The Invaders hope to set the record straight in new documentary

The Invaders: Dolores Jordan Briggs (left), Jabril Jabez, Minister Shukhara Yahweh,
Charles B. Smith, Dr. David Acey, Dr. Coby Smith and Juanita Thornton. (Photo by Wiley Henry) 

For nearly 50 years, several members of a 60s-era radical group from South Memphis have tried to debunk the tall tell that they’d instigated the riot that broke out during the first march that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led in March of 1968 in support of the striking sanitation workers.

“I’m happy that Memphis to some extent has decided to embraced us,” said John B. Smith, a founding member of The Invaders, a militant group of college students, Vietnam-era veterans, musicians and intellectuals espousing Black Power.

Smith, who lives in Atlanta, was in Memphis on Sept. 7 for the private viewing of a feature-length documentary about The Invaders as told by some of the members along with never-before-seen film footage and photographs from various archives.

“The general opinion is that we started the riot. Now we’re able to show people the documentary and what actually happened,” said Smith, who reconnected with some of the Invaders at Collins Chapel CME Church, site of the private viewing.

The viewing of the documentary coincided with the church’s 175^th anniversary and the 101^st birthday of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), a nationwide organization founded by Carter G. Woodson, the “father” of Black History Month.

“We are about African-American history,” said Clarence Christian, president of the Memphis Area Branch of ASALH, which studies, researches and disseminates local history in the community. Chapters nationwide also research, preserve and interpret Black life, history and culture.

The local chapter hosted the documentary, which began as a classroom project, said Christian, who told the story of J.B. Horrell, a guitarist and former student who wanted to write about something that no one had ever written about before.

“So I suggested the Invaders,” said Christian. “Then I introduced him to Minister Shukhara Yahweh (a.k.a. Lance “Sweet Willie Wine” Watson), a former Invader.” Horrell made the connection, and from that first contact with Yahweh, he would go on to co-write and produce “The Invaders” documentary.

“I was fascinated with the Invaders,” said Horrell, who was present to tell the diverse audience of activists, educators and civic leaders that he’d learned a lot about social and political upheaval in the ‘60s in large part due to the Invaders project.

“This is public vindication,” said Smith, who speaks quite a few times in the 76-minute film. “Not only is it vindication, it’s an opportunity to present Dr. King from another standpoint. He was not the meek, timid individual the media has presented him to be over the years.”

  Smith shared the spotlight in the film with fellow Invaders Charles Cabbage, Calvin Taylor, Juanita Thornton, Dr. Coby Smith, Willie Henry and others. They paint a riveting picture of the civil rights movement while juxtaposing it against the non-violent principles espoused by Dr. King.

The sanitation workers’ strike drew Dr. King to Memphis. But the Invaders were already on the ground trying to strengthen the strikers’ position by attempting to stop garbage trucks from rolling into the neighborhoods. When the riot broke out, the Invaders were blamed.

Dr. King vowed to return to Memphis to finish the march peacefully. The resolution the Invaders sought for the plight of the sanitation workers differed from Dr. King’s, who mutually agreed to work with the militant group after meeting with them on April 4, 1968.

The Invaders were looking for funding for their “community unification program.” Dr. King agreed to help, said Smith, if they would serve as marshals for the Poor People’s Campaign in Memphis. They agreed.

“We met two times on April 4,” said Smith, noting that Dr. King was evolving in his tactics. “He wanted to hook up all the power groups around the country. This is what we talked about in that meeting, which would demonstrate that Black people were together all over the country.”

The last meeting ended at 5:30 p.m. At 6:05 p.m., an assassin’s bullet fell Dr. King.

There’s no denying the success of The Southern Heritage Classic

Looking back more than two decades ago, Fred Jones Jr. recalls the day he took a leap of faith – and a long with that leap a combination of moxie and aptitude – to create, package and brand the Southern Heritage Classic as one of Memphis’ biggest sports/entertainment venues.  

