It Takes Two
Men celebrate the first successful year of their mentoring program
BY LAI LA rAKMtK
THE CHRONICLE
Two local men are working to improve
the lives of area youth, one boy at a time.
Marcallus Sunday, parent involvement
coordinator for Family Services; and
Fathers and Friends Program Coordinator
LaShun Huntley are longtime members of
the Male Involvement Coalition, a multi
organizational initiative that works with
men to help them become productive citi
zens and good parents.
"It's important for men to get involved,"
stated Huntley. "Even if it's not with (our
organization) personally, you have to get
-involved with your kids."
Now, the two men have taken the coali
tion's mission one step further, by reaching
out to fifth grade boys at Old Town and
Gibson Elementary schools and at Winston
Salem Preparatory Academy.
They talk to the boys about respect,
responsibility, leadership and setting goals.
They talk to the boys about life.
"If it's an issue in school and it's not
corrected or checked, it's always going to
be a problem," Huntley pointed out. "We
try to get them to see the problem . . . then
we let them think of a solution."
Many of the boys that the men work
with hail from single-parent homes.
"These single mothers, they're doing
the best they can," commented Huntley.
"But men, we have to find our own way.
We have to find what it means to be a man.
You have to find it somewhere, and most of
our adolescent males are finding it in music
or on TV."
A little extra attention and guidance can
help the boys' academic performance,
Sunday believes,
"Trying to raise a child and teach them
at the same time is hard on these teachers,"
he remarked. "But if you teach a child
respect, then the teachers can teach them."
The men are charged with 11 boys at
Old Town. They visit the children three
times each month, carving the time from
what would be their lunch hours.
"The program helps us a lot," declared
fifth grader Raekwon Williamson. "They
teach us how to be good and respectful ."
In the months since the two began visit
ing Old Town, visible changes have
occurred in the boys. Sunday says.
"I'm a big believer in outcomes; I don't
like to do something just to do it," Sunday
said. "We have something to show for what
we are doing."
Teachers and administrators at Old
Photo by l.ayla Farmer
LaShun Huntley, left, and Marcallus Sunday are determined to see change.
Town are taking notice.
"They couldn't believe they were the
same boys," Sunday declared. "Now they
are asking us to come back in October
because the schools saw that change."
The staff at Gibson has taken the project
largely into their own hands, relying on
Huntley and Sunday only for the occasion
al visit.
"We at Julian Gibson Elemefitary
school are blessed to have these two young
men take the time to volunteer and work so
hard with these young 5th graders," com
mented Walter Funderburk, who works
closely with the boys at Gibson.
In addition to being better behaved, the
boys are more engaged in their school work,
Sunday says.
"It's a good program, because it helps
with our behavior and grades," said Derrick
Cooper, another student in the program.
?They influence us to do better."
The turnaround was impressive even to
Huntley, a seasoned mentor.
"I learned that it's not hard; it's easy,"
he remarked. "If you're sincere in what
you're doing, it doesn't take much to turn
kids around."
Sunday, a mason and cub Scout leader,
has dedicated much of his life to improving
the lives of youth.
"People say it takes a village to raise a
child," remarked the father of five. "I don't
know who they think the village is."
Huntley believes it is his responsibility
to look out for young boys who might oth
erwise slip through the cracks.
"If we say we are men, then we need to
take on the responsibilities of men," he stat
ed. "It's such an easy, easy thing to do - it
doesn't require a Ph.D. or a college degree
- it just requires some level of commit
ment."
For more information about the Male
Involvement Coalition or to volunteer as a
mentor, contact Sunday at (336) 727-0617.
Bishop
fmm page Al
I
extraordinary," Hatch
added
McKenzie serves as the
presiding prelate of the 1 3th
Episcopal District, which
includes Tennessee and
Kentucky. She has also served
as the chief pastor of the 1 8th
Episcopal District in southeast
Africa, which includes church
es in Lesotho. Swaziland,
Botswana and Mozambique
The bishop made history again
in 2005 when she became the
symbolic head of the church as'
the president of the Council of
Bishops.
McKenzie was greeted
warmly by the crowd, but a
few minutes into her sermon,
she was sidetracked by how
quiet the audience had
become. She told them that she
is used to congregations that
verbally respond to her. a tra
dition at African-American
churches. She took a couple
minutes to school the predom
inately white audience in the
call and response tradition.
"If you agree with me you
say 'Amen.' If it strikes a cord
(that) you're not quite sure of.
you say 'Well.' And if you
totally disagree, just pray'
'Lord help her, help her,'"
McKenzie said.
