a robbery of valuable time and resources.

Each member of the ‘New York 21’ was held on $100,000 bail, totaling over $2.1 million. It was not until January of 1970 that the first panther was able to post bail. That panther was 22 year old Alice Faye Williams, better known as Afeni Shakur.

Sister Soldier, Woman Warrior In a grueling and tedious trial, Afeni Shakur (facing 300 years of prison time) daringly chose to be her own attorney, partly because financial resources were already razor-thin.

Afeni, however, meticulously conducted her own legal research, her own interviews, as well as in-court cross examinations – fully realizing that “she would be the one serving, not the lawyers.” She was the only panther who served as their own counsel.

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On May 12 1971, after two years of legal proceedings, all 21 panthers were acquitted of their charges. The jury needed just a mere 45 minutes to see the truth.

Afeni-Shakur

Here was a small-framed impoverished black girl from the backwoods of Lumberton, North Carolina, staring down a full team of New York state prosecutors – outwitting a full cast of establishment-owned media outlets.

court. In their undying efforts to “discredit,” it was revealed during the trial that the FBI had actually planted undercover infiltrators who, under oath, admitted their role as provocateurs.

Despite the odds, after all the surveillance, warrantless wiretapping, infiltration and frame-ups, not one shred of state’s evidence stood in

Though the case of the Black Panther ‘New York 21’ was the longest trial in New York state history, on her own guts and wit, Afeni Shakur would

The name Afeni was given to her by a community elder from South Carolina, a descendant of the Yoruba tradition who chose the name Afeni meaning, “lover of the people.” And love the people is exactly what Afeni did. A dedicated community organizer, fearless warrior, activist, scholar, teacher, and real-life revolutionary, Afeni Shakur gave her life to the people.

On May 2, 2016, Marin County sheriff’s deputies and firefighters responded to Shakur’s houseboat in Sausalito, Calif., after she fell ill and suffered a suspected heart attack. Shakur was rushed to Marin General Hospital, where she was treated for about an hour before she was pronounced dead.

She was 69.

So, as we commemorate the mother of Hip Hop’s “Black Jesus,” let us not forget the Black woman general who indubitably blazed her own legacy.

Farewell to the ‘Sister Soldier’ who just joined Malcolm, Harriet, Ida. All power to the people!

NC based activist, Lamont Lilly is the 2016 Workers World Party U.S.Vice-Presidential Candidate. He resides in Durham.

OP-ED SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Spectacular Magazine accepts opinion articles on any topic, not only policy, politics or government. If it’s opinionated and you believe our readers will find it worth reading, please submit it. Submissions of any length will be considered but the more concise the better chance it will be selected for print. All submissions must be original, and exclusive to Spectacular Magazine. We will not consider articles that have already been published, in any form, in print or online. Submissions may be sent in either of these ways: By e-mail to: opinion@spectacularmag.com Or by mail to: Spectacular Magazine Opinion Page P.O. Box 361 Durham, NC 27702 Submission must include your full name, address and phone number.

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OUT & ABOUT

NC BLACK SUMMIT

RALEIGH, NC - The Alliance of North Carolina Black Elected Officials held its 11th Annual North Carolina Black Summit on April 21-22, 2016 at the Hilton Garden Inn Crabtree Valley in Raleigh. More than 300 of North Carolina’s leading black elected officials, advocates and community members gathered to discuss issues and policy objectives. State Senator Dan Blue, Jr. and House Democratic Leader Representative Larry Hall along with Legislative Black Caucus Chair Representative Garland Pierce previewed the upcoming legislative session during an afternoon town hall meeting. Former S.C. Rep. Bakari Sellers was keynote speaker for annual banquet.

History Makers Hon. Eva M. Clayton, ret. U.S. Congress, Hon. Henry E. Frye, ret. Chief Justice, ret. N.C. Supreme Court, Hon. Henry M. “Mickey” Michaux, N.C. House and Dr. Dudley Flood, ret. N.C. Department of Public Instruction participated in a special panel discussion at the Senator Jeanne H. Lucas Luncheon. Courtney Crowder serves as Executive Director of the Alliance of North Carolina Black Elected Officials. (Photos: Mel Brown)

(L-R) Hon. Henry E. Frye, Dr. Dudley Flood, Hon. Eva M. Clayton and Hon. Henry M. “Mickey” Michaux

Courtney Crowder

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Former SC state Rep. Bakari Sellers - Banquet Keynote Speaker

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SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE BUSINESS AFTER HOURS Thursday May 26, 2016 ~ Full Frame Theater@ American Tobacco Campus

DURHAM, NC – Sponsored by Community Health Coalition, Inc., Spectacular Magazine held its monthly social gathering Thursday May 26th in the Full Frame Theater on the American Tobacco Campus. Triangle business professionals, leaders, and executives enjoyed music, hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, & door prizes while networking in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. Community Health Coalition, Inc. presented “The Precious Gift of Life,” a 20-minute documentary on the myths, facts, and realities of becoming an organ donor, introduced a heart transplant recipient and afforded attendees the opportunity for a Q&A. (Photos: Mel Brown)

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THE FRYE FOUNDATION HOSTS AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION FUNDRAISER FAYETTEVILLE, NC – The Frye Foundation hosted a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Foundation on June 4th at the Crown Coliseum. Olympics medalist Gail Devers was the keynote speaker. Founded by the University of South Carolina Head Track and Field Coach Curtis Frye and his wife Wilma in 2011, The Frye Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the assistance of persons and their families that deal with diabetes and mental illnesses. (Submitted photo)

THE SUPPORT CENTER RECEIVES NAGGL’S CHAMPION OF VETERANS SMALL BUSINESS LENDING AWARD

1st ANNUAL KINSTON FUNK FESTIVAL: A HERITAGE CELEBRATION

KINSTON, NC – The African American Heritage Commission of Kinston and Lenior County sponsored the 1st Annual Kinston Funk Festival on May 28 in the historic Adkin High School. The genius of the musicians in the area was honored including a special tribute to Kinston native Maceo Parker. Pictured left to right: Clemmie “Fig” Jones, Maceo Parker’s brother Melvin and Kinston City Councilman Sammy Aiken. (Submitted photo)

ST. LOUIS, MO. - The Support Center (TSC) was awarded with the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders’ (NAGGL) Champion of Veterans Small Business Lending award, exemplifying commitment to helping veterans succeed at NAGGL’s spring 2016 conference in St. Louis on May 3rd.

Since 1990, The Support Center has been offering services to create economic opportunities for individuals, families and entrepreneurs throughout North Carolina. In fiscal year 2015, TSC provided SBA 7(a) loans totaling $604,000 to seven different veteran-owned and small businesses and helped them create or maintain 50 jobs in North Carolina. TSC President/CEO Lenwood Long (pictured center) accepted the award. (Submitted photo)

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COVER STORY

THE HISTORY OF

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free.

Davis agreed to the terms; the Confederacy would lay down its arms.

But the telegram Sherman had received haunted the agreements yet. With Lincoln dead, Washington was controlled by the Radical Republicans – men who were less inclined than the late president to reconciliation. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton denounced Sherman as a traitor for the leniency of his terms. General Ulysses S. Grant was sent to North Carolina to negotiate in his place.

Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order.

However, with the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in April of 1865 at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance. This event triggered a series of surrenders across the South, signaling the end of the Civil War, including the largest surrender of the war in Durham, NC.

Grant, however, out of respect for Sherman, stayed in Raleigh with the troops and sent Sherman back to the table, where he met his old foe Johnston once again. Sherman presented terms that were military only; it would be a surrender, not a peace.

Union Army General Ulysses S. Grant accepting Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. This event triggered a series of surrenders across the South, signaling the end of the Civil War. (Reproduction of a painting by Thomas Nast – public domain) Road on his way to meet Union General William T. Sherman halfway between their armies in Greensboro and Raleigh.

It was April 17, 1865 - a week after General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate army in Virginia at Appomattox. His president, Jefferson Davis, had fled south to Greensboro to avoid capture by the Union Army and met up with Johnston’s troops.

Surrender at Bennett Place – Durham, NC Located near the railroad crossing known as Durham Station, the heart of the area that would soon grow into the city of Durham, sat a 325-acre farm owned by the Bennett family. Confederate General Joseph Johnston had passed it with his escort as he rode down the Hillsborough

Johnston had been fighting both for and against Davis for years. He joined the Confederate Army in 1861 when his home state of Virginia seceded, and he led them in a bitter campaign against Sherman in 1864. They fought from Chattanooga to Atlanta before Davis, believing Johnston was being too lenient in battle, relieved Johnston of command.

Then Appomattox happened, and the two bitter rivals, grizzled men of war, agreed to meet to discuss an unlikely possibility – one of peace.

And it was with that goal that these enemies found themselves in the Bennett’s house.

As Sherman set out to meet Johnston that morning he received a telegram: President Lincoln had been assassinated.

With Lincoln’s wishes for reconciliation in mind, the two discussed what was to be done. Johnston wished to negotiate a lasting peace, an agreement that would lay out both military and political terms, including recognition of courts and states’ rights.

Davis was incensed. He ordered Johnston to disband his infantry and flee south with his cavalry to prepare for guerilla war. The fighting was to go on, and the Confederacy would draw out the war for as long as it could. More sons would die; more lives would be ruined; more cities would burn.

But Johnston disobeyed. As he sat with Sherman, Johnston likely thought about the battles the two had fought, the lives they had sacrificed for the war. He decided that the country had seen too much destruction. Too many lives had been lost. Johnston broke orders and surrendered the 89,270 troops in the armies of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida.

It would be the largest surrender of the war. Johnston’s decision, following Lee’s before him, marked the end of the Confederacy. More surrender’s came in the weeks after, the will to fight on lost without Johnston and Lee’s troops.

America’s Civil War was finally at its end, led there by the decisions Johnston and Sherman made sitting at the Bennett family table.

Sherman, faced with a man he fought in battle for months, surprisingly agreed to When Sherman, Johnston’s official almost everything. He was trying to do foe, burned Atlanta and marched on to what Lincoln would want; he was trying Savannah and the sea, then north, through to reunite the states. The two met again Two & A Half Year Delay Columbia and into North Carolina, the next day, and Sherman presented burning cities along the way, Davis called a document that would finally end the Johnston back into duty, and Johnston War Between the States and all its began a fight with Sherman once again. destruction.

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JUNETEENTH CONTINUES Later attempts to explain this two and a half year delay in the receipt of this important news have yielded several versions that have been handed down through the years. Often told is the story of a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom.

Another is that the news was deliberately withheld by the enslavers to maintain the labor force on the plantations. And still another is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.

All of which, or neither of these versions could be true. Certainly, for some, President Lincoln’s authority over the rebellious states was in question. For whatever the reasons, conditions in Texas remained status quo well beyond what was statutory.

General Order Number 3 One of General Granger’s first orders of business was to read to the people of Texas, General Order Number 3 which began most significantly with:

ENDING OF SLAVERY & EFFECT ON DURHAM’S ECONOMY By 1860, Durham’s Stagville Plantation lay at the center of one of the largest plantation holdings in the South. African slaves were brought to labor on these farms and plantations, and slave quarters became the hearth of distinctively Southern cultural traditions involving crafts, social relations, life rituals, music, and dance.

Due to a disagreement between slave owners and farmers, North Carolina was the last state to secede from the Union. Durham residents fought in several North Carolina regiments. In April 1865, two months before the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas, Union General Sherman and Confederate General Johnston negotiated the largest surrender and the end of the Civil War at Bennett Place in Durham.

“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”

The reactions to this profound news ranged from pure shock to immediate jubilation. While many lingered to learn of this new employer to employee relationship, many left before these offers were completely off the lips of their former ‘masters’ - attesting to the varying conditions on the plantations and the realization of freedom.

Even with nowhere to go, many felt that leaving the plantation would be their first grasp of freedom. North was a logical destination and for many it represented true freedom, while the desire to reach family members in neighboring states drove the some into Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Settling into these new areas as free men and women brought on new realities and the challenges of establishing a heretofore non-existent status for black people in America. Recounting the memories of that great day in June of 1865 and its festivities would serve as

Washington Duke After the ceasefire in Durham, Yankee and Rebel troops celebrated together and discovered Brightleaf tobacco -with a taste that led to the ultimate success of Washington Duke and his family and spawned one of the world’s largest corporations (which included American Tobacco, Liggett & Meyers, R.J. Reynolds, and P. Lorillard). Tobacco soon inspired other Durham developments.