“I had no track record in producing an event like this in Memphis, even though I was traveling all over the country participating in events already,” said Jones, who started out as an entertainment promoter. Even the “city fathers did not believe I could pull the Classic off.”

Fred Jones Jr.

And since rivals Tennessee State University (TSU) and Jackson State University (JSU) were part of the equation, Jones had to convince the administration at both schools that he knew what he was doing. It was a tough sell, he said, even though the schools’ athletic directors were on board, but believed the game should be played on the gridiron in Memphis.

Twenty-seven years later, the two HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) will romp the gridiron once again on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. before an expected 50,000-plus Classic fans cheering on their favorite team, or alma mater, at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

The football game is the Classic’s signature event. However, prior to the kickoff, fans will be privy to other classic events over the course of three days – Sept. 8-10 – which includes two star-studded concerts, a parade, a fashion show, a golf tournament, and tailgating.

“You never know where anything will go,” said Jones, who was determined to see his idea come to fruition and to prove his naysayers wrong. “To get to 27 [years] is mission accomplish.”

In terms of corporate support, community involvement, government participation, and monetary value, what Jones has accomplished since the onset is tantamount to reaching the summit, a word he uses in the name of his company, Summit Management Corporation.

“As you track us over these first 26 years, the level of participation from corporate has increased,” said Jones, noting that FedEx has been a presenting sponsor for more than 20 years. “You can see the level of participation and the quality of our presentation.”

TSU and JSU can count on a payday of $325,000 apiece for their participation. The city of Memphis is reaping benefits as well, as residuals continue to be added to the coffers ever since Jones transformed a two-dimensional idea into an entertainment reality.

“You can’t deny the success of the Classic,” he said. “You can’t deny how the community feels about the event. You can’t deny that this is a quality event that has an impact on the community in many ways. The impact and the numbers are very clear.”

Jones said the combined total has been $10 million dollars over the course of the Classic. “But when you look at the numbers, the tale of the tape, it speaks volumes. Every survey that’s been done – the last one was two years ago – indicated that there’s a $21 million impact on the city of Memphis.”

But some people still think the “glass slippers will slip off any moment,” said Jones, who doesn’t entertain negatives. In fact, he has a contract with both schools through 2019. “We had preliminary discussions about going forward up to 2024. It’s an ongoing process.”

The enthusiasm for the Classic hasn’t waned over the years, which is good news to Jones, who intends to quarterback the Classic for years to come. Then he’ll toss it to someone who’ll take it farther than where he’s been able to take it.

“It [Classic] was built to get to 27, to 50 [years],” said Jones, noting that his son, Nathanial Jones, is “very capable” of stepping in and keeping the event going. “I want the event to go on forever. It will go on as long as there is support for the event from fans, the government, and corporate.”

If there is a barometer for Jones’ success, it is this: “As long as the people are giving me clear indications that they are satisfied with the work that we’re doing, we’ll be good.”

For more information, visit www.southernheritageclassic.com or call the Summit Management Corporation at (901) 398-6655 or 1-800-332-1991.

Doors open for George L. Nichols that were once closed to African Americans

After the defiant Arkansas governor Orval Faubus tried to stop nine black students from enrolling at Little Rock Central High School in 1957, Elizabeth Watkins Crawford, Clarence McKinney, Mary Luellen Owens Wagner and George L. Nichols were readying themselves to integrate the undergraduate program at East Tennessee State College (now East Tennessee State University) in Johnson City, Tenn. They succeeded in August 1958.

Fifty-five years later, the names of the four students – along with Eugene Caruthers, the first African American to be admitted into ETSC’s graduate program in January 1956 – were permanently etched into the foot of a circular commemorative fountain and historic marker facing the ETSU Multicultural Center. The unveiling and dedication was held March 25, 2013.

