Occupy Movements Have Cost Cities $13 Million

The nationwide Occupy movements have a price all their own.  During the first two months of protests against unequal wealth distribution, the movement has cost local taxpayers at least $13 million in police overtime and other municipal services, according to the Associated Press.

The AP gathered figures from government agencies in 18 cities with active protests from September 17 to November 15 – the day protesters were evicted from New York City’s Zuccotti Park.

The largest financial burdens lie in law enforcement agencies charged with monitoring marches and evicting protestors from encampments.

Read more at News One…

13 Big Retailers Offer Major Black Friday Deals

Thirteen big retailers are offering huge savings to kick off the holiday season, according to the Huffington Post. Best Buy, Toys`R Us, and Wal-Mart are among the retailers with the biggest deals.

Due to the holiday shopping slump evident in recent years, retailers are going to great lengths to lure in customers, especially since holiday spending is expected to be down.

According to a recent poll, 10% more people are expected to shop on Black Friday this year.

Read more at the Huffington Post…

Does Morehouse Claim Cain?

Students at Herman Cain’s alma mater, Morehouse College, are split in their support of the Republican presidential candidate.

In a packed political forum, a five-member student panel debated the efficacy of Cain with neither complete dismissal nor encompassing praise. One panelist, 20-year-old sophomore Mark Smith, argued that Cain’s small-government leanings were “actually finding the edifice of the problem” of government.

On the other hand, Byron Granberry, vice president of the campus Democratic group, received resounding applause after declaring that Morehouse should revoke Cain’s degree.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times…

Co-founders, Jason Panda, Esq. and Ashanti Johnson, at the b condoms launch event at Trump Soho in NYC

Conversations surrounding sexually transmitted illnesses and the rise in new cases of HIV often morph into great concern; but, typically, they stop there. Such wasn’t the case for one group of young men. After engaging in deep dialogue about sky-rocketing HIV/AIDS rates, Morehouse College grads Jason Panda, Esq and Ashanti Johnson knew they had to do something.

That “something” was b condoms, a plush prophylactic brand that focuses on bettering sexual health practices in four main target audiences: African-Americans, Latinos, 50 and over, and gay and bisexual males. The letter b was chosen by the company’s founders to give the small business some flexibility when connecting with various partners. “You can say ‘b Latina, b African American, b gay or bisexual, b the Bronx, b Harlem, b what you are,’” says Panda, 31. Adding to the brand’s allure, sleek packaging and a cool company motto: “b cool, b safe, b yourself.”

The idea for the b condoms, which is distributed by PBJ Group LLC, began as a discussion Panda and Johnson had with other Morehouse graduates and friends during summer 2010. That idea blossomed into a business plan, and prompted the pair to invest $50,000 of their own money, with contributions from family and friends, into b condoms, which officially launched on December 1, 2010. Since then, the FDA-approved condom brand has taken off, and, in order to sustain the budding business, Johnson resigned from his sales and marketing position at Johnson & Johnson, with Panda soon following suit, resigning from his job as a corporate attorney. On World AIDS Day (December 1), the business partners kicked-off an elegant event for their boutique condom company in partnership with VillageCare at the Trump Soho in New York City—an event appropriately themed, “b inspired.” The duo tapped into their extensive network, inviting power players within the entertainment, finance and philanthropic communities.

b condoms plans to reinvest a portion of its sales into organizations geared towards preventing the spread of STIs in our target communities

Today, b condoms has a five-member staff, comprised of urban professionals in nightlife, social media, entertainment, health care and business, and covering New York City, where Panda is located, Miami—Johnson’s locale—and Atlanta. Panda has even traveled to Malaysia, where b condoms is manufactured, to ensure they were producing a stellar product. “We felt it was extra important to go outside of ourselves [and] do that extra due diligence to make sure that what we [put] into our own communities is something that we cannot only hold our head high about, but also take pride in,” says the attorney-turned-businessman.

Panda and Johnson are aware of the challenges they face—discussing a taboo topic within urban neighborhoods, competing against well-established, big-name condom companies such as Trojan, Lifestyle and Durex and getting on the shelves of major retailers. But they’re determined to show it can be done. The urban chic brand’s classic condom is currently available in small stores in NYC ($3 for a 3-pack), but the company is looking forward to securing distribution deals for b condoms to be stocked in large retail chains such as Walgreens, Duane Reade and CVS. Until then, they’re working on offering the 3-pack on their web site later this month, as well as the 12-pack and wider selections in the near future.

