By M. Dunklee

Quicken Loans/Rock Financial, the Detroit Pistons and the Detroit Shock pulled into the final stop of our “Know Your Black History” tour on February 25. For the second year in a row, we ended the tour in Flint, Mich., inviting several area high schools to come, be educated, be entertained, support their respective classmates, and, for one lucky student, win a $1,000 scholarship, courtesy of Quicken Loans/Rock Financial.

The goal of the tour is to educate the students about the tragic story of slavery, the quest for freedom and equality, and the perseverance and amazing contributions of great African Americans throughout their tumultuous journey through history. But those of us who participated in the tour as competition judges received a valuable education as well.

Let me come clean with the facts: I’m a white male, raised in a middle class, mostly white suburb by white parents raised in middle class, almost entirely white suburbs.

Have you ever had one of those projects that was so challenging you just slipped it to the back burner?

Well, that is how it was for me trying to schedule a volunteer event for our Arizona team all the way from Michigan! Until one day I said "ENOUGH"! My day was committed to scheduling a Community DIFF volunteer opportunity in Arizona and by the end of the week I had two volunteer dates on the books and I am determined to get more!

The “Know Your Black History Tour” is something that the Rock Financial/Quicken Loans Community DIFF team looks forward to every year. For the past three years, we have sponsored the month-long tour, which provides high school students an opportunity to win a $1,000 college scholarship by expressing what “black history” means to them via artistic expression. I just joined the team about two years ago, so this is my 2nd year with the tour. And though I have been to more that eight different tour stops, visiting more than 30 students who compete for the scholarship, I am still blown away every single time we visit a school.

Part of being the DIFF in the community is recognizing the great ideas of others.  Today, we want to give props to Colgate-Palmolive and the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation for their ongoing “Show the Love” campaign.

Show the Love centers on Black History Month and aims to educate people on the dangers of sickle cell anemia, a blood condition that affects 1 in every 500 African-American babies.

What makes the campaign so great is that not only is the site an amazing resource for information on sickle cell, but they are also holding an online contest for what they are calling a hospital ‘fun center.’  The fun centers contain a flat-panel TV, DVD player and a Nintendo Wii on a portable cart that can be wheeled to a sick child’s bedside for hours of playing – and most importantly, taking their mind off their illness. 

Several large children’s hospitals are in the running for the fun center, but I am excited to see my hometown hospital - Children's Hospital of Michigan –currently running second.  As a kid, I spent more than my fair share of time in the hospital, and I can tell you I sure wish they had these when I was in there. 

Be sure to check out the site, and definitely support Children's Hospital of Michigan!! Remember, you can vote daily, and all voting ends on February 29. 

A Emerson

It is hard to believe we kicked off the third Rock Financial Detroit Pistons’ Black History Tour. Each year it is harder and harder to choose a winner, the kids do an excellent job on presenting what Black History means to them. And I gotta say, we (the judges) love it.

On Tuesday, February 5 a group of us came together to listen and watch 5 students from 5 different Detroit high schools compete for a $1,000 scholarship and a Detroit Piston Fathead. We heard raps, poems, and essays. We had one young lady perform a dance to express what Black History meant to her.

The students have three minutes to present. We went back and forth for a while before we decided…it was not easy. The upside is that all of the participants receive a $100 Visa gift card for participating. No one goes home empty handed.

There are a few people that think the competition is just for African American students, but that is not true. We have had presenters from all backgrounds and races, and yes, we have had some winners that are not African American. This to me depicts the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr., celebrating our differences and respecting one another as equals.

There is always something new to learn and Patrick McInnis, Brian Stevenson and Rick Mahorn gave all of the students sound advice that I hope they will follow throughout their life. Thank you Patrick, Brian and Rick for an excellent job and for being a part 2008 Black History tour.

Watch out Romulus, we are headed your way on Thursday, February 14 to hear what you have to say…

Did you know? Black History Fact – Detroit inventor Elijah McCoy (1843-1923) invented the first practical automatic lubrication cup for steam engines. There were many lubricator cups, but McCoy’s was considered the best. Railroad engineers would refer to it as "the real McCoy". Wow, who knew…now that is the Real McCoy!

W Kemp
Community DIFF