The choice — whether to attend college, drop out or forsake school all together.

It is a choice that’s becoming increasingly prevalent across the country as Congress considers deeper cuts into federal student aid and loans. In response to this crisis, Allstate, and the Tom Joyner Foundation are uniting to assist African-American college students pay for school.

Today’s struggling economy and distressed job market make it more important than ever to secure a college education,” said Tom Joyner, Founder of The Tom Joyner Foundation.

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HBCUs actively recruiting non-Black students

The best and brightest HBCU students of 2011

Roland Martin sits down with Tom Joyner to discuss the twelfth year of the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage, charitable giving and the launch of HBCUs Online.

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Barack Obama talked with Tom Joyner about the economy, education and health care.

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Obama Addresses Black Voters On The Tom Joyner Show

Tom Joyner Interviews Barack Obama

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Barack Obama made an appearance on the Tom Joyner show and discussed the politcal climate his poll numbers and support from the African-American community.

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Tom Joyner Interviews Barack Obama

Tom Joyner Will Host MSNBC Townhall On Race On MLK Day

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A bevy of historically black colleges and universities are hemorrhaging too many students while revenue sources have dried up to the point where it threatens their very survival. Legendary radio host and famed HBCU advocate Tom Joyner will launch an ambitious online education initiative to stem the bleeding at the institutions, bring back throngs of black students and, most importantly, help many more of them graduate.

“We need to help our students, — not only K-12 — but as the President said, we need more college graduates. And to have more college graduates, we need to do something about our college system, especially HBCUs. You know I love HBCUs,” Joyner said at the National Urban League Centennial Convention in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. “So what we’re doing is we’re going to change things in 2010; we’re going to launch HBCUs online in September. We’re going to compete with the University of Phoenix and the rest of the for-profit [colleges]. That’s where most of our black students are going.”

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Click here to see gallery of The Top HBCU’s

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Top Ten HBCU’s

HBCU Student Wins $500 K For Cutting Hand On Glass

From BlackAmericaWeb (By Tom Joyner)

As we get closer to Christmas, New Year’s and Kwanzaa and prepare for two weeks off for vacation, my plan was for this blog to reflect on some of the biggest stories of 2009. On my list was President Obama’s inauguration; Chris Brown and Rihanna; the death of Michael Jackson; the two black astronauts calling the TJMS from space and yes, Tiger Woods. Those are still important stories, but there’s a developing story that I want to share with you.

On the King Holiday Weekend 2010, I will co-host an MSNBC town hall special about race in America with Chris Matthews. This is also an important story because it will give me and you a rare opportunity to participate in a much needed discussion about whether racism is still a relevant topic now that President Obama has been elected. Of course, we know that it is. But now, we will get a chance to say why.

Having an audience of 8 million mostly African-American people is always a good thing, but it’s a crucial thing when mainstream America wants to know what’s on our minds. Together, we can give provide honest questions and answers about racism in this country.

In the days leading up to January 18th,  I will be using this blog, BlackAmericaWeb.com, the Text Tom club, the morning show and all of its resources to garner your opinions about some of the specific topics that will be addressed on the program. Among the topics: Does Post-Racial America Exist? (Yep.) Is Affirmative  Action Necessary? (duh!) and Generational Colorblindness. Isn’t it funny that usually the only people who claim they don’t see color always end up telling you they’re married to a black person?

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Tom Joyner Interviews Barack Obama

UPDATE: South Carolina Pardons Joyner’s Ancestors

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President Barack Obama was interviewed by Tom Joyner on his radio program this morning. Here it is.

President Barack Obama on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show”

TOM JOYNER: This is a very special day on the TJMS because we have the president of the United States on the phone. Good morning, sir.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: What’s going on, Tom?

How you doing?

I am doing great, and I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season. I hope everyone is having a great Christmas. I know folks here in D.C. got hung up here with a little snow, but overall, I hope everybody is having a great time.