George L. Nichols

“We were the first college in the state to integrate, and some say the first in the South,” said Nichols, recalling his experience at the college. “We could not belong to any organizations, initially. We didn’t have much of a social life. Nobody talked to you for the most part.”

Unlike the mass hysteria and subsequent press coverage surrounding “The Little Rock Nine,” “the press didn’t cover our enrollment,” said Nichols, who was cognizant of the acts of violence spreading across the U.S. The news of segregated conditions in his hometown of Johnson City, however, was a mere blip on the radar.

“We knew the situation. We had grown up there,” he said.

Crawford, McKinney, Wagner and Nichols attended Langston High School in the predominantly white East Tennessee enclave before enrolling at ETSC. Caruthers, who had moved to Nashville from his native Chicago, taught science and directed the band at Langston before taking on the status quo at ETSC.

Nichols was the salutatorian of his class at Langston. He majored in biology at ETSC and was the first African American student to be accepted into the marching band; he played the snare drums. He also was the first African American to be commissioned a second lieutenant from ETSC’s Army ROTC program.

Of the nearly 100 white students in the program, Nichols was the only African American, a first for ETSC. “We talked to each other,” he said, recalling a weekend bus trip to Fort Bragg in North Carolina during his junior year.

“Coming back, we stopped at this restaurant somewhere in North Carolina. We sat down at the counter and others sat down at tables. So a waitress came up. She sat a plate down for the guy on my left. She skipped me. Then she sat a plate down for the guy on my right.”

As expected, the waitress refused to serve him. “I told one of my classmates to bring me a sandwich and I’ll sit on the bus and wait for them. He told me no, to stay where I was. They made all their orders and when they brought their food out, everybody got up and walked out and left the food.”  

Nichols graduated from ETSC in 1962 and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He spent 7 ½ years in the service and left with two awards of the Bronze Star; six awards of the Air Medal, two for valor; two awards of the Army Commendation Medal; the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm; and the Parachutist Badge.

“When I left the service [with the rank of captain], I went to work at Citibank in New York City,” said Nichols, spending a total of 37 years in banking and public service that included stints at Summit Bank in New Jersey, Dime Savings Bank of New York, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York.

Nichols retired from Citibank in 2007 and moved to Nashville in 2008. On Nov. 1, 2013, he was inducted into the ETSU Army ROTC Hall of Fame. In June, he was inducted into the U.S. Army’s National ROTC Hall of Fame. General Colin Powell, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also inducted.

Nichols received his M.B.A. from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. He now lives in Mt. Juliet, a suburb of Nashville, and is active in Vietnam Veterans of America.

Olympian Rochelle Stevens pens book about her journey in track and field

Rochelle Stevens has been running most of her life – not from something or someone, but toward a goal that eventually materialized at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., where she won a goal medal in track and field and a silver medal in the same event at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Add to that Stevens’ “drive to strive,” the challenges she faced while pursuing her Olympic dream, the perceptions about success in track and field, and you’ll get the entrepreneur and philanthropist who has written about her journey in a recently self-published book entitled “Travel the World by Foot.”

Rochelle Stevens

 “I didn’t realize that my dream would take me all over the world,” said Stevens, who decided to write about her Olympic experience and travels to over 50 countries after returning from a Christian conference in San Diego, Calif., that was hosted by Michael Dean "Mike" Murdock, a contemporary Christian singer/songwriter, televangelist and pastor.

 “I was motivated by his presentation,” said Stevens, who was compelled to capture her historic journey in print for posterity. “I felt that I needed to share my Olympic experience, knowledge and wisdom with young people who aspire to become athletes as well.”

On less than 100 pages under 15 chapters, Stevens rolls out her life story, which she juxtaposes with photos at the onset of her career, photos of the races she competed in, photos after she medaled, and photos of her community service. The book is essentially a documentary in words and photos.

 “I wanted to share the challenges and perceptions and the pre-judgment that go along with it (being an Olympian),” Stevens said. “People automatically assume that sometimes you don’t have to work as hard to accomplish your goals.”

