Posts Tagged ‘University of Alabama’
Education: Ronald Nelson Chose To Attend The University Of Alabama… Over EVERY Ivy League School (Video)
May 23, 2016
This hits, and hits ME, hard!
I was once a high school senior with eyes on an Ivy League acceptance prize. I was this close…THIIIISSS (like three out of seven admission board votes) close to getting in, too. However, I fell way below Merit-Based financial aid thresholds; and with out-of-state fees, had I been accepted to Cornell University, I might have been even further in college debt than I am now.
(Spoiler Alert: I’m DEEP in that debt sh!t, yo. So deep that my poor Tuskegee, Alabama accent just went BK NY. Even though I’m 4-6 ’til the deep-six… son! And before you ask, homie, hometown Tuskegee University’s fees got higher than folks on the best Cali Bud just when I was ready to apply there. I definitely would’ve got gaffled with that debt, homie… Oh no, my accent just went ’90s West Coast Hip-Hop… poorly. Haaaaaa!)
But I did not get accepted to the one Ivy League college I pursued, unlike Ronald Nelson – an incoming Freshman to The Capstone (aka The University Of Alabama). Ronald, wise beyond his years, has made a bold decision to turn down offers (and aid) from EVERY Ivy League school that accepted him (ALL of them), and several other colleges, to attend UA.
Ronald did the math, and he kept the faith about his post-graduate future which will be rife with so many options.
“With people being in debt for years and years, it wasn’t a burden that Ronald wanted to take on and it wasn’t a burden that we wanted to deal with for a number of years after undergraduate,” Ronald Sr. said. “We can put that money away and spend it on his medical school, or any other graduate school.”
Plus, though I do not know Ronald’s overall ‘tude at his current age, I would have been SUCH an Ivy League azz-jack. I believe I am a better person for going Crimson Tide (UA) instead of Big Red (Cornell). An Ivy League a-hole in the hole financially. And noooo, going Ivy League does not make folks ‘holes (ex: our hella cool U.S. President went to Harvard)… I am just talking about me.
And to Ronald, who I praise for exhibiting such wisdom at such an early age: Bravo, sir… and ROLL TIDE!
READ MORE: RONALD NELSON TURNED DOWN EVERY IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL
– @ojones1
Everett Whiteside aka RunWRC – “45 Forty-Fives” (Mixtape)
August 30, 2015
Ohhhh! My bredren from waaay back! This one put me on a flashback to us chilling at the station Thursday into Friday, then riding out in The Couch (my beige beater ’85 Caprice Classic), toting crates, and him rocking gigs Friday into Saturday and beyond! Memories. Good to hear DJ Soul (ha, going with the throwback handle) still doing the damn the right damn way… just like did when he was running the WVUA-FM Wide World Of Hip-Hop back in the guts of the Golden Era. Soul sent me a CD y’all. Fortunately, he included a link to the mix online, so he went new school enough for me to share with y’all. Up with the tech, but still…
45 Forty-Five Records mixed on two turntables; No Serato and no special edition remixes; Extended version of this mix coming soon
– RunWRC
Thank you, DJ Soul (aka Everett Whiteside aka RunWRC) my University of Alabama schoolmate, for the blessing of “45 Forty-Fives.” And Happy Belated Birthday homie!!
(Click play and enjoy the stream above, and ooh’s and aah’s you get from learning where some classic Hip-Hop samples came from… and from memories of actually playing some of these jams on tapes and vinyl, if you were around back then. And keep reading for more great stuff after the jump.)
– @ojones1
CNN Talks To Heisman Trophy Runner-Up ‘AJ McCarron’ And His Friend ‘AJ Starr’ (Video)
December 16, 2013
2nd place for the Heisman Trophy; 1st place in our hearts. Thank you, AJ McCarron, for showing us how a star shines. The University of Alabama quarterback became fast friends with a fellow student, AJ Starr, who he first noticed hanging around the practice field – rain or shine.
Great story. Makes me proud to be an Alabama alum. Roll Tide, AJ. Both of y’all!
– @ojones1
Posted in Human Interest, Sports, Television, Videos | 
Tags: AJ McCarron, AJ Starr, Heisman, Heisman Finalist, Heisman Trophy, The University of Alabama, University of Alabama | 
No Comments »
VICE: Racism At The University Of Alabama – Problem NOT Solved (Video)
October 21, 2013
It’s a shame that there are some societal ills, like racism, that we cannot seem to move beyond… even in this, the 21st century. Admittedly, The University of Alabama has much to be proud of – certainly its back-to-back NCAA football championships tops among them. But just as we had observed how far UA has come since its campus’ integration (see the R.I.P. James Hood post here), racism at The Capstone is exposed once again.
“In 1963, in the midst of the heated debate over the desegregation of American schools, The University of Alabama announced that it would for the first time allow African Americans to enroll. Fifty years later, in September 2013, two University of Alabama sororities rejected an African American student because of her race. As a result, an anti-racist student group called the Mallet Assembly and other members of the community took action to prevent segregation within the university’s Greek system.”
– VICE
So sad. An embarrassment on so many levels: A majority of UA students have likely moved on from notions in step with its segregated past; but a significant number of students (and more important, institutions and organizations they join) have not. UA sororities, students and alumni, all should find it harder to yell “Roll Tide” with pride. And if the shame was limited to the embarrassing actions of two sororities who wanted to stay ‘lily white’… that would be enough. BUT… as you see in the documentary short above, racial insensitivity is still very much a reality woven into the fabric of campus life at UA.
Damn… they’re still trying to keep black folk out of the swimming pool. Shameful. You MUST watch. Kudos to The Mallet Assembly and to VICE for bringing this to the forefront.
Posted in Human Interest, Politics, Videos | Tags: black, Greek, Mallet Assembly, Mallets, prejudice, Racism, segregation, Sororities, Sorority, Stand In The Schoolhouse Door, University of Alabama, White | No Comments »
R.I.P. James Hood, First Black Man to Enroll at The University of Alabama (Video)
January 19, 2013
I just learned that an often under-recognized civil rights figure has passed. My eternal respect and thanks to you, Mr. James Hood. Because of the courageous steps you and Vivian Malone took into Foster Auditorium long ago, I was allowed to walk the halls and earn two degrees from The University of Alabama decades later. Many of those young men who took the field to reclaim the NCAA Football Championship this year owe their right to do so to you and a faithful few who saw the battle for our civil rights through in those tough times.
R.I.P. Mr. Hood. Roll Tide!
– @ojones1
Special thanks to Vkoot for the YouTube post embedded above. See bonus video that puts the clip above into perspective after the jump.
Posted in Cover Story, History, Human Interest, News, Television, Videos | Tags: Civil Rights, James Hood, R.I.P. James Hood, Stand in the School House Door, University of Alabama, Vivian Malone | 1 Comment »
