- Good evening. Can you all hear me okay? Uh-huh, all right. All right, we want to welcome you all for
- coming this evening. We know it's a cold, chilly Sunday afternoon and you could be almost anywhere else
- but here today, so we really appreciate you being here. We also, before we go further, I'd like to introduce
- the Men of Color, Men of Style Committee, Planning Committee. And you can kind of wave your arm if you're here.
- Liz Mitchell, there you go Liz, all right. Kevin Jones, he's in the back. I might also add that this
- evening we'll have two co-hosts for you today. I'll do the first part and Kevin Jones will do the second
- part and bring it up. But Kevin's also on the committee. William Knox, our Mr. DJ, man extraordinary
- in the rear. Dana Burton,
- She's probably running around. Dana is an employee here at the library. We couldn't pull this function
- off without her for sure. And of course myself. Couple things that we'd like to try to do this evening
- besides show you or this afternoon besides letting you see some of our men of color in the community
- as we like to say strut their stuff. And I think you're going to see that these people really look sharp
- as we always have known some of them to be.
- However, what we'd also like to do is share a few black history month facts along or throughout this
- show. We're gonna start off with, and I'm sure everyone's quite aware of Tony Dungy and Lovey Smith
- and the significant contribution that they made in the historical impact. Way back in 1924, there was
- another African American coach that coached in the NFL. His name was Frederick Douglas Pollard, but
- his nickname was Fritz.
- So Fritz Pollard was his name. 1924 was the first African American NFL coach. And he also, it was about
- 68 years later before Archelle, the next first coach was hired in the NFL. Okay. Also from
- a local standpoint, I know most of us know Mr. George Talaferro. Well, I hope many of you know that
- George was the first African American that was drafted into the NFL.
- Now of course he didn't go there, there was another league that offered him some more money and a little
- bit better treatment I think, and he ended up in the NFL two seasons after that. But that's something
- that we should know and should be very proud of. First African American to be drafted into the NFL.
- And we'll give you a couple more of those throughout the evening. And I'm sure afterwards there will
- be a reception as we're mingling and networking and you may have a few that you can share with me. I
- would really truly appreciate that as well.
- To move on with the show, I think we all understand that over the history of African Americans since
- our arrival into America, we've always just had a sense of pride and style about the way we dressed.
- Other than that very critical and oppressed time during slavery, we've always found a way to be more
- colorful, to kind of add some style and put our own spin to certain things. Of course, when we wanted
- to dress, we of course
- We wanted to look like the mainstream. We wanted to look like the white man who wore the suits. That's
- what we wanted to look, so we could be accepted into the mainstream. But even though if it was a white
- shirt, black jacket, we always found a way to put a little something in the pocket, or maybe just flip
- that collar just a little bit, which is the style that we're talking about this evening. One of the
- most important things I think we have to do this afternoon
- and I'm really proud of the gentlemen here. Before we get into looking at some of the clothing, we'd
- like to recognize some of our men of color public safety officers this afternoon. We have several of
- them in the back, and before we bring them out, there's a couple of comments that I'd like, or a couple
- of quotes. I think in the Black History Month profiles that's been in the Hero Telephone, have we been
- following those? Aren't those great? I think those are fantastic.
- One of those persons highlighted was Officer Troy Thomas, who is a sergeant in the Monroe County Sheriff's
- Department. Troy is a lifelong Bloomingtonian, and if not, I believe he's lifelong, and if not, the
- great majority of his life, but I think I remember when Troy was born. We're getting old, aren't we?
- But Troy is the only black officer in that department, and in the article, if you remember,
- He says they never had a black officer and he felt it was a long shot for him to become employed there.
- He also goes on to say that the reason that he finds the history of African Americans and Black History
- Month important is because people like that who have paved the way to make things like his position
- and where he is at now, that's what made it important. So he recognizes that. He also goes on to say
- don't believe the stereotypes. It's a good department and a good place to work.
