My HBCUstory Carlos McCormick on Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes

Join Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes as we profile organizations and leaders who lead by example. With extraordinary acts of kindness and charitable giving that help countless lives daily, these organizations and leaders embody "Be the change you want to see in the world".

Throughout 2013 listeners will hear from presidents of organizations who are global change agents. We will also hear from CEOs of social enterprise businesses who are changing communities and college educators who are taking their students out of the classroom and into surrounding neighborhoods to learn and serve others.

Join us on Saturday, April 13, 2013  as we continue the countdown to the Inaugural  HBCUstory Symposium with Carlos McCormick, an honor student athlete who attends Tennessee State University.  Listen to Carlos share his powerful journey from an orphanage in Mexico to West Virgina School for the Blind to attending college in Tennessee while training to run for the Paralympics. 

Carlos will share about the educational struggles but he graduated from high school with a 4.0. He will share how he dreamed of going to college and how colleges are adapting to a growing population of students who are vision impaired. He will also share how technology plays a major role in his pursuit of a college degree. Carlos speaks often to students at  the Tennessee School for the Blind, agencies that advocate for children with disabilities. He also addresses adoption and foster care issues. Carols is an aspiring author and has a book written about his life.

Carols is mentored and coached by Franz Holmes who HBCUstory can be found here. Carlos' HBCUstory of overcoming many personal trials and how is desire to go to college against all odds will leave you empowered, inspired, and motivated to live your BEST life.

Living Your Best Life, a radio show that empowers, inspires and motivates one to live their BEST life, can heard on 760 AM in the Middle-Tennessee Region, military bases, and streamed live on U-Stream.TV from 9-10AM CST. This show will also be aired on WTST, a member of the HBCU radio network.


More About Carlos McCormick



· 1995- Abandoned at Villa Hogar, an orphanage in Toluca, Mexico. He can’t remember anything about his parents or where he lived before the orphanage. Presumed to be three years old, but doesn’t even know when his birthday is. Was assigned a birthday by the orphanage.

· 1998- Along with his older brother Eric, he was adopted by Stephen and Carolanne Dougherty from Philadelphia. He lived with the Doughertys and their four daughters for two years before being mysteriously left for adoption by another family.


· 2000- Moved in with and was later adopted by Henry and Diane McCormick from Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Lived on a small farm there for six years and suffered cruel neglect and punishment before finally being removed from the home by the West Virginia DHHR.

· 2006- Removed from the McCormick home and placed in a series of temporary foster homes before finally settling with Deyerle and Etta Miller from Mathias, WV, a tiny rural village in Hardy County. He also started attending school for the first time in five years when he enrolled at the West Virginia School for the Blind in Romney.

· 2008-Attended the Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, where his love of running and his passion for competition led him to set his sights on becoming a Paralympian himself.

· 2010- Moved into the home of Donna and Larry See of Romney and began splitting his education between Hampshire High School and WVSB. Completed against public schools, which enabled his running to reach a new level.

· 2012- Graduated from Hampshire High School, achieving a perfect 4.0 grade point average his senior year.

· 2012- Enrolled at Tennessee State University and began training under the watchful eye of assistant track coach Franz Holmes.


More About IPC 

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. Its purpose is to organize the summer and winter Paralympic Games and act as the International Federation for nine sports, supervising and coordinating World Championships and other competitions.

The vision of the IPC, run by 200 members, is ‘To enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire and excite the world.’

Enable - Creating conditions for athlete empowerment
Paralympic Athletes - The primary focus, from initiation to elite level
Achieve - Sporting excellence is the goal of a sport centred organization
Inspire & Excite - Touch the heart of all people for a more equitable society

Founded on 22 September 1989 as a non-profit organization, it is based in Bonn, Germany and aims to develop sports opportunities for all people with an impairment from the beginner to elite level.
It employs nearly 50 people from 17 countries and is composed of a General Assembly (highest decision making body), a Governing Board (executive body), a Management Team and various Standing Committees and Councils.