In spite of the challenges, the business partners remain motivated by their goal of creating a startup that combats national HIV/AIDS rates in urban communities. “There are condom companies, definitely, but we just didn’t see enough condom companies that wanted to make a change in the trajectory of HIV and AIDS in our community,” says Johnson. Hence, why b condoms plans to reinvest a portion of its sales into organizations geared towards preventing the spread of STIs in our target communities.

In an effort to expand their message and product awareness, Panda and Johnson are always looking for strategic partners, including city, state and federal governments, as well as additional non-profit organizations and colleges and universities. Thus far, they’ve partnered with Bronx AIDS Services, Florida A&M University, the University of Southern California and Morehouse, which they worked with during this year’s National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

Associate Director of the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Donna McCree, Ph.D., MPH, R.Ph. thinks it’s great that young males have partnered up to work towards lowering the rate of the infectious diseases. “Despite the numbers, we know that prevention is working,” she says. “There’s still much more to do, but we know that it’s working.”

For more  advice on how to launch your own business, read:

• So You’ve Been Fired…Now What?: The Accidental Entrepreneur
• Getting Started: How to Turn Your Blog into a Business
• The Small Business Check-up
• The Entrepreneur in You

Tim King, founder of Urban Prep, with members of the class of 2010. (Source: Urban Prep)

Four years ago, Tim King, CEO and founder of Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men, led a group of like-minded education, business, and civic leaders to found Chicago’s only public, all-male, all-African American high school. Their mission was clear: to get all their graduates into a four-year college or university.

Mission accomplished. The entire senior class–all 107 students–earned spots at 72 schools, including Connecticut College, Denison College, Howard University, Morehouse College, Northwestern University, Rutgers University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to name just a few.

“We believe that all our students are college bound and never doubted this day would come,” said King.

This is an amazing feat for Urban Prep Academy considering that most of its students live in Englewood–one of the toughest parts of southside Chicago. The community is riddled with drug abuse, gangs, and youth violence. Evaluation and Accountability reports show that the average graduation rate for black males in Chicago public schools is 41.3%. King says that, for African American boys, the dropout rate in the Chicago public school system is 60%, and only 2.5% of African American boys will make it through college.

“We wanted to start Urban Prep to get some positive statistics out there and defy this data,” said King.

Kenneth Hutchinson, the school’s director of college counseling, said that most of the students were academically deficient when they started at Urban Prep.

“Eighty percent were reading at or below a 6th grade level,” said Hutchinson, who was born and raised in Englewood. “But I wasn’t interested in that. I was interested in building strong applicants over the course of their four years here, so they could be competitive at these colleges and universities.”

To get the students prepared for the next level, Urban Prep requires a rigorous college prep curriculum, including required double periods of English, about six and a half more English credits than  the traditional Chicago public school system requires. Students also take four years of math, science, and social studies, and three years of a foreign language. The school day starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m., an eight-hour day that King says is scheduled intentionally, to prepare them for the workforce. Over the course of four years, they spend about 72,000 more minutes in class than their peers at other Chicago public schools.

During the summer, students also study at colleges such as Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Stanford University in California, and the University of Chicago. Some even get the opportunity to study abroad at prestigious institutions such as the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom; Kokrobitey Institute in Ghana, West Africa; and the LEAD Global Program in South Africa.

Urban Prep is non-selective in their enrollment and accepts students through a lottery system. Although the school is primarily funded by the Chicago public school system, a big portion of its budget comes from private donors that make it possible for the school to extend its day and pay for expenses that include laptops and uniforms.

Students adhere to a strict dress code of khaki pants; white, collared shirts; black blazers; and a red tie.

“Being in a jacket and tie every day makes me feel important,” said Darelle Banks who will be attending Penn State in the fall. “On my way walking home, people would call me a nerd. But it didn’t bother me because I knew I was about to accomplish great things in my life.”

Banks got the news of his acceptance to Penn State via Facebook. He received a message from a Penn State admissions counselor that read “Call me right away.”

“When he told me I got in, I was really happy. I even cried,” recalled Banks, who intends to major in business management and dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. Although math is not his strongest subject, he’s ready for the challenge.

Banks’ classmate, Milan Byrdwell, learned of his acceptance to the University of Rochester in New York state after coming home from hanging out with friends.

“The letter was the first thing I saw when I walked in the door,” said Byrdwell, who intends to major in mathematics and/or engineering. “It brought tears to my eyes because it felt so good to be accepted to such a great university, and to see how all the work I had put into it had paid off.”

Upon graduating from the University of Rochester, Byrdwell wants to become a math teacher for a couple of years to give back to his community, before pursuing his engineering career.

“I was coal at my old school. But Urban Prep gave me that pressure to make me into a gem,” said Byrdwell.

