Father of the “JukeBox” passes at 85 SU Remembers Dr. Isaac Greggs
Lauren Johnson Managing Editor The legendary Dr. Isacc Greggs passed away at the age of 85. Greggs served as the leader of the SU marching band for 36 years. Under his leadership the Human Jukebox played in six super bowls, four sugar bowls, and three presidential inaugurations. Greggs nicknamed the SU Marching Band the “Human Jukebox” after so many great accomplishments. It all started in 1972 when Greggs and 31 members of the SU band performed at the Radio City Music Hall in New York. The band was recognized and asked to stay longer and play more. Then the band went to play at several other prestigious and highly awarded events in Harlem. The Jukebox not only played in the United States, but in Costa Rica and Mexico as well. After this the band had a motto of “Often imitated but never duplicated.” In 1975 the Human jukebox performed for the first time during the Annual Bayou Classic against Grambling State University in the Louisiana Superdome located in New Orleans. Being the author of the SU Alma Mater and Fight Song the Music hall, which was formally known as Dubose, was renamed to Issac Greggs Band Hall. On June 18, 2003 Greggs was acknowledged as the first living person to have a state building named after him. Then in 2013 Greggs was inducted into the Louisiana Black History Hall of Fame.” I remember Dr. Isaac Greggs saying to be the best you DIGEST FILE have to beat the best,” said former
Alto Saxophone player Adrian Bell of Alexandria, La. “There were so many memorable moments that I could spend all day sharing them.” Bell went on to say that one thing he remembered most that has carried over into his personal life is that Greggs taught members “to look the part, dress the part, act the part and to overall be a man.” Being a former band member and assistant to Greggs, the current Director of Bands Lawrence Jackson expresses how the legendary Greggs will be missed. “Dr. Greggs was a creator, iconic, phenomenal inventor, mentor, father figure and an overall peoples person,” said Jackson. “He touched everyone that crossed his path. He nurtured and cared about the direction in which his students were going.” When asked about special memories Jackson responded. “I remember when Dr. Greggs chose me for the assistant position he would constantly call me into his office and ask me different questions to ensure that I knew the information as in how many steps were in a second.” He took a special interest in me, because he saw something in me, something he could tap into and mold me into the Director I am today,” finished Jackson. In regards to the legend Jackson stated “The legend will live on,one must understand that when they see the band on the field they aren’t seeing me or the band, but the protocol and system in which Greggs created.” “SU is all I know, same as my assistant Nathan Haymer, with that being said the legend will never die.”
Former band director and creator of the “Human JukeBox“, Dr. Isaac Greggs enjoys an SU football game. Greggs passed away at the age of 85.
Los Angeles NAACP denounces Donald Sterling Associated Press The NAACP has decided against honoring Donald Sterling with a lifetime achievement award from its Los Angeles chapter after the Clippers owner allegedly made racist comments in a recorded conversation. Donations made by Sterling, who has owned the team since 1981, will be returned, Leon Jenkins, president of the Los Angeles NAACP, said at a news conference Monday. Jenkins would not say how much money was involved. “There is a personal, economic and social price that Mr. Sterling must pay for his attempt to turn back the clock on race relations,” he said. Sterling, 80, had been scheduled to receive the honor on May 15 as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the Los Angeles branch of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. He had been chosen to receive the award because of his long history of donating to minority charities and giving game tickets to inner city children, Jenkins said. The NAACP has honored Sterling several times in the past.
The Donald T. Sterling Charitable Foundation gave $5,000 to the NAACP’s Los Angeles chapter in 2010, according to tax records, and Sterling was listed as his foundation’s only contributor. There were no records of further NAACP contributions in 2011 or 2012, the latest years for which records were available. Sterling’s purported comments have overshadowed the NBA’s opening playoff round and prompted an NBA investigation. The league is planning a Tuesday news conference to discuss the probe. Sterling “is emphatic that what is reflected on that recording is not consistent with, nor does it reflect his views, beliefs or feelings,” according to a statement from team president Andy Roeser on Saturday. Neither Sterling nor his representatives have since commented on the controversy. Jenkins, of the NAACP, was asked how detrimental he considered Sterling’s alleged remarks. “On a scale of one to 10? Eleven,” he said. “It goes back to a segregation system and a time that nobody in America is proud of.”
Members of the state Legislature’s black caucus joined those denouncing Sterling. Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, D-San Bernardino, said lawmakers should not ignore the country’s history of discrimination. “Once again we are reminded of the ugliness and sometimes what appears to be the pervasive permanence of hatred,” Brown said while speaking in support of a resolution declaring Holocaust Remembrance Week. “So I want to simply challenge us as we go forward to not think that, ‘Yes, we see the past,’ but recognize the past has a profound impact on the present. And if we are not conscious (of it), it will direct our future.” Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Compton and secretary of the black caucus, blasted Sterling and compared him to a “slave master” looking down at his African-American players. “It’s an utter embarrassment,” Hall said in an interview after the floor session, “not just to the NBA, but also to all the individuals who believe that at some point, in California at least, we have risen above that, and we obviously haven’t.”
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