Vote Now! | Spectacular Mag 2017 Men of Year Semi-Finalists
The on-line voting process for the Spectacular Magazine 2017 Men of the Year Semi-finalists is now open. The voting period begins March 15 and will end midnight March 29. Spectacular Magazine will honor African American men in seven (7) categories with the Spectacular Magazine 2017 Man of the Year Awards at a black-tie Awards Gala on April 9, 2017 sponsored by PNC. The Gala will take place at the Doubletree by Hilton @ Raleigh Durham Airport.
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Nominations for this year’s Award were accepted in six (6) categories and suggestions in the seventh category, Lifetime Achievement, were accepted Sunday Feb. 12 until Saturday Feb. 25. The Man of the Year Selection Committee, based on criteria, narrowed the nominations down to three Semi-finalists in four categories; due to an the vast amount of nominations in the Community Service and Emerging Leader categories, six Semi-finalists were named and two awards will be presented in each.
There will be an on-line voting process to select the Award recipients in six (6) categories from March 15 – 29. Recipients of the award are only announced at the Gala. Gala tickets will be on sale Monday March 6. Program Book ads go on sale the same day.
The Lifetime Achievement award recipients were selected by the Selection Committee and are not subject to the voting process.
” We are privileged to bestow this honor on these men that were selected by the community,” say Phyllis Coley, Spectacular Magazine Publisher. “Most award recipients are selected by a committee. The Spectacular Magazine Man of the Year is totally chosen by the public, and for me, that makes it even more special.”
Spectacular Magazine has honored the achievements/contributions of Black men or men who’ve made a difference in Black community in seven categories since 2010. The Semi-finalists were announced on Sunday March 5 on Radio One Raleigh radio stations.
The Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are:
Lifetime Achievement:
- Chuck Davis – Founder and Artistic Director, African American Dance Ensemble (Durham)
- Honorable Howard N. Lee – Former Mayor, Town of Chapel Hill, Founder, Howard N. Lee Institute (Chapel Hill)
- Everett Ward – President, St. Augustine’s University; General President, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. (Raleigh)
- Honorable Harold Webb – Former Tuskegee Airmen; retired Wake County Commissioner (Raleigh)
The Semi-finalists are:
Business & Economic Development:
- Jesse Callis – President, Callis Contractors Inc. (Durham)
- Wendell Davis – Durham County Manager (Durham)
- Talib Graves-Manns – Executive Director, Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center @ Shaw University (Raleigh)
Civil & Human Rights:
- Michael Becketts – Director, Durham County Department of Social Services (Durham)
- Lamont Lilly – Activist/Community Organizer, World Workers Party (Durham)
- Roland Staton – President, Durham Branch of NC NAACP (Durham)
Community Service:
- Julian Hall – Managing Partner, The Law Firm of Julian M. Hall (Durham)
- DeWarren Langley – Director, Charles Hamilton Houston Foundation; Secretary, Durham Community MLK Steering Committee (Durham)
- Pastor Al Morgan – Founder/CEO, Morgan Marketing; Pastor, Launch Ministries (Carrboro)
- Moses Ochola – Organizer, Black August in the Park; Restaurateur, The Palace International (Durham)
- Dr. Willie T. Ramey III – Treasurer, NC Democratic Party; Pastor, Ridgeway Missionary Baptist Church (Henderson)
- Mark Taylor – Founder/Executive Director – Suited-N-Success (Durham)
Education:
- Xavier Cason – Member, Durham Public Schools Board of Education (Durham)
- Anthony Jackson – Superintendent, Vance County Public Schools (Henderson)
- Jerry Mack – Head Football Coach, NCCU (Durham)
Emerging Leader:
- Deron Avery – Member, Centennial Scholars Program, NCCU/Blue Devils Premium Services Ambassador, Duke University (Durham)
- Damien Bynum – CEO/Co-Founder, Smooth Organic and Progressive (SOAP) (Durham)
- James Clark – Student Leader/SGA Member, NC A&T State University (Greensboro)
- Austin Dixon – College Advisor, College Advising Corps at UNC-CH (Chapel Hill)
- Matthew Paylor – Teacher, Durham Public Schools (Durham)
- William Rashawn Rowe – Mr. Black North Carolina/Graduate Student, NC State University (Raleigh)
Health:
- Bertrand Bonnick – Dentist, Bertrand A. Bonnick, DDS, PLLC (High Point)
- Richard Watkins, PhD – CEO/Founder, Span, Inc./Health Cmte Co-Chair, Durham Cmte of Affair of Black People (Durham)
- Cornell Wright – Executive Director, NC Office of Minority Health & Health Disparities (Raleigh)
VOTING OPENS MARCH 15 and WILL END ON MARCH 29