Are you calling from the White House or from Air Force One?

I am calling from the Oval Office. Just as I speak, I am looking out over the South Lawn, and it is covered with snow. We got our Christmas tree up. Yesterday, Bo was jumping through the snow and then tried to rush into the Oval Office and get everyone wet. So it’s quite a scene around here.

When are you guys leaving for Hawaii?

You know, it depends on how soon the Senate can make that last vote on health care. It may end up being Christmas Eve, but we are on the brink of something historic here, so I want to make sure I’m here to solve any last-minute problems.

Are you ready for Christmas?

You know, here’s a good thing: Michelle and I made a bargain about 10 years ago that we don’t buy each other Christmas presents.

Oh, good one.

But she makes me pay during her birthday and our anniversary. It doesn’t save me money, but it does save me some wrapping time. So basically we just have to make sure the kids are taken care of, and these days, they don’t ask for too much. They like a lot of iPod stuff and video game stuff, books …

And what do they get you?

Listen, I don’t get nothing. It’s just like Father’s Day. You know, you get a tie. So that’s how that rolls.

I know, I know. Yeah, and then you open the gifts and you go, “Ahh, nice.”

That’s a great looking tie.

Oh, look, this one lights up!

(Laughter) That’s exactly right, but it’s the thought that counts. All I need from them is some hugs, and I’m happy.

Well, this is going to be a tough Christmas for a lot of Americans.

Yeah.

Especially African-Americans. So we’re going to have to really dig deep to celebrate, and we can only do that by remembering the true meaning of what Christmas is all about this year, a lot of us.

Well, listen, we’ve just gone through the toughest year we’ve had at least since 1981 and maybe since 1933. So there are a lot of folks hurting out there.

What do you have to say to the struggling people this Christmas?

Well, I think the main message I have is a) I know you’re hurting. I get letters from people across the country everyday that I read, and you know, the stories are heartbreaking. Folks are worried about losing their homes. They’ve lost their jobs. They’re trying to figure out how they can still pay for their kids’ college education. They’ve been sending out resumes, and nothing’s happening. They’ve lost their health care. The main message I have for them is help is on the way. I know it’s not coming as quick for some as we would like, but our first job this year was to make sure that the economy just didn’t collapse because then it would have been even worse. We could have had an unemployment rate that is double what it is right now. We’ve stabilized the economy and it’s starting to grow again.

I think slowly people are starting to hire back again, so I’m very confident that 2010 is going to be better than 2009. In the meantime, what we try to do is make sure that things like unemployment insurance is in place. That the Cobra program is cheaper so that people can buy health insurance or keep their health insurance if they’ve lost their job. Made sure that states had budgets, budget assistance so that they wouldn’t have to lay off teachers, police officers and other vital services. So we’re making progress on that front.

By the way, people need to understand that one out of every five African-Americans do not have health care. Nobody stands to gain more from this health care bill passing – 30 million people who are going to get health care from this insurance deal. It’s going to be disproportionately people who are of low-income. They work every day, but they’re not getting health care, so that’s going to be in place. But then next year, we’ve also got to focus on things like the education reforms that we’ve been initiating. Additional child care dollars. Setting up green jobs so that we can train some of those young men on the street to weatherize homes and put up insulation, put in new windows. That saves people on their energy bills, but also starts refurbishing and revitalizing communities that have been neglected too long. So there’s some long term projects to revitalize communities that are going to be in place next year, and I’m confident that 2010 is going to be better than 2009. And I think 2011 is going to be better than 2010.

We just want to keep making steady progress for a more just and equal society, and that may not be complete consolation for folks who are really struggling right now. Just know that Michelle and I are thinking about them every day. As I said to one interviewer the other day, it’s not as if Michelle and I don’t have relatives who are going though this stuff and are unemployed. One of the things about being part of the African American community is that no matter how well you do, you know there’s somebody in your family that’s still hurting because we’re not that far away from the neighborhood. And people need to know that I carry their stories with me whenever I come into the Oval Office.

