14 The Hampton Roads Messenger Church Directory


Below is a list of churches that have provided support for the Hampton Roads Messenger's mission over the past seven years. If your church is interested in supporting our mission to economically empower our com- munity call 757.575.1863.


Norfolk


First Baptist Church, Logan Park 7493 Diven Street Norfolk, Virginia 23505 www.fbcloganpark.com 757-423-0407


Mount Gilead Missionary


Baptist Church 1057 Kennedy St. Norfolk, VA 23513 (757) 853-3721


Second Calvary Baptist Church


2940 Corprew Avenue Norfolk, Virginia 23504 www.secondcalvary.org 757.627.SCBC (7222)


Queen Street Baptist


Church Glenn E. Porter, Sr., Pastor 413 E Brambleton Ave Norfolk, VA 23510 www.qsbcva.org (757) 622-4458


Faith Christian Center


Church 1066 Norview Ave, Norfolk, VA 23513 www.fccnorfolk.com


(757) 857-1336


Portsmouth Grove Church 5910 W. Norfolk Rd. Portsmouth, VA 23703 757-484-4149 www.grovechurchva.com


Hampton


Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Temple 3100 Butternut Dr, Hampton, VA 23666 (757) 896-6050


Newport News


Ivy Baptist Church 50 Maple Ave Newport News, VA 23607 www.ivybaptistchurch.org (757) 245-1781


Virginia Beach


New Light Full Gospel Baptist Church 5549 Indian River Road Virginia Beach, VA 23464 757.420.2397


Pleasant Grove Baptist


Church 2153 Kempsville Rd Virginia Beach, VA 23464 (757) 479-1239


Chesapeake


Bethany Baptist Church 2587 Campostella Rd, Chesapeake, VA 23324 (757) 543-5887


Suffolk


Oak Grove Baptist Church 2635 E Washington St Suffolk, VA 23434 www.oakgrovebaptist.net (757) 539-8012


Our Faith


By Rev. Dr. Gregory Headen “THE GIFT OF COOPERATION”


Across the state


of North Carolina, people have been standing against ac- tions taken by the North Carolina Leg- islature that clearly take away from the elderly, unemployed, and others of the


most vulnerable. Other citizens are ral- lying in the other direction – in support of the “conservative” agenda. My heart aches for the family of Trayvon Martin, whose life was taken by George Zim- merman. But my heart also aches for the Zimmerman family. Only one person in that family pulled a gun trigger, but every member of that family has been affected, and their lives may never be the same. Even if Zimmerman took a life with ill intent and motive, he is not beyond the reach of the forgiveness of a loving and crucified Savior. Grace is amazing. In the minds of many of us, there should be some punishment for the taking of the life of a 17 year old who had no gun. In the minds of others with respect to the law (including six jurors), Zimmerman was within legal boundar- ies for what he did. The overwhelming majority of Americans agree that the loss of a 17 year old’s life was indeed a trag-


edy. In Greensboro, NC almost 34 years ago, five persons were killed at a rally for worker’s rights by Klan and Nazis mem- bers. One was a Bennett College Student body President. Many of us watched the shootings take place on television, but no one was charged with criminal charges. Years later, a civil suit found the Police guilty of wrongful conduct in the case of one of those who died. Yes, it seems so unfair. There is a sermon that I preached years ago at a high school graduation that resounds again in my ears. The title of the sermon was, “The world is not Fair, but it’s Real”. There is an inherent desire in all of us to be treated fairly and with respect. But how do we keep going in an unfair world? How do we help our young people to see that the world they live in is far from perfect, but this is not reason to give up on life and dreams. There is a haunting truth that the Bible keeps alive, and that is that so many of the biblical characters we preach about were indi- viduals who were treated very unfairly. David was pursued by King Saul like an animal with intent to kill. Joseph was thrown in prison for something he did not do. Stephen was stoned because he had a powerful testimony. Hannah was insulted constantly because she had no child. In their unfair worlds, faith in God sustained them and made the difference.


