Scholarship banquet highlights mentoring of Albany black males

ALBANY — To highlight and recognize the mentorship of black high school students in the Albany area, the Center for the African American Male held its annual Black Tie Male Scholarship Banquet Friday at the HPER Gymnasium on the campus of Albany State University.

According to CAAM Executive Director Antonio Leroy, 40 sophomores from the Dougherty County School System have been mentored by CAAM since middle school and are targeted to receive scholarships at ASU. Leroy said the goal for the scholarship fund is to have $500,000 in hand by 2017.

CAAM stems from the vision of late ASU President Billy C. Black, Leroy said. He said Black saw the need to address certain issues surrounding the situation of African American males, and to improve their life outcomes by raising their consciousness toward making better choices, giving back to the community and becoming “real men in real time.”

“We’re excited for the possibility and support we’ve gotten from the local community,” Leroy said. “They want to see a better product. They want to see young men pulling their pants up and moving forward.”

Speaking at the event was former CAAM president Alex Perryman, a doctoral candidate at Florida A&M University and owner of iLive Consulting.

“We all go through trials and tribulations,” Perryman said in his address. “We reach a point in life where we get knocked down. But it’s in those moments I believe you make a decision, and that is to keep on going, lie down or fight back. The real decision is whether you will live or die. Now is the time you must act. You must pursue your goal. Never give up on what you want to do.”

Toward the end of his talk, Perryman paused to slip out of his white dinner jacket and into a white pharmacist jacket, symbolizing his continued work toward earning his doctorate in Pharmacy at FAMU.

Later in the evening, CAAM Outstanding Student awards were given to Rhonda Robinson, Andre Joseph, Brandon Thomas, Joseph Knight and Grover Stewart.

In a follow-up event, the seventh National M.A.L.E.S. (Mentoring, Advocating, Listening, Encouraging, Supporting) Conference was planned for 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday in the auditorium of the Billy C. Black Building, also on the ASU campus. The theme of the conference was “Real Models of Success.”