By: Brian Stevenson

In February, I had the honor of participating in the 4th Annual “Know Your Black History Tour,” held at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.  Legendary Detroit Piston Rick Mahorn joined Rock Financial, Fathead, IBM and the Detroit Pistons-Palace Foundation to make this celebration unforgettable.  The event focused on three Detroit-area schools; Henry Ford Academy, Kettering High School and Ferguson Academy selecting their two best students to compete to win scholarships courtesy of Rock Financial and the Pistons-Palace Foundation. 

The talented students performed a three-minute interpretation of the importance of knowing black history in the art form of their choice.  Spoken word, song, dance, acting and rap were all used creatively, as students competed before peers, faculty and guest judges Cheryl Ford (Detroit Shock), Rhonda Walker (WDIV Channel 4), Rochelle Riley (Detroit Free Press) and Dr. Darrius (WJLB Radio) among other prestigious guest.  These special guests shared inspiring stories of their own personal challenges and the importance of knowing their history and using that knowledge to achieve success.  In addition to the program, all students and staff were treated to a tour of the Black History exhibits at the Henry Ford Museum, including the bus on which Rosa Parks made history. 

I was honored to share the stage with Rock Financial President and Chief Operating Officer Patrick McInnis (little did I know he would soon be joining Fathead as CEO) to emphasize the importance of having a dream, a competitive spirit and the drive to achieve them.  Rick Mahorn spoke of his own experience growing up and dealing with challenges by learning to respect himself and others.  He encouraged the students to not buy into stereotypes and to embrace their rich history.

The finalists were awarded six scholarships ranging from $500 to $5,000, plus prizes such as a Pistons Fathead wall graphic and four tickets to a Pistons game at the Palace where they would be honored at half time.  All three schools were winners as well, receiving five new laptops each, courtesy of IBM.

As I reflect on that day, the chance to speak to the students during the “Know Your Black History Tour” was one of the most satisfying experiences I have had.  I want to thank Wendy Kemp and the Quicken Loans family for inviting me and giving me the opportunity to be a part of such a great event.

By C Niemiec

As a member of the Quicken Loans/Rock Financial  Community Relations team, crazy tasks come my way everyday….I’ve done everything from climbing through mounds of storage boxes to planning a trip to Cleveland so we could build a playground for schoolkids in one day – with the help of a bunch of teammates, of course!  But what I was asked to do a couple weeks ago may have been my most challenging task thus far…..I was entered into a Pistons trivia contest with questions dating back to the 1950s! 

By W Kemp

As children and even as adults we enjoy sitting back and letting our minds wonder to a wonderful fantasy world filled with wishes and dreams. As adults, we sometime want to be the whimsical Fairy Godmother or Godfather or maybe even Gilda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz granting wishes and making dreams come true.

I have to commend the work that Dennis Sampier from the Detroit Pistons and his community relations team for putting together the Make-A-Wish telethon in about 45 days. It started with a call asking me if we were in…can we (Quicken Loans) make wishes come true for two wonderful little girls who were dreaming of going to Quicken Loans with their families. How could I say no?

The “Know Your Black History Tour” is something that the Rock Financial/Quicken Loans Community DIFF team looks forward to every year. For the past three years, we have sponsored the month-long tour, which provides high school students an opportunity to win a $1,000 college scholarship by expressing what “black history” means to them via artistic expression. I just joined the team about two years ago, so this is my 2nd year with the tour. And though I have been to more that eight different tour stops, visiting more than 30 students who compete for the scholarship, I am still blown away every single time we visit a school.

It is hard to believe we kicked off the third Rock Financial Detroit Pistons’ Black History Tour. Each year it is harder and harder to choose a winner, the kids do an excellent job on presenting what Black History means to them. And I gotta say, we (the judges) love it.

On Tuesday, February 5 a group of us came together to listen and watch 5 students from 5 different Detroit high schools compete for a $1,000 scholarship and a Detroit Piston Fathead. We heard raps, poems, and essays. We had one young lady perform a dance to express what Black History meant to her.

The students have three minutes to present. We went back and forth for a while before we decided…it was not easy. The upside is that all of the participants receive a $100 Visa gift card for participating. No one goes home empty handed.

There are a few people that think the competition is just for African American students, but that is not true. We have had presenters from all backgrounds and races, and yes, we have had some winners that are not African American. This to me depicts the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr., celebrating our differences and respecting one another as equals.

There is always something new to learn and Patrick McInnis, Brian Stevenson and Rick Mahorn gave all of the students sound advice that I hope they will follow throughout their life. Thank you Patrick, Brian and Rick for an excellent job and for being a part 2008 Black History tour.

Watch out Romulus, we are headed your way on Thursday, February 14 to hear what you have to say…

Did you know? Black History Fact – Detroit inventor Elijah McCoy (1843-1923) invented the first practical automatic lubrication cup for steam engines. There were many lubricator cups, but McCoy’s was considered the best. Railroad engineers would refer to it as "the real McCoy". Wow, who knew…now that is the Real McCoy!

W Kemp
Community DIFF