In subsequent years, American

ownership, business ownership, and community leadership. In 1898, John Merrick founded North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, which today is the largest and oldest African American owned life insurance company in the nation .

Nc Mutual Life Insurance Co Circa 1921

The celebration of Juneteenth is a significant milestone in American and Durham history.

Juneteenth serves symbolically and in reality as a reference point from which to appreciate the progress and contributions made by African Americans to this society.

Scenes at the North Carolina College for Negroes, Durham, NC, circa 1939 (Courtesy, University of North Carolina) Tobacco became the biggest tobacco company in the world with successful products such as the unique, “toasted” tobacco in the Lucky Strike brand. Pall Mall and Tareyton also ranked among their successes. American even enjoyed the help of celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and Jack Benny in its promotional efforts.

After the Civil War, the African American economy progressed through a combination of vocational training, jobs, land

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With its founding in 1907, M&F Bank became one of the nation’s strongest African American owned and managed bank. So many other businesses joined these two in Durham’s Parrish Street neighborhood that the area became famous across the country as “Black Wall Street”. In 1910, Dr. James E. Shepard founded North Carolina Central University, the nation’s first publicly supported liberal arts college for African Americans.

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Black Wall St

JUNETEENTH CONTINUES

motivation as well as a release from the growing pressures encountered in their new territory.

The celebration of June 19 was coined “Juneteenth” and grew with more participation from descendants. The Juneteenth celebration was a time for reassuring each other, for praying and for gathering remaining family members.

Juneteenth continued to be highly revered in Texas decades later, with many former slaves and descendants making an annual pilgrimage back to Galveston on this date. th

Juneteenth Festivities and Food A range of activities were provided to entertain the masses, many of which continue in tradition today.

Rodeos, fishing, barbecuing and baseball are just a few of the typical Juneteenth activities you may witness today.

Juneteenth almost always focused on education and self improvement.

Thus, often guest speakers are brought in and the elders are called upon to recount the events of the past. Prayer services were also a major part of these celebrations.

Certain foods became popular and subsequently synonymous with Juneteenth celebrations such as strawberry soda-pop. More traditional and just as popular was the barbecuing, through which Juneteenth participants could share in the spirit and aromas that their ancestors - the newly emancipated African Americans, would have experienced during their ceremonies.

Hence, the barbecue pit is often established as the center of attention at Juneteenth celebrations.

Food was abundant because everyone prepared a special dish. Meats such as lamb, pork and beef which were not

available everyday were brought on this special occasion. A true Juneteenth celebrations left visitors well satisfied and with enough conversation to last until the next.

Dress was also an important element in early Juneteenth customs and is often still taken seriously, particularly by the direct descendants who can make the connection to this tradition’s roots. During slavery there were laws on the books in many areas that prohibited or limited the dressing of the enslaved. During the initial days of the emancipation celebrations, there are accounts of former slaves tossing their ragged garments into the creeks and rivers to adorn clothing taken from the plantations belonging to their former ‘masters’.

Juneteenth and Society In the early years, little interest existed outside the African American community in participation in the celebrations.

In some cases, there was outwardly exhibited resistance by barring the use of public property for the festivities. Most of the festivities found themselves out in rural areas around rivers and creeks that could provide for additional activities such as fishing, horseback riding and

their laborers return to work. However, it seems most allowed their workers the day off and some even made donations of food and money. For decades these annual celebrations flourished, growing continuously with each passing year. In Booker T. Washington Park, as many as 20,000 African Americans once flowed through during the course of a week, making the celebration one of the state’s largest.

Juneteenth Celebrations Decline

Texas Blazes the Trail On January 1, 1980, Juneteenth became an official state holiday through the efforts of Al Edwards, an African American state legislator. The successful passage of this bill marked Juneteenth as the first emancipation celebration granted official state recognition. Edwards has since actively sought to spread the observance of Juneteenth all across America.

Economic and cultural forces provided for a decline in Juneteenth activities and participants beginning in the early 1900’s.

Classroom and textbook education in lieu of traditional home and family-taught practices stifled the interest of the youth due to less emphasis and detail on the activities of former slaves. Classroom text books proclaimed Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 as the date signaling the ending of slavery - and little or nothing on the impact of General Granger’s arrival on June 19th.

Juneteenth Legislation in North Carolina In 2007, North Carolina became the 26th state to recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or a state holiday observance when it is recognized nationally. April 2009, Juneteenth Celebration in Durham was officially designated as The Annual North Carolina Juneteenth Celebration by the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation. Currently there is legislation in the NC General Assembly to declare Juneteenth as an official State Day of Observance.

The Depression forced many people off the farms and into the cities to find work.

In these urban environments, employers were less eager to grant leaves to celebrate this date. Thus, unless June 19th fell on a weekend or holiday, there were very few participants available.

July 4th was the already established Independence holiday and a rise in patriotism steered more toward this celebration.

Juneteenth in Modern Times

Resurgence The Civil Rights movement of the 50’s and 60’s yielded both positive and negative results for the Juneteenth celebrations. While it pulled many of the African American youth away and into the struggle for racial equality, many linked these struggles to the historical struggles Emancipation Park of their ancestors. This was evidenced by student demonstrators barbecues. Often the church grounds were involved in the Atlanta civil rights the site for such activities. campaign in the early 1960’s, whom wore Eventually, as African Americans became Juneteenth freedom buttons. land owners, land was donated and Again in 1968, Juneteenth received dedicated for these festivities. One of another strong resurgence through Poor the earliest documented land purchases in the name of Juneteenth was organized Peoples March to Washington D.C. Rev. Ralph Abernathy’s call for people

by Rev. Jack Yates. This fund-raising of all races, creeds, economic levels effort yielded $1000 and the purchase of and professions to come to Washington Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas. to show support for the poor. Many In Mexia, Texas the local Juneteenth of these attendees returned home and organization purchased Booker T. Washington Park, which had become the initiated Juneteenth celebrations in areas previously absent of such activity. In fact, Juneteenth celebration site in 1898. two of the largest Juneteenth celebrations founded after this March are now held in There are accounts of Juneteenth Milwaukee and Minneapolis. activities being interrupted and halted by white landowners demanding that

Today, Juneteenth is enjoying a phenomenal growth rate within communities and organizations throughout the country. Institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Henry Ford Museum and others have begun sponsoring Juneteenth-centered activities.

In recent years, a number of local and national Juneteenth organizations have arisen to take their place alongside older organizations - all with the mission to promote and cultivate knowledge and appreciation of African American history and culture.

Juneteenth today, celebrates African American freedom and achievement, while encouraging continuous selfdevelopment and respect for all cultures.

As it takes on a more national, symbolic and even global perspective, the events of 1865 in Texas are not forgotten, for all of the roots tie back to this fertile soil from which a national day of pride is growing.

The future of Juneteenth looks bright as the number of cities and states creating Juneteenth committees continues to increase. Respect and appreciation for all of our differences grow out of exposure and working together. Getting involved and supporting Juneteenth celebrations creates new bonds of friendship and understanding among us. This indeed, brightens our future - and that is the Spirit of Juneteenth. (source: www.civilwardurham.com)

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FEATURES 12TH ANNUAL NORTH CAROLINA

PERFORMERS “ AFRICAN AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY”

THE BAND was formed in 1980 by kids ranging in age from 8 to 13, living in the Barry Farm government housing project in Washington, D.C. They were inspired to play after witnessing the performances of local go-go bands in their neighborhood.

Not having resources to purchase traditional instruments, the kids scoured their neighborhood in search of objects that could emulate the sound of real instruments: hubcaps, crates, buckets, cans and discarded pots and pans.

After a few performances in Barry Farm, the group was dubbed the “Junkyard Band.”

This is perhaps a reference to the animated television program, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, whose band “The Junk Yard Gang” also performed on improvised instruments.

With go-go music gaining

THE JUNKYARD BAND

in popularity, and the band gaining local notoriety, they began booking performances at schools, recreation centers, fundraisers, and government agencies. The band was often seen performing for tourists on the streets of Washington, DC around the grounds of the monuments and the popular area of the city called Georgetown.

This popularity led to appearances in a 1984 television commercial for Cavalier Men’s Store and the 1983 film D.C. Cab.

By the mid 1980’s, the band was performing regularly at clubs and events in the mid-Atlantic region.

They caught the attention of music producer Rick Rubin and signed with Def Jam Records in 1985. The year 1986 saw the release of their popular song “Sardines” and in 1988, the band appeared in the film Tougher Than Leather with Run-D.M.C.

Far from being a novelty act Junkyard can be thought of as the creators of the new school in terms of their contribution to the world of go-go. Before them every go-go band of any significance had a horn section, bass guitar player and most likely a lead guitar player also.

Early Junkyard had none of these but instead developed a characteristic layered percussion sound based on improvised instruments.

One significant trend that Junkyard formalized is the one, two and three mics (microphones) of the go-go world.

A one mic is the band leader or in go-go parlance, the “Talker.”

The two mic initially was the hype backup to the one mic but eventually became the rapper as well. The three mic is the designated or best singer in the

group. All of these duties had been taken on in other bands by bass and lead guitar players, horn players and only rarely by vocal only members. By 1988 Junkyard’s front line of Buggs as 1 mic, Bruce Bailey as 2 mic and Gene Pratt as three mic, standardized the form that all subsequent young bands would follow.

Over the years the band transformed from a novelty act to a mainstay and a viable performing and recording band.

The band is credited with having performed at venues such as the Capital Centre in Maryland, the famous Apollo Theater, Richmond Coliseum and the John F. Kennedy Center for the performing Arts. The band has also opened for and shared the stage with artist such as TuPac, Ice Cube, the Beastie Boys, Floetry, Erykah Badu, Chuck Brown and so many others.

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THE RUDE BOYS THE RUDE BOYS are an R&B vocal group from Cleveland, Ohio. Joe N Little III aka Joey Beanz Little, along with Edward (Buddy) Lee Banks, was discovered by Gerald Levert singing in a local night club in Cleveland, Ohio. Levert expressed that he wanted to further hear them sing again and possibly sign the two.

At that time both were the lead singers of a local R&B group along with members Larry (Bingo) Marcus (cousin of B. B. King) and Melvin Sephus.

After meeting the other group members and working in studio with them, Levert presented the group to Sylvia Rhone, then Senior VP of Atlantic Records and in turn got them signed to the label in 1988.

The band’s 1990 debut album Rude Awakening, started slow with its first release “Come On Let’s Do This” which peaked at #38 on the Billboard R&B charts.

However, it was the group’s second single, “Written All Over Your Face” that made the group a sensation, as the single topped the R&B charts.

The song showcased the vocals of Little and Banks, with a cameo

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appearance by Gerald Levert.

The single rode the charts for 31 weeks, and finally made it to #1 on the Billboard R&B charts and #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also won 1991 Award for R&B Single of the Year (“Written All Over Your Face”).

The group would score a second #1 hit on Billboard R&B hit from this album in 1990, “Are You Lonely for Me” written by Little and Tony Nicholas, With the wellrounded, riffing baritone of Little and the vibrating, towering tenor of Banks, the single rose straight to the top. This is one of the few songs, since the emergence of videos, to gain the number one ranking without a video.

Another song released from the album was “Heaven,” a natural soulful vocal with a peppy rhythm which peaked at the # 15 spot on the Billboard R&B chart.

The album Rude Awakening peaked at #10 Billboard R&B/HipHop Albums and #68 Billboard 200. The Rude Boys also toured that year with Levert and The O’Jays. The album itself was just one spot below the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums top 10 spot, where it sat comfortably at #11 in the spring of 1990.

Riding on the success of their two laid-back number one singles from their debut release, the boys followed up their debut album with Rude House in 1992.

They came flying back with the up-tempo “My Kinda Girl” (a underground new jack hit) which was energetically complemented by the superb vocals of Little and Banks, who admirably improvise their way through the vamp.

The song also was remixed by then director of A&R at Atlantic Records DJ Clark Kent, a hip hop DJ and record producer from New York at the time. Clark was pushing an unknown rapper from the Marcy housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY who would come to be known to the world as Jay-Z. This move propelled “My Kinda Girl” in the hip hop underground scene in New York and abroad.

Also to support the single, Jay-Z performed with the Rude Boys live at one of the Big Apple’s premiere underground hip hop clubs.