- One more officer and I hope I don't embarrass these gentlemen because they kind of talk to me and I'll
- just use paraphrase some of their things. Officer George Robinson III. He's with Indiana University
- Police Department. He is a 20-year veteran from the Louisville Police Department and he now works here
- on campus at IUPD. In talking with him, I said, what do you think is kind of important that we would
- like to let folks know about you and what it is you all do? He says, first of all, he wants everyone
- to understand that he works in a service
- oriented organization. So in his heart, and I think most of these officers feel like they're providing
- a service to the community, and that's the way they look at it. He's also very interested in talking
- to anyone. If you have an interest in law enforcement or want a career in that field, he'd love to talk
- to you and give you a little inside advice or a little help or whatever you may need. And also,
- and I said, well, you know, if you get involved in a situation, what is your approach?
- Like, if you pull someone over, there's a situation you have to kind of control. And very astutely,
- the man says, you know, you should think, and what I think is, when I'm walking in this, I think, what
- can I do to help this situation? And he would prefer that the people that he's dealing with, if they
- thought the same way, what can I do to help the situation, it would be a much better, much better situation.
- So without further ado, we'd like to bring these gentlemen out and share them with you.
- at the end of the day, and we'll talk a little bit more, and we'd really like to give them some love
- and show them our appreciation. First and foremost, I believe that is Mr. Lafayette Chamberlain. Now,
- Lafayette is an employee with the United States Department of Agriculture. That's USDA.
- You can just kind of stand there. Thank you. His position is law enforcement and investigation. Again,
- that's with the USDA and that's federal, y'all. That's bigger than the county. That's bigger than the
- state. That's federal, y'all. So I want you to understand. And we really appreciate it. It is entitled
- Our Men in Blue or Our Men in Uniform on your program, but as you can see, our man looks really nice
- in green as well. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
- I will add that even though he's a Chicago Bear fan, we still love him. Who we have coming out next?
- Mr. Donnie Bean. Donnie Bean is in the Bloomington Fire Department, exhibiting nicely our men in blue
- style. I've known Donnie for several years. Donnie used to work at GE years ago, had a heck of a jump
- shot back when he could jump.
- And now he's a good man. We share duties and do good work at Second Baptist, and he's just a good person.
- I'm proud to know Donnie, and thank you very, very much for coming out this afternoon. I also forgot
- to mention, we were talking about law enforcement. We also invited a few military folks this afternoon
- as well. We think it's very important, the things that they do. All right, brother. The things that they do.
- to fight for our country and for our freedoms. This is, I'm not doing, Staff Sergeant? Sergeant First
- Class, thank you. William Brown, with the United States Army. And I, are you active now, sir? No, he's
- retired now. Thank you, sir. Therefore, I mentioned earlier, I mentioned Sergeant Troy Thomas.
- And of course, our man in brown looks just as well as our man in blue. Was I correct in your lifelong
- blooming, Tonya? You're correct. I am correct. I think I did. I think I did. Troy has turned out to
- one of the common things with all of our folks is that they are great people beyond in the uniform,
- these sorts of things. So thank you very, very much, Troy.
- We have representatives again from IUPD. This is Officer George Robinson III. And to make sure I get
- my notes correct, we have Officer Kevin Sadler. IUPD officers look good in their uniforms. And I work
- on campus, and I got to tell you, these gentlemen treat people as nicely as I've ever seen law enforcement
- folks. OK, right here with us now, Bloomington
- Police Department's finest, Officer Jim Mitchell. Now Officer Mitchell is my understanding. I do know
- he came here from Indiana State Police. Don't know if he retired or if he just came to Bloomington,
- but I know he had substantial years of service there and he has substantial years of service here. So
- Jim's my neighbor. We talk a lot, him and Liz and I.
- We know someday that they may very well leave this town, and I know we're going to lose or miss them
- when and if they go. We're going to try and talk them to stay in, though. Officer Anthony Gohmett.