Aspiration:

Athletes and the Paralympic Games are at the heart of our Movement. Their performances and incredible stories teach the values of acceptance and appreciation for people with a disability. The Paralympic Movement builds a bridge which links sport with social awareness thus contributing to the development of a more equitable society with respect and equal opportunities for all individuals.

Markeith Price, Keith Price, Franz Holmes, and Dr. Adrian Samuels on Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes

Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes brings you weekly guests that empower, inspire, and motivate you to live your BEST life. Join us this week in partnership with College Crib and Mocha Market Magazine as we celebrate Tennessee State University's internationally recognized track and field programs.

On Saturday July 7, 2012, we will hear from recently selected U. S. Paralympics Team Member, Tennessee State University's Markeith Price and his father, Keith Price. They will be accompanied by the Men's Track Coach at Tennessee State University Coach, Franz Holmes and Dr. Adrian Samuels, formerassistant dean of the College and Public Affairs and now, Vice President of Student Affairs at Tennessee State University.

Each guest will discuss the importance of mentoring of young men and how it played a major role in shaping a world class athlete. They will also discuss the value of an education and share lessons from a positive teacher-student relationship and the impact of that relationship that can last a lifetime while touching others along the way. We will also hear about the personal and financial sacrifices that must be made to train, coach, and compete at the Olympic level.

Living your Best Life can be heard on 760AM in the Middle Tennessee Region, on military bases, and streamed lived on UStream.TV on Saturdays from 9:00-10:00AM CST.

More About Markeith Price

Tennessee State University's Markeith Price was selected to the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field team on July 1, 2012. Price will represent the United States at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Aug. 29 - Sept. 9.

Price, who is legally blind, won two events at the US Paralympic Trials in Indianapolis, Indiana. The rising TSU senior leapt 6.25m (20-6 ¼) in the long jump.

The Baltimore native also claimed the 400-meter dash title in the T13/F13 category with a blistering speed of 51.64 seconds, which ties for fourth best in the world.

Price holds five other top-10 marks in the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) rankings: 100m T13 (8th in the world), 200m T13 (5th), long jump F13 (6th) and triple jump F13 (1st).

The selection to the U.S. Paralympic team is a first for Price and the second for Tennessee State. Price joins Ryan Fann, who won a gold medal in the 4x400m relay at the 2004 Summer Paralympic games.

More About the International Paralympic Committee

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. Its purpose is to organize the summer and winter Paralympic Games and act as the International Federation for nine sports, supervising and coordinating World Championships and other competitions.

The vision of the IPC, run by 200 members, is ‘To enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire and excite the world.’

Enable - Creating conditions for athlete empowerment

Paralympic Athletes - The primary focus, from initiation to elite level

Achieve - Sporting excellence is the goal of a sport centred organization

Inspire & Excite - Touch the heart of all people for a more equitable society

Founded on 22 September 1989 as a non-profit organization, it is based in Bonn, Germany and aims to develop sports opportunities for all people with an impairment from the beginner to elite level.

It employs nearly 50 people from 17 countries and is composed of a General Assembly (highest decision making body), a Governing Board (executive body), a Management Team and various Standing Committees and Councils.

More info about IPC can be found here.

More About US Track and Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. Led by President Stephanie Hightower and CEO Max Siegel, USATF is a volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization with a staff of professional program administrators at the National Office in Indianapolis.

Mission

USA Track & Field drives competitive excellence and popular engagement in our sport.

A Sport for Everyone ... For Life!