Falling short of the number one ranking, the single peaked at number #2 after 18 weeks on the Billboard R&B chart. The

SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE | June 2016 | www.spectacularmag.com

next single to be released, Go Ahead and Cry, peaked at #43 on the Billboard R&B charts. The excellent singing by Banks, Little and company could not disguise the fact that the R&B world was moving closer to the genre of hip hop.

Staying under Gerald Levert’s tutelage, Little went on to do a solo album up under Atlantic Records entitled Puttin It Down in 1994, and with minimal promotion sold a little over 250,000 records. Little also went on to team up with Levert as a writing team on multiple occasions, writing and producing for Levert’s solo projects and on other notable artist such as The O’Jays, Temptations, Keith Sweat, LSG, and stable mates Men at Large, where Levert, Little, Nicholas and Banks teamed up to write and produce “So Alone,” which peaked at No. 5 spot on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip Hop Chart and No. 31 Billboard’s Hot 100.

Throughout their career, The Rude Boys appeared on Soul Train, Showtime at the Apollo, The Arsenio Hall Show, and Party Machine.

CARL CARLTON Detroit native Carl Carlton got his start in the record business through baseball. When a neighbor yelled down from an apartment window to some kids playing baseball in vacant lot to stop playing ball and to turn that radio off, they yelled back “that ain’t no radio, that’s Carl!” The neighbor ran down to see where this astonishing soulful voice was coming from.

Later, he took Carlton to Lando Records where he began recording in the late ‘60s. When a single, “Competition Ain’t Nothing,” started to take off in the summer of 1968, the single was picked up by Don Robey’s Back Beat Records. Carlton signed with the label and moved to Houston where the label was located.

During this time, Carlton worked with a then-struggling songwriting/production duo named Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, producer David Crawford (Candi Staton’s “Young Hearts Run Free”), and producer/ writer Bunny Sigler. When Don Robey sold his Duke Peacock/ Back Beat labels to ABC Records in 1972, a compilation album of Carlton’s singles was released,

You Can’t Stop a Man in Love.

Former Temptations David Ruffin was a friend of Carlton.

After listening to one of Ruffin’s albums, Carlton got excited about one song, “Everlasting Love.” Carlton wasn’t aware that the song was previously a Top Ten hit for Robert Knight in 1967.

After given a more disco-friendly arrangement, “Everlasting Love,” produced by Nashville’s Papa Don Schroder (Bobby & James Purify’s “I’m Your Puppet”), garnered Carlton his first Top Ten pop hit in 1974, peaking at number six and going to number 11 R&B. An album, Everlasting Love, produced by Bob Monaco (Rufus, Three Dog Night), was released and included two other singles, “Morning Noon and Night” and a cover of Rufus’ “Smokin’ Room,” which gave Carlton his second pop hit.

1975 saw Carlton travelling to Philadelphia to work with producer/songwriter Bunny Sigler. Though the album credits the backing musicians as MFSB, the core rhythm section is Instant Funk, which was a part of MFSB and scored a millionseller four years later with “I Got

My Mind Made Up.” The resulting album, I Wanna Be With You, is generally regarded as Carlton’s best album.

For a year and a half, due to a royalty dispute Carlton had to wait until his contract with ABC lapsed until he could do anymore recording. There were two other tracks recorded, but they were never released. With a lot of time on his hands, Carlton got into fitness.

Weightlifting and jogging appealed to him and he found a workout partner in boxer Thomas “Hitman” Hearns. Carlton continued to perform around Detroit and met veteran soul singer Leon Haywood.

He flew Carlton to California and worked with him in his recording studio. Getting him a singles deal with the label that he was signed to, 20th Century, Haywood wrote and produced the next single, “She’s a Bad Mama Jama.” “She’s a Bad Mama Jama” earned Carlton a gold record in 1981, staying at number two for eight weeks straight, kept out of the number one spot by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie’s “Endless Love.”

“She’s a Bad Mama Jama” has since become a staple of compilation albums and soundtracks and is often sampled in rap music.

An album, Carl Carlton, was released with a front cover of a shirtless Carlton showing off his chiseled physique. The album went gold also. Such success afforded Carlton the opportunity to appear on such top-rated TV shows as Solid Gold, Soul Train, and American Bandstand and to tour major venues doing some dates with Rick James.

In late 2002, Carlton appeared with many R&B stars on the “Rhythm, Love, and Soul” edition of the PBS series American Soundtrack. His performance of “Everlasting Love” was included on the accompanying live album that was released in 2004.

On August 1, 2010, Carlton released his first gospel single entitled: “God is Good.” On April 16, 2011, Carlton was nominated for a Detroit Music Award in the “Outstanding Gospel/Christian Vocalist” category.

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THA MATERIALS Tha Materials (or Tha Mats for short) is a Soul Hip-hop Group based in Durham, NC. Established in 2012 by founding members Drummer JC Justice III, MC/Trumpet Cameron Tripp, & Trumpet Will Smith, Tha Mats came about from a mutual desire to create dope original music.

Later additions to the band were the “Songbird” voice of singer/songwriter Raney Hayes, Travis Jones on Bass/ keyboard, MC/songwriter Juteria Eaves, and most recently MC/ multi-instrumentalist Reuben Ahukanna.

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They all attended North Carolina Central University and played and held leadership roles together in the marching band and various other ensembles on campus. They are still a dedicated collective of multitalented individuals.

This unique combination of instrumental talent, dope lyricism, and creativity fostered the phrase “Ev’rything you need”, so it can be said that Tha Materials style is positive, thought provoking, soulful music with “Ev’rything you need” to “Make ya Feel Amazin’”

They have performed numerous times around the state in the past year including twice at the Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh, once as winning contestants in the “Breathe to Think” Cash Prize Open Mic, then again as the house band for the same event later in the year.

Other Venues include Proof Bar, The Ugly Monkey, & Abyssinia Lounge in Raleigh, The Vault, Cuban Revolution, The Shed, Beyu Cafe & The Pinhook in Durham, Somewhere Else Tavern, Shiners, & Urban Grinders in Greensboro, and Abundant Life Creative

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Expressions of Charlotte for All The Legends “SpottieOttie CLT” event.

Their growth is epic…from performing at local open Mic competitions to performing as a judges selection during the official BET Hip Hop Awards Weekend, to self releasing our debut album, to performing in the Art of Cool Fest 2016.

Tha Material debut album ‘314One Stop Shop’ is currently available on all major online outlets (iTunes, Spotify, Google play, Amazon Music, Tidal and more).

PAM SAULSBY When “Creative” PAM SAULSBY speaks about “New World Order”, she’s not thinking about what the powers that be are planning for the planet Earth.

Instead, she is talking about the new way she is presenting herself to the World. She is simply being powerfully authentic and brings a consistent theme of realness throughout her music and communications projects. Her “New World Order” was launched at the beginning of 2015.

Saulsby, a veteran broadcast journalist recognized for awardwinning news coverage, has stepped away from the news desk and chosen a different path that will focus on using her creative talents to generate positive social impact. Having served as a beloved news anchor in a career spanning three decades, Saulsby has covered stories and personally witnessed and documented events that have both shaped and shaken

the world.

Her job as a news anchor opened many doors but also tied her down with significant personal sacrifices. She began to feel the weight and negative effects of the media industry, and Saulsby knew the time had come for a dynamic shift. She began to feel the tug to go deeper and give even more of her time and energy to the causes that she felt mattered most.

Saulsby decided that the way to regain her life, ironically, would be by giving even more of herself to others. The difference this time is that Saulsby is behind the steering wheel of her life, which is fast-paced and in constant motion. Using her instinct and heart as her GPS, Saulsby is already well on her way to generating positive influence in countless lives. She has broken free of the confines of the media that dictated her voice and views for years and is now positioned

to speak freely and relate with others in a very personal way.

One of Saulsby’s chosen causes is the military, both active duty soldiers and veterans who experience challenges during and after serving. She has walked and talked with numerous American soldiers who fought for our freedom only to return to this country and find themselves abandoned to fight for benefits they are rightfully owed. For her work recording and producing the stories of military veterans and their families on her own time, Saulsby was awarded in 2011 with the U.S. Presidential Volunteer Service Award.

As a journalist, she covered the Million Man March, the impeachment proceedings of President Clinton, and was in New York City when Nelson Mandela began his U.S. tour after his release from a 27-year imprisonment. Events like these have stirred Saulsby’s conviction

and desire to be proactive.

A true master communicator, Saulsby is using her voice to make a mark, with the intention to uplift and empower the lives of others. She is an author, military video blogger, public speaker, and an accomplished vocalist and songwriter. She has recorded two albums and began the New Year by releasing a single called “Brand New Day,” a song that reflects her newfound perspective and confidence.

“This time and shift in my life is a celebration and a milestone for me, personally and professionally,” said Saulsby.

“I’ve finally given myself full permission to fully and freely express myself and use my talents in all areas of my life.

This has only given me more motivation and energy to give to others and devote myself to the causes I care most about.

I’m excited to be a catalyst of inspiration and change – to be giving it forward.”

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JOHN THORPE & TRUTH JOHN “J.T.” THORPE, born in Roxboro, North Carolina the ninth of fourteen children, began

singing at the tender age of five years old.

His parents as well as family and friends realized he had the favor of God through song. This talented vocalist presents himself with much dedication and devotion; much like John the Baptist, John says that gospel is essential part of his life.

He is a faithful member his family church - New Hope Baptist Church in Timberlake, NC.

John’s tenor and baritone vocal range was well-suited to singing lead with The Mighty Jubilaires, with different family members playing instruments and singing songs.

The “Dixon Brothers” consist of Christian, 19, Cameron, 18, Cai, 14 and Courtland 12. Parents, Rodney and Christal Dixon, discovered the seed of what was to come when Christal was asked by the school elementary principal to listen as oldest son Christian, who was only 5 at the time, sang “Go Tell it on the Mountain.”

Sitting in amazement, Christal realized that her son had a “BIG VOICE.” As the family grew, Rodney and Christal saw that the singing gift would trend from the oldest son to the youngest son.

THE DIXON BROTHERS Ranging from the ages of 12 to 19, the DIXON BROTHERS have successfully carved out their place in the Inspirational Christian music industry.

Their musical roots run deep as they are part of a family of singers and musicians. Family reunions are often a time when family concerts take place,

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When the family joined their

the ensemble with whom he sang traditional gospel for fourteen years in Newburg, NY. His love of music and singing led to John recording with the Brower Brothers, producing two high profile gospel albums on two record labels - Jet Records and Popular Records. Their “Church Devil” CD quickly climbed the charts, affording them the opportunity to tour the country.

John’s devotion to singing opened many doors of opportunity for him such as working as a radio announcer for “The Gospel Train” show on WEOK in Poughkeepsie, NY every Sunday with co host Freddie Herring. He is currently a committed member of the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA) Gospel Radio Announcer’s Guild, as well as a member of the NC Chapter of the Radio Announcer’s Guild.

His talents have also led him to write lyrics for the late Willie Neal Johnson and The Gospel

Keynotes of Tyler, TX. John released his first CD in 2005 entitled “In His Name” and, the same year, he received the Soloist of the Year Award. In 2012 he released a “live” CD with gospel superstar and TV personality Bobby Jones, entitled “Child of God.” In April 2012, God sent a group of anointed young men to share in John’s ministry of music and they are known as John Thorpe and Truth. This group of young men enjoys giving their gifts back to God by singing the gospel truth wherever God may lead them.

John Thorpe’s third CD, “Stay With Jesus” featuring the late McCollins Thorpe was released in 2015.

On Saturday July 16 at 5:00 pm, John Thorpe and Truth will have a Live DVD Recording at The Kirby Theater in Roxboro. For information, call (336) 818-0880.

current church, Raleigh North Christian Center, the boys joined the children’s choir and eventually the Youth Praise Team.

During one of their rehearsals, the director challenged each member to write an original song. The oldest of the brothers, “Christian,” once again surprised everyone with the unique ability to write his first song called, “Give Him Praise,” which was renamed “Praise Him” and currently appears on Family, their recently-released CD.

NFL and NBA teams religiously.

Not only did he write the lyrics, but he also composed the music on the piano and taught his brothers how to sing it. Their performance of “Give Him Praise” in a church talent show led to singing engagements at other area events and soon prompted the birth of “The Dixon Brothers.”

The Dixon Brothers have performed and ministered in song to thousands of people throughout the Southeastern United States, and with the release of their current, fulllength CD are set to take their talents even further. The Brothers have now become National Independent recording artists.