You told us when we last talked, and it’s been about a year, that it was going to be tough, and it was going to be a tough job ahead. You warned us about it when we talked to you. So what’s been the toughest part for the first year as the first African-American president?

You know the truth is that I probably had more crises on my desk than any president since FDR, and that’s just subjectively speaking. You think about two wars, the economic crisis, the banking crisis, swine flu, we just had a lot of stuff coming at us quickly. I think we have managed it well, but the thing that I think is the toughest is, number-one, that the job growth is not as quick as we’d like. We’ve got the economy growing, but companies are not hiring back yet, and so we’re doing everything we can to try to push companies now that they’re making a profit again to start hiring some of those folks who were laid off so that they can further support the economy. Because if a worker is getting a paycheck, that means he’s spending buying products, buying services, circulating that money in the neighborhood, and that lifts everybody up. We’ve still got something of a crisis of confidence in the business community when it comes to hiring, and that’s been a very challenging thing ‘cause, you know, you can’t force a company to hire somebody; all you can do is give them incentives to hire.

And then the second thing is Afghanistan. You know, when you go out, and you meet family members of fallen soldiers, nothing weighs on you more heavily, so the decision I had to make to try to initiate a surge to get some folks in there help train Afghans and stabilize the situation so we can start pulling our troops out in a couple of years was a very difficult decision. And it’s a big tough messy situation. There were no good answers to it. I think we came up with the best possible plan, but it still has risks involved, and you know that some young men and women may not come home as a consequence of that decision. And that weighs on you pretty heavily.

You mentioned the swine flu, and I understand that you got your H1N1 shot just the other day.

I just got my shot the other day.

A lot of us are scared. A lot of us in our community are scared. We don’t think it’s safe.

Well, listen, here’s the main message I have to everybody who is listening. Michelle and I had Malia and Sasha get that shot about a month and a half, two months ago, when it first became available to kids. If people think that I would let my daughters, the most precious things in my life, get a shot that wasn’t safe, they’re crazy. So if the president and the First Lady are having their children get a shot, then you need to get your kids at least their shot. Because the problem with H1N1 is that unlike seasonal flu, which disproportionately affects older Americans, the H1N1 disproportionately affects younger Americans – particularly children. We’ve got a high rate of children who have asthma and underlying issues, health issues that make them more vulnerable, and so the mortality rate can still be significant. Heaven forbid that because somebody didn’t want to get their kid vaccinated finds their children really sick. We’ve already had two of my senior staff’s children who didn’t get shots had swine flu and had to be hospitalized, and they were perfectly healthy little girls. So I would really strongly urge everybody who is listening, you can now get a flu shot. Ask the school where your child attends where to go get it if you don’t already have that information or if you don’t have a regular doctor, but go ahead and at least make sure your child is vaccinated. And now we have enough vaccine for adults to be vaccinated. I just got mine yesterday. It didn’t hurt, and it gives you some added protection against what can be a pretty serious disease. And although there was a peak H1N1 wave that came through last month, usually with flu seasons, there is another wave that will be coming up after Christmas, so now is the best time to get it.

So, we’re not out of the woods. Now, at the Christmas party there at the White House, you couldn’t see (Bill) O’Reilly and the other Fox news people at the party all frowned up, and they were eating up all the shrimp and the ham. Drinking all the liquor. I mean, the people that bad mouth you were there at your party. How hard is it to deal with that – or does it make you stronger and more determined?

Well, look, first of all, they all got their pictures taken with me.

I know!

So, I think that’s part of the Christmas spirit, and Michelle and I try to kill them with kindness. Michelle starts hugging all of them.

Ha, ha – I saw that.

