Post a Selfie in Support of #ISF3Wishes and Childhood Cancer Awarness

I don't think I've ever posted a "selfie" before. So, if I'm going to go the popular, smart-phone/social-media-propelled route of vanity, it may as well be for a great cause. The Isabella Santos Foundation has launched its 3 Wishes campaign to raise awareness for childhood cancer.

The Charlotte-based nonprofit's namesake is the late Isabella Santos, a remarkable seven-year-old girl who died last summer from a rare form of childhood cancer called neuroblastoma. ISF was founded in 2009 by Isabella's parents while their little girl battled the disease. In just a few years, the foundation has raised more than $350,000 for neuroblastoma research and other children’s cancer charities.

Isabella Santos. Credit: facebook.com/IsabellaSantosFoundation

Now, with the 3 Wishes campaign, you can honor the memory of this beautiful little girl by doing something you probably often do: Post a selfie. But take it a step further by including three wishes you would want to see realized by children battling cancer.

My 3 Wishes are:

• That princesses get kisses.

• You'll always have reasons to smile.

• Outgrow your "Proud Cancer Survivor" T-Shirt.

You're asked to post your selfie on Twitter, Instagram, and/or Pinterest and use the #ISF3Wishes hashtag; and post it on ISF's Facebook page. Spread the word too, particularly to your friends who have social media accounts full of selfies (you know who you are).

In my list of wishes, I got the idea for the first one from a touching video ISF recently created about Isabella's life. Shortly after the three-minute mark, there's a scene taken from the Santos's home videos showing Isabella, who looked like she was only about four years old at the time, telling her little brother Grant that: "Princesses need kisses."

I've seen several creative #ISF3Wishes posts, created by parents (with artistic abilities far better than me) and many featuring children close to Isabella's age, such as this one on Facebook:

Visit www.isabellasantosfoundation.com and follow on Twitter @TheISFoundation.

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First Lady Michelle Obama Tells It Like It Is At Bowie State University Graduation

It's college graduation season, with young men and women all over the country receiving their degrees after four (or more) years of hard work. Many of them are lucky in that their commencement addresses are delivered by high profile, inspirational, and successful people (Lou Holtz spoke at my college graduation 11 years ago...man, I'm getting old). Of the news clips of graduation speeches I've seen so far this weekend, First Lady Michelle Obama's commencement address Friday at Bowie State University stands out the most.

Credit: whitehouse.gov

Both the First Lady and President Obama have to walk fine lines when talking about race. As the United States' first-ever African-American First Couple, when discussing the all-important-yet-sometimes-overly-sensitive topic of race, they run the risk of black people feeling they don't address race enough and white people thinking they talk about it too much. I'm generalizing here to make a point, but I think you understand what I'm saying.

So I'm happy to see that when Mrs. Obama spoke in front of the 2013 graduating class at the historically black university in Maryland, she delivered a message they needed to hear (and thanks to the Internet, the whole world can hear it). Below are a few of her notable remarks (click here for the full transcript):

• For generations, in many parts of this country, it was illegal for black people to get an education. Slaves caught reading or writing could be beaten to within an inch of their lives. Anyone -- black or white -- who dared to teach them could be fined or thrown into jail. And yet, just two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, this school was founded not just to educate African Americans, but to teach them how to educate others... And since then, generations of students from all backgrounds have come to this school to be challenged, inspired and empowered.

• So back then, people were hungry to learn. Do you hear me? Hungry to get what they needed to succeed in this country. And that hunger did not fade over time. If anything, it only grew stronger. I mean, think about the century-long battle that so many folks waged to end the evil of segregation...

• But today, more than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, more than 50 years after the end of “separate but equal,” when it comes to getting an education, too many of our young people just can’t be bothered. Today, instead of walking miles every day to school, they’re sitting on couches for hours playing video games, watching TV. Instead of dreaming of being a teacher or a lawyer or a business leader, they’re fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper. Right now, one in three African American students are dropping out of high school. Only one in five African Americans between the ages of 25 and 29 has gotten a college degree -- one in five.

• But let’s be very clear. Today, getting an education is as important if not more important than it was back when this university was founded. Just look at the statistics. People who earn a bachelor’s degree or higher make nearly three times more money than high school dropouts, and they’re far less likely to be unemployed. 

• And as my husband has said often, please stand up and reject the slander that says a black child with a book is trying to act white. Reject that.

Preach!

Watch the video below of the First Lady's full commencement speech.

I often hear (or read in the comments section of online articles) people questioning the need of HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities) today, or assertions that the continuation of black colleges is discriminatory or racist. This is an example of where healthy and honest discussions are needed. To answer that question simply, as the First Lady pointed out, Bowie State was founded in the mid-1800s when that was only the way blacks could get a higher education. So, after the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, were those universities, with their rich histories and traditions, supposed to close down since black students could finally attend college practically anywhere? (And don't forget, blacks continued to face resistance at many mainstream colleges on through the 1970s). Secondly, most HBCUs today, like Bowie State and Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte (Civil Rights icon and former Congressman and U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young spoke at JCSU's commencement this morning), aggressively recruit students of all races. The reason they're referred to as HBCUs is because they're "historically black" (I didn't attend an HBCU, so I don't need to defend them other than to speak the truth). We can't deny history; let's embrace it and move forward. And focus on the alarming statistics the First Lady stated.