Tonia Simmons-Doakes, Professor Louis Mancuso and Erica Bilbo of Southern University of New Orleans

New Orleans, LA – Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) won the Morehouse College 2010 Business Plan Competition on February 26th in Atlanta, Georgia on the campus of Morehouse. Two business entrepreneurship majors, Tonia Simmons-Doakes and Erica Bilbo, both seniors, comprised the winning team under the guidance of Louis C. Mancuso, Ph.D, professor of marketing. The team won the top prize of $10,000 for their concept, Housing Innovations, LLC. Howard University won the second place prize of $6,000 and the University of Virginia placed third to take home $4,000.

The team developed a project dealing with the need of Section 8 housing in the Orleans Parish area. Housing Innovations proposes the idea of purchasing and refurbishing two fourplexes in the New Orleans East area. Other teams from Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse participated as well. On the day of the finals over 200 people were present and nine judges from around the country evaluated the participants.

“These students worked with me throughout the Christmas Holidays and Mardi Gras,” said Mancuso. “This is a monumental victory for these students and our institution.”

The judges from the competition were: John Curtis, JC Marketing, Inc.; Donna Ennis, Georgia Minority Business Enterprise Center; Deborah Griffin, State Farm Insurance; John Handy, Ph.D., Morehouse College; Michael Jones, IKON Solutions; Eric Lyons, National Black MBA Association, Inc. (NBMBAA); Monica Peete, NBMBAA; Michael Rhodes, Atlanta Urban League; JaKathryn Ross, Georgia-Pacific LLC; Said Sewell, Ph.D., Fort Valley State; and Roger Williams, Ph.D., Morehouse College.

The final evaluators were: Audrey D. Hines , President, Dillard Hines and Associates; CaSondra “Cas” Sigler, Writer and Producer, Nina Holiday Entertainment; Doug Speight, Manager Strategic Partnerships and Outreach, ONRL; Farrah Gray, Founder, Farrah Gray Foundation; Kent Matlock, Chairman and CEO, Matlock Advertising and Public Relations; LaDoris “Dot” Harris, Global Marketing Executive, GE Energy; Sharon Dougherty, Program Manager, Lockheed Martin; William Swift, Managing Partner, Airport Retail Management; and Yolanda White, Assistant VP of African American Marketing, Coca-Cola North America.

Massey

Bank of America Corp. named Walter E. Massey, a longtime director and president emeritus at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, its new chairman, effective immediately.

After months of anger following the acquisition of troubled investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co., shareholders voted at the company’s annual meeting Wednesday to separate the jobs of chairman and CEO. Former Chairman John Lewis will remain the CEO of the bank.

“Massey has been a strong leader for our company,” a spokesperson for the bank said.  “He brings a broad range of experience and a deep knowledge of Bank of America’s businesses and strategy.”

A recognized leader in science, business, and education, Massey has been a director of Morehouse’s board since 1998. He also served as the college’s ninth president (No. 3 on the BE 50 Top Colleges for African Americans) from 1995 to 2007.  Under his leadership, the college raised $118 million and constructed several learning facilities, including a state-of-the-art technology building.

“President Massey will provide strategic leadership, integrity, and sound business judgment for one of America’s great financial institutions,” said Robert M. Franklin, Morehouse president. “Morehouse College is exceedingly proud of alumnus and President Emeritus Massey, who is a quintessential renaissance man.”

Calls for Lewis’ resignation have been on the rise since Bank of America’s purchased Countrywide and Merrill for more than $52 billion.

In his remarks to shareholders, he continued to defend the acquisitions despite a $15 billion fourth quarter loss by Merrill. “I continue to believe we have built the best financial company in the industry, and that our results over the long term will bear that out,” Lewis said at the meeting.

Massey assumes his new role at the financial services company as it works speedily to repay $45 billion in government aid received through the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Earlier this month Bank of America has made arrangements to pay back $713 million of the loan money.

Massey is no stranger to the colossus financial company; he served as a director at Bank of America from 1993 to 1998. The Mississippi native earned a bachelor of science in physics and mathematics from Morehouse in 1958. He received his Master’s and doctorate degrees in physics in 1966 from Washington University in St. Louis. Massey’s research has involved the study of quantum liquids and solids.

He and his wife, Shirley Anne, have two sons and three grandchildren.

Bank of America earned $2.56 billion after preferred dividends for all of 2008, down from $14.80 billion in fiscal 2007.

Bernanke

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says he’s “fundamentally optimistic” about the nation’s economy, expressing confidence that the U.S. will pull itself out of its current financial rut during an address Tuesday at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

While Bernanke says “recently we have seen tentative signs that the sharp decline in economic activity may be slowing,” referring to recent data on home sales, residential building, consumer spending, including new motor vehicle sales, he admits “it’s hard to forecast the economy now because it’s hard to forecast how the financial crisis is going to evolve.”

