Living Next Door To A Hero: Understanding My Legacy

Understanding My Legacy.
Guest Post By Franz Stringer Holmes

The Pittsburgh Steelers should have won the Super Bowl.

Whew, I had to get that out of the way. I have heard the old saying “if you don’t know your history, you are doomed to repeat it”. I prefer, “If you don’t know where you’ve come from, then you don’t know where you going." Without knowing our history, it is hard to appreciate those that have paved the way for you. I have always been taught to stand on my own two feet and blaze my own trails. However, the influence of my parents, especially my father, has been tremendous to me throughout my life. I heard that having a father figure in your life is the closest thing we get to seeing God in the flesh. I could not agree more.

As a "youngster", I found myself holding my father up as the standard of how I wanted to live my life. Anything that was good enough for him was certainly good enough for me. I was taught to at least give things a try. He doesn’t know this but hearing his stories of his childhood gave me hope and justification in mine. If he could act a fool in school and still get good grades then surely I could go to school and excel. I had no choice in the matter. Mentioning good grades brings back to my first statement. Yes, the Steelers should have won the Super bowl this year!

Steeler Pride runs deep at my father’s house. I’m not even big on football but I always enjoy watching the Steelers play. Steeler Pride is so deep in my family blood that even when my former TSU track teammates played against them, I still rooted for the Steelers. To know why is a bit of a history lesson. In high school, my father played football and dreamed of going to the league. He told me once that in his day, TSU was known around the world for bringing the best black football players to the NFL. I am not going to try to name all the names of NFL greats that have played football at TSU that my father knows personally but the name that stands above all names is Joe Gilliam, the first Black NFL quarter back.

Joe Gilliam Jr. played football at Pearl High School and led his team to the very first integrated city championship in 1966. I know that well because I attended middle and high school at Pearl now known as Martin Luther King Magnet High School. There’s a small shrine to Joe Gilliam in a room behind the auditorium that stays locked. How I know this is a subject for another story. The Gilliam name came to mean much more to me as I graduated and prepared for college. I visited numerous schools and I received many offers to attend other colleges but TSU was my first and only choice. My only financial concern regarding school was my books. Imagine my surprise after being enrolled at TSU that my book purchases were paid for by a third party. I later learned that it was billed to the Joe Gilliam Foundation. It was then I began to piece my fathers lover of the Steelers, the Gilliam name and my family together.

Coach Joe Gilliam Sr. served as defensive coordinator at TSU and most likely one of the most influential men in my father’s life. My father, Roger Holmes, played football for TSU.The Gilliam name that I heard throughout my childhood was Joe Gilliam but I had no idea that from the time I was knee high to an ant that my father was talking about Joe Gilliam, SR!

I heard every story about every game, every long night at practice, about every “boy you gonna be a man when I get through with you”, every and all things Coach Gilliam. The very idea of disappointing Coach Gilliam, my father’s hero, MADE me go to class even when I did not want too. After all, he was paying for my books! I had no choice.

After a few semesters, I moved off the yard. As fate would have it, I moved across the hall from none other than Coach Gilliam. I suddenly understood every conversation I heard my father tell about curfews. Living across the hall from Coach Gilliam was an experience I will never forget. I read every book he read. I ate what he ate. I watched every football game ever played by anyone that was suited in a Big Blue uniform. And no matter how I tried, I could not leave my apartment without his door opening to make sure I was alone. Living next day to Coach Gilliam I definitely learned perseverance.

Living in my father's house, on campus and across the hall from Coach Gilliam, I understand fully what it means to love TSU. I know without a doubt that I stand on the shoulders of those before me. I wouldn’t be where I am without my family. And my father would not be who he is without having men like Coach Gilliam who made sure he did not have to walk on grass but on the road that was paved by their sacrifices. The day I met Coach Gilliam, I understood what legacy meant. My father’s legacy became mine as well. Coach Gilliam, as we celebrate TSU’s past, present, and future I want to say thank you for every lesson you taught me about being a man in the game of life. The evenings spent with you, I will always treasure. God bless you!
Your neighbor,
Franz Holmes

Originally published in the Big Blue Issue

The Woman Beneath the Hats

Senator Thelma Harper is a 1978 graduate of TSU and the Chairperson of the Tennessee Black Caucus; she is known as much for her sense of style as her politics. Senator Harper is the first African-American woman to be elected to the Senate, the first woman to preside over the Senate and the first Senator to lead the Black Caucus. Harper is known for not focusing on the fluffy stuff and for speaking her mind about the nuts and bolts of political issues. Harper has been in public service for thirty plus young years.

Thelma Harper has served as a state senator since 1991. She has chaired many committees including; Senate Government Operations Committee and a member of the Senate State and Local Government Committee, the Senate Correction Oversight Committee, and the Select Joint Committee on Children and Youth.

For eight years, Thelma Harper served as a member of the Nashville-Davidson County Metropolitan Council. She also was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1980, 1984, 1988, and 1992.


As a proud alumnus of TSU, Senator Harper has fought many battles for Big Blue that will never make the news. Her support of TSU keeps her engaged in many events that happens on the campus and in the community. The numerous meetings times may overlap and she maybe not please everyone but she wears grace under fire well. That is the public Senator Harper that many know.