- You know, these retired folks, isn't it amazing that they still fit these nice uniforms? I mean, they just
- Looked good. All right. Here's another of our men in blue. Officer Anthony Gomez currently works down
- at Crane Naval Base. Also another hardworking individual at Second Baptist Church. We appreciate him
- being here this evening as well. Does that finish up what we have? Okay. If I could, let me read a couple
- quotes. And these are from, well, I'll just let you say. One is, I wish you could feel the hurt
- as people verbally and sometimes physically abuse us or belittle what I do or as they express their
- attitudes of it will never happen to me. Another quote, I wish you could know the brotherhood
- and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving someone's property or being able to be there
- in time of crisis or creating order from total chaos. Now the point that I'm trying to make there is
- that when you ask these
- officers, what they think, and how they feel about their position. These are the type of things that
- they would say. They're not the people that I know you hate when you see those lights in your wherever
- you're in, or rear view window. It's like, oh, what did I do? Why are they? And we say a couple things,
- I'm sure. These are good people, and they just want to wonder, how can we help the situation? So they're
- all in the back of their reserve seats. We had to leave a few step out. If you wouldn't mind joining
- me in showing them our true appreciation, I would truly, truly appreciate it. Thank you.
- Thank you, gentlemen. Moving on into the program, one other quick black history fact. And as you can
- tell, a lot of these are sports-oriented. I really like sports and enjoy. But there are a few things
- that I didn't know. When it comes to African-American sports, I pretty much know some stuff. But there
- are some things I didn't know. I'll mention the name Ceto Gaston. Does that ring a bell with anyone?
- All right.
- There you go. Manager for the Toronto Blue Jays was the first African American manager that won a World
- Series pennant with the Toronto Blue Jays. Also, they repeat it. That was in 1992. They repeat it and
- they won again in 1993. So probably something a lot of us maybe didn't hear about, but maybe we'll get
- to some point someday where we won't have first anymore for African Americans. It'll just be something
- that we do.
- Something else that you could think about in this time of Black History Month, since that time,
- I think Mr. Gaston managed two or three more years after, and believe it or not, has not been interviewed
- or offered another manager's job since. So as I saw in a comic one day, as far as managers go, when
- we're able to lose, get another job, lose, get another job, then I think we'll be on even kill with
- a lot of the other managers. Okay, moving on to our next category,
- the motherland roots. We thought that would be important after we talked with the servicemen to kind
- of give you a little historical journey up into our current clothing. African wear was very colorful
- and it flowed. Different colors denoted your religious affiliation or your tribal affiliations or your
- social status. Now of course when we
- were picked up and brought over in slavery, a lot of that was lost. So during that time of slavery,
- our traditional African dress was sort of, well, it's flat out oppressed and suppressed. But back in
- the motherland, that's what that signified. So you'll see men with long flowing garments. They'll be
- very colorful. I think you will learn something today if, and I know most people are more astute than
- this than I am in most cases, but African wears a lot more than Kenteclaw, trust me on it.
- a lot more than just Kente cloth. If we're not further ado, if we'll, this gentleman coming out, Mr.
- Cornelius Wright. Demonstrating a pullover tunica, and as you can see, it is flowing. Generally, that
- would be worn with pants or sandals over in the motherland, and he might even have on a Kofi hat if
- he were over there at this time. Thank you, Cornelius.
- Coming next on the stage, Mr. Thomas Doyle. As you can see, he has the flowing, the bright color. Yeah.
- And of course, he has the matching pants. Something like this may in fact, it may in fact symbolize
- that he was of a higher social status over in Motherland. Of course, we cannot be sure.
- It may signify that he's just above homelessness. However, he looks good in this. Thank you, Popcorn,
- thank you. Okay, coming to the stage. And I might add, Mr. Larry Brown, and when we're in our reception,
- talk with him. He is a businessman, a proprietor, and he can order and sells African wear via catalog,
- but Larry would gladly help you.
- Look at his outfit today. He, of course, has the matching coffee hat, the flowing garb. And again, it's
- more than Kenny cloth. Look at some of these designs, folks. And these are things I think many of us
- have forgotten that were original. Now, of course, later on, we started wearing bits and pieces. And
- I even had a Dai Shiki myself back in the late 70s. And I think most of us did. But these are the real
- deal, folks. Thank you, Larry. Coming next?