The brothers are talented in many ways. Not only are they beginning to compose more and more of their music and lyrics, they have aspirations of acting in television shows and playing college sports. Some of them have appeared in print ads and regional television commercials and all are big sports fans following their favorite college,

SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE | June 2016 | www.spectacularmag.com

From singing the National Anthem at professional sporting events to performing on programs with other legendary Gospel artists, they are winning the hearts of everyone through their ministry of song and inspiring youth and adults across the globe. This group of four biological brothers are reaching new heights as the next premier contemporary male group in Inspirational Music.

Musical works include the singles “Praise Him” and “Faithful” with a full length CD, “Dixon Brothers Christmas.”

Their single, “Faithful,” did well at many radio stations across the country and The Dixon Brothers are looking forward to even more success with future releases.

MORE JUNETEENTH PERFORMERS

FAMILY SIRCLE GROUP

COMEDIAN DWISSH Comedian, actor and radio personality, Darian “DWissh” Tedder is one of the most sought after comedians in North Carolina. Also known as the Carolina King of Comedy, DWISSH was born and raised in Durham, NC where he learned at an early age that he had comedic talent.

When asked about his natural penchant for making people laugh DWISSH always says, “Comedy has been a part of me since I was born. Some people have to work at being funny, but for me, it’s a natural gift.”

Growing up watching comedians such as Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, and Martin Lawrence inspired DWissh to follow his dreams of becoming an actor/comedian. During his childhood he wasn’t just the class clown, he was the school clown. Some of DWissh’s teachers even recognized his talent and would give him the last five minutes of class to display his comedic talent.

DWISSH’s comedy career seems to have been a lifetime in the making but took off seemingly overnight when he began performing in 2011. A prolific entertainer known for his quick

wit, masterful storytelling and southern charm, DWISSH has excelled in every medium from standup to acting.

THE LOVING SISTERS

Though widely praised for his comedic ability DWISSH is also lauded for his acting ability, recently landing leading roles in the stage plays “No More Tears” and “Soup Bones Juke Joint.”

DWISSH can be seen performing at some of the top Comedy Clubs and venues across the country sharing the stage with the likes of Tyler Craig, Barbra Carlyle, Nick Lewis, Damon Williams and the legendary Paul Mooney. No stranger to radio, DWISSH has made appearances on Radio One, Choice FM with DJ Johnny Stark and K97.5 alongside host Brent Vick.

REAL THE RAPPER

When DWISSH is not performing he spends most of his time working on his plans for giving back to the community. While pursuing his dream to “reach back and pull others up with him” DWISSH has worked with various charitable organizations and foundations with similar goals.

D Wissh’s motivation: “I believe I was put here on Earth to heal

KAMUS

people with laughter.”

www.spectacularmag.com | June 2016 | SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE

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NEWS BRIEFS

NC LEGISLATIVE BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION ANNUAL EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP EVENT JUNE 17TH RALEIGH, NC—The North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Foundation (NCLBCF) will host its Annual Education Scholarship Event June 17th at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in the Research Triangle Park.

The NCLBCF has provided support to higher education in North Carolina for more than 28 years by awarding needbased scholarships to students attending one of the 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in North Carolina. It is the Foundation’s goal to help address the decrease in college affordability, mounting student debt and to provide opportunities for education, information and empowerment of the community.

The Education Scholarship Event is a day to address topics that impact the citizens of North Carolina and students attending HBCUs in North Carolina. The day includes Issue Briefings, a Networking Luncheon and the annual signature fundraising event, The William L. Wainwright Scholarship Banquet.

television to discuss leadership in the African-American community. He was the keynote speaker of the 2016 Triangle Mark Anthony Middleton MLK Prayer Breakfast and is a regular Reverend Mark-Anthony Middleton is the media presence in the Triangle on issues of social justice. Middleton was recentfounder and senior pastor of the Abundant Hope Christian Church in Durham, ly included in the Who’s Who in Black Raleigh and Durham publication.

North Carolina. He is also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Abundant Hope Inc. A native of Brooklyn, New York Mark-Anthony Middleton is a past member of the Board of Directors of the NC A&T State University National Alumni Association and a past president of the Black Seminarians’ Union of Duke University Divinity School. He is also a past North Carolina Assistant State Director of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. right Banquet

Congressman Cedric Richmond

Mark Anthony Middleton Middleton has now resided in Durham for over 20 years.

Congressman Cedric Richmond represents Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. Cedric currently serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Committee on the Judiciary. Outside of Committee service, he is an active member of the

Rev. Middleton is a nationally recognized leader for his work in Durham CAN The luncheon speaker is Reverend (Congregations, Associations, and NeighMark-Anthony Middleton pastor and on issues such as affordable founder of the Abundant Hope Christian borhoods) living wages, equal protections, Church and the Banquet keynote speaker housing, and racial profiling. He organized and led will be Congressman Cedric Richmond CAN’s participation in a multi- organiwho represents the 2nd District of New zation coalition led by FADE (Fostering Orleans, Louisiana. Deborah Holt-Noel Alternatives to Drug Enforcement) that worked for and attained historic policy changes by the Durham Police Department.

of WUNCTV will be the Mistress of Ceremonies for the banquet.

He was recently part of an official Durham city delegation that traveled to Boston on a fact finding mission, and also served on the assessment team for candidates seeking the position of Durham Police Chief. His post Boston recommendations for transforming the culture of the Durham Police Dept. are the basis for Durham CAN’s recently launched campaign to improve community/police relations. Rev. Middleton serves as the Chairman for Durham’s Local Organizing Committee for the 25th anniversary of the Million Man March.

The schedule of events for the Scholarship Event includes: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm Registration 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Luncheon Keynote 1:45 pm – 5:00 pm Issue Briefings 7:00 pm – 9:000 pm William Wain-

Rev. Middleton is an author with devotionals included in the popular African-American Devotional Bible published

by Zondervan. He is a frequent guest on NPR, has been featured in the New York Times, and is a sought after commentator that has appeared on national

Deborah Holt-Noel

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Born and raised in New Orleans, Cedric is a strong believer in the value of mentorship in his hometown. He is a graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School, earned his undergraduate degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, and his Juris Doctorate from the Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans. Cedric is also a graduate of the Harvard University Executive Education Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

About the Foundation The North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (NCLBCF) is a 501(c)(3) organization established in 1986. The Foundation has a 20-member board that drives our success. Ten of the NCLBCF board members (60%) are private (non-legislative) citizens. The remaining nine (40%) are members of the NC Legislative Black Caucus. NC Democratic Leader Rep. Larry D. Hall serves as Chair of the NCLBC Foundation Board of Directors.

The goal of NCLBCF is to provide scholarships to students at all 10 public and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in North Carolina.

Sound organizational systems have been implemented to ensure that the Foundation operates with the highest levels of

Congressman Cedric Richmond Congressional Black Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition.

As a member of the Committee on Homeland Security, Cedric works to ensure New Orleans and surrounding communities are adequately prepared for any emergency through oversight of the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA). He also works to ensure the security of the nation’s critical infrastructure, borders, and ports.

Rep Larry Hall efficiency and effectiveness. The aim is to spend no less than 75% of our revenues on their mission to provide students with educational scholarships.

It is the Foundation’s goal to help address the decrease in college affordability, As a member of the Committee on the mounting student debt and to provide Judiciary, the second oldest standing com- opportunities for education, information mittee in Congress, Cedric works with and empowerment of the community. committee members to exercise overFor more information email NCLBCF@gmail.com or sight responsibility for the U.S. Departvisit nclbcf.org/ticket-information. ments of Justice and Homeland Security.

SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE | June 2016 | www.spectacularmag.com

KYLA NEWKIRK

LOVE NOTES AND VALENTINE’S GIFTS FOR THE HOMELESS OF DURHAM DURHAM, NC - Kyla Desirae Newkirk is a 4th Grade Student at Durham Academy. Her commitment to striving for excellence has paid off, as she has consistently achieved one of the highest ranks yearly in various subjects among her peers. She recently, represented her class as the Lower School 2023 Graduating class marshal. Kyla willingly participates in various extracurricular activities and clubs such as chess, radio and service. She enjoys playing lacrosse & basketball each year with her community school league, where she has proven to be an exceptional team player!

Eric and Monica Newkirk to locate the gentleman by canvassing the streets of Durham so that she could give the pairs of shoes she had collected to the gentleman whom she’d previously seen walking without shoes. Kyla was thrilled to discover that she provided the man with the correct shoe size!! What an unforgettable moment!!

Because of this experience, she has chosen to give life to a new initiative of greater proportion, with further reaching ability and deeper penetrating strength. Kyla set her hands and heart to work in her community; gathering needed items that would be of benefit to those who are in need. She simply gave consideration to what she’d want to have given to her or done for her if she were in need and from there, her new initiative began to flourish.

She finds it relaxing yet rewarding to be a part of Durham’s Levin Jewish Community Center competitive swim team, having received a Medal for Most Improved and 2 Blue Ribbons in Freestyle & Breaststroke for accelerated swim skill and technique. In addition, Kyla shines as a budding actress in both film and television along with live stage performances at The North Carolina Theatre Conservatory.

Kyla, at an early age, has developed great balance and time management skills in her life and schedule. She works hard and she plays hard. Like any other little girl, she has a small group of best friends that are of like minds and spirits. Kyla realizes that there are people in her community and in the world who are less fortunate than she -who would gladly trade places with her.

It is for this reason that she has willingly devoted certain predetermined segments of her time to community service for the purpose of uplifting and empowering others.

Kyla Newkirk on her way to distribute love notes and “Kyla’s Super Kare Kits” to Durham’s homeless. (Submitted Photo) Kyla was recently honored in receiving the Excellence Award from the community leaders in the Bridging the Gap of America Foundation. She is an active volunteer at the Durham Rescue Mission where she donates books that she has collected and helps serve food to mothers and children who are in need.

Kyla derives a genuine source of joy from visiting the sick and shut in with her Papa (Rev. Lorinzer Johnson – Former Pastor, Kyles Temple AME Zion, Durham).

During these visits, she graciously offers prayers and encouragement to each of the persons they visit.

Kyla solicits the help of her family in preparing love notes and Valentine’s gift bags for Durham’s homeless.(Submitted photo)

Moreover, Kyla was given the honor of writing a letter of recommendation for Durham’s Mayor Pro Tem, Cora ColeMcFadden, who believes that Kyla’s affectionate and inspiring letter was the reason she was elected

Kyla worked diligently on creating a mission statement, a purpose and then she created an opportunity for others to join her in making a positive difference in the lives of the less fortunate and those who are in need of a hand up. Though only ten years old, Kyla Newkirk is a born visionary!

to serve on the National League of Cities Board of Directors.

Not all ten year olds would think to include the following items in a Most recently, care kit for a Kyla helped homeless or prepare meals person in need for 113,000 such as Baby/ people during Body wipes, the Rev. Dr. hand/feet/ Martin Luther body warmers, King Jr. Day of bottled water, Service with sunscreen, “Stop Hunger and protein Now!” and her bars. It is her school, Durham goal to create Academy. an increased Kyla proudly network of participated in partners that the Durham City will fund and Council meeting, support her where she led efforts such the City Council that there members and will never be citizens of the a shortage of Kyla hands gift bag with items she City of Durham “Kyla’s Super personally shopped for and prepared in the Pledge of Kare Kits” to that she deemed homeless individuals Allegiance. distribute in could use. (Submitted photo) and around her She made a community so life-changing impact on a homeless man that all who are in need may be on the whom she saw walking the streets of receiving end of items that will help them Durham without shoes on his feet. She feel empowered and cared for. enlisted the support of her parents,

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Briefly DR. GADDIS FAULCON APPOINTED VICE PRESIDENT OF ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT AND STUDENT AFFAIRS AT SAINT AUGUSTINE’S UNIVERSITY

RALEIGH, NC – Dr. Gaddis Faulcon, a leader in the HBCU community with more than 30 years of higher education experience, has been appointed Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs at Saint Augustine’s University. His appointment is effective June 3, 2016. Dr. Faulcon most recently served as the Interim President at Shaw University. Other roles at Shaw University include Dean of the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, Faculty Athletic Representative and Chair of the Department of Allied Health. Before working at Shaw, Faulcon was Vice President for Student Affairs at Saint Augustine’s College, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs & Special Projects at Saint Augustine’s College and Assistant Director for Northeastern North Carolina Tomorrow, Inc. at Elizabeth City State University.