Nothing comes easy in life without working hard at it, added Stevens, who first blazed a path in track and field at Melrose High School, her alma mater, and then at Morgan State University while she was on a full track scholarship.

At Morgan State, Stevens earned a B.S. degree in telecommunications and sales and then went on to receive an M.S. degree in public relations from Columbus University. She is shy of finishing the requirements for a doctorate.

There is tidbit information in the book about each country Stevens has traveled and other information that some people may not be familiar with, such as the group she called her dream team, which consisted of her training partners, sports agent, weightlifting coach, and even the two women who manicured her nails.

Although a team was taut, someone was there at every turn to help prepare Stevens to cross the finish line. That someone was Beatrice Holloway, a.k.a “Coach Mom,” who had been a college track star.

“It’s important to have your own support team,” said Stevens. “It takes more than one person to help some dreams come true. You need to find that mentor or role model that you want to be like. And then you find people who have the same interest you have that can help you to pursue your dream.”

Stevens is a role model and mentor to many young, aspiring athletes looking for a pathway to success. Shortly after hanging up her running shoes, Stevens started hosting the Rochelle Stevens Invitation Track Meet. Twenty-six years later, more than 10,000 athletes put their best foot forward to impress college coaches, scouts and recruiters.

“Track and field has come a long way,” said Stevens, who cheered on the home team in track and field at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. “Some of these people are running to break our records. They’re chasing after the dreams that we put in place.”

 (For more information about “Travel the World by Foot,” email rochelledayspa@gmail.com or go to www.traeltheworldbyfoot.com)

National recording artist Kevin Davidson to celebrate 30 years in music

National recording artist Kevin Davidson struck a chord when he penned “Born to Win” (2000), a widely favorite contemporary gospel song that soloists and community choirs near and far still sing with emotional fervor, as if they were indeed born to win.

Davidson has been writing soul-stirring, contemporary gospel songs for decades. Many of them have topped the charts and continue to catapult the singer/songwriter up the echelon in gospel music circles near and far.

On Friday, Aug. 19, Davidson will celebrate 30 years in the music business. A musical tribute is slated for 7 p.m. at The Rock Church Memphis, 6720 East Raines Rd. The doors will open at 6 p.m. The Rev. Darrel Petties will host the musical tribute, while the Rev. Courtney Franklin directs. Both Petties and Franklin are recording artists as well.

National recording artist Kevin Davidson

Featured guest artists include LeAndria Johnson, James Fortune, the Rev. Tim Rogers, Nakitta Foxx, the Rev. Chris Williams, and Nate Bean & 4Given. The original lead singers of Kevin Davidson & The Voices will make a contribution as well.

The aforementioned gospel artists will pay tribute to Davidson for his work in ministry and the path he’s blazed in music. Memphis has become a hotbed and source for some of the industry’s most talented singer/songwriters. Davidson has been at the top of the heap for years.

 “I will be celebrating 30 years of music ministry,” said Davidson, who has generated a following with songs that permeate and stir one’s soul – such as “Fight On” (1998), “Count Your Blessings” (1998), “Our God is Awesome” (1998), “Bounce Back” (2005), “Church Let’s Rock” (2014), “Something Happens” (2014), and many others.

“We’re doing all the music that I recorded over the 30-year period,” said Davidson, acknowledging the late Rev. James Moore, the award-winning gospel singer from Detroit, and the late O’landa Draper, a Grammy-award winning gospel artist and innovative choir director from Memphis, as two class acts that inspired him. 

But then he’s cognizant of the higher authority that inspires him to write powerful lyrics and arrange them as songs. “It’s just the Lord,” he said. “The lyrics just come to me.”

His mother, an evangelist at Mt. Zion Temple Church of God in Christ in Memphis, raised Davidson in the admonition of the Lord after his father died when he was 5 years old. He has since been a continuing presence in the church.