‘Oh, it’s great to see you!’ And you know, look, the thing about a lot that goes on in cable news – and you know this better than anybody Tom – I mean, these guys fundamentally are entertainers. They are often times not thinking from a journalistic perspective; they are thinking, ‘How can we generate some controversy to boost our ratings?’ You know, the difference between you and them is you’re explicit about the fact that you’re entertaining people, and some of the stuff they try to pass off as news. My hope is that with the health care debate winding down, we get that done. The people, everybody takes a deep breath and remembers that everybody’s an American. I’ve got my birth certificate to prove it. We are all just trying to do what’s best for the country. We’re gonna have our differences, but we don’t have to attack each other’s motives which I think has become a habit in Washington. You know you know me pretty well, Tom, and I’m always an optimist. I don’t hold grudges, and I’m just interested in getting the job done.

Well, I’m here for you. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: We’ll always be here for you. On the King holiday, I’m doing a town hall meeting in Houston on the campus of Texas Southern, and it’s going to be on MSNBC. Chris Matthews and I are hosting, and it’s going to be called “Hope and Fear in Obama’s America.”

Well, you know, I might watch that! I might watch that. But, you know, I think the main message that I’ve got for the African American community as we go into this next year is that this has been a hard one. It’s been a tough one. But Michelle and I are so blessed by the support that we receive, and everywhere we go, people come up to us and say, “We’re praying for you, thinking about you and rooting for you.” I just want everybody to know that goes both ways, and I’m praying for all your listeners and thinking about all your listeners, and we’re rooting for you. And that’s not just Michelle and me – that’s Malia and Sasha, the first grandmother.

How’s Mrs. Robinson doing?

You know, she’s doing fine. You know, at first she didn’t want to come here. You know how folks get; they’ve been living in the same house for 40 years, and they say, “I’m not moving,” and “I don’t need all that fuss.” And we said, “Well, do it for us for three months because we need help with the transition,” and she said okay. And then she got here, and she’s got a life! Now suddenly, you know, she’s been using that box at the Kennedy Center, going out with Betty Curry, Bill Clinton’s old secretary, and they’ve been having fun. So she’s quite the lady about town. But the nice thing is that she just walks out the gate and goes over to CVS and starts doing her shopping or whatever.

Well, give Mrs. Robinson a hug for me.

You know I will.

And the First Lady and the children. And give the dog a high-five.

Alright, Tom. It was great to see the family, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Happy holidays, sir.

Happy holidays.

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UPDATE:

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Two great-uncles of syndicated radio host Tom Joyner, sent to the electric chair for the 1913 murder of a Confederate Army veteran, were unanimously pardoned Wednesday by South Carolina.

Officials believe the men are the first in the state to be posthumously pardoned in a capital murder case.

Black landowners Thomas and Meeks Griffin were executed 94 years ago after a jury convicted them of killing 73-year-old John Lewis, a wealthy white veteran living in Blackstock, a Chester County town 40 miles north of Columbia. Two other black men were also put to death for the crime.

“This won’t bring them back, but this will bring closure. I hope now that they rest in peace,” Joyner said. “This is a good day.”

Joyner, who lives in Dallas, and his attorney made a presentation to the state parole and probation board on Wednesday, then left the room while the board voted. Family members who flew in for the hearing included his wife and sons, of Dallas, and brother and his family, from Jackson, Miss.

Though he talks to roughly 8 million listeners on the radio daily, Joyner said facing the seven board members “scared me to death.” When he was told how they voted, he said he waved his hands and hugged family members in a flood of relief and joy. He also called in to his radio show.

Joyner learned about his uncles’ fate two years ago during filming of the PBS documentary “African American Lives 2,” which traced his lineage and 11 others’ through the research of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Watch the interview with Tom Joyner as he recounts the journey that led to the pardon

The talk show host, Gates and legal historian Paul Finkelman then began to work to clear the Griffins’ names because records indicated they were framed by another man who was linked to the victim’s stolen pistol, but claimed he was only the lookout.

“These were hardworking, outstanding community citizens,” Joyner said, noting the family owned about 130 acres. “Out of nowhere it seems, they were accused of murder.”

