Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 11-4-16 Online Edition

FLORIDA SENTINEL
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2016
Parnell Dickinson Is Happy About Induction Into Black College Football Hall Of Fame
When the Tampa Bay Bucca- neers joined the NFL in 1976, they were given a quarterback from the San Francisco 49ers, Steve Spurrier. They then used their seventh round pick to select the franchise’s first drafted quarterback, Parnell Dickinson.
Dickinson spent most of his NFL career as a backup to Steve Spurrier. He got his first chance to start in the 7th game of his rookie season and completed all four of his passes, including an 18-yard touch- down.
Dickinson’s journey has taken him from his hometown of Brighton, Mississippi, to an induction into the Black College Football Hall of Fame.
Dickinson started his foot- ball career at Brighton High School where he played quar- terback. After high school, he went on to play for the Missis- sippi Valley State Delta Devils.
In college, Dickinson was an All-SWAC selection four
PARNELL DICKINSON
times and a member of the in- augural class of the SWAC Hall of Fame in 1992. In his 37- game collegiate career, Dick- inson completed 599 passes for 6,326 yards and 83 touch- downs.
On his selection into the Black College Football Hall of Fame, Dickinson said he’s very honored, because this recognition is something he can pass on to future generations.
Parnell Dickinson leads the offense during his play- ing days at Mississippi Valley State.
“This is a situation where I was a finalist for two years. That’s when you start looking at the reality and although you don’t dwell on it, it’s in the back of your mind that you’re being
considered for induction. “When I first came into the NFL, all I wanted was a chance. God decided it was time, and now I’m in the Hall. I’ve lived my life by the will of God, and remembering what my parents
instilled in me.”
Dickinson said he’s always
grateful when he hears people describe him as being humble.
“That’s the way I was raised, and that’s how I’ve raised my children.
“Now that I’ve been in- ducted, its’ a great feeling that I don’t have to think about it any- more. I’m in the Hall with the best of the best.”
Dickinson said he has so many people to thank and every award he’s received has been due to a lot of people that will be mentioned every time he’s honored.
“Growing up, I always wanted to be as good as James “Shack” Harris. I watched him play at Grambling State, and he was indeed my idol.
“I remember my parents al- lowing me to stay up to watch his games. I tried to copy his style, and he and I are very close friends today.”
Dickinson said looking at the journey he’s taken, he thinks about when he got the phone call telling him he was being inducted.
“I immediately began to think about a lot of life lessons that served me well.
“I really want to thank my son, Kenny, for keeping me grounded when I was in col- lege. He came along at a time when that was exactly what I needed.”
Today, Dickinson is a suc- cessful businessman, and also has a reserved seat in the press box for all of the Tampa Bay Buccaneer home games.
Named for induction along with Dickinson were: Harold Jackson, Gary “Big Hands” Johnson, Robert Porcher, Isiah Robertson, and Coach Billy Joe.
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Lucy McBath, Gwen Carr, and Maria Hamilton didn’t know each other just a few years ago.
Today, the trio share the un- fortunate bond of having lost a son to violence: McBath’s son, Jordan Davis was shot and killed in November 2012 by Michael Dunn, while both Carr’s son, Eric Garner, and Hamilton’s son, Dontre, died at the hands of law en- forcement in 2014.
They also share another commonality: strong support of Democratic presidential nomi- nee Hillary Clinton.
All three women visited Tampa last week to stump for Clinton and encourage voters to get to the polls.
On Friday, McBath and Carr shared their message at the Cyprus Greene Community Center with a group of mothers who lost children to violence.
Clinton is the only candi- date whose platform includes a “complete and comprehensive platform on gun prevention,” McBath said.
She implored the group to “vote for a candidate that’s in-
Ladies who attended and participated in the roundtable discussion at Cyrus Greene Park were: Antionette Stokes, Latrecia Arnold, Nina Lancaster, Michelle Gajda, Gwen Carr, Lucy McBath, Deanna Joseph and Felecia Demerson. (Photograph by BRUNSON).
Mothers Of The Movement Visits Tampa To Push For Hillary Clinton
terested in you and issues im- portant to you.”
“We’re here because we want you to know how important your voice is,” McBath said. “If we do not put Secretary Clin- ton in office, we cannot tell you what the future will look like.”
Carr concurred.
“You start at home,” she said. “Get your communities to- gether.”
Be familiar with candidates who are running for local of- fices as well as the presidential
race, Carr said.
“You have to go do your
homework and see what they have or haven’t done for you,” she said.
LaShaun Tims is not a mother of a child lost to vio- lence. But still, Tims – an ac- tivist with 813-STOP-THE-VIOLENCE – said she felt a connection to Carr and McBath.
“It’s a privilege to be in the same room,” she said.
Like Carr and McBath,
Tims said she also supports Clinton.
“The things she’s fighting for is what we’re fighting for,” she said. “I believe she will do a good job.”
In a separate interview with a Sentinel Bulletin reporter, Hamilton, Carr, and Mc- Bath reiterated their support for Clinton.
It’s a relationship that Clin- ton initiated with a private, sit- down meeting, Hamilton said.
“Hillary endorsed us,” she
said. “She took our concerns and went back and folded it into her policies and proce- dures.”
Carr said the former New York senator is the only candi- date addressing police reform, an issue that is “very personal to me.”
“For me, it’s about accounta- bility,” she said. “There is no ac- countability for our police officers when they kill our chil- dren. No one ever receives any jail time.”
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