Apostle Lawrence Braggs of Trumpet of Zion Ministries in Little Rock, Ark., licensed and ordained the popular artist to preach the gospel. He is the founder and chief apostle of the Dominion Church in Memphis.

Before his focus in music materialized, Davidson played basketball at East High School, where he graduated in 1989. He is the youngest of his mother’s three children. “I was the average kid,” he said. “I was athletic, then I shifted into music.”

Music has since provided an outlet for Davidson to express himself while leaving an indelible imprint in the industry and a legacy that he hopes his six children with cherish. He says he is happily married and that his children so far are not musically inclined.

Davidson plans to release a new album on the LVP Entertainment, Inc. record label in early 2017. Until then, he’ll continue to strike a chord in the music industry.

(For inquiries or ticket purchases, contact Kevin Davidson at kdtribute30@gmail.com)

Lewie Polk Steinberg: Reflections of a music icon

The original Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Bassist Lewie Polk Steinberg is on the right. (Courtesy photo)

Memories fade with time, but “Green Onions,” the raw, gritty and funky instrumental composition that Stax Records churned into a hit in the 1960s, is unforgettable. After more than 50 years, the bass line is still the subject of water-cooler conversations.

The musician that comes to mind is Lewie Polk Steinberg, the original bassist for Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Stax’s R&B/funk house band. Mr. Steinberg’s thumping bass line in “Green Onions” propelled the group and also helped to orchestrate the record label’s worldwide signature sound.

Lewie Pole Steinberg

“Green Onions” also propelled Mr. Steinberg, the quintessential bassist who strummed his bass for some of the industry’s most notable song titles and the artists/musicians that set precedencies in Memphis music history.

Mr. Steinberg, who engineered a stellar career in music, died of cancer July 21. He was 82.

“Even though he played rock and roll, he loved jazz. That was his favorite music,” said Ida Steinberg, one of Mr. Steinberg’s six children. “We would watch ‘The Lawrence Welk Show’ together. That was his favorite. He liked the Big Band era, but he was opened to all genres.”

Mr. Steinberg, the 14th of 15 children, was perhaps the most noted in the family of musicians. His father, Milton Gus Steinberg, was born on Beale Street and played piano with W. C. Handy in Memphis and New Orleans, according to his obituary.

His sister, Nan Steinberg Morton, toured with Fats Waller and her brothers: Morris (sax), Luther (trumpet, piano) and Wilbur (bass, singer). They, Mr. Steinberg included, played with some of the best musicians in the world.

“They laid the foundation called ‘The Memphis Sound,’” said Ida Steinberg, who didn’t realize the breadth of her family’s contribution to music until much later in life. “When you’re growing up with all that great music and the best well known people are coming over to the house, you kind of take it for granted.”

Tony Steinberg, the son of Wilbur Steinberg, said his uncle made sure the family’s contribution to Memphis music would be remembered forever. “He was very pleased,” his nephew said, “when the Steinberg family got a Brass Note on Beale Street in 2010.”

Although Mr. Steinberg had achieved immeasurable success, “He felt it was important for the whole family. It was a relay race. There was not a particular star. He just happened to be the last one in the relay race. He was able to get across the finish line.”

Diane Steinberg-Lewis said they all were enamored with Mr. Steinberg. “When the music was going on, it was always a Steinberg there. We were all so proud of him. But my dad (Luther Steinberg) was upset because he played rock and roll. They were jazz musicians.”

They were big teasers too, particularly Mr. Steinberg, she said. “When I loss my two front teeth as a child, I learned how to whistle. So he named me whistle girl. ‘It’s the whistle gal,’ he’d say, and then he’d laugh.”

But what Steinberg-Lewis remembers most are the conversations, intonation and phrasing, which she attributes to Memphis jazz musicians when they are in creative mode or just sitting around making small-talk.