John “Monk” Stevenson, who was known to be a small-time thief, testified against the others in exchange for a life sentence. According to sworn statements, he later told fellow inmates and a detective the four men had nothing to do with the crime, but he pointed his finger at them to save himself.

Stevenson told at least one inmate he chose the Griffin brothers because he thought they were wealthy and could afford a lawyer.

The Griffins had to sell their land to pay for their defense. After the execution, Joyner’s grandmother fled to Florida, but did not say why. Joyner said even his father knew nothing of his uncles until Gates uncovered the family secret.

The case was about class and economics as much as race, Gates said.

“They were framed because they were the richest black people in the county,” he said. “I as a historian am honored to see something rectified in the present.”

Gates believes an illicit affair and the desire to protect the elderly veteran’s reputation also played roles in his uncles’ indictment.

Records show police initially focused on Anna Davis, a black woman Lewis was reportedly intimate with. Anna and her husband Bart Davis were arrested with their suitcases packed. A neighbor and an employee of Lewis said they saw Bart Davis at Lewis’ home the morning of his death, and Stevenson initially said he got the gun from Bart Davis’ brother.

The four were indicted July 6, 1913, and the trial began two days later. With only a day to prepare, defense attorney W.H. Newbold asked for a delay, but the request was denied. The state Supreme Court later deemed that denial insignificant.

When appeals failed, Newbold asked the governor for a pardon hearing. Some white residents in Chester County agreed.

More than 120 people signed a petition asking then-Gov. Richard Manning to commute the men’s sentence, including Blackstock’s mayor, a former sheriff, two trial jurors and the grand jury foreman. Manning gave the four a temporary reprieve while he considered it, but ultimately the four were sent to the death chamber.

The pardon is not only a family victory, but a step toward the healing of racism nationally, Joyner said. Finkelman, an Albany Law School professor, said the Griffin brothers stand for thousands unjustly convicted. He plans to do more research on the case and possibly write a book.

Gates said it’s exciting that an interracial coalition existed in both the 1915 effort to save the Griffins’ life and in their pardon Wednesday.

“Racism is alive,” Joyner said. “We can’t move forward until we confront the past.”

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Nationally syndicated radio host Tom Joyner is asking South Carolina to posthumously pardon two of his great-uncles — black landowners executed in 1915 after being convicted of murdering an elderly Confederate Army veteran.

Joyner learned the fate of farmers Thomas and Meeks Griffin during filming of the PBS documentary “African American Lives 2,” which first aired in February 2008 and was based on research by Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.

The program traces the lineage of 12 people, including Joyner. The host of “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” said he was stunned to learn of his South Carolina roots and two great-uncles he didn’t know existed.

“The records will show they did not do what they were executed for, and maybe now they can rest in peace,” Joyner said from his Dallas studio.
He said a pardon would bring long-overdue justice, adding “I started trying to put myself in my great-uncles’ position and tried to imagine what they must’ve been going through.”

The Griffins were forced to sell their 130 acres to finance their defense. After they died in the electric chair on Sept. 29, 1915, Joyner’s grandmother moved to Florida, where the family’s known history begins.

“It’s very unusual for stories like this to be passed down from generation to generation among African-Americans,” Joyner said. “As a people, we don’t like to pass along bad news about family.”

In June 2008, Joyner, Gates and legal historian Paul Finkelman wrote Gov. Mark Sanford seeking a pardon. The case is scheduled Oct. 14 before the state’s parole and pardon board.

If a pardon were granted, it would be South Carolina’s first awarded posthumously in a capital murder case, said Pete O’Boyle, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.

Court documents show the Griffin brothers were executed with two other black men for the April 1913 shooting death of John Lewis, 73. Lewis was a wealthy veteran living in Blackstock, a Chester County town 40 miles north of Columbia.

The four were indicted July 6, 1913, and the trial began two days later. With only a day to prepare, defense attorney W.H. Newbold asked for a delay, but the request was denied. The state Supreme Court later deemed that denial insignificant.