He is the founder of Winning Generation Education & Training Institute, an organization that focuses on providing personal and organizational development consulting services.

The author of a book “A Winning Generation”, Dr. Faulcon is the pastor and founder of Agape Worship Center and Training Institute in Creedmoor, NC. Dr. Faulcon, an Oxford, NC native, holds degrees from Saint Augustine’s University (formerly College), (B.S., 1974), North Carolina State University (MRR/MPA, 1981), and North Carolina State University (Ed.D. 1994).

NCCU & SHAW UNIVERSITY MAKES LIST OF 2016 HBCU AWARDS FINALISTS

WASHINGTON, NC – HBCU Digest, the top news resource for historically black colleges and universities, has released its list of finalists for its Sixth Annual HBCU Awards ceremony. North Carolina Central University (NCCU) has been chosen as a finalist in eight categories and Shaw University as a finalist in three categories of the 2016 Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Awards. Finalists were selected from more than 600 submissions from around the nation. Criteria included media exposure and impact on institutional progress made during the 2015-16 academic year. Winners will be announced during the HBCU Awards Ceremony July 15 at the University of District of Columbia. A panel of former and current HBCU presidents and chancellors, alumni, faculty, students, journalists and former award winners served as judges.

NCCU is as a contender in the sixth-annual contest for HBCU of The Year, while Chancellor Debra Saunders-White is in the running for Female President of the Year. NCCU is a finalist in six additional categories: Best Student Newspaper (Campus Echo), Best Alumni Publication (NCCU Now), Best Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Program (BRITE), Best Nursing/Health Program, Best Social Work Program, and Male Student of the Year (Tamina Kienka).

Shaw University President Tashni-Ann Dubroy was selected as a finalist in the category for the highest honor, “Best Female University President.”

Other finalists by category include National Alumni Association of the Year (Shaw University National Alumni Association) and Male Student of the Year (Lionel Morgan).

PAM OXENDINE ELECTED PRESIDENT OF LWVODC

CHAPEL HILL, NC - On May 5, 2016, the Orange-DurhamChatham Chapter of the League of Women Voters elected Pam Oxendine to serve as President for the 2016-2017 year. She looks forward to guiding the work of the League’s 181 men and women as they educate the public, advocate on critical issues, and encourage active civic participation. Pam has worked as Marketing Coordinator for Time Warner Cable and Promotional Funds Administrator for Nortel Networks and the Counseling office at The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. She holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration. Through her graduate studies Pam discovered her passion for leadership in service to her community and the League. She served as a member and Board Chair for the Durham Regional Financial Center for six years. She also served as Vice Chair on the Civic Committee of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People.

NCCU APPOINTS SENIOR ASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR FOR ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT AND ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

DURHAM, NC - North Carolina Central University (NCCU) has appointed Dr. Monica Terrell Leach as senior associate vice chancellor for the Division of Enrollment Management and Academic Affairs after serving as associate vice chancellor of the division for almost two years. In her new role, Leach will continue to lead the division, while also serving as the senior officer charged with executing key academic strategic initiatives and representing the Office of the Provost when assigned.

Leach joined NCCU in 2014 as the first leader in the Division of Enrollment Management after it was structurally realigned within the Department of Academic Affairs. Before arriving at NCCU, Leach served at North Carolina State University for almost 20 years in a variety of leadership roles, including assistant dean for Academic Affairs, tenured associate professor and assistant vice provost for Enrollment Management. Leach is a 2016 participant of the Harvard Graduate School of Education Women in Education Leadership program. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana State University and master’s and doctoral degrees in education from North Carolina State University.

SAINT AUGUSTINE’S UNIVERSITY APPOINTS WALTER DAVENPORT AS INTERIM CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

RALEIGH, NC – Walter Davenport, a North Carolina licensed certified public accountant (CPA) with more than 45 years of experience, has been appointed as the interim chief financial officer and vice president of Business and Finance.

Davenport’s professional career began in the Atlanta office of Arthur Anderson & Co. In 1974, he returned to North Carolina and formed a partnership with Nathan Garrett. In January 1998, Garrett and Davenport CPA, PC, the largest and oldest minority-owned CPA firm in North Carolina, merged into Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, LP, a regional CPA firm and among the 25 largest firms in the country. Davenport retired from the firm in 2008. Davenport has served on the North Carolina State Board of CPA Examiners (president) and AICPA Board of Examiners. His past community involvement includes board positions with Duke Raleigh Hospital, Easter Seal Society of North Carolina (board chair), Elizabeth City State University (board chair), United Way of the Greater Triangle (board chair) and Board of Governors – The University of North Carolina system BRIEFLY CONTINUES ON PAGE 25

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(2009 – 2013). A native of Raleigh, Davenport is a 1970 graduate of Morehouse College.

Davenport replaces Willie T. Closs Jr., who formerly served in this role since August of 2015.

KAPPA OMICRON CHAPTER STANDS OUT AT ANNUAL UNIVERSITY AWARDS

CHAPEL HILL, NC - The Kappa Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill won more awards than any other Greek organization at the University during the annual Chapter Excellence Awards in April. The sorority took home 10 awards for outstanding service, leadership and programming, far more than any of the other 58 fraternities and sororities that fall under the UNC Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life and Community Involvement, which sponsors the annual awards to recognize excellence. At this year’s Awards, the Kappa Omicron Chapter went home with accolades and recognitions that included the following: Outstanding Faculty/UNC Advisor (Ishna Hall); Outstanding Chapter President – Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (National Second Vice President Taylor Davis McCain); Outstanding Greek Leader (Destiny Planter); UNC Chapel Hill Fraternity & Sorority Life Alumni/Graduate Relations; UNC Chapel Hill Fraternity & Sorority Life Campus Leadership/Involvement; UNC Chapel Hill Fraternity & Sorority Life Leadership Training; UNC Chapel Hill Fraternity & Sorority Life Educational Programming; Outstanding Philanthropic Activities; Service Outreach Award and the Bettie Ann Everett Award for Most Community Service.

DR. YOLANDA BANKS ANDERSON APPOINTED NCCU ASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR FOR FACULTY DEVELOPMENT/RESOURCES

DURHAM, NC – Dr. Yolanda Banks Anderson has been appointed associate vice chancellor for Faculty Development/ Resources in the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at North Carolina Central University (NCCU).

Anderson served an interim role for the position from 2015 until her permanent appointment. Anderson joined NCCU as an associate professor in 1996 and was promoted to full professor in 2010. She has served in the following faculty roles at NCCU: interim dean of the former College of Science and Technology (CST): assistant dean for Student Services and interim associate dean. Anderson has also served as chair of the Department of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences in CST and director of the Environmental Science Program in the former College of Arts and Sciences. As a researcher, Anderson has received over $4.5 million in grants for research and training. Prior to joining the faculty of NCCU, Anderson was special assistant to the associate director for Health at the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL), Office of Research and Development of the US Environmental Protection Agency (Research Triangle Park, NC). Anderson holds a bachelor’s from University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She earned an M.S. from Harvard University School of Public Health, and a Ph.D. from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

MARIE WILLIAMS NAMED AVC FOR HUMAN RESOURCES AT NC STATE

RALEIGH, NC - Effective July 1, Marie Williams will become NC State’s new associate vice chancellor for human resources.

Williams has 23 years experience in the fields of higher education, hospitality and banking, most recently at Ball State in Muncie, Indiana. Prior to joining NC State, Williams served

as the Associate Vice President for Human Resources and Administrative Services at Ball State, where she provided strategic leadership in human resources, payroll and employee benefits, employee relations, health and wellness and financial information services for the Business Affairs division. Previously, Williams served as the Vice President for Finance and Administration at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition, she held positions at Fisk that included Vice President for Administrative Services and Chief Human Resources Officer and Director of Human Resources.

Williams, a native of England, earned her Master’s degree in business administration from Georgia Southern and earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration and enterprise from the University of Central England. She is an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow Class 2009-10.

PRESIDENT OBAMA NAMES NCCU LAW DEAN & ALUMNAE TO ADVISORY BOARD

WASHINGTON, DC - North Carolina Central University Law School Dean Phyliss Craig-Taylor has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve on the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The White House announced several key administration postings on May 25, including two with ties to NCCU: Craig-Taylor, J.D., LL.M., and NCCU alumna Lillian Lowery, Ph.D., chief executive officer of FutureReady Columbus. Craig-Taylor accepted the deanship of the NCCU School of Law in June 2012. She earned her undergraduate and juris doctor degrees from the University of Alabama and a Master of Laws degree from Columbia University. After working in private practice for several years, she entered higher education, serving on NCCU’s law school faculty from 2000 to 2006. She has served as a professor at the University of Tennessee and University of Florida law schools. Craig-Taylor is a member of Coalition for Racial and Ethnic Justice for the American Bar Association and served on the North Carolina Commission for the Administration of Law and Justice.

Lowery, who earned a bachelor’s degree at NCCU, leads FutureReady Columbus, an economic development organization in Columbus, Ohio, a position she assumed in September 2015.

She was a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans from 2014 to 2015 and superintendent of the Maryland State Department of Education from 2012 to 2015. Lowery began her career as a middle school teacher in the North Carolina Public Schools, where she worked from 1978 to 1984. She holds an M.A. from the University of North Carolina and an Ed.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. A third member named by Obama to the Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities was Marian Wright Edelman, LL.B, president of the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C.

CREEDMOOR, DURHAM, GARNER, RALEIGH RECOGNIZED AS 2016 PLAYFUL CITY USA COMMUNITIES

WASHINGTON, DC – The area cities of Creedmoor, Durham, Garner, and Raleigh are among 257 communities recognized as 2016 Playful City USA Communities. Playful City USA is a national recognition program that honors cities and towns across the country for taking bold steps that make it easy for all kids to get the balanced and active play they need to thrive. These communities are recognized for their efforts to create more playable, family-friendly cities. All are multiple year honorees. Creedmoor is being honored for the tenth time; Durham for the eighth time; Garner for the third time and Raleigh is on the list for the fifth year. To learn more about these cities, see the full list of the 257 communities named 2016 Playful City USA Honorees, or to gather more information on the Playful City USA Program, visit www.playfulcityusa.org.

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MCCRORY PARDONS WRONGFULLY CONVICTED MAN

Edward Charles McInnis is pictured with niece Brenda and representatives of the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission on August 11, 2015 at the Scotland County Courthouse following McInnis’ release from 27 years of wrongful imprisonment.

RALEIGH, NC — Gov. Pat McCrory issued a pardon of innocence May 19th for a Scotland County man who spent 27 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Edward McInnis was convicted in 1988 of raping an 81-year-old woman in her Laurinburg home and was sentenced to life in prison.

Last year, McInnis appealed his case to the state Innocence Inquiry Commission, which led to a search of DNA in the case to support or refute his petition.

Laurinburg police were able to locate evidence from the 27-year-old case, and the DNA proved another man was responsible for the rape.

A Superior Court judge dismissed the charges against McInnis last August and released him from prison.

“On behalf of the State of North Carolina, I apologize to Mr. McInnis for the 27 years he had to spend behind bars for crimes he did not commit,” McCrory said in a statement. “While we cannot give him back those years of his life, I wish him well as he resumes his life as a free man.”

The pardon makes McInnis eligible to file a claim under North Carolina law that allows compensation of up to $750,000 to persons wrongly convicted of felonies.

NC AUTHOR ALICIA AIKEN DONATES BOOKS PROCEEDS TO DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION same time. With an easy-to-use format designed especially for young children, there are five puzzle books in the series that offers a simple and fun challenge for children and adults.

Search Puzzle Book: Horizontal and Vertical” that is especially geared toward children who are new to word search puzzles and can also be used for those who are new to learning the English language.

The puzzles expand vocabulary, develop the use of context clues, and promote reading comprehension. They feature Aiken is turning the pages on negativity with her puzzle books, many of which she either horizontal or vertical words and in says cater to children and will keep them some editions both. There’s also a puzzle book in the series called, “My First Word entertained, engaged and inspired at the

The puzzle books are: My First Word Search Puzzle Book: Horizontal and Vertical, Word Search Puzzles: Easy to Intermediate, Word Search Puzzles: 5th and Up, Word Search Puzzles for Children Horizontal Only and Word Search Puzzles for Children Vertical Only.

puzzle books she has written for children and adults to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

Alicia Grant DURHAM, NC - Alicia Aiken, aka Alicia Grant, author of several popular Christian paperback and audio books has become an advocate in the fight against Diabetes. Through June 30, 2016, Aiken is donating 30 percent of the proceeds from a series of word search

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Since its founding more than 40 years ago by parents of children affected by type 1 diabetes, the JDRF has been committed to finding a cure for all those individuals living with the disease.

SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE | June 2016 | www.spectacularmag.com

Aiken is an honors graduate of BarberScotia College located in Concord, North Carolina. She majored in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing.

They are available online and everywhere books are sold.

WHERE THE OBAMAS ARE LIVING IN D.C. AFTER THE WHITE HOUSE street from the French ambassador’s residence, and around the corner from the oldest house in the city. It is about two miles from the White House, and a half-mile from the D.C. home of Hillary and Bill Clinton.

changes, according to former Secret Service Assistant Director Anthony Chapa.

“It’s an evaluation of the whole situation -- not just the neighbors, but the street, Former presidents are allotted continuing and the park across the street,” he said.

For example, “We would want to talk to protection by the Secret Service after they leave office, so the agency will need the neighbors,” he said. to design and implement a security plan According to Chapa, alterations might to protect the house and its occupants. include bulletproof windows and doors; They would need to make an assessment reducing the underbrush across the street to provide clear lines of sight; of the potential dangers around the more lighting outdoors; changes to house, and possibly make a number of parking rules in front of the house; and deploying electronics for monitoring the area.

WASHINGTON, DC (CNN) - President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will lease a home in Washington, D.C.’s Kalorama neighborhood after he leaves the White House next year,

The house was built in 1928 and has nine bedrooms and eight-and-a-half bathrooms. It was sold in 2014 for more than $5 million.

Obama has said he and his family will remain in Washington home after he departs 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in January 2017, a change from most former presidents.

Bedroom

Living Room

Bathroom

“They’ll have agents assigned to the residence who are here all the time, maintaining security and addressing issues,” he said, and an agent would likely be posted full time at the door.

CNN has confirmed. The real estate is reportedly a house owned by Joe Lockhart, who served as White House press secretary under former President Bill Clinton.

Kitchen

And while neighbors may face some disruption or inconvenience, Chapa said, “they’ve got a security apparatus coming to the neighborhood that is second to none.”

“We’re going to have to stay a couple of years in D.C. probably so Sasha can finish,” he said in March about his youngest daughter.

“Transferring someone in the middle of high school? Tough.”

The Lockhart house is an 8,200-square-foot brick Tudor, and might cost $22,000 a month to rent, according to an estimate on the real estate website Zillow. It is currently valued at $7 million, according to D.C. tax assessments.

It has a generous living room and dining room, a finished downstairs family room/media room, and an au-pair suite, which could be useful to the Obama family since First Lady Michelle Obama’s mother has been living with the family for years.

When it was last listed for sale, it was described as meticulously renovated, with gracious living rooms, exquisite finishes, a stunning oversized terrace with formal gardens, and a courtyard with enough space for 8-10 vehicles.

It is located in the upscale embassy neighborhood, next door to a former congressman and down the

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TRIANGLE UNIVERSITIES PARTNERING TO ATTRACT INNOVATION FUNDING New regional “super angel network” gets federal funding to connect Duke, NC State, UNC and NCCU alumni investors with university-affiliated startup companies DURHAM, NC - Four Triangle-area universities will partner to build an alumni network to invest in new ventures of the larger university community, with the help of a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to the Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative (Duke I&E).

The Triangle Venture Alliance (TVA) -- a partnership of Duke University, the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill, North Carolina State University and North Carolina Central University -- will develop a network of cooperating angel groups that will tap the alumni base of the region’s universities to draw seed-stage capital to the region. It is modeled after an angel investing network developed at Duke last year.

“Among the Triangle’s greatest resources is the innovation created by our universities -- innovation that will power the knowledge economy of the coming decades,” said Eric Toone, vice provost and director of Duke I&E. “The Triangle Venture Alliance unleashes that potential by attracting seed-stage capital that will advance those innovations toward market, enable follow-on investment, and help build a vibrant and powerful startup ecosystem.”

Toone said the individual angel networks will share office support and diligence expertise, and in many instances will invest jointly. Collectively, the TVA will focus the resources and experience of thousands of savvy, experienced alumni to invest in new ventures emanating from the university community, Toone noted.

“The creation of the TVA continues and builds upon the cooperation between the schools developed through the Blackstone Entrepreneurship Network (BEN) and demonstrates the deep commitment of all four institutions to entrepreneurship and the region,” said Amy Stursberg, executive director of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, funder of BEN. Founded in 2011 with a $3.63 million gift from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, BEN provides a dense network of entrepreneurial support for start-ups in the Triangle, similar to networks that exist in Silicon Valley and the Boston Corridor. The Blackstone Charitable Foundation partnered with Triangle universities on this initiative.

The Duke Angel Network was

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established in June 2015 and already has more than 60 angel members who have viewed more than 80 deals and invested in seven of those deals, many of which are based in Durham and the surrounding area. Duke also has created the Duke Innovation Fund, a philanthropic fund that invests in the same deals selected for investment by angel members.

The partnering universities collectively deploy in excess of $2.5 billion in annual research expenditures, and generate an enormous wealth of intellectual property -- cures for diseases, radical advances in energy and communications, and novel solutions to the world’s most pressing social problems, Toone said. “These game-changing technologies advance toward deployment and impact through commerce -- the creation of new companies, and licensing arrangements

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with existing companies,” Toone said.

But despite this tremendous advantage of raw material, the region continues to struggle to attract investment capital, especially seed- and early-stage financing, Toone added.

As it emerges from its historical roots in agriculture and manufacturing, the Piedmont region of North Carolina offers a unique set of opportunities for entrepreneurship, said Judith Cone, vice chancellor for commercialization and economic development at UNC-Chapel Hill. “The region includes multiple world-class universities, an educated and ambitious population, and a remarkably high standard of living,” said Cone. “The region is more than primed for rapid growth, and entrepreneurship will play a central role in that development.”

BUSINESS

INVICTUS OFFICE CENTER HOSTS THE LAUNCH OF THE INVICTUS MASTERS OF FATE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM iNvictus non-profit arm, iNvictus Forward Outreach, publicly unveils eight entrepreneurs selected for inaugural Masters of Fate Fellowship

“Artist” Woods joined the fellowship with Board Nation U.S.A., which focuses on bridging gaps in unity within the board sports community and campaign for board sports as an organized sport.

DURHAM, NC - Forbes magazine reports 8 of 10 entrepreneurs who start a business fail within the first two years.

Among the culprits: leadership breakdowns; lack of access funding and an inability to execute a profitable business model and produce proven revenue streams. iNvictus EMERGE (Entrepreneurship, Mentoring, Economic Development, Research, Growth in Business and Education) continues to address the inequities and change the story with its Fellowship that selected a cohort of minority entrepreneurs, business owners and non-profit venture leaders from a pool of over 300 applicants nationwide. The fellows will spend 18 months gaining access to information, capital and an international network of experts and industry leaders to guide their journey to success.

On May 26th , iNvictus Office Center located at 601 Fayetteville St. - Suite 300, opened its doors to its non-profit arm, iNvictus Forward Outreach, and through its EMERGE program, introduced its eight 2016-17 fellows of its inaugural Masters of Fate Fellowship cohort.

The June 2016 –November 2017 fellowship provides each venture leader a one-on-one mentor, an industry specific advisor and other strategic advisors to help them navigate a tailored blueprint to strengthen and grow their venture through access to executives, capital and the expertise of advisors, experts and investors.

“Our ecosystem fosters a community of inclusion, and the businesses we work with are destined for success as a result,” said Edward Boyd, Jr, Chief Strategy Officer of iNvictus Group Holdings, LLC and Board Chair of iNvictus Forward

Other iNvictus Masters of Fate Fellows: Ivan Jenkins, of Durham NC, owner of Bull City Sports and Fitness which offers a variety of youth/adult fitness and sports programs that stress the importance of sportsmanship and leadership skills and a healthy lifestyle.

Tahirah Jennings of Raleigh NC, by way of Baltimore, MD, founder of K-TECH Vibes is founder of an IT company whose main purpose is to make technology easier to operate and understand for the everyday person.

(L to R) Tahirah Jennings - Owner of K-TECH Vibes (Raleigh, NC – from Baltimore, MD); Mina Forte - Owner of Java Coffee and Expresso Bar, 2 locations (Durham, NC); Michael Stewart-Isaacs - Co-founder of Board Nation U.S.A. (Raleigh, NC); Dwight Brake - Founder of waLA (Nashville, NC); Prof. Iyon Mitchell - Executive Director of iNvictus Forward Outreach (from Goldsboro, NC); Ivan Jenkins - Owner of Bull City Sports and Fitness (Durham, NC); Donnell Woods - Co-founder of Board Nation U.S.A. (Raleigh, NC); Ursela Garvin Jones - founder of iNviTECH (Durham, NC) and Giszell Weather - Founder of Herban (Chapel Hill, NC - from Portsmouth, VA). (Submitted Photo) Outreach. “We understand that entrepreneurs are essential for a strong national economy and through our program, minority-owned ventures can experience success and have a global impact.” stated Iyon Mitchell, Executive Director of iNvictus Forward Outreach.

Each of the iNvictus Masters of Fate Fellows works in one or more of four defined areas at various stages of venture development: STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), Health/Healthcare, Food and Education.

One of the fellows, Ursela Jones, is the program director for iNviTECH, an educational technology company that hosts a summer camp for students in grades 6-12 focused on both STEM skills and developing entrepreneurial savvy. iNviTECH also provides a year-long semester based

Dwight Brake of Pittsboro NC, owner of waLA an on-demand delivery service that enables its users to order food from any restaurant seamlessly and easily.

Mina Forte of Durham NC, founder of Java Coffee and Espresso Bar, more commonly referred to as “Mina’s Java.”

Dante Evans of Las Vegas, NV, founder and CEO of American Concierge, a lifestyle course catalog whose goal is to aid in producing next generation’s IT entrepre- management organization that provides neurs/leaders as well as increase minority exquisite and unparalleled concierge services. participation in STEM fields.

Giszell Weather, of Chapel Hill, NC by way of Portsmouth,VA, is founder of Her“I’m a lifelong learner and programs like ban, a community space that nurtures and this fellowship will help me to continue inspires youth through food cultivation. to grow myself and, in turn, help me to grow my students,” said Jones, an “iNvictus Office Center strongly believes award-winning robotics and automation teacher at a Durham, NC, middle school. that the community and environment In addition, Jones applauds the program’s fosters innovation, productivity, and mentorship component. “It is essential to creativity. Therefore, we built a community for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and the life of any organization or business. visionaries to work alongside each other Having mentors well versed in business and be inspired. From private conference concepts, marketing and procuring partand meeting rooms to shared up to date nerships will help me become a better amenities, we are where people and busibusiness woman, and help me structure ness come to work and grow together.” my company in a way it will be sustainadded Joseph Biggs, Jr. CEO and Managing able.”

Partner of iNvictus Office Center.

Michael Stewart-Isaacs and Donnell For more information, visit www.iNvictusOffice.com

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SAMANTHA’S INFINITE SOLUTIONS ARE HAIR EXTENSIONS RIGHT FOR YOU? ASK A SALON PROFESSIONAL Hair extensions have gain in popularity because they provide a moderate or extreme cosmetic alteration in a very short time frame (on average 30 minutes to 3 hours for various applications). However the decision to have hair extensions installed should not be taken lightly.

Applicants that wish to have hair extensions installed should seek the assistance a Licensed Salon Professional.

I strongly suggest that you research the Salon Professional via social media, website, or referred by their clients. They should have knowledge and experience with different methods of hair extension applications to successfully and safely meet the needs of their guest, or not.

While browsing through the news feeds of my Facebook friends, I came across a video warning women about the dangers of hair weaves. As I watched my heart melted for the young lady in the video - her frontal hairline was completely bare!

The damage was so severe it extended 4 inches into the interior of her head. This is a prime example of hair extensions repeatedly being installed improperly.

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BRIANA Briana is wearing an integrated extension application. Four single wefts were added for strategically placed cornrows to give her the fullness and thickness she desires.

Unfortunately, everyone is not a candidate for hair extensions.

A consultation with an Extension Specialist will inform you on which application will work best, or if you should pass on having extensions installed.