Volume 8 Number 2


October 2013 Your Opinion Matters


Selling Out African American College Football to Make a Buck


BY GEORGE E. CURRY


over the weekend. Ohio State 76, Florida A&M 0. Florida State 54, Bet- hune-Cookman 6. Miami 77, Savannah State 7. Our HBCUs have traded their proud, rich football heritage for money. And I don’t think it’s worth it.


HBCUs schedule games against schools whose head coaches make more than their entire athletic budgets: they earn a big payday, even if that means being publicly humiliated.


Conference wouldn’t continue to have a lock on national football championships were it not for their Black players. And it wasn’t all that long ago that Blacks were as unwelcomed in the SEC as they were at KKK rallies. But when the University of Southern California’s Sam Cunningham ran for 135 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries in 1970 as USC routed Alabama 42-21 in Birmingham, the conference got the message that they couldn’t win without Black talent.


wanted to play in the South, they had to attend HBCUs. It was never a question of talent. More than 1,200 players from Black colleges have played in the National Football League, including 150 who have made it to the Super Bowl. NFL stars from HBCUs include: Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley), Michael Strahan (Texas Southern), Walter Payton (Jackson State), Art Snell (University of Maryland Eastern Shore), Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Richard Dent (Tennessee State), Bob Hayes and Willie Galimore (Florida A&M), Donald Driver and Steve McNair (Alcorn State), Deacon Jones and Harry Carson (South Carolina State), John Stallworth (Alabama A&M), Mel Blount (Southern), Larry Little (Bethune-Cookman), Rayfield Wright (Fort Valley State), and L.C. Greenwood (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff).


went to the L.A. Rams and became the first HBCU player to make it in the NFL. Grambling has four players in the NFL Hall of Fame: Willie Davis, Junious “Buck” Buchanan, Willie Brown and Charlie Joiner. Eddie Robinson coached Jim Harris, the first Black quarterback to start in the NFL and be named MVP of the Pro Bowl, and Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback to start in, win and become MVP of a Super Bowl.


my life. I played quarterback at Druid High School in Tuscaloosa, Ala., was quarterback and co-captain of my football team at Knoxville College in Tenn., landed my first job in journalism at Sports Illustrated and wrote my first book about Jake Gaither, the legendary football coach at Florida A&M who won 85 percent of his games over 25 years and never had a losing season.


I still love the game and have deep respect for Gaither, Robinson and John


Football has always been a part of Grambling’s Paul “Tank” Younger Until then, if Black athletes The irony is that the Southeastern There’s only one reason our I cringed as the scores came in


George E. Curry, editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA). (Courtesy Photo)


Merritt at Tennessee State, the giants of a bygone era.


segregation, the only way he was able to prove the quality of his players was when they turned pro. That was true until Nov. 29, 1969 when Florida A&M played Tampa University in the first game in the Deep South between a Black college and a predominantly White university. FAMU, the underdog, won 34-28.


youth don’t know about the glory days of Black college football. I tried to help fill the gap in 1977 when I wrote, Jake Gaither: America’s Most Famous Black Coach. Recently, Vern Smith, a screenwriter and former Atlanta bureau chief for Newsweek, wrote a screenplay based on my book. We’re in the process of shopping the script, hoping to present the real story about Black college football.


Black college football is “White Tiger,” a made-for-TV movie starring Bruce Jenner as the first White quarterback at previously all-Black Grambling College, now Grambling State University. In the movie, Harry Belafonte plays the role of Coach Eddie Robinson. The fact that a White actor was the star in a movie about Black college football is proof that Hollywood was never serious about telling our story.


53 percent of the Black population is under the age of 35. That means that more than half of African Americans were born after 1978. They don’t know anything about Jake Gaither, Eddie Robinson or John Merritt. All they see are the lopsided scores on Saturdays. Vern Smith and I hope to get our movie made if for no other reason than to let them know that it wasn’t always this way.


in-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor- in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA.)


George E. Curry, former editor- According to the Census Bureau, The best known movie about Unfortunately, most of our Black Gaither said that because of


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