By Staff | May 23, 2007 - 7:43 pm - Posted in African-American News

Twenty Year Old Youth Services Organization Taps Former Booz Allen Executive to Take the Lead

ATLANTA, May 23 /Akiit.com/ — 100 Black Men of America, Inc. (100) announced today the appointment of Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. executive, John B. Hammond, III to the position of chief executive officer for the organization. In this position, John will be completely responsible for the day-to-day management of the staff and facilities of this 21 year-old youth services organization.

John came to the 100 from Booz Allen’s Organization and Change Team and brings to the 100 almost 15 years of diverse experiences in various organizational settings. Prior to joining Booz Allen, John served as chief operating officer for the Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc., and before that as Associate Dean and Director of Goizueta Business School’s (Emory University) Evening MBA Program.

Based on an evident need, a sound idea and their hard work, 100 Black Men of America’s founders were able to determine an honorable mission and ideological foundation that has continued to guide what the organization has grown to become over the past 21 years,” said Albert E. Dotson, Jr. “Securing the finest and most capable talent to lead our execution into the next score was critical.”

With an extensive background in education, a cornerstone of the 100’s programmatic initiatives, John has taught Organizational Behavior, Strategic Communications and Managing Team Dynamics courses at Emory University, MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Additionally, his professional interests are related to various aspects of organization, and include, but are not limited to: leadership, strategy, change, and culture. He also has interests in international business, particularly in South Africa: he has traveled to South Africa ten times in the last six years, teaching MBA students about business, cultural and political practices in that country.
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Crime | The tragic shooting of South Side honor student Blair Holt stems from ‘a combustible blend of cultural and racial baggage’

(Akiit.com) Chicago - The senseless and heartbreaking murder of Blair Holt 10 days ago drew community rage and made headline news only because Holt was an exemplary honor student at Julian High School and, in keeping with the type of person he was, he died protecting another friend when the gunplay on the bus started. As a former South Side resident, I know that violence all too tragically claims the lives of far too many young black men such as Holt.

The other tragedy is that while black-on-black murders may be a non-story, black homicides fuel the nation’s murder surge. Last February, the Violence Policy Center reported that black murders are off the chart in many of America’s big cities. The Bureau of Justice Statistics in its report on homicides went one better and found that the black murder rate is many times higher than that of whites, or even Latinos. In fact, it’s the leading cause of death among black males age 16 to 34.
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(Akiit.com) Bank of America Corp. discriminated against African-American employees by steering them to poorer clients and territories, five current and former employees alleged in a lawsuit filed in US District Court in Boston yesterday.

The plaintiffs worked mainly in the Atlanta offices of the bank’s Banc of America Investment Services Inc. division, which is run from Boston and is part of the bank’s Global Wealth and Investment Management division here.

A Bank of America spokeswoman said the bank intends to “vigorously defend against the claims in the lawsuit.”

Bank of America has a strong track record of hiring and developing associates. We have been recognized for our success in creating and supporting a diverse and inclusive workplace. Our company does not tolerate discrimination. We intend to vigorously defend against the claims made in this lawsuit,” she said.
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(Akiit.com) With all the talk about Hip Hop activism, I have to ask, “Where is women’s activism within Hip Hop?” From my vantage point, what the recent Don Imus affair brought painfully to light is that generally, Black women within Hip Hop are to be ogled in music videos, insulted in the name of free speech and discussed by pundits, but rarely are they given access to the major media outlets that would allow them to accurately represent themselves, their images and ideas.

There are indeed Hip Hop generation women in our communities working to empower their sisters, however in the main there are no concerted efforts, locally or nationally, to address the issues of race, class and gender that create the environments that allows Black male rap artists and a White radio show host (both supported by large corporations) to call Black women ho’s in our mainstream media. It is this lack of critical analysis that recently gave New York City police sergeants, at two different precincts license to call women ho’s. At the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn three policewomen, two Black women and one Latina, were called ‘hos during roll call. Adding insult to injury, a fellow officer interjected that the correct term was “nappy, headed ho’s.” It should not be a surprise that this is the same precinct where the infamous assault of Abner Louima took place.
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(Akiit.com) I lured my sons into the garage to help me look for some long lost document with the promise of buried treasure.

We never found the document I was looking for. However, while sorting through some of my father’s old papers that were mixed up with mine, I came across something entitled “The Seven R’s Pledge.”

I don’t know who wrote it or from where it comes. It was just a Xeroxed piece of paper that my father had tucked away someplace and forgotten.

It also seemed to articulate rather well lessons I am trying to teach my sons.
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