‘PRODUCT OF THE DREAM’ SHARES SUCCESS STORIES

By Wes Clement/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Members of Pine Bluff’s Rotary Clubs recognized Tuesday the start of KingFest, a time focusing on interracial cooperation and community service leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“I am a product of the dream,” said Michael Steele, co-founder of Little Rock-based Advantage Communications. “My mom and dad were dreamers. They believed we could grow up and do anything.”

Steele, named the 2007 Little Rock Regional Minority Entrepreneur of the Year, started Advantage in 2000.

Following graduation from Western Michigan University, Steele went to work in Atlanta for Coca-Cola. During his time there, he faced many challenges and frequently relied upon his parents for direction, he said.

Later in life, Steele asked his parents how they knew what advice to give him during difficult times and they replied, “We didn’t know, we were just praying and guessing.”

“But I made it through because they are dreamers,” he said.

“I would ask you to reach out to one young African-American male. We have 16,000 homicides in the U.S. annually and about half are by young African-American men. If everyone reached out to help one, it would make a difference,” Steele said.

He told a story of meeting a 12-year-old boy at church several years ago who asked if he could go home with Steele. The boy’s parents were incarcerated and Steele took him in.

“We had him tested and they said he had a learning disability and would probably not graduate high school. I worked with him and began to discipline him,” Steele said. “He graduated from ASU and now he’s playing ball overseas.”

Rotary members were given an opportunity after the meeting to make donations to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Foundation to be applied toward to the UAPB marching band’s scheduled trip to Washington, D.C. to perform in next week’s presidential inauguration parade.

UAPB officials reported Tuesday that $125,000 had been raised.

“We’re still waiting on the larger donations to come in,” Dr. Hank Campbell, dean of the UAPB School of Business, said.

Details: Call the band director, John Graham at 575-8036 or 575-8919. Credit card users should call the UAPB development office at 575-8701.