"The Game That Changed The South" on Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes

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

Join us Saturday, December 13, 2014 to hear from members of the historic match that is often referred to as "the game that changed the South" between two schools, Father Ryan and Pearl Cohn, in 1965. This meeting between the powerhouses was the first ever sporting event in the South between an integrated team and an all African-American team.

Listen to players share how the game changed theirs lives as January 5, 2015 marks the  50th Anniversary of the game. The anniversary coincides with the state of unrest and mounting tensions regarding today's state of race relations in our country.  Hear how a basketball game was an ice breaker to bringing many together to watch a sporting event while the City of Nashville was at the center of protests for racial injustices.

Scheduled to appear on today's show: Walter Fisher and Tony Moorman players from Pearl, Father Ryan's Atletic Director Pat Lawson, whose father was also on the 1965 team and Pat Sanders who played for Father Ryan.

Must hear radio!

This interview promises to empower, inspire, and motivate you to live your BEST life.Tune into 760AM in the Middle Tennessee Region, on Tune In, streaming live online at UStream.TV, and on military bases on Saturdays from 9:00-10:00am CST.

More About  Game Day Events
 

·       The Nashville Sports Council and Comcast Sports Speaker Series “The Game That Changed the South Celebratory Luncheon” sponsored by McDonald’s, beginning at 11:30 a.m. at the Wildhorse Saloon.

·       An exhibit in the Civil Rights Room at the Nashville Public Library at 3:30 p.m., which will include photographs and memorabilia from the game 50 years ago.

·       The 50^th Anniversary Game sponsored by Star Physical Therapy and McDonalds at the Municipal Auditorium. Pre-game events will begin at 5:00 p.m. Tipoff of the girls’ game will be at 6:00 p.m., with the boys’ game to follow at 7:30 p.m.

All of the game day events will be open to the public. The luncheon will feature a panel of guests including Perry Wallace, Pearl Class of 1966 and center on the 1965 team; Andrew Maraniss, author of “Strong Inside:The Story of Perry Wallace”; Jesse Porter, Father Ryan Class of 1964, who in 1963 with Willie Brown became the first African-Americans to integrate sports in the South; and Lyn Dempsey, Father Ryan Class of 1965, who made the winning shot in the game.

Members of both 1965 teams will be part of the activities, including players, coaches, and staff.  They will be introduced at the luncheon and saluted before the boys’ game.  

The 1965 game attracted more than 8,700 fans to the Auditorium—and some reports claim that 10,000 people were actually in attendance—in a match between two of the best teams in the state.  It was the largest crowd ever to see a regular season game.  Dempsey’s basket went through the hoop as the horn sounded, earning Father Ryan a 52-51 victory in a game that lived up to its billing.  Wallace, Walter Fisher and Ted McClain led the Pearl team while Father Ryan was paced by Brown, Champ Hounihan and Pat Sanders.  

To learn more about the events and to purchase tickets, visit www.fatherryan.org/pearl50.  Game tickets are also available at www.ticketmaster.com.

Ole Miss' James Meredith on Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes

Audio of interview can be found here.

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

James Meredith on Graduation Day at Ole Miss

On Saturday, October 25, 2014 tune in to hear the fourth interview that focuses on the newly released book, Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South by Andrew Maraniss. Today's show will feature a conversation with decorated Air Force Veteran and the first Black to integrate Ole Miss in 1962, James Meredith. Listen to Mr. Meredith share his views on race, politics (then and now), and how the Ole Miss and Mississippi State University football teams are now game changers in the discussion of race relations not only in the South but around the world.

Hear Mr. Meredith's views on how sports can bring solutions to race relations and why he believes Ole Miss and Mississippi State University performances on the football field during the last three weeks have forever changed the state of Mississippi.

The foreword of Strong Inside is a passage from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" t:

  “One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer.”

 Listen to the similarities between Vanderbilt's Perry Wallace, the first Black to play in the Southeastern Conference, lonely journey as a pioneer and James Meredith's historic integration of Ole Miss. You will also hear the differences in their approaches to the jeering mobs that came with their heroism and the mental stress of attending school daily under such riveting conditions.

This interview promises to empower, inspire, and motivate you to live your BEST life.Tune into 760AM in the Middle Tennessee Region, on Tune In, streaming live online at UStream.TV, and on military bases on Saturdays from 9:00-10:00am CST

 More About James Meredith:

   “The traditional practice in Mississippi has been to eliminate potential troublemakers before they have a chance to cause trouble. Far more Negroes have been lynched for having a bad or wrong attitude (by Mississippi ‘White Supremacy’ standards) than for committing a particular crime. Whenever a Negro questioned the status quo in Mississippi, he just simply disappeared.”

From James Meredith’s book, Three Years in Mississippi

Author is only one of many hats worn by the enigmatic James Meredith. Born June 25, 1933, in Kosciusko, Mississippi, Meredith is best known as the first African-American student of the University of Mississippi. Meredith served in the Air Force from 1951 to 1960, including a tour of duty in Japan. He then attended Jackson State College for two years. In the fall of 1962 Meredith risked his life when he successfully applied the laws of integration and became the first black student at the University of Mississippi, a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement which sparked riots on the Oxford campus that left two people dead. 

 

In 1966 he recounted the experience in his first publication, Three Years in Mississippi. Of that book, a reviewer for Newsweek wrote, “Seldom is a piece of violent history so dispassionately dissected by one of its participants as it has been by James Meredith in this three-years-later study of his breakthrough at the University of Mississippi. Part report and part legal brief, part manifesto, part tract, it is a valuable and fascinating account.” 