- Next, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Dr. James Mafer. Yes. Now this brother has an extensive
- collection of African wear. He is well traveled and it is an honor with us to have him here with us
- this evening. I wish I had the exact of what everything is, but he has his Kofi hat.
- And this outfit may symbolize his affiliation with a certain religion over in the mother country. Doesn't
- he look good? All right. All right. The next person, our very own Eric Love, or what we call E Love.
- E, of course, works on campus. He's director of the diversity programs. And in addition to the dreaded
- hair, he also has a very nice outfit.
- printed on the front with a nice braided look, and he has his Kofi hat to match. And note the work at
- the hem of the pants. Note the work there, folks. Is this man tight or what? All right. All right, another
- privilege. This man has an outfit straight from Guyana.
- This is Brother Patrick Smith. He's director of the Phase Mentoring Program. Again, pay attention to
- the detail, the vivid colors. It's just not the black, the browns, the gray. We have a lot of earth
- tones, but we also have a lot of colors, straight from Guyana. Thank you, Brother Patrick. And one of
- our military folks, he's a quick change artist. However, look at this.
- He has a flowing top with a matching hat. It is simple color. Over in the motherland, that may symbolize,
- again, religious affiliation. As you know, most of us were Islam over in those days, but there were
- different versions, and it could signify your allegiances to tribal or religious or your social status.
- If these were symbolizing social status, I would say that every one of these gentlemen up here would
- be highly regarded in the motherland.
- Can you give him another round of applause? Thank you, gentlemen. Now, if I can. Brother Kevin Jones
- in the house. He is the other co-host, and this is when he's supposed to take over. So I'm trying to
- buy a little time. All right.
- If you know Brother Kevin Jones, he of course was the MC at the women and their crowns program last
- year. He was the MC for our kickoff ceremonies this year. If you haven't heard this man speak, you're
- in for a treat. He can speak, he can do things that no other man can do. I will let you allow him to
- entertain you for the next couple of minutes. Thank you, Kevin.
- gentleman right here, the gentleman that we just experienced, Brother Sims, he didn't need any notes.
- He could just look at the outfits and describe them in great detail. Some of us are not quite that astute.
- So I brought my reference materials. Well, I believe it's time for me to enter into a little bit of
- a discussion on the urban style, urban style and hip
- hop flavor. Now back in the good old days when there was leisure suits, high-waisted pants, platforms.
- All right, now come on now. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. There's somebody out
- there that knows what I'm talking about. And, you know, you would take your blue platforms with your
- baby blue pant bell bottom, bigger the better,
- and your silk shirt with your chains, and you would make sure your afro was just right. Now that was
- urban style. So sometimes people want to say, well, this new stuff is so different and so unusual.
- Come on, dig back in your memory. When you dig back in your memory, when you were 18, 20, 25, even 30
- sometimes,
- You wore the contemporary wear. So what we're going to see is a little bit of the contemporary.
- Young men, come forward. Show us what you got. Now, as you see, there's a flair. It starts with the
- hair. Two styles. Two styles.
- and the headband which sets it off. Now look at those shoes. You've got to see the shoes. Multi-colored,
- black, green, and yellow. And you see it picks up with the wristbands. The wristbands set out the whole
- outfit. You know, comfort is supreme when we talk about young folks. You know, a tie is okay, but you see,
- a nice shirt is even better. And when you look at these young men, you know, some of the things that
- are said about young black men, it's just wrong. Look at these fellows. These are hard working fellows.
- These are studying fellows. These are fellows that watch your young ladies. I mean that in a good way.
- Hey, we're just glad to have them here and glad to
- have them a part of this presentation for us today. Let's give them a hand. Now I think they have something
- else for us too. They're going to let you hear a little bit of that urban flavor.
- I guess that's up to me. I will now rap for you. Here we go. Here we go. Let it go. Make the move. Hey,
- hey. There it is.
- The cousins in motion. Come on back out, brothers, come on back out. Let them see you one more time.
- Come on back, brothers. The cousins in motion. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Yes, yes, yes.
