I attended the 2008 Essence Music Festival which kicked off with the 5th Annual McDonald’s 365 Black Awards Gala on Friday, recognizing individuals who have made significant contributions to the African American community and continue to do so today.
(L-R) This year’s event honored Chairman and CEO of the National Black McDonald’s Operators Association Ernie Adair, renowned journalist Roland Martin, educator and humanitarian Dr. Johnetta B. Cole and retired McDonald’s marketing chief Bill Lamar.
Celebrity guests included: Tom Joyner (who co-hosted the event), New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Hill Harper. Keep reading to get quotes from the awards ceremony.
“Very few of us have the opportunity to get our flowers and smell ‘em,” remarked Lamar of his honor. He actually created the inspirational marketing platform “365 Black” in 2003, in addition to the successful i’m loving it™ global campaign. Lamar recently retired as the first African-American Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for McDonald’s USA.
Dr. Cole, who became the first African-American female president of Spelman College in 1987, said she’s fundamentally a teacher and quoted Mary McLeod Bethune noting that “education is the prime need of the hour.” She also praised McDonald’s for not only doing well, but also doing doing good. Cole recently founded the Johnetta B. Cole Global Diversity & Inclusion Institute.
Adair, who oversees the nation’s largest and most successful organization for black McDonald’s franchisees, is also known for doing good and doing well. The astute businessman and compassionate humanitarian helped to establish NBMOA’s first external national scholarship program. He also chairs a program in Phoenix that has generated more than a quarter of a million dollars for underfunded college-bound students.
Martin mentioned he doesn’t do what he does for awards, although there have been many. His tell-it-like-it-is nature has catapulted him as one of America’s most respected journalists. Martin is a correspondent and commentator for numerous media outlets. He also hosts his own morning show in Chicago. During his acceptance speech, he joked that “in Pres. Bush’s economy, a black man’s gotta have at least five jobs”.
Well who woulda knew! Hell I didn’t know that ANY black people even owned a McDonalds. Kudos black people!
Oh Tom Joyner. That outfit boo.
Hill & Pooch…two cute ass brothers. OWW!
Bow wow owns one
I so heart Hill Harper. Dang, fine and smart? A deadly combo (no pun intended).
Thats sweet of McDonalds.
Honestly that place is the last thing we need to be supporting or accepting support from. We need to be supporting healthy eating more, because we are getting fat and we are dying.
Every time i see or hear about Hill Harper he is doing something positive…. KooDoos to the brother trying to make a difference. Tom Joyner = H.A.M
Congrats to the individuals that received their recognition!!!
Love that Hill Harper!
Yes, black people do own McD’s, I know of one personally that owns two of the franchises!
Tom Joyner can not dress he needs to get with Steve Harvey and hook up his style
Hill Harper is sexy
Hey Beauty QT
wow
COngrats to the winners…
Can we please take a moment to recognise the fine-ness that is Hill Harper and Pooch?? damn!!!
Nice to see black men in such a positive light, there are alot of good ones out there who don’t get enough recognition
@ #5 McDonalds may not be the healthiest place but they are trying salads, grilled chicken sandwiches etc but lets be real in most black neighborhoods they are a million fried chicken places, rib joints etc that are cheap and convenient so until blacks stop eating at places like this we will continue to be unhealthy.
the event was fly and J. Dakar did a great job with the quotes. Tom Joyner was cool as hell. He posed like 5x for us. haha.
Seems like a great event. I do have to hand it to McDonalds I thing they are a great company and they do a great job advertising to the different demographics.
Sup Dame!
I am good Beauty QT *on topic Hill and Pooch are fine*
When I watch TV One usually I like to listen to Roland Martin’s opinion. When I saw him at the concert at the Essence Music Festival, he was acting a fool!!!! He was also dancing on the stage with Patti. I know it wasn’t my eyes decieiving me, he was having a good time!
@CanYouPictureMyProph omg i was about to say the same thing. mcdonald’s is sooo unhealthy is one of the reasons that obesity has skyrocketed among children. kids are even getting cardiovascular problems. i wish we were like france or something b/c they are so much healthier. i’m trying to figure out who the USA is the only major nation with such high rates of obesity. we’re even trying to bring other countries down with us by bringing mcdonald’s to them. so sad. is their “healthy” food even that healthy? i have to check the nutritional info for that but i doubt it is. i used to make the mistake of eating unhealthy salads all the time
congrats to the ppl and all but mcdonald’s creates health problems
hil harpers books are very helpful positive books i know the last book was a letter to a brother but i read it cause my boyfriend had it i will make sure to read letters to a sister for sure
thats wassup!!!
oh and if mr joyner donot cut it out with the gq gangsta pose Lmao! he’s a clown for that one.
Sorry, but Ray Nagin is a damn sexy older gentleman.
Pooch is such a CUTIE!
@17 the USA has such high rates of obesity because this is a gluttonous country. I’ve been to other countries and USA seems to be the only one that serves such large portions in everything. They also inject hormones into the fruits and vegetables to make them bigger. The soft drinks come in huge bottles. When my friend came to visit from overseas she was astounded at how large the soda bottles here are.
Everything in this country is excessive. So it’s only natural that people would consume excessive amounts of food. No to mention the drinks at fast food restaurants and movie theaters are EXTREMELY large. I mean who the hell can finish all that? It’s actually really ridiculous when you think about.
Im not knocking this country, I love the US. The over eating and the large portions really need to stop. It’s very unhealthy.
Congrats!!
Maybe I need stop eating at McDonalds because they put to much salt on the fries.
It’s up to each individual to CHOOSE to eat right. I don’t want the nutritional police telling people what they can and cannot eat.Yes, America has a major obesity problem, but people have to decide they want to take care of themselves. Take care of your own body, and let people eat what they want. Also McD’s is trying to change their menu to accommodate healthier eating habits. Regardless, they are giving these African-America recipients their props so good for them. I’m on my way to Mickey D’s
correction>>>African-American recipients their props.
I Love Johnetta B. Cole and Roland Martin, they are ABSOLUTELY amazing and so are Ernie Adair and Bill Lamar.
Look at Ray Nagin old bum ass
unhealthy or not, @ least u gets more 4 ur money, i mean cumon.. ur smalls are our larges!!! and @ least black ppl have franchises with macky d’s in the US…in the UK only a few do an its run down n shit like da M’s hangin upside down and pigeons get inda queue b4 u do, only 2 take a shit! but anyways yer ummm congradzz 2 them
the garbage in McDonaldshas been killin us for decades….this is such a contradiction
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