“Confidence is a key issue,” Bernanke says, explaining being realistic and talking about long-term opportunities are important. It’s been nearly two years since the housing market began its decline, sending a shockwave throughout the financial markets that worsened last fall when several major financial firms toppled or neared collapse. The problem has grown beyond the nation’s borders, with Bernanke calling the current global financial crisis “very severe.”

The Fed chief, who began by reading from a prepared speech that focused on the ongoing distress in financial markets and the global economic recession, spoke to students, faculty and staff members at Morehouse (No. 3 on the 2008 B.E. Top 50 Colleges for African Americans list). Local business leaders, including former Atlanta Mayor and United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, were among the 350 people who attended the event, which was closed to the public.

In a question-and-answer format, Bernanke responded to queries from four Morehouse senior economics students, discussing topics ranging from financial bailouts, the mortgage crisis, stimulus packages, consumer confidence, federal financial student loans, and the wealth disparities between minorities and whites.

When asked about the wealth gap between the median black household and white household – where the net worth of an average black family is 10% of the net worth of a white family – Bernanke says the disparity has in part to do with the need to broaden understanding of financial education in minority communities along with the importance of joining the mainstream financial market via establishing a savings account or credit history, something he says all Americans need to do.

Tristan J. Allen, a graduating economics senior who was one of the four student panelists, says he enjoyed participating on the panel but wanted Bernanke to provide a better explanation for why the wealth disparity between the average white households and average minority households exists.

“I wanted to see a more direct answer,” says Tristan Allen, who will be headed to Columbia University London School of Economics as a Thomas R. Pickering Fellow following his graduation.

A number of Morehouse students rely on federal student loans to fund their college education but with existing credit limitations, some are finding their educational pursuits jeopardized.  Bernanke, who says the problem is “serious,” and that credit is necessary to fund education, assured students that Washington is looking to restructure the student loan process that would make it easier for students secure funding for school.  “I think it’s important to find ways to maintain the student loan market,” Bernanke says. “It’s a very important market because educated people are our future.  It’s an investment in human capital.”

Bernanke also says “people ought to go into a profession that they enjoy” and find value in for themselves and their community, instead of just for financial gain.

Overall, Morehouse students and staff found the presentation positive and felt Bernanke answered most of the questions they had.

Chieoke Moore, 21, a junior business major at Morehouse who has a summer internship in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ tax accounting department, believes the panel covered a wide range of topics and that Bernanke answered the responses thoroughly.

Cheryl Allen, dean of the division of business and economics at Morehouse, says Bernanke gave a “great presentation,” adding that as a college professor, she tries to help her students realize benefits from this current financial situation.

“Our students are in the position to come in and be a part of the solution. Even though it’s gloomy, there’s a silver lining,” she says.

Najee Johnson, 20, a junior economics major who will spend his summer working on the campaign of an Atlanta City Council hopeful, also was pleased with the presentation, especially the issues surrounding federal student loan programs. “These are the types of things we need to know because we will be out in the real world,” Johnson says.

Echoing Bernanke’s acknowledgement that t his year’s college students are facing the toughest labor market in 25 years, Keith Hollingsworth, chair of the Morehouse Business Department, says, “For the student who’s about to graduate, its tough economic times. Getting a job is not as easy as it was in the past.”

As a result, a lot of Morehouse students, like Tristan J. Allen, are opting to go to graduate school, Hollingsworth observes, explaining that in the past, 20 to 30 Morehouse students graduating with business and economic degrees were headed to Wall Street to work.  With graduation only a few weeks away, that number has dropped down to 10, he says.  Although Moore and Johnson have lined up paid internship opportunities, many of their classmates haven’t been as fortunate, with the number of students receiving internships for business and economic majors declining as well.

But Hollingsworth is optimistic the economy will turnaround. “My guess is the end of next year.”

Bernanke was appointed Fed chairman in February 2006 and served as chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2005 to 2006.

www.morehouse.edu

Mailing Address: 830 Westview Drive, SW, Atlanta, GA 30314

Rank on 2008 List: 3

Rank on 2006 List: 45

Average GPA: 3.24

Matriculation Rates of African Americans: Not Reported

Acceptance Rates: 59%

*Average SAT Scores: Reading: 460-570; Math: 460-570; Writing: Not Reported

Name of Summer Programs: The Pre-freshman Summer Program

Application Deadline: Feb. 15

Financial Aid Option/Deadlines: April 1

Costs: Tuition: $37,248; Housing: $20, 358; Books: $1,500

Greek Organizations: Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Phi Beta Sigma, Iota Phi Theta

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