March 1, 2014 - March 7, 2014, The Afro-American
A5
By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO The month of February saw African-Americans named to prominent positions at two of America’s leading corporations, continuing an ongoing trend of progress at the highest levels of business. Earlier this month, John Thompson, CEO of Virtual Instruments and the former CEO of Symantec, was named chairman of Microsoft’s board of directors. In Maryland, Baltimore Gas & Electric Company announced that Calvin G. Butler, senior vice president of regulatory and external affairs, will take over the role of CEO in March. As Black CEO’s of large American corporations, Thompson and Butler join Don Thompson who in July 2012 took over as president and CEO of McDonald’s Corp. after 22 years with the company. In a nation with only seven Black executive officers among its 500 largest corporations, according to a list compiled by Blackentrepreneurprofile.com, these three Black men have overcome considerable odds to reach some of the highest positions in American industry. Prior to being named president and CEO, Don Thompson served
as president and COO of McDonald’s Corp. from 2010 to 2012. According to an interview he gave to Franchise Times in 2008, Thompson was raised by his grandmother, who moved him away from a troubled neighborhood three blocks from the Cabrini-Green projects in Chicago to Indianapolis when he was 11 years old. Thompson, 50, went on to study engineering at Purdue University, and began his career at McDonald’s as an electrical engineer in 1990. He helped oversee implementation of his predecessor’s “Plan to Win” corporate strategy, which introduced the dollar menu, as well as a number of healthy menu items and premium coffee. From 2006 to 2010, Thompson served as president of McDonald’s USA, helping to guide the operations of McDonald’s nearly 14,000 U.S. restaurants. A member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Thompson has remained connected to the organization and its ideals. In 2009, Thompson received the presidential inspiration award from Alpha Phi Alpha. According to The Chicago Tribune, Thompson, and his wife Liz, are also working to provide young African-American men with greater access to higher education and assisting the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Courtesy Photos
Black Businessmen Penetrating the Glass Ceilings at Top American Companies John Thompson, at Microsoft; Calvin Butler, at BG&E; and Don Thompson, at McDonald’s Corp.
Thompson is an active member of the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago and sits on the board of the Brazier Foundation, an organization headed by his pastor and whose mission is to improve the quality of life in African-American neighborhoods, said Heidi Barker, a spokeswoman for McDonald’s. John Thompson will replace former board chairman and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who stepped down as chairman and will serve in an advisory role to new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. According to The San Jose Mercury News, Thompson was raised in Florida. His parents worked as a teacher and postal worker. He graduated from Florida A&M University with a degree in business, and would later receive a master’s degree in management from MIT. Read more on afro.com.
Benjamin Philips Continued from A1
and prior to his election as president, served as secretary of the company. Phillips’ team was responsible for the successful 2009 launch of the Prince Georges County Edition of the AFRO as part of the company’s hyper-localism initiative.
In 2013, Phillips was elected vice president of the Maryland – Delaware - DC Press Association whose mission is to “serve the diverse needs” of its newspaper members in areas of common concern. Phillips is a 2009 graduate of the Greater Baltimore Committee
(GBC) “The Leadership” and Leadership of Baltimore County (LBC). Phillips has more than 25 years of corporate experience at IBM and Xerox Corporation where he held a number of technical sales and management positions. His successful career
in the corporate arena was lauded by multiple Presidents Club honors. A native of Baltimore, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Morgan State University and numerous continuing education and professional development certificates.
Students Flock Continued from A1
opportunity to apply on site and even receive scholarships.’ Organizers estimated that more than 2,000 students attended the event. Students, accompanied by their parents, visited booths with information about a variety of colleges and universities, chatted at length with HBCU college representatives and attended informational sessions ranging from how to apply for financial aid to help with test preparation. There were 12 chancellors in attendance from various HBCUs from across the country and the event was coordinated by a team of 300 volunteers from the church. Many of the volunteers worked overnight or arrived as early as 6:00 a.m. on the day of the event to set up and prepare. The event demonstrated the church’s commitment to the area’s African-American students. ASBC is known for its programs for young people and the college festival grew out of that enthusiasm to encourage educational excellence not only in the children who attend the historic church, but also others in the area. The Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, Alfred Street Baptist
Church’s senior pastor, believes it is the responsibility of the African-American community to provide students with the opportunity to “explore their options, pursue their interests and develop their plans.” Organizers and those in attendance called the event a success. The colleges and universities offered about $1 million in scholarships. The statistics were astounding: • 2,500 students and parents registered • 80 schools were represented • 1,109 students were interviewed • 674 students had their $50 application fee waived • 518 students were accepted onsite The event was moved from the church to T.C. Williams High School to accommodate the huge crowd. Students and their families
were invited by Rev. Wesley to attend the church on Feb. 23 for a special HBCU-themed service featuring Dr. Debra SaundersWhite, chancellor at North Carolina Central University, as the keynote speaker. The service was standing room only. Established in 1818, Alfred Street Baptist Church is home to the oldest African-American congregation in Alexandria and is considered one of the Washington area’s most influential churches, with 5,000 members. Services are held Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Alfred Street is also home of the popular Come As You Are (CAYA) Worship Service held the first Wednesday of every month. Welborn is the communications manager at ASBC. For more information about ASBC, visit www.AlfredStreet.org.