But the woman beneath the beautiful and colorful hats that are worn literally and figuratively pales in comparison to the hats she wears behind the scenes as nurturer, consoler, and compassionate counselor. Away from legislative corridors, senate hearings, political debates about the rights of women and fighting for children, cameras, and ribbon cutting ceremonies, Senator Harper swaps her public political hats for her Miss Thelma hats. The Miss Thelma's nurturer hat is worn on Thursday nights to tutor young kids who have been labeled special needs because they need a firm but loving hand in their life to help them with school work . “Helping eight year olds keeps me young,” Senator Harper says with a laugh. That hat is also worn to read to elementary children several times a month at schools in North Nashville. The Miss Thelma’s consoler hat is worn to visit in women prison and to see the sick and shut often left behind.


The Miss Thelma's compassionate counselor hat is worn to meet with young girls who made mistakes early in life but still need to know they “uniquely and wonderfully” made in God’s eyes. The hat is not trimmed in colored judgment or scorned flowers. That special hat was worn to take a group of women on a field trip of sorts to see the play “Dream Girls” last fall. The women were treated to an impromptu meeting with the actors backstage to hear one of the lead actors confess about his painful past that lead to him spending time locked up. The meeting arranged by Miss Thelma showed the women that they too can rise above their circumstances. There are no public policy hearings on compassion and loving others. That incident was brought to my attention by one of the cast members who shared it with me. She was so touched by the meeting that she asked to remain in contact with the young women and Miss Thelma. As she told me the story, we both cried. TPAC’s “ Dream Girls” play left Nashville many months ago but the influence of that backstage encounter has remained with the women and the actors from the play.


Those hats worn by Senator Harper aka "Miss Thelma" are as vital to the good of the community and state as the legislative issues that often can be trivialized in political sound bites on the nightly news.


The hats of wife, mother, sister, aunt and businesswoman that Miss Thelma wears cannot be forgotten either. As we go about our daily lives, let’s look closer at the hats that are worn by trailblazers not on the public stage but the ones worn behind the curtains that not only will have impact today but for years to come.
(From the Big Blue Issue)

Transforming cubs into "Big Blue" Tigers

(Originally written for the Big Blue Issue)

Between my two sons, I have learned much about college life through their eyes and experiences. The TSU’s campus has changed a lot in twenty five years but the pride and love my sons feel about TSU have kept me engaged in all things Big Blue.


My eldest son’s college experiences were vastly different from my younger son’s experience. Sending one son to school that graduated not once but twice earned me my Tiger mom survival badge of honor and unofficial "Chairmama" of all blessings from the TSU community. He was a model student that stayed on target and worked various jobs while maintaining his presidential scholarship. He was involved in many activities on campus, ran track and he graduated with honors. He even pledged a fraternity. Busy young man, huh? With my proud mama badge, I boldly thought that I could produce the same results from kid number 2.


“Lord hear my cry” became my prayer of choice when my youngest son stepped on the yard. Baby boy was not a bit of trouble in high school but turned my life upside down trying to figure out what to do about his idea of college and my idea of him being in school. My drama free kid was nothing but a production from getting him enrolled, room assignments, registration, financial aid, shots and physicals…you get the picture. You name the issue, I got a time and date for it. Not one to run from problems as a family, we were not prepared for baby boy’s first year of college.


Same family, community, and college. What was the problem? Two very different young men. I think I nursed somebody too long. To be transparent, I assumed that because big brother had a model college life with few issues, his success would be duplicated just by sheer osmosis in kid number 2. My youngest son was still a baby that I had not let go. He had an easy going spirit and personality and he gave order to my life. I placed more emphasis on baby boy not getting into trouble than preparing him to live away from home. I took care of everything for him which came back to haunt me and hurt him.


Leaving home to attend college is one of the first steps many take on their journey to adulthood. Whether the school is stamped on your child’s birth certificate, across town or two thousand miles away, college life can often distract young people from an education that college offers. Preparing your child for college life should start no later than the 9th grade. Some educators have recommend starting as early as 4th grade. Teaching teens financial literacy, time management, good work habits, personal safety tips while visiting several colleges helps with transforming your college bound teen.


Making sure conversations about college life is talked about often in preparation for school is important. Not just parties and no parental supervision slants but more dialogues about responsibilities as a student. Students will not know everything but it is important that they know the school is a learning environment and not a place to goof off.


With more first generational students attending college, colleges are now having workshops to prepare parents for college life. As I learned, when your child attends college so you attend as well in many aspects. Baby boy was well connected within the TSU family but he needed more help to get focused. We weren’t afraid to pull in others for input. Learning to get paperwork in on time and teaching him to become more responsible about his education were steps to getting him on the right track. We learned he became overwhelmed easily. Overwhelmed? Really? Who knew?


If you have a young person considering college, surround them with positive role models, reasonable accountability, and make sure their focus is education and not school activities. Sometimes hearing from someone other than mom and dad can help with life adjustments. College life can be overpowering when students are not prepared academically, mentally, socially or physically. Start sooner than later and expect the unexpected. I have learned that no two kids are alike in life or in college.Transforming a cub into a Big Blue Tiger takes prayers, patience and preparation.