By the way, Bowie State is a member of the CIAA, which holds its annual basketball tournament in Charlotte. Institutions of higher learning make up the CIAA, despite all the partying and debauchery the events surrounding the tournament have become known for.

Who spoke at your college graduation? Was it memorable?

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'From Sit-ins to Eat-ins,' Multiple Events Commemorate 50th Anniversary of Desegregation in Charlotte

May is a significant month in Charlotte's history, and over the next two weeks there's a coordinated effort to recognize a brave step the city and its residents took 50 years ago. "From Sit-ins to Eat-ins" celebrates the desegregation of Charlotte that occurred in May 1963. It's great to see that several organizations are coming together to present these events. I hope it serves as a reminder to us that 50 years isn't all that long ago, and if people from different walks of life could work together decades ago on something as serious and monumental as desegregation, most of our issues today aren't as difficult as we make them out to be.

Below are details from the press release, including the list of community events (admission is free, except where noted).

Charlotte made national headlines in May 1963 when Chamber of Commerce members led by Mayor Stan Brookshire voluntarily joined with African American leaders to go two-by-two and desegregate Charlotte’s leading restaurants. This “eat-in” came three years after the sit-in movement had opened lunch counters.

Charlotte Civil Rights activist Dr. Reginald Hawkins triggered the action, leading a march on May 20, 1963 from Johnson C. Smith University to the Mecklenburg County Courthouse and declaring “We shall not be pacified with gradualism; we shall not be satisfied with tokenism.  We want freedom and we want it now.” His call echoed a spirit of revolution dating to the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence demanding freedom from England, which tradition holds was signed on May 20, 1775, a year before the 1776 US Declaration of Independence.

The successful desegregation on May 29-31, 1963 – a year before the 1964 U.S. Civil Rights act required desegregation of “public accommodations” – pushed Charlotte into the national spotlight. The city’s progressive action contrasted sharply with the massive resistance then going on in places such as Birmingham, where police chief Bull Connor turned fire hoses and police dogs on young Civil Rights protesters that same month. It was a key turning point in Charlotte’s emergence as a major Southern city.

Organizers of this two-week celebration include: Levine Museum of the New South, Mecklenburg Ministries, The May 20th Society, Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Relations, and Mert's Heart & Soul, with assistance from Charlotte Center City Partners, Charlotte Chamber, Queens University, Johnson C. Smith University, and the Carolina Room of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

Sunday, May 19

From Sit-ins to Eat-ins: History Makers Panel Discussion
Several participants from the 1963 desegregation march in Charlotte will be a part of this panel discussion, including the son of Charlotte activist Dr. Reginald Hawkins, who marched beside his father in 1963; Jack Claiborne, who is a long-time reporter for The Charlotte Observer and covered the Civil Rights movement locally; Evan Faulkenbury, who has studied Dr. Hawkins’ life; and Patricia A. Albritton, board chair of Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Relations Office. 2:30 p.m. First United Presbyterian Church, 406 N. College St.

Monday, May 20

March from Johnson C. Smith University to the Mecklenburg County Courthouse
Scheduled speakers include Malcolm Graham, attorney Charles Jones, James Ferguson, Dr. Reginald Hawkins, Abdullah Salim Jr., and Mayor Anthony Foxx. 10:30 a.m. Johnson C. Smith University, 100 Beatties Ford Rd.

Annual Noon Commemoration of Mecklenburg Declaration
Event will include cannons, a reading of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, and a celebration of Mecklenburg County’s 250th anniversary. 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The Square, corner of Trade and Tryon streets in Uptown.

The May 20th Society 8th Annual Speaker Series featuring Isabel Wilkerson
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Warmth of Other Suns will connect her research on 20th century African American history with the Charlotte 1963 history. 7:30 p.m. $12. McGlohon Theater at Spirit Square, 345 N. College St., blumenthalarts.org.

Wednesday and Thursday, May 29 and 30

“From Sit-ins to Eat-ins” Event
To mark the city's historic desegregation, some of today’s civic leaders will kick off two days in which Charlotteans are urged to invite someone of a different race to lunch. Throughout Charlotte.

Thursday, May 30

“From Sit-ins to Eat-ins” Community Festival
Music and munchies set the mood in 1963. Participants in the 2013 eat-in reflect on history, share what they’ve learned, and suggest hopes for future. Hosted by Mecklenburg Ministries’ “Friday Friends.” 5:30-7 p.m. Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh St., museumofthenewsouth.org.