At C’ameleon Infinite Salon Solution the knowledge of our Extension Specialists enable us to provide various solutions to meet the demands of our guests. All extension applications come with a consultation and instructions for care between visits.

JAMIA Jamia received a revolutionary extension application. This unique system requires no glue, no braiding, no sewing, no clips, and no chemicals.

The extensions are undetectable and very comfortable to wear. An entire application can be applied in less than 30 minutes.

INFINITE SOLUTIONS CONTINUES ON PAGE 31

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INFINITE SOLUTIONS CONTINUES

WHITNEY

DRI

Whitney wanted to extend the length of her beautiful locks for her wedding ceremony only. Twenty (20) inch clip-in extensions were used to give her tendrils (curls) that cascade to the small of her back.

Dri has a custom extension installation. I colored and installed two 18 inch bundles with a closure. One inch of hair in the frontal hairline was left out to blend with the extensions for a very natural looking finish.

C’ameleon Infinite Salon Solution

1920 East Hwy 54, Suite #220 Durham, NC 27713 Phone: (919) 599-6525 Mention this column and receive a 15% discount on any hair service.

Walk-ins welcome.

Samantha Huntley

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HEALTH TIP

MEN’S HEALTH & MEDICATION COMPLIANCE need to strain or push to get the urine flowing, inability to completely empty bladder, dribbling or leaking after urination, and weak urine system.

If a man thinks he is experiencing the symptoms of an enlarged prostate, then he should consult with a physician, a urologist.

Be in the Know about your Medications

June is Men’s Health Month and is designed to increase awareness of health problems that are specific to men and also to provide information to keep men healthy. Preventive care and staying healthy begin at any age. You don’t have to wait until something is wrong. Make sure to get regular check-ups because some diseases don’t have symptoms at first - exams of testicles and colon cancer screening for example. Therefore, it’s necessary to get screening tests that are right for you.

Taking steps toward good health include: 1. Being physically active and making healthy food choices; 2. Maintaining a healthy weight; 3. Being tobacco free; 4. Drinking alcohol in moderation or not at all; 5. Avoiding situations that may cause trauma and violence, and 6. Avoiding stress and rage These steps can help lower blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and weight, which can lower your risk of serious health problems like Type 2

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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Diabetes and heart disease, and can prevent death!

Prostate Health

The prostate is part of your sex organs that produce fluid and contributes to the production of sperm.

The prostate gland grows during puberty and doesn’t change much until about the age of 40. It then grows again and continues to grow with age. An enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia-BPH) is not cancerous and is the most common prostate health problem among men over the age of 50.

Risk factors for BPH are age, family history, and medical conditions.

Symptoms include frequent, often-urgent need to urinate,

Three questions that you may have about your medications: 1) What do I do if I miss a dose? If you take a medication once per day for a chronic condition (like high blood pressure or diabetes), usually, you should take the missed dose as soon as you remember if during the same day. If you usually take your once-a-day medication in the morning, it may be best not to take your missed dose at night but rather skip that dose and take it first thing in the morning.

However, these are general instructions and you should check with your physician or pharmacist for specific instructions.

2) How do I know the side effects of my medication and if there may be an interaction with other drugs or supplements?

Each prescription medication has a patient information leaflet which provides information about the MOST important side effects and interactions. Ask your

10 Reasons Men Put Off Doctors’ Visits 6. Doctors don’t do anything I don’t have a doctor 7. I don’t want to hear what I might be told I don’t have insurance 8. I’ve got a “probe-a-phobia” There’s probably nothing wrong 9. I’d rather tough it out I don’t have time 10. My significant other has been nagging me to get I don’t want to spend the money a check-up

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pharmacist to provide you a copy and to discuss that with you when you pick up your medication. You are entitled to have a pharmacist consultation and it is advised to do so when you begin any new prescription.

3) How can I best remember when to take my medications? Use an Organizer Pill Box: If you take several medications, you can keep track of all your medications by using a pill box where you can organize your medications on a weekly or monthly basis. The organizers are available at every pharmacy. Ask your pharmacist to print out a copy of ALL your medications on one sheet and what instructions are for the schedule

Jamerson Dr. Brenda Jamerson, PharmD advises, “Be in charge of knowing about your own medications by knowing each medicine’s name, dose and time you should take it.”

Remember the ABC’s: Ask your Pharmacist or Physician for help to understand proper use of medication Be informed about the medication side effects Comply with the instructions on when and how long to take the medication For more information: 1. https://www.cdc.gov/men/ nmhw/ 2. blackdoctor.org

Health Tip is a message from Community Health Coalition, Inc. and is written in partnership with Central Carolina Black Nurses’ Council Inc., The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Durham and Vicinity, NC Mutual Life Insurance Company and Duke Regional Hospital.

REMEMBER Healthy People 2020: A Clear Vision to Healthy Living!

SPORTS

BALLIN’ OUT

By Lawrence “King Law” Davis

For sports updates, information and news during the month, read my blog at: www.spectacularmag.com/Sports

UNC LACROSSE – DOUBLE TROUBLE MEN’S & WOMEN’S TEAM WIN 2016 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP I was fortunate enough to travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to cover both women and men’s NCAA lacrosse national championship. The University of North Carolina was represented in both portions of the tournament, so it was nice being able to cover a team with which I am familiar.

Coach Joe Breschi hugs his goalie Brian Balkum after winning the national championship

The Heels got good ball movement on the following whistle and a cross field pass from Mike Tagliaferri to his running mate Cloutier. Cloutier ended his wonderful tournament performance with a shot that found its way between a few defenders and past the All-American goalie for UNC’s first championship since 1991 and fifth overall.

huge stop to send the game in to overtime. Before the time could run out, Tar Heel attackman Luke Goldstock got into a shoving match with Maryland defender Mike McCarney that resulted in the Heels being down one man Coming away from Philly with a southern school winning with Goldstock sitting in the penalty box. both championships against a school that is known for their lacrosse success speaks volumes for the growth of In OT, Maryland worked the ball around until they found the game in the South. Duke has conquered championtheir best shot of the game with Connor Kelly – Balkum ship weekend three of the last seven years. found his best save of the game. As the ball bounced off of his stomach, he was able to corral the ball, and The level of competition has even changed at the high get it cleared for the offense to set up their strategy to school level and we are seeing stronger programs and become champions. Carolina used good ball movement more well-rounded players coming out of the NC area. to get tournament standout Chris Cloutier (NCAA-record I repeat (smh)…this tournament has really been a nine goals in the semifinals) wide open in front of testament to the growth of the sport in the south. We All-American could even go as far to say that lacrosse is no longer a goalie Kyle predominantly northern sport. Last year, Denver was Bernlohr. the first team from west of the Mississippi River to win Bernlohr would a championship. Lacrosse was a relatively unknown go on to make sport when I was growing up, so it is just amazing to see the save of the result of growth in front of my eyes. season, saving Photos: Lawrence Davis the Terrapins, momentarily.

The ball hits the ground after the save and defender Mike McCarney decided that would be the best time to get revenge on Goldstock for shoving

Both teams fought hard to win the semi-finals, where both teams would end up facing a very prestigious University of Maryland team. The ladies cruised their way to their second national championship in school history and second in the last four years (2013 & 2016).

Fedora

Doeren

NCCU’s Bradley, McCoy Selected for NFL Coaching Internships

SPORTS NEWSBRIEFS NCCU NCCU’s Mack Joins Area Football Coaches for Annual Pigskin Preview

Mack

The guys started out on fire running out to a 4-0 lead after their very impressive semi-final win over Loyola (MD) two days prior. Maryland would eventually get on a run of its own to take the lead for the first time of the game. The contest Chris Cloutier winds up for his game went back and forth until the boys from College winning goal.

Park had the ball with the time running out. The him. McCarney runs through a crowd of players to hit game was tied 13-13, before a Maryland player found the Heels attackman in the head, causing the Terps a himself creeping by the goal with a chance to score. penalty and giving Carolina the ball with an extra man.

The ball got lost on a hidden ball trick before it appeared Carolina’s defense, led by goalie Brian Balkum, made a in Goldstock’s stick as he shot over the goal.

Montgomery

State coach Dave Doeren in discussing their teams’ prospects for the upcoming season.

Registration for the event begins at 11:00 am and the lunch program begins at 11:30 am. All proceeds from the event and the auction of autographed items following lunch will go to the NFF and College Hall of Fame scholarship program.

Fans are encouraged to reserve their spot for the Pigskin Preview at www.nffbilldooleychapter.org. Registered luncheon guests may also submit questions for the coaches at the “Contact Us’ section of the website. Event emcee Mark Armstrong, sports anchor at ABC11 WTVD, will randomly select questions for the five coaches to answer.

Cutcliffe

CARY, NC – North Carolina Central University football head coach Jerry Mack will join four other Division I head coaches in the region for the 14th annual Bill Dooley Chapter Pigskin Preview on Monday, July 18 at the Embassy Suites in Cary (201 Harrison Oaks Blvd.).

Mack, who enters his third season at NCCU after earning a share of the MEAC championship in his first two campaigns, will appear with Duke coach David Cutcliffe, East Carolina coach Scottie Montgomery, North Carolina coach Larry Fedora and N.C.

BRADLEY, MCCOY (Courtesy of NCCU Sports Informatioin)

DURHAM, NC – Two North Carolina Central University football assistant coaches, Jon Bradley and Kenyatta McCoy, have been selected as NFL summer interns as part of the Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship program.

McCoy, who is entering his third season as cornerbacks coach at NCCU, will join the New York Giants coaching staff for OTA (Organized Team Activities) offseason workouts from June 6-10, as well as the team’s training camp in late July. He joined the NCCU coaching staff prior to the 2014 football season as cornerbacks coach.

Before NCCU, McCoy served as special teams coordinator and running backs coach at the University of Pikeville (Kentucky) in 2012.

McCoy said he is looking to take away from this NFL experience “a better way of teaching young men, and more knowledge of defensive schemes and situational football.”

SPORTS CONTINUES ON PAGE 34

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SPORTS CONTINUES In 2007, McCoy graduated from the NCAA Football Coaches Academy, a program designed to assist ethnic minority football coaches with career advancement through skills enhancement, networking and exposure opportunities while raising awareness regarding the substantial pool of talented ethnic minority coaches.

McCoy holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (2001) and a master’s degree in recreation and sports sciences from Ohio University (2013). He is a member of the American Football Coaches Association and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Bradley, who is approaching his third season as defensive line coach at NCCU, will spend his NFL summer internship at the Washington Redskins training camp, which also begins in late July. He played four seasons in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions before joining the NCCU football staff as assistant defensive line coach in January 2014. Bradley is now solely responsible for the Eagles defensive front.

Bradley graduated from Arkansas State with a bachelor’s degree in sports management with an emphasis in business in 2011. He said he hopes to “improve myself as a coach, as well as take from them (NFL coaches) and bring back to NCCU to implement with what we do here to help build our program.”

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NCCU head coach Jerry Mack, who has been selected for three NFL internships in his coaching career with the New York Jets (2009, 2010) and Buffalo Bills (2008), understands first-hand the benefit of this opportunity.

“We are extremely proud of Coach Bradley and Coach McCoy,” Mack said. “They have done an excellent job developing their position groups and now have an opportunity to learn at the highest level of the profession.

The knowledge and relationships from this opportunity will allow our program to continue to stay on the cutting edge.”

Established in 1987, the Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship program provides NFL training camp positions to minority coaches every year. The program, which was named after the man who conceived the idea – late Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh – exposes talented minority college coaches to the methods and philosophies of summer NFL training camps. Walsh introduced the concept to the league in 1987 when he brought a group of minority coaches into his San Francisco 49ers’ training camp.

The program has tutored more than 1,800 minority coaches through the years and has grown to the point that now every NFL team participates during training camp.

SHAW

women’s head soccer coach. He is no doubt a proven winner and we are happy to have him on board.”

Shaw Athletics Announces The Addition Of Prior to coming to Shaw, Cortell spent the past year as the head coach of the Charlotte United Futbol Club in Men’s And Women’s Club Soccer Charlotte, North Carolina. Before moving to Charlotte, he was head coach of the West Virginia Tech University RALEIGH, NC - As many HBCUs struggle to balance athletic budgets and several have cut athletic programs soccer team for five years where he holds the all-time record for winning percentage at .777 (70-18-6), career in order to stabilize university-wide finances, Shaw wins, wins in a season, and all his teams were ranked in University has announced the addition of two teams every single-season category. that will no doubt spur recruitHe also stressed academics during his tenure and led ment of students from diverse the WVU Tech program to a 2.65 GPA in 2009-10 during backgrounds while smartly his first season in charge, then to an average GPA 3.0 in and efficiently investing in two subsequent seasons. relatively inexpensive programs

to proliferate.