Shortly after the publication of Three Years in Mississippi, Meredith conceived and organized the “Walk Against Fear,” a march from Memphis to Jackson, Mississippi, in a bold and selfless repudiation of the physical violence faced by African-Americans for exercising their voting rights. Meredith was shot on the march, and when he was physically able to resume the march, he did so, joined this time by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other prominent civil rights leaders of the day.

In 1968 Meredith received a LL.B. from Columbia University. Meredith’s career has included a run for a congressional seat in 1972 and, in perhaps his most controversial move yet, a stint on the staff of arch-conservative Senator Jesse Helms beginning in 1989. Meredith’s most recent publication is a historical work: Mississippi: A Volume of Eleven Books was published in 1995. 

On March 21, 1997, James Meredith presented his papers to the University of Mississippi where they are maintained by the Special Collections branch of the J.D. Williams Library. 

Credit: University of Mississippi


Photo Credits: University of Mississippi, Vanderbilt University

The Original Harlem Globetrotters Kick off March Madness on Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes

Whether you are a sports fan or not, the arrival of March means spring is near and basketball binging will begin. Watching March Madness events surrounding the single-elimination Division I college basketball tournaments performed each spring are a rite a of passage for many. The main tournaments involved are the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship and the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship. Nashville, Tennessee is the host city for 2014 NCAA Women's Final Four.

During the month of March, Living Your Best Life will go behind the scenes to hear from several who worked tirelessly to bring the NCAA 2014 Final Four tournament to Nashville, women who are trailblazers in sports, the origin of Title IX and those who have played collegiate and professional basketball.

On Saturday, March 8, 2013 tune in to hear from Mark Johnson, the son of  Andy Johnson, an original Harlem Globetrotter and NBA player. Hear him share how his father and the Original Globetrotters, were U.S. Ambassadors who traveled the world promoting American pride and patriotism. Hear him tell how their lives as Ambassadors contrasted drastically with their lives in the U.S. where segregation and discrimination were the laws of the land, off the courts, and in the locker rooms.

Joining Mark Johnson will members of the Original Harlem Globetrotters team, Carl Green and Bob Showboat, who will share their HIStory as they give us a glimpse into the world of sports from the past and the similarities found in the business of sports today.

This show will give you a piece of American History that is often left out of history.

 Tune into 760AM in the Middle Tennessee Region, on Tune In, on streaming live online at UStream.TV, and on military bases on Saturdays from 9:00-10:00am CST.

More About the The Andy Johnson Harlem Globetrotter-NBA Story

 The Andy Johnson Story is filled with extraordinary tales from behind the scenes of the early Original Harlem Globetrotters.  It is loaded with a wealth of historical information never disclosed regarding the slow, quota-based inception of African American athletes in the NBA. This book clarifies the role of the Original Harlem Globetrotters which made the NBA the multi-billion dollar organization it is today.

It is also a fascinating and inspirational story that weaves the heart-wrenching account of a young boy who became a man through the lessons of basketball. He grew up watching his family working in the cotton fields of Louisiana to playing basketball in the streets of Hollywood in his bare feet. His education was under-valued in high school.  He was considered a basketball star only. By the time a major university recruited him, his hopes for a decent education were lost, as well as the opportunity to receive a college degree. Special interest individuals and corporations saw this as an opportunity to put him in the “professional basketball auction block” where he had no ability to negotiate his contract, pay, or where he would play. These unfortunate events occurred three times in his professional career. However, Andy Johnson turned every devastating event into an opportunity by staying positive in the game of life.

Dr. Thomas Williams on Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes

Join Living Your Best Life in partnership with Hope For Women Magazine as we help 2012 be YOUR year for a healthier lifestyle. As many discuss weight loss resolutions at the start of the new year that go by the “waist” side by the second week of January, we are going to help our listeners and readers try to stay focused by covering health issues that will cover the body, mind, and spirit year round.

On January 7, 2012, we will discuss an over often overlooked health issue, our oral healthcare. Dr. Thomas Williams, DDS, a new contributor to the show, will share his expertise and educate us on the importance of maintaining healthy oral habits. He will give us the latest in the healthcare technology as it relates to the practice of dentistry. Dr. Williams will address why so many fear going to the dentist and how he keeps his patients relaxed and stress free during visits.

Dr. Williams will also share about his life away from his dental practice. A serial volunteer and an avid sport enthusiast, we hear how about Dr. Williams love of family, his community, and ALL things Titans.

Genma Holmes has been documenting her visits to his office since 2010.

Living Your Best Life can be heard in the Nashville-Middle Tennessee Area on www.760thegospel.com from 9-10am CST, on Inspiration Networks, military bases and Ustream.TV world wide.

More About Dr. Williams
Dr. Williams has a long history of helping others in many capacities beyond dentistry. He is a native of Nashville where his father, Dr. Robert Williams, practiced dentistry for over forty years.

He attended Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina for his undergraduate studies and attended Meharry Dental College. After graduation from Meharry in 1999, Dr. Williams joined his father’s practice for several years before opening Premier Dental in 2006.

Premier Dental offers general dentistry with a caring staff and uses state of the art equipment. Services range from teeth cleanings, white fillings, crown and bridgework, root canals, extractions, implants, and partials/dentures. Dr. Williams is especially gifted in cosmetic work to transform your smile to THE one you have always wanted!

Dr. Williams is affiliated with the following organizations:

National Dental Association
Pan Tennessee Dental Association: President
Capital City Dental Association: Past President
Better Business Bureau
Middle Tennessee Football Officials Association
National Football League Auxiliary Official


And, if you are a Titans fan, you just might spot him on the sidelines as one of the “chain gang” that are there for all home games!

Text INSPIRE and your dental questions or concerns you may have for Dr. Williams to 99000.