“Real Men, Real Issues” Panel Talks September 16, September 30 at Five Points West, Springville Road Regional Libraries

The Birmingham Public Library is launching its Real MENtors Talk program with two  panel discussions focused on issues in the black community and how real men can step up and be a part of the solution.

BPL Real MENtors Talk Presents “Real Men, Real Issues” will take place on Monday, September 16, 2019, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Five Points West Regional Library, across from the Birmingham Crossplex. Another Real MENtors Talk  “Real Men, Real Issues” panel discussion will take place at  Springville Road Regional Branch Library, Monday, September 30, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Panelists will include Richard Cade, founder of The Man Project  Birmingham City Councilman Clinton Woods of District 1 , Chris Cummings, and one of Woods' District 1 opponents, Sherman Collins, former District 1 Birmingham School Board member. 

Both "Real Men, Real Issues” talks will address problems such as how to reduce black-on-black crime and the lack of fathers in the home that causes so many black families to be led by single mothers.

The panel discussions will be led by Roy L. Williams, public relations director of the Birmingham Public Library and a former 25-year newspaper journalist. Williams came up with the idea of Real MENtors Talk, a new male mentoring program launching this fall and targeting youth who attend afterschool programs at BPL locations across the city.

"I am so excited to have black professional men who are willing to invest in the lives of the next generation to help us come up with answers to real problems in our communities,” Williams said.

The September 16 panel discussion at Five Points West will feature a 31-year-old pastor and five representatives of the 100 Black Men of Metro Birmingham, an organization that is partnering with the Birmingham Public Library in this after school mentoring program.

The panelists will be:

 *Overseer Shaemun Webster, senior pastor of the Tower of Prayer Church in Leeds 

* Jefferson County Judge Charles “Chuck” Price II 

* Christopher Anderson, a retired Birmingham police detective who is now a special investigator for the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. Anderson stars on a reality television show. In Investigation Discovery's series "Reasonable Doubt," Anderson and Los Angeles attorney Melisa Lewkowidz partner to reopen closed cases.

 * Eddie Bradford, owner of Bradford Mentoring & Consulting and mentoring chairman of the 100 Black Men of Metro Birmingham.

 * Jay Johnson, president of College Prep U. in Trussville

 * Renaldo Parker, a retired Army lieutenant colonel.

For more information about Real MENtors talk and the panel discussion, contact Roy L. Williams, Birmingham Public Library P.R. Department (205) 226-3746, email rlwilliams@bham.lib.al.us

Other Real MENtors Talk programs will take place this fall at other BPL locations.

Real MENtors Talk: Fatherhood, will take place on Thursday, October 3, 2019, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. at West End Branch Library. This monthly program will discuss the importance of a father’s presence in a child’s life. For more information, call West End Library at 205-226-4089

For more information about Real MENtors Talk, contact Williams at 205-226-3746 or via email at rlwilliams@bham.lib.al.us.