In 2013, Coach Cortell guided the WVU Tech team to an Shaw announced the addition of overall record of 18-2-1 and the title of 2013 USCAA Namen’s and women’s club soccer in May and added that the teams tional Champions, followed by another USCAA National Championships title in a record of 18-0-1 in 2014. will compete on the club level in Luis Cortell He is a native of Valencia, Spain and currently resides in 2016-17 before transitioning to NCAA Division II status in Fall 2017. Shaw has hired Luis Cary, NC with his family.

Cortell, formerly of West Virginia Tech, to lead the Bears Students interested in participating in soccer must be a full time and Lady Bears soccer clubs. at Shaw beginning in the fall of 2016. For more information, “I am very excited about adding men’s and women’s club student prospective student-athletes should contact the Department of soccer to a line-up of stellar programs here at Shaw, Athletics at Shaw at (919) 719-6336 or visit our website at www. said Director of Athletics Dr. Alfonza Carter. “I am also shawbears.com. elated that we have hired Luis Cortell as our men’s and

King Law

Lawrence “King Law” Davis III Lawrence “King Law” Davis is a Business Administration major and Asst. Varsity Lacrosse Coach at Sanderson High School in Raleigh. He can be reached at lawdavis@spectacularmag.com

SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE | June 2016 | www.spectacularmag.com

LIFESTYLES

IN N.Y., WHITE HOUSE POISED TO CREATE FIRST MONUMENT TO GAY RIGHTS STRUGGLE of discrimination against the LGBT community, or the impassioned individuals who have fought to overcome it,” Nadler, who has coauthored legislation that would make it a national park, said in a statement.

“The LGBT civil rights movement launched at Stonewall is woven into American history, and it is time our National Park system reflected that reality.”

The president described Stonewall as a critical event in the nation’s social progress during his second inaugural speech, reflecting the idea “that all of us are created equal,” and alluded to it again when celebrating the 50th anniversary of the march on Selma, Ala. Interior Department spokeswoman Amanda Degroff said Obama “has made clear that he’s committed to ensuring our national parks, monuments and public lands help Americans better understand the places and stories that make this nation great” — though at the moment the administration has no official announcement on the designation.

President Obama is expected to declare The Stonewall Inn, the site of the Stonewall riots in 1969, a national monument. The Stonewall Inn is identified as a historic sites related to the struggle for LGBT rights.

(US Department of the Interior) NEW YORK, NY - President Obama is poised to declare the first-ever national monument recognizing the struggle for gay rights, singling out a sliver of green space and part of the surrounding Greenwich Village neighborhood as the birthplace of America’s modern gay liberation movement.

While most national monuments have highlighted iconic wild landscapes or historic sites from centuries ago, this reflects the country’s diversity of terrain and peoples in a different vein: It would be the first national monument anchored by a dive bar and surrounded by a warren of narrow streets that long has been regarded the historic center of gay cultural life in New York City.

Federal officials, including Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), held a listening session on May 9th to solicit feedback on the proposal.

Barring a last-minute complication — city officials are still investigating the

Noting that Jewell and Jarvis are attending June’s public meeting at the invitation of Nadler and federal, state and local officials, Degroff added,

history of the land title — Obama is prepared to designate the area part of the National Park Service as soon as June, which commemorates gay pride.

Protests at the site, which lasted for six days, began in the early morning of June 28, 1969 after police raided the Stonewall Inn, which was frequented by gay men. While patrons of the bar, which is still in operation today in half of its original space, had complied in the past with these crackdowns, that time it sparked a spontaneous riot by bystanders and those who had been detained.

Although national monument designations are partly symbolic, backers of the move said it could bolster the fight against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, which led to the landmark 2015 Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

“We must ensure that we never forget the legacy of Stonewall, the history

A crowd attempts to impede police arrests outside the Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 28, 1969. (New York Daily News Archive) STONEWALL CONTINUES ON PAGE 36

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STONEWALL CONTINUES of making it a monument, as does the local community advisory board.

The decision to recognize a critical moment in the fight for gay rights, at a time when politicians in several states are moving to strip away legal protections for transgender, gay, lesbian and bisexual residents, enjoys considerable support within the administration. But the path to declaring the monument has been a complicated one, largely because the

Human Rights Campaign, whose group has pushed for the designation along with others such as the National Parks Conservation Association and Gill Foundation. “This raised the consciousness of people throughout the country. It said to people, you don’t have to be quiet. You don’t have to stay in the closet.”

The site has become a gathering place following victories in the fight for LGBT equality: Many came there after

A plaque noting the site of the 1969 Stonewall Riots is affixed to the front of The Stonewall Inn, in New York’s Greenwich Village, on May 29, 2014. (AP) “Insights from meetings like this one play an important role in identifying the best means to protect and manage significant sites like Christopher Park, whether a designation is established

by Congress or through executive authority.”

Nadler and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

(D-N.Y.) have asked the president to protect the site under the 1906 Antiquities Act. In a sign of how much has changed since 1969, the three officials who represent the area — City Council member Corey Johnson, state assembly member Deborah Glick and state senator Brad Hoylman — are all openly gay and endorse the idea

After much controversy, George Segal’s sculpture “Gay Liberation” was installed in Christopher Park, located across the street from the Stonewall Inn. A crowd gathered at the site in 2015 to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

(Getty Images) site involves private property and a dense urban area where land-use planning is never simple.

But late last month, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed legislation, backed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and several state lawmakers, that would allow the city to transfer ownership of Christopher Park to the federal government should it become designated as a monument.

That patch of green, spanning less than two-tenths of an acre, lies opposite the Stonewall Inn.

In April 2016 New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) kept his promise and signed legislation, backed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and several state lawmakers, that allows the city to transfer ownership of Christopher Park, opposite the Stonewall Inn, to the federal government should it become designated as a monument.

(NY Daily News)

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In the same way Chicago’s Pullman National Monument — which Obama declared last year to highlight the struggle for labor and civil rights a century ago — encompasses a federally owned former railroad-car factory and part of the surrounding neighborhood, the proposed monument would include several streets that served as a battlefield between activists and law enforcement.

“History’s messy,” said David Stacy, government affairs director of the

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key court rulings in 2014 and 2015, and Cuomo officiated at a same-sex wedding outside the Stonewall Inn last summer.

Gill Foundation president and chief executive Courtney Cuff, whose group helped fund a two-year study to identify what LGBT sites might qualify for National Park Service recognition, said a monument designation would mean “interpreters will be talking to visitors about the LGBT community and the contributions of the LGBT movement writ large.”

Hoylman, who lives in the neighborhood with his husband and 5-year-old daughter Silvia, said he has taken her there and “tried to explain to her how important it is to her daddy and her papa.”

“The president has mentioned Stonewall along with Selma and Seneca Falls in his second inaugural.

So it’s fitting that he would be the president to bring this forward,” he said. “It’s breathtaking how far we’ve come, in so short a time.”

ENTERTAINMENT ABC HOPES SUNDAY NIGHT BET ON GAME SHOWS PAYS OFF HOLLYWOOD, CA - ABC’s ‘Sunday Fun and Games’ sees three old 70’s formats back from the dead, with Alec Baldwin hosting Match Game.

But is three shows in one night overkill?

There is one certainty in TV: whenever the networks locate a hit, they’ll try to replicate it until everyone is sick of it. To that end, ABC just ordered a revival of 70’s staple Match Game to join last summer’s surprise hit Celebrity Family Feud and a new version of that other 70’s game show (and syndication giant) $100,000 Pyramid, which they ordered in January.

The three shows will all air in a three-hour block on Sundays this summer starting June 26th. They’re calling it “Sunday Fun and Games.”

Baldwin

Match Game will be hosted by Alec Baldwin, who guides two civilian contestants while they try to win cash and

prizes with the help of a panel of celebrities. Baldwin will read ad libs-style sentences and the contestants will try to fill in the blank with the same word as the celebrities.

For example: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many peppers did Peter Piper ... blank.” (The same format ran as Blankety Blank in the UK, hosted by the late Terry Wogan.)

Last summer all the networks bet big on game shows because they’re cheap, fun and easy to produce. Knock Knock Live was an immediate disaster; a revival of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader was a disappointment; and 500 Questions was a moderate success.

Celebrity Family Feud, hosted

by Steve Harvey – who currently hosts a syndicated noncelebrity version of the show as well – was the Harvey only certified hit, averaging almost nine million viewers over its six-episode run.

ABC seems to have settled on a combination of celebrities and game shows, which has also proven a success for NBC’s Hollywood Game Night.

Strahan The $100,000 Pyramid, with Michael Strahan filling in for legendary host Dick Clark, will also feature famous people trying to help the plebs win money while trying to guess phrases without saying any of the words.

While this seems like a fun night of programming, someone should remind ABC of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, a smash hit that it put on the air five times a week and ran into the ground, unseating it from its throne as the mostwatched network in the country.

The stakes aren’t nearly as high with these shows, which will never reach the 30 million viewers that Millionaire did at its height, but it just goes to show that with game shows, sometimes less of a good thing is ... blank.

ILLINOIS COMMUNITY CENTER FINDS $19,000 DONATION FROM RICHARD PRYOR PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — A central Illinois community center where Richard Pryor made his first performance as a child has received $19,000 from the late comedian. The (Peoria) Journal Star reports that the George Washington Carver Community Center in Peoria is getting the money from the state’s unclaimed cash program. The comedian had donated $100,000 to the facility and the leftover amount somehow was left to languish in a bank account that was turned over to the state treasurer’s office in 1991. Pryor died in 2005.

It’s not clear when the original donation was made.

The center’s board president, Ken Hinton, says the funds will support summer youth programs.

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FYI

NORTH EAST BAPTIST CHURCH 3204 NC Hwy. 55 Durham, NC DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY, INC. JABBERWOCK INTEREST MEETING Saturday, June 25, 2016 11:00 am Seymour Center (Dogwood Room) 2551 Homestead Road Chapel Hill, NC The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Area Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated is pleased to announce an Interest Meeting for prospective Jabberwock contestants, a scholarship pageant providing young ladies with educational, cultural, and public service opportunities which allow them to grow personally, form lifelong relationships and most of all, raise funds for their future education. Contestants for Miss Jabberwock are rising 10th, 11th, & 12th grade young ladies and Princess Jabberwock contestants are ages 6-10.

RSVP to chcaajabberwock@gmail.com.

Sunday, June 12, 2016 HOMECOMING: 7:45 am Worship

MEN’S HEALTH INITIATIVE EVENT Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016 Lincoln Community Health Center 1301 Fayetteville Rd Durham, NC

Wormack Messenger: Rev. Kenneth Wormack - Associate Minister, North East Baptist Church 10:45 am Worship Messenger: Rev. Dr. Clarence Toomer - Associate Minister, Fisher Memorial United Holy Church, Durham, NC. Monday June 13 – Wed. June 15, 2016 pm nightly ANNUAL REVIVAL

Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016 Duke South Clinic 200 Trent Drive Durham, NC Free onsite prostate cancer screening, BPH screening for enlarged prostate, and much more. Call 919.470.8680 for more information.

7:00

Reach Your Target Market...

Battle Messenger: Pastor Mack Battle; East End Baptist Church, Rocky Mount, NC.

WSHA JAM SESSION Every 4th Friday 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Raleigh – Brownstone 1707 Hillsborough St Raleigh, NC Join WSHA every fourth Friday of the month from 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Raleigh - Brownstone for an evening of great jazz music from local artists.

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Sunday June 19, 2016 FATHER’S DAY SERVICE 7:45 am Worship Messenger: Min. Shelton Williams - Associate Minister, North East Baptist Church, Durham, NC. 10:45 am Worship Messenger: Rev. Dr. Martin Estes - Associate Minister, Lighthouse Christian Pentecostal Church, Durham, NC.

Advertise in Spectaclular Magazine call 919.680.0465

Mon. June 20 – Fri. June 24, 2016 6:30-8:30 pm nightly VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL Theme: “I’ve Got Talent…Showcasing My Work for Jesus!” There will be classes and activities for children of all ages AND adults. Dinner served each night. Should you need additional information, please contact Church Secretary, Beverly Graham, at (919) 544-2142, Monday through Friday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

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