You can also find details at www.may20thsociety.org and www.meckdec.org.

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5 Things to Note About New York Times Article, 'Young Americans Lead Trend to Less Driving'

Charlotte was abuzz yesterday on social media (and I assume in coffee shops and around water coolers—people still talk there, right?) with the city and a few of our residents being prominently featured in a New York Times article titled, "Young Americans Lead Trend to Less Driving" (posted online Monday night; ran in Tuesday's print edition). The writer cites studies and uses the Queen City to explain that "Charlotte and other American cities have not abandoned their cars or their sprawling growth. But ... that American driving patterns have downshifted — perhaps for years to come." It's an interesting read.

Here are five things that stood out to me as I read the article:

• The first paragraph describes Uptown Charlotte as "a pedestrian-friendly quarter with new office buildings, sparkling museums and ambitious restaurants." I couldn't have explained it better myself in 13 words.
• Shouts out to my friend Ted Boyd, director of Historic South End, who recently partnered with me on an event, for being photographed and interviewed.
• According to the article, Dan Mauney is opening two stores in South End, "one to sell women’s shoes and another men’s underwear." This is the first I've heard of that. Dan is most known as a co-owner of Sloan boutique in Dilworth, and as an organizer of the annual "BRIEF! A Fete for Fashion" men's underwear/swimwear fashion show and fundraiser.
• The writer mentions the success of the light rail, and that "President Obama has nominated the city’s mayor, Anthony R. Foxx, to be the next transportation secretary." I anticipated that would be included in the article. But I think it should've also been addressed that Charlotte is currently struggling with its plans for a streetcar.
• The driving trends could be reversed one day with "the emergence of self-driving vehicles [that] 'may re-empower elderly people to continue using cars far into their last years,' offsetting any potential decline from younger adults." Self-driving cars. Need. To. Happen. Now!

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Win Free Registration for Your Kid to Attend 2013 Steve Smith Football ProCamp

The annual Steve Smith Football ProCamp is taking place June 10-11, 2013, and Showmars is giving away four spots to the camp with the Carolina Panther great. The camp is for children in grades first through eighth, and parents can enter to win a free registration for their child by filling out an entry form at any of the 28 Charlotte-area Showmars locations. Winners will be contacted on May 24.

Steve Smith autographing T-shirts at his Charlotte camp. Credit: facebook.com/SteveSmithCamp

The Steve Smith Football ProCamp, which takes place at Ardrey Kell High School and costs $149 to attend, is sold out. So this contest is one of the only ways you can get your kid in at this point. The features of the camp, according to the website, include: learning from and interacting with the 12-year Panthers veteran, a limited edition Steve Smith Football ProCamp T-shirt, autographed camp team photo with Steve, opportunity to participate in contests and win prizes, fun and educational experience stations and fundamentals, and more. In past years, Steve's teammates, like Cam Newton and DeAngelo Williams, have joined him at the camp, to the delight of the youth.

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Party Photos from 'Charlotte’s Web: A Celebration of CLT Bloggers & Digital Tastemakers'

Last Saturday, May 4, I held an invitation-only event titled "Charlotte’s Web: A Celebration of CLT Bloggers & Digital Tastemakers" at Oak Room in South End. It served as a five-year anniversary party for my blog, GrownPeopleTalking.com, as well as an opportunity for me to partner with some other great sites: CharlotteHappening.com, HistoricSouthEnd.com, and MAC330.com. Each of them played an important role in helping make the event a success.

The event began at 7:30 p.m., and ran until Oak Room opened its doors to the public at 10 p.m. We featured delicious food, catered by All American Pub, while DJ Shogun played an awesome mix of music. The highlight, easily, was when I gave away prizes throughout the night such as: a 5Church gift card, two pairs of tickets to the Charlotte magazine BOB Awards (May 23), two gift certificates to The Boulevard at South End, two tickets to the Urban League of Central Carolinas Young Professionals Leadership Awards (June 22), a Chobani gift basket, a Workout 180 from Edison Nation, two passes to the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship, and more.

When the event started, I tweeted the #CLTweb hashtag for the first time. And over the next three hours, our guests tweeted using the hashtag more than 100 times.

It's 7:30. Time for Charlotte's Web: A Celebration of CLT Bloggers & Digital Tastemakers. #CLTweb | twitter.com/HollidayInk/st…
— Jarvis Holliday (@HollidayInk) May 4, 2013

Below are a few photos from Charlotte's Web. You can view more than 50 photos from the event on the Grown People Talking Facebook page. Photos by Jon Strayhorn/MAC330.

On the right, I'm addressing the crowd. On the left is my twin brother Marvis, of CharlotteHappening.com.

Ted Boyd of HistoricSouthEnd.com.

My girlfriend Andrea chatting in front of the Twitter screen.

Glenn Burkins of QcityMetro.com and Mike Kitchen of the Sol Kitchen.

Freelance writer Lauren Bongers and TV news reporter Katie Burcham.

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