The audience laughed and
then responded with "Amens"
at appropriate points for the
rest of the sermon. While
McKenzie 's tutorial on audi
ence response drew laughter,
her sermon was very serious.
Her topic was leadership.
McKenzie said she's
scared of leaders who are "just
happy to be there."
Leadership, she asserted, is not
for those who have no other
worlds to conquer or nothing
else to do. What the world
needs is driven, compassionate
leaders who champion what
they believe in. she said.
Her words also emphasized
com')S$&)n
"f'liTci^hquld never. take on
the jooof leadership if you're
not willing to see beyond your
own needs," said McKenzie.
before urging the graduates to
also reach back, regardless of
how high they climb in life.
She challenged them to
give back to their community.
"Which one of you is will
ing to go the extra mile to
become personally involved in
the communities where you
live? Will you roll up your
sleeves? Will you come out of
your ivory towers ... and
become actively involved in
your community?" asked
McKenzie
She also challenged them
to reach out to those who live
outside of their communities
and look different than they
do. Leadership, the bishop
said, is about looking out for
others no matter who they are .
"What Jesus has js not just '
for the privileged few," said
McKenzie. "From the White
House to both houses of
Congress, from the banking
house ... (to) God's house and
your momma's house, leader
ship is not for the privileged
few."
McKenzie's sermon didn't
mention her work in the
church ^>ut she has plenty of
experience in compassionate
leadership. Prior to becoming
bishop, she was pastor at
Payne Memorial A.M.E.
Church in Baltimore. There,
she led the congregation to
secure a $1.5 million welfare
to-work contract from the
state. With the funds, more
than 600 people on welfare
were educated, trained and
placed into jobs.
As a chief pastor in her dis
trict. she .oversaw expansion
and improvements in both
A. M.E.. churches and schools.
She expanded services to
orphans of the HIV/AIDS pan
demic in Botswana, opened a
computer center in Lesotho,
built three large group homes
witl^>ut government grants in
Swaziland and provided schol
arships for 31 students.
At the end of her sermon
she took a line from a chil
dren's game, "I Dare You."She
"double dared" the graduates
to take up their own fights
against injustice and eliminate
racism and sexism. The audi
ence responded by giving the
bishop a more than- one
minute-long standing ovation.
The bishop also took home
an honorary degree from the
school .
NAACP
from page A2
raising money for organiza
tions much like the NAACP. He
is in sync with the NAACP to a
high degree and we are very
happy to have him with us...
He's a perfect fit for us in every
way.".
Jealous' election was not
without the heated debate that
has long been typical of the 64
member. board, packed with
civil rights' warriors from com
munities and trenches across
America. Board members said
discussions that started last
Friday evening continued until
the wee hours of Saturday
morning.
"There was a great discus
sion, a great debate on the
NNPA Photo
Julian Bond speaks.
issues that are critically impor
tant to the NAACP," says labor
leader Bill Lucy. "And I think
those are the kinds of discus
sions that engender strong feel
ings. But, the fact that people
debated it out into the wee hours
of the morning shows it was a
good* healthy discussion. The
fact is that in the end, there was
an agreement on his candidacy
and that was a good thing."
Actually, sources said the
debate was not all about the
candidate. Mu?h of it was about
the process. Jealous had been
selected unanimously by the
organization's three-member
executive committee after it had
reviewed two other candidates.
The three finalists had been pre
sented to the executive commit
tee by a search committee for
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the selection of one candidate to
present to the board for an inter
view. which sources say has
been the normal process for
selecting NAACP presidents.
Acrimony had started at pre
vious meetings, when some
board members pushed to
change the procedure, arguing
that the board should be
allowed to interview all three
finalists. Tension continued in
last weekend's board meeting as
some members said they had
been disenfranchised by not
having heard the other two can
didates, who ' were Rev.
Frederick Haynes, a 47-year-old
pastor from Dallas, and Alvin
Brown, a former Clinton White
House advisor.
The final vote for Jealous
was 34-21, according to the
Baltimore Afro- American.
Responding to a question
about how he will deal with
board factionalism that has frus
trated other NAACP CEOs,
Jealous synopsized his leader
ship style.
"I'm a team player. I believe
that in order to lead in the game.
you've got to be completely in
the game, that in order to have
people to follow you, they need
to know that you're willing to
following them," he said. "This
isn't a new industry to me, if
you will. This is the family, the
movement that I was raised in.
So_, I expect to have nothing but
success."
Jealous sholds a bachelor's
degree in political science from
Columbia University and a
master's in comparative social
research from Oxford, where he
was a Rhodes Scholar.
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