- Did you enjoy yourself?
- Did it make you want to get up with them and do it too? Yes, yes. Well, now we all pumped up. And,
- you know, some of us used to be, and some of us never were. So since I'm talking about myself, it's
- time to transition. Well, now what we're going to go from is the urban style influence, the hip hop flavor,
- to now the men making the clothes. And let me take you back a little bit. I just happened to walk upstairs
- in our library and there was a book, A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present, Reflections
- in Black by Deborah Wills. Now, what I found in looking in this book were styles, styles.
- Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Dubois. You see, when people took pictures back in the day, they dressed
- to impress. Some of you may even remember back in our black history, when we would go to downtown. Anybody
- remember that? When we would go to the downtown, we would do what? We would dress up.
- we would put our best clothes on. When we went to church, what did we wear? Our best dress. Now, did
- it matter whether you were a domestic? Did it matter whether you were a bus driver? Did it matter whether
- you were a factory worker? The answer was no, because when it came time to
- dress the black man dressed to the top. My grandfather was a crane operator. Crane operator. But you
- know what? Whenever he stepped out on Sunday morning, he had a suit and a tie. You see, he was exemplary
- of many men of his era who said, you know what?
- I'm working for the future. You see, I may not be where I want to be right now, but I'm looking forward
- to what's coming. And so I'm going to set the stage for what's to be. And you know what? He was right.
- While he went to work in overalls, came home dirty,
- I go to work like this. My hands don't get dirty. My fingers don't get dirty. I go to work like this.
- He can only go to work when he was prepared to go to work, but not in dress clothes. His legacy and
- the legacy of many other
- black men enable us today to go to work, not just in the uniform, not just in overalls. Nothing wrong
- with that either, by the way, but something that did not exist in the 1950s outside of church. We can
- go in the boardroom today and dress in a suit and tie. We can go
- anyplace five days a week and dress any way we like. You see folks, that's what we call progress. We're
- not there yet, but we on our way. So now I just wanted to say that to you because that's the preface
- for the men make the clothes. You're now going to see gentlemen dressed up
- in that apparel that they can wear to church, to work, and sometimes to the places that they want to
- go. So let me get my notes out here. As you see, my notes are in a variety of disarray here. Let me
- first start with a man and his son continuing that legacy.
- Here are the Vances. What you see is what you get. Look at first, Brother Bill, the man setting the
- example. You see, that's a great example.
- He has this blue shirt with a nice, beautiful suit. You see, now look how the red and white specs pick
- up and coordinate with that outfit. He's got the pleated pants that you gotta take a look at. Black
- leather shoes. But now check this out.
- No tie, because the man does what he wants to do. He can go without a tie and still know he's the man.
- That's brother Bill Vance. Now when you set a good example in your home, you get positive fruit. Look
- at this young man with this purple,
- long coat suit. I want you to take a look at those buttons. Look at those wonderful buttons on the side
- of his coat. You see, that has a certain flair to it. Now, you see, he also, like his dad, has the pleated
- pants and the black leather shoes following the legacy.
- So if you take a look at these two people, a father and a son, you know that we're gonna be all right
- today and in the future because they look good everywhere they go. One note before I close. Grandparents
- purchased this suit because they wanted to make sure that their grandson follows the legacy, the Vances.
- some other folks, very good folks. Michael Edwards, step to the stage. Watch as Brother Edwards comes
- down the aisle way. And right away, you're going to see something that grabs you.
- Now you see, this is a businessman suit with a flare. Now look at that tie right there. That sets off
- the light blue shirt. Yes. Now, this is something that I was talking about earlier. We can do what we
- want to do now. And you see,
- He has a hat and a kente cloth, and you know what? He's still ready for business. Look at this man.
- He's ready to do any kind of business, any kind of education, anything that you can imagine. This man
- is ready for it. Thank you, Brother Edwards, for showing us some style. Brother Lorenzo Dilworth.
- he comes down, put a picture in your mind of a very serious thinking brother. Now, you see, we're going
- to start from the bottom up with this gentleman. Those shoes, the shoes.