“There’s no way to hear ‘Green Onions’ and not know that it is so Memphis,” she said.   

Kenny Lewis, a bassist and Steinberg-Lewis’ husband, recalls Mr. Steinberg sharing with him a little tidbit when he started playing bass full time with the Steve Miller Band. He ended up with “big blood blisters” on his fingers, he said, just what Mr. Steinberg had predicted when playing the bass without a pick.

“I used to take pictures of them (fingers) and send them to him,” said Lewis. “He just laughed and said, ‘Yeah, there you go. You got to get those big corns on them.’”

Mr. Steinberg was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy "Lifetime Achievement Award," The Memphis Music Hall of Fame, and many other awards.

Youngest editor of The Christian Recorder plans to build on the legacy of his predecessor

John Thomas III was elected the 21st editor of The Christian Recorder on the first ballot with 78 percent of the vote. He is the youngest elected general officer to head one of nine departments in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The election was held July 11 at the denomination’s 50^th Quadrennial Session of the General Conference in Philadelphia, Pa., while celebrating its Bicentennial. Delegates near and far converged at the conference.

“I’m the first non-clergy person, the first lay person to hold this office,” said Thomas, 34, a member of St. John A.M.E. Church in North Nashville. He succeeds Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, who was first elected editor in 2004.

John Thomas III

After all the votes were counted, Thomas was victorious with 1,192 votes. His opponent, Velma E. Grant, came in a distant second with 191 votes, followed by Glenn V. Gordon III, who trailed with 141 votes.

The Christian Recorder is the nation’s oldest black newspaper in the United States, which pre-dates the Civil War. The inaugural issue was published and distributed on July 1, 1852, following the General Conference that year in New York.

The newspaper is located at 512 8th Avenue South in Nashville. It is published bi-weekly by the A.M.E.C. Sunday School Union, the publishing house for the A.M.E. Church. The Rev. Dr. Johnny Barbour Jr. is the president/publisher.

After winning the election, Thomas hit the ground running on Aug. 1, his first day on the job. He had worked under Sydnor as his assistant and now he’s looking for ways to build upon his predecessor’s legacy.

“I’m looking for a better way to express the voice of African Methodism,” said Thomas. “I’m working on a theme: ‘News First.’ I’m trying to get people to understand the A.M.E. Church is doing a lot of ministry.”

Like any campaign for elected office, issues are explored and platforms announced. “I ran on the platform of Coverage, Concept and Compassion,” said Thomas, who plans to recruit columnists, writers, and develop fresh content.

The Christian Recorder generally covers major meetings, church anniversaries and homecomings throughout the denomination. But there’s more to the newspaper than just church news. “There will be columns dealing with social justice issues,” he said.

Aside from addressing biblical and moral issues, the newspaper was the voice for secular issues during its heyday when racism, slavery and classism topped the pages of the paper. It was a strong and vocal opponent to slavery as well.

“I will be broadening our reach beyond our traditional audiences and integrating the print content and the online content,” said Thomas, calling it a privilege to follow in Sydnor’s footsteps and to live up to his example.

The example that Sydnor set during his tenure shouldn’t be too difficult for Thomas, who worked with him for a number of years. He considers his predecessor a mentor, friend, and “the paragon of a Christian gentleman.”

The A.M.E. Church is rooted in 39 different nations, 20 different regions. “I want to make sure that every region has an opportunity to have its voice heard,” said Thomas. “I want to make sure the regions are represented in the paper.”

Thomas is a Ph.D. candidate studying political science at the University of Chicago.

“My dissertation is on Black Politics in Latin America,” he said. “I’ve studied black movements in Peru and Ecuador. I’m passionate about my research. I’m passionate about black folks. I’m passionate about the African diaspora. I’m passionate about who we are and what we’re doing.”

Although the new editor is back and forth between Nashville and Chicago, he’s never too far from the church. “My work in the church is a calling, a full time ministry,” he said.