Finkelman said such speedy trials were apparently once the norm and the quick trial wasn’t necessarily racially motivated — but it was unfair.

Joyner believes his uncles were framed.

Records show police initially focused on Anna Davis, a black woman Lewis was reportedly intimate with. She and husband Bart Davis were arrested with their suitcases packed. But attention later shifted when Lewis’ stolen pistol was traced to John “Monk” Stevenson, a small-time criminal who first said he got the gun from Bart Davis’ brother.

He claimed he was only a lookout when Lewis was killed. In a plea deal that spared his life, Stevenson — who is also black — named the Griffin brothers and the two others and testified against them. He later received a life sentence.

According to sworn statements, Stevenson told people in jail the four men he implicated knew nothing of the crime, but he named them to save himself.

When appeals failed, Newbold asked the governor for a pardon hearing.
Some white residents in Chester County agreed.

More than 120 people signed a petition to then-Gov. Richard Manning declaring “grave doubts as to their guilt” and requesting a reduced sentence. The signatures included people identified as Blackstock’s mayor, a former sheriff, two trial jurors and the grand jury foreman.

A former detective wrote that information was withheld from the defense, and that Stevenson also told him the four convicted had nothing to do with the murder.

Finkelman, an Albany Law School professor, called the petition astonishing. In his decades studying Southern history, this is the first time he’s seen petitions signed by prominent white residents in support of a black man accused of murdering a white man.

“It just didn’t happen,” he said. “The nature of South Carolina in 1900 was, if a black man was arrested for a crime like this, you could be pretty sure they’d be convicted and executed, and nobody would care.”

Still, hundreds of residents signed petitions asking the governor to dismiss appeals for clemency and urging execution.

But the signatures of support show “everybody wasn’t unfair,” said Joyner, who grew up in Tuskegee, Ala. “It says something about the history of racism in South Carolina that everybody wasn’t like that back then.”

Nearly a century later, it’s impossible to determine who did commit the murder, according to Joyner, Gates and Finkelman.
While a pardon isn’t an apology, it means if the men were tried today, they likely wouldn’t be convicted, said Joyner’s attorney, Steve Benjamin.

“It was a sad period in our state’s history and probably not uncommon,” he said. “It doesn’t undo what happened. It does allow the state to put its best foot forward.”

Joyner said learning the family secret has changed his life.

“It’s been mind-opening. When I see when and how far people have gone before me, it makes me stronger.” He added, “There are probably so many stories like this that will never come to light, and their cases will never be heard.”

From BlackAmericaWeb.com:

Mr. President, I have been a major supporter of yours from the start because I believed you were the best person for the job, because I never dreamed in my lifetime that this would happen. You’ve been doing an amazing job, considering that you took over the country at a time when so much is happening. But I do have a concern about one of your recent decisions. I’m calling on you to listen to the tens of thousands of alumni, faculty, administration and students of Historically Black Colleges and Universities who want you to seriously reconsider your changes to the 2010 federal budget. We want you to extend the $85 million that was included in the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 and is slated to expire this year.

I realize you’re dealing with a budget that’s in the trillions of dollars, but let me tell you, as a long-time supporter and cheerleader for black colleges, literally every single dollar helps to keep the doors open at these institutions. This $85 million is absolutely crucial for many of the colleges to make sure every student attending these schools have the best infrastructure possible. That means these schools need the direct funds that the federal government has allocated since 2007 to help provide comfortable dormitories, fully furnished classrooms, research labs, libraries and so many things that contribute to these students getting a quality education. The fact is the funding for many HBCUs eligible to receive federal funds has not kept pace with the increasing needs for the institutions.

I’ve been reading about how you and Secretary Arne Duncan are increasing the amount of money for Pell Grants, which means more students may be able to get sorely needed dollars to attend college. That’s what my foundation has been doing for the past 11 years, and the more help these students get to stay in school, the better.

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