Latimer Williams

This was originally posted on 7/18/07

This month’s installment of African-American Trailblazer pays tribute to Dr. Marc Hannah. Dr. Hannah has been a major player in the world of software and 3d graphics for more than 20 years.He is chief architect of the Personal IRIS, Indigo, Indigo2, and Indy graphics subsystems. Dr. Marc Hannah founded Silcon Graphics(SGI), an internation market leader in 3d graphics, in particular 3d graphics in movies. You have seen alot of SGI’s work. Some of the movies that Dr Hannah and SGI worked on are , Field of Dreams, Beauty and the Beast, Batman, Jurrasic Park, Terminator 2 and The Nutty Professor.

Dr. Hannah was born in Chicago, IL on October 13,1956. Marc Hannah took an interest to math and science and received his BS in Electrical Engineering in 1977 from the Illinois Institue of Technology,a MS in Electrial Engineering in 1978 from Stanford University, and a Ph D. in 1985 from Stanford University.

Dr Hannah left SGI and went on the head Songpro software, a presentation and projection software company. Dr. Marc Hannah has help revolutionize the way we view movies and what movies can do for us. Let’s appluad Dr. Marc Hannah, an African-American Trailblazer.

In case you missed it, Check out last month’s African-American Trailblazer:
African-American Trailblazer - David Hedgley, Jr. , Father of 3-D Graphics

By Latimer Williams

This month we salute a man that changed the face of computers and computer graphics forever. I introduce you to David Hedgley Jr. And what is it exactly that David Hedgley do that changed the face of computers? When computers became a booming field in the 70s and late 80s all kinds of incredible innovations were being created to accomplish task faster and more efficient with the aid of computers. We did all types of complex mathmatical equations and automated services. There was one stumbling block that all programmers couldn’t leap over. The transition from boring flat 2-D graphical display to 3-D graphics.

Enter in David Hedgley Jr., though many programmers attempted to solved this issue only David Hedgley was able to accomplish the task. In 1985 David Hedgely created a mathmatical algorithim that would tell the computer which lines to display and which lines to make invisible hence creating 3-D graphics. He was able to solve the problem that was decades old. Of course this was not without problems as many programmers in the field didn’t believe it was solved and there was a constant attempt to disprove the algorithim but of course it didn’t fail. As David Hedgley said “hey gave me a hard time saying we don’t believe you. Being a Black man your credibility is questioned anyway.”

David didn’t stop there in 1999 he created an alogrithim that traces routes on a circuit boards. Simply put, the algorithim cut the time on finding a route on a circuit board exponentially. The algorithim was so complex that new symbols had to be invented to explain the complexity of his work. In the past this type of alogrithim either cost to much money to make or took too much time to create. David Hedgely changed all of that by himself.

Let’s celebrate David Hedgley Jr. for his accomplishments, He is a true African-American Trailblazer.

If you missed it, be sure to view last months African-American Trailblazer:
African-American Trailblazers - A.G. Gaston “Business Genius”

By Latimer Williams

This was originally posted on May 5, 2007

Pure Business Mind

Wanna an American story of rags to riches, then look no farther then Arthur George Gaston. Mr. Gaston founded and developed several businesses in the Birmingham,Alabmama area and was a vital player in the intergration of Birmingham. The business spectrum went from selling lunches to a construction company but through it all A.G. Gaston followed simple principles to building wealth that are still applicable in today’s economy. Through the “Great Depression” to economic boom on the 1990s Mr. Gaston has seen and done it all on his terms.
A.G. Gaston was born in Demoplis,Alabama on July 4, 1892. He join the Army and served in War World I . He worked in Fairfield, Alabama following the war as a coal miner at Tennessee Coal & Iron. It was here where the enterpise was born. A.G. Gaston begin selling lunches to co-workers. He then begin a lending service to co-workers at 25% interest. The next business venture was burial insurance for workers at the mine and the community at-large. A.G. Gaston founded Smith & Gaston, a mortuary firm that was co-founded by his father-in-law.

In the late 1930s A.G. Gaston moved his business to Birmingham,Alabama purchasing a building in downtown Birmingham where the offices of Smith & Gaston were housed. In the early 1950s Gaston increased his business holdings by opening a Savings & Loan company the first black-owned finiancial institution in Birmingham in nearly 40 years. In 1954 he built the A.G Gaston Motel in downtown Birmingham. In 1984 he found A.G. Gaston Construction Company Inc. , a multi-million dollar construction firm.

