Page 11 - Florida Sentinel 9-4-15 Edition

Black Business Today
Atlanta Businessman Building New Falcon Stadium:
Help Building Lives Is Just As
Important As Building Major Projects
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Atlanta based businessman, C. David Moody holds many titles: husband, father, friend and CEO of the award- winning construction com- pany that bears his name.
On top of his very busy schedule wearing a hard hat, Mr. Moody is wearing an- other very important hat --- advocate for people who are or have been sexually abused as children.
It’s a cause that’s personal to
Mr. Moody.
When Mr. Moody was 9,
he was sexually abused by a teenaged neighbor. The abuser threatened Mr. Moody with harm if he told anyone. Ashamed, and fearing the male abuser would make good on his threats, Mr. Moody kept his abuse a se- cret.
It wasn’t until years later in 1992–attheageof36–when Mr. Moody spoke about the abuse for the first time, telling his wife, Karla. Eventually, he told his parents and chil- dren, keeping the story within the family for years. How- ever, when he was asked to speak at a breakfast hosted by the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy in 2012, he knew it was time to go public with his story.
Giving the speech began the healing process, Mr. Moody said. “I realized I’m not alone and I have nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. “I haven’t cried since then.”
A Chicago native, Moody says it’s important that sur-
C. David Moody is one of 4 construction company owners building the new Mercedes Benz Sta- dium in Atlanta, GA.
Moody Construction also has been instrumental in serv- ing the community and counts adopting elementary schools to provide mentoring to stu- dents and partnering with the
Boy Scouts of America among its numerous service initiatives.
When asked to name the building project that was most significant, Mr. Moody pauses.
“Every project is important and special to me, because each project is different,” he said.
Moody continued his edu- cation after Morehouse, grad- uating in 1981 from Howard University’s School of Archi- tecture. He said he had orig- inally planned to be an architect. Those plans changed after discovering he had a fondness for building structures, rather than draw- ing them.
He said his love for con- struction grows stronger with each project.
“I really love construction,” he said. “And there’s nothing better than doing what you love, because you’ll suffer through the hard times to get where you want to go.”
Nowadays, Moody said he strives to be as passionate about helping sexual abuse victims tear down their walls of shame as he is about con- struction.
He has retold his story pub- lically many times and also has written about it on his company’s blog moodys- peaks.com. He was feature ed recently as part of the TLC documentary “Breaking the Silence”, which aired last month.
Moody said one of the biggest rewards of sharing his truth, is that it has helped other sexual abuse victims come forward.
“When you’re the victim, you always feel guilty,” he said. “I do it to help those who are afraid.”
But Mr. Moody said his being upfront and forward about what happened to him isn’t for everyone who’s expe- rienced sexual abuse.
“I would tell anybody to do what’s most comfortable to you,” he said. “Everybody has to handle it in their own way.”
What’s most important is that sexual abuse victims stop faulting themselves and seek counseling if they need it, Moody concluded.
“Whatever we’ve been through, we can’t let our past control us,” he said. “I believe we have to have a strong faith. Truth is so important. We have to love the right way and allow ourselves to heal.”
vivors of sexual abuse know that it is possible to lead healthy, successful lives and he points to himself as an ex- ample.
Listed as one of the Top 25 Contractors by the Atlanta Business Chronicle and named by Black Enterprise Magazine as one of the largest black-owned businesses in the country, C.D Moody Con- struction has been at the fore- front of some of the city’s biggest and most iconic build- ing projects, including the world’s busiest airport, At- lanta-Hartsfield Jackson Air- port, the Atlanta History
Center and the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Mr. Moody’s alma mater, Morehouse College.
Today, Moody Construction is one of four construction companies building the new home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. At a cost of $1.5 bil- lion, the two million square- foot stadium is one of the most expensive NFL venues built in the last ten years. The stadium is scheduled to open in 2017.
Moody Construction isn’t new to building sports arenas; the company also had a hand
in the building of Atlanta’s Olympic Stadium (now Turner Field), Phillips Arena (home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks), and Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s predecessor, the Georgia Dome.
“We’ve been fortunate and blessed to be heavily involved in many projects,” he said.
The unique design of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium – which features a retractable roof and other high-end aes- thetic qualities and amenities – is one of the most exciting projects that the company has ever been involved, Moody said.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 , 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11-A