When we say that USATF is a "Sport for Everyone ... For Life," we mean exactly that. Just a few of the ways we serve our sport include:

*Establishing grassroots programs, such as the Junior Olympics, to help develop future stars who will follow in the footsteps of Jeremy Wariner, Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards, Bryan Clay, Lauryn Williams, Adam Nelson, Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi.
*Developing, selecting and leading Team USA - the World's #1 team - at the Olympics, World Championships and more than 12 other international events each year. Roughly 700 athletes of all ages wear a Team USA uniform in any given year.
*Promoting programs of training and competition for men and women and boys and girls of all ages.
*Establishing and enforcing the rules and regulations of our sport.
*Sanctioning more than 4,000 events each year.
*Providing insurance to sanctioned events, member clubs and member-athletes.
*Certifying race courses for accuracy and validating records.

Nearly 100,000 Americans are members of USATF. Our member organizations include the U.S. Olympic Committee, NCAA, NAIA, Road Runners Club of America, Running USA and the National Federation of State High School Associations. Fifty-seven USATF Associations oversee the sport and its 2,500 clubs at the local level.

For More info on USATF go here
Coach Holmes is a member of USATF.


Coach Chandra Cheeseborough Guice is the director of Tennessee State University Track and Field Teams. For info about her click here and here.

Post written about Coach Joe Gilliam Sr. and how a coach's influence can last several generations can found here.

Photos of Markeith Price, Franz Holmes and Carlos McCormick: Courtesy of US Paralympics

The 50th Anniversary of Tennessee State University's Freedom Riders

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Boynton v. Virginia (1960) gave travelers the legal right to disregard local segregation ordinances regarding interstate transportation facilities. But it was the ruling itself which was blatantly disregarded by local segregationists who refused to relinquish their “whites only” signs and other vestiges of discrimination in bus terminals and train stations throughout the South.

It was this fervent disregard for the law which called the Freedom Riders into action. Led by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and inspired by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., hundreds of students and other activists rode interstate buses into the segregated South to assert their rights. During the initial rides in May 1961, the riders, who were armed only with their commitment to nonviolent protest, were met with nonstop violence and persecution. The buses were frequently intercepted by mobs and riders were brutally attacked. When the buses were able to arrive at their destinations without incident, riders were arrested for violating local segregation ordinances – a direct violation of the Boynton decision.

Throughout the summer of 1961, more than 60 different Freedom Rides took place across the South. It is believed that nearly 450 individuals participated, with more than 300 being arrested. Included in those numbers were 14 students from Tennessee State University. They were members of the Nashville Student Group, a local group of students who had successfully desegregated the city’s lunch counters and movie theaters.

What were the Freedom Riders able to accomplish? In September 1961, bowing to public pressure, the Kennedy Administration finally convinced the Interstate Commerce Commission to issue another desegregation order. The new policies took effect November 1, 1961. As a result, passengers were allowed to sit wherever they pleased on interstate buses and trains, “white” and “colored” signs were removed from terminals, separate drinking fountains, toilets and waiting rooms were consolidated, and lunch counters served ALL customers regardless of skin color.

What did the TSU Freedom Riders receive for their courageous efforts? They were expelled by the university under a year-old law created during the administration of Tennessee Governor Buford Ellington, an avowed segregationist. The students were informed of the ruling via letter while they were still incarcerated in Jackson, Mississippi. Afterwards, a number of people – both black and white – picketed the Tennessee State Capitol on behalf of the Freedom Riders, and sought an audience with Governor Ellington. Their request was denied.

Vindication is seldom swift. Instead, it often takes months, even years. For the 14 TSU Freedom Riders, it has taken nearly half a century. After much debate and public outcry, on April 25, 2008, the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) reversed an earlier decision and agreed to award honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to the 14 students (four will be awarded posthumously). In doing so, TSU was given the opportunity to not only right a grievous wrong, but also, in the words of TSU’s President Dr. Melvin Johnson who helped lead the efforts to recognize the Freedom Riders, “will serve to remind this generation of students of a time when young people were willing to risk reputations, careers, their freedom and their lives for a higher cause.”


Fifty years later, the bravery of the Freedom Riders show us the numerous contributions that students of TSU have made to society to bring about positive change that influences us today and our future leaders of tomorrow.

Original published in the Big Blue Issue

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