The Slient Contributor

Though A.G. Gaston was not a vocal opponent of the Civil Rights movement. He was always a silent contributor to the movement in more ways than one. He allowed meetings for the NAACP and the SCLC during the highlight of the movement. He was the main financer of Autherine Lucy who sued the University of Alabama to intergrate the university. A.G. Gaston always allowed Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Albernathy to stay at his hotel at a discount and use of the Conference rooms for free.

10 Money Tips

A.G. Gaston has 10 money tips that he lived by that are very applicable to today’s economy.

1. Save a part of all you earn. Take it off the top and bank it.Money doesn’t spoil. It keeps.
2. Establish a reputation at a bank or a savings and loan association. Save at an established institution and borrow there. Stay away from loan sharks.
3. Take no chances with your money. Play the safe number, the good one. A man who can’t afford to lose has no business gambling.
4. Never borrow anything that, it forced to it, you can’t pay back.
5. Don’t get “big headed” with the “little fellows.” That’s where the money is. If you stick with the “little fellows,” give them your devotion, they’ll make you big.
6. Don’t have so much pride. Wear the same suit for a year or two. It doesn’t make any difference what kind of suit the pocket is in if there is money in the pocket.
7. Find a need and fill it. Successful businesses are founded on the needs of people. Once in business, keep good books. Also hire the best people you can find.
8. Stay in your own class. Never run around with people you can’t compete with.
9. Once you get money or a reputation for having money people will give you money.
10. Once you reach a certain bracket, it is very difficult not to make more money.

The Inspiration to many

With A.G gaston, there is no Earl Graves or Robert Johnson. He has been an source of inspiration to many an aspiring African-American entrprenaur. A.G. Gaston died on January 16, 1996 at age 103. At the time of his death his net worth was $130 million dollars. His life should be shared and celebrated. A.G. Gaston - An African-American Trailblazer.

Be Sure to check out his Biography:

If you missed it, be sure to view last months African-American Trailblazer:
Dr Mark E Dean - The Beginning

We have probably heard already about this but in case you didn’t here it is, no it’s not another Jena but it just is proof that we have 2 sets of punishments for white kids and black kids. Dominique Goyner and his girlfriend were kissing on their school bus. The kissing was caught on video kissing and there is a student code of conduct that has a rule about sexual misconduct. The punishment can be temporarily removed from the bus or class, a 2 day suspension or expulsion. Well guess which punishment Richland District Two in Columbia,South Carolina chose for Goyner and his girlfriend. The 2 kids were expelled from school for the entire year. We are not talking about a repeat offender or a kid constantly in trouble with the school or the law. Goyner is an honor student and involved in the Junior ROTC in his high school with dreams of going to the military academy.

A Richland District Two representative stands by the school and the districts action on the 2 17 year-old juniors. Let me start by say I agree if they broke the rules in the student code of conduct there should be punishment but damn, straight to expulsion? In stated that just vote for Barrack Obama by a landslide it still has a ways to go as does a lot of the country. It just goes to show if you are a young black kid that is actually about something you cannot step out of line at all or they try to cut your head off.

Read the story here

Well I never thought I would say Vermont and I love in the same sentence but I have to tell you, this type of stuff I love to see! This what you call a people tired of the bullshit in Washington. The residents of Brattleboro,Vermont have passed around a petition to have a bill go before the town council to pass a law that if President George Bush or Vice-President Dick Chaney come to Brattleboro,VT they will be arrested for war crimes,perjury or obstruction of justice.

The Select Board of Brattleboro voted 3-2 to allow the bill to come before the council. The main organizer Kurt Daims believes that President Bush and Vice-President Chaney were also guilty of espionage for spying on American people and obstuction of justice, for the politically generated firings of U.S. attorneys.

At first they were looked at as looney, crazy as a mad hatter, but over time this petition has generated a lot of support. It seems that other towns are looking at doing the same thing in Kentucky and Massachusetts. Daims stated that Brattleboro was able to “think outside the box on this issue”.

I cannot say how proud I am of the people of Brattleboro,VT, they are people willing to hold politicans accountable for their actions not just by protest but trying to enforce legal accountability. We all know that this one little town cannot or will not arrest President Bush or Vice-President Chaney but the act itself is what Civil disobedience is all about. The funny part is President Bush or Vice-President Chaney has never been back to Brattleboro since the last time they were elected and I doubt they will in the future. The town will vote on March 4th.

Brattleboro,VT , I Salute you!

Read the full story here