Efficient by Nature.
Malcolm X Continued from A1
themselves and their families. While King said to embrace White people and often referred to them as “brothers and sisters,” Malcolm X said he did not want to be with people who did not want to be with him. He told Blacks to build up their own communities, support their own businesses and protect and value their Black families. Dorie Ladner, a resident of Northwest Washington who was active in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s, said Malcolm X’s view that Blacks should empower themselves, instead of focusing on getting along with Whites, made him more threatening than King to the White establishment at the time. She said history has treated Malcolm X the same way it did others whose approach to fighting for freedom was considered aggressive, though Whites who fought to keep Blacks oppressed are treated with respect in history. “I heard an analogy being done on WPFW where the speaker compared [abolitionist] John Brown and [Confederate Gen.] Robert E. Lee, who were both crusaders out to help their side,” she said. “In history, John Brown is portrayed as a wild-eyed, crazy wild person, whereas Lee is revered and still held in a certain amount of esteem.” She said Malcolm never received the same national focus even in his own time because of his views and the message he presented for Blacks to concentrate on themselves. “I had never met Malcolm X when we got word down in Mississippi that he had died,” said Ladner, who grew up in the segregated South and moved to D.C. after working in the civil rights movement. “There was a girl who was working with us who had grown up in the Bronx. She said, ‘Oh, my God! Malcolm X is dead!’ I said ‘Who?’ I didn’t know his history. I later learned who he was and the work that he had done.” Margaret Kibbee, of Greenwood, Miss., who was also active in the movement in the South, said she learned much about him from his autobiography, written by the late Alex Haley and published in 1965. “I didn’t know about how much he had struggled until after I read his [autobiography],” Kibbee said. “It says right on the cover that he thought he would not live to see it published and he didn’t. I remember thinking it was a tragedy. When I read it, I really took to heart and understood what he had gone through.” The activists said that while history has treated Martin Luther King Jr. appropriately, Malcolm X has been misunderstood. “My impression was that he was very similar to Martin Luther King Jr. He did two things that were similar. The first was to surround himself with [very capable] people. Like Dr. King, he liked to work with people who had a lot on the ball,” said Kibbee. “The other thing was that he could examine himself and rethink things,” she said. “Like Martin Luther King, he could look at something and examine it objectively and see it for what it was. He was a mature enough person and confident enough in himself and his own ability that he could change his mind or reexamine his position on something …I had the utmost respect for him.” Malcolm X was 39 when he died. He came from a loving family, but had a troubled childhood after he became a ward of the court as a teenager. He ended up in prison, where he became a Black Muslim and follower of Nation of Islam Leader Elijah Muhammad. He grew to become a leader in the movement, known for his stand that Blacks should defend themselves against oppression “By Any Means Necessary.” He later parted with the Nation of Islam and began receiving death threats. A week before his died, his house was firebombed. “You don’t get that much information about Malcolm X, compared to Dr. King,” said Ladner, who speaks frequently on civil rights issues. “Young people don’t know about Malcolm because he’s not in the mainstream media. Dr. King is in the history books. He’s pulled out every year for the holiday for his birthday. Malcolm is unknown to a lot of people.”
Enjoy greater comfort and energy savings this winter. Some people call it nesting—the simple act of enjoying your home. When winter comes, you want that nest, your home, to be warm and cozy. But you also want to keep energy costs in line. Washington Gas has a few simple things you can do that can help save money on your winter heating bills, without giving up the comfort you want. • Have a licensed natural gas contractor perform a complete inspection of your heating and water heater systems • Set your thermostat comfortably low in winter and consider installing a programmable thermostat. Setting your thermostat set just one degree lower can save you as much as 3 percent. • Install proper insulation in your home. • When you’re not using a fireplace, close the flue. • Replace your furnace filter once a month. • Turn your hot water heater down to warm or low, never more than 120 degrees. • Replace all cracked or broken window glass, consider adding storm windows, caulk and weatherstrip doors and windows. • Wash full loads of laundry and dishes. For more information and additional energy saving tips visit washingtongas.com.
Take advantage of our Budget Plan. With the Washington Gas Budget Plan, you’ll be able to spread the higher cost of winter heating into the warmer months. You’ll pay the same amount each month for natural gas. It costs nothing to enroll. To sign up for The Budget Payment Plan, call 703-750-1000 or log on to washingtongas.com.
A WGL Company