- It must be the shoes. Stacy Adams. Stacy Adams. Now, he's got a nice shirt and tie combination that
- works with that Zandello tailored suit. You see, Brother Dilworth has the look right now to do some
- damage. Now, I don't know Brother Dilworth's status,
- But I'll just say, Brother Dilworth, if you got somebody, don't step too far. And it looks like he has
- somebody. You got the right man. That's Brother Dilworth. Brother Larry Brown.
- Yes, Brother Brown. Now, you see, that is full of statement right there. Look at that shirt, all right?
- That formal shirt with the dark suit. Now, here's something that we know, all right? There are many
- shades among African American people, all right?
- One of the nice things about being a black man is you can wear black and look very good. Now,
- these shoes, again, make a statement. Look at this. Those shoes say something to you. But you see, it's
- set off with, of course, the hat, the sash, but okay, you all saw it.
- When he first walked in, what did you see? That's right. And you see, you have to be a self-assured,
- confident man of the hour to step out in a bow tie. And Brother Larry Brown does that for us. Brother
- Larry Brown. Brother Thomas Doyle, step on out.
- Now you see, someone said his nickname is popcorn. And you see, he's popping it for you. Yes, sir. Now
- you see, when you're smooth, you're smooth in every way. You see, the single color says smooth.
- It says, you know, I'm not just any old man. I'm one of the best. You see, he breaks out the African
- colors, the kente cloth colors, with the bow tie, with the hat, and then it says, explosion, popping
- out for you. It says,
- You want to know me, don't you? But if you don't know me, I'll let you see if it's time. This is Brother
- Popcorn Doyle, a man of many talents, styling for us. Brother I, James Tory, step on out.
- You see, this man is an intellectual. He's ready for the classroom. He's also a businessman, ready for
- the boardroom or an evening out in this casual but stylish collection. Now you check James pleated front
- black slacks paired with a black cotton mock turtleneck.
- Now, you see, James tops it off, tops this off with chocolate brown microsuede. You see, you gotta check
- this, folks. It's fully lined. The single-breasted sports coat. You see, the slacks and the turtleneck
- are by Liz Claiborne.
- and his sport coat is by Ciani Cellini. Now you see, we saved this gentleman for the fashion show side
- of our program. You see, he can step out in New York, he can step out in D.C., he can step
- out in Bloomington, and his presence will be noted. This is brother I. James Torrey.
- We have some other gentlemen. Come on out. Step out and we're gonna check you out. Oh, it looks like
- it's the Sims. The Sims. How about it? You know, this speaks for itself. Look at that style. You see,
- hey, hey, hey.
- Who's that out there? Calling him out because he does look good. Now, see, brother, are you attached
- or are you with someone? Oh, no, I'm with my family. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, take notes. He's unattached.
- But remember, tell your young girls, your ladies, please, please,
- Don't touch. Just look and appreciate what is there. Wonderful businessman, wonderful style,
- educated man. Looks good, does he not? But you see, it has to come. It has to come from somewhere. OK?
- You know, you don't just fall off the tree. You come.
- from a root and you grow up into something special. So look at this man right here, our emcee,
- Brother Jim. Now, okay, what can you say about this? Well, look at it. First, it matches his sense of
- style. You see, when you first meet him, you don't know that he's a man with a good sense of humor.
- When you first meet him, all right, comments from the Pima Gallery now. When you first meet him,
- you say, wow, this is just one super serious brother. But you know what? This style says he can go anywhere,
- anytime, and be comfortable, and make you comfortable. You see, he has made his son comfortable. He's
- very comfortable with you.
- And look at that man right there. He is comfortable with all of us here. He was behind this program.
- You see, style is not just what you wear. Style is how you carry yourself. Style is what you say. Style
- is what you do. Style is what you accomplish. This man right here and his son have done it.
- for us. So I would like each of these gentlemen to come on out one more time and show everybody what you have.
- That concludes our program for today, but we have a reception. We'd like to see everybody in the reception.
- Down the hall, 1B. Thank you for coming out today.