By Eric Stirgus, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The streets of downtown Atlanta will be covered with Florida A&M green and orange and Tennessee State blue this weekend as approximately 150,000 people are expected to attend the 19th annual Bank of America Atlanta Football Classic.
Classic events began Wednesday with a town hall meeting on childhood obesity, and will continue with a step show, a health and job fair, parade and Saturday's football game at the Georgia Dome (3 p.m. kickoff). Many of the Thursday and Friday events will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Next to the State Farm Bayou Classic, held each November in New Orleans, the Classic is considered the largest historically black colleges and universities football game and weekend. Slightly more than half of those who will take in some portion of a Classic event come from outside Georgia. The Classic is organized and hosted by 100 Black Men of Atlanta Inc.
"It has grown because we have tried to make it more inclusive," said John T. Grant, 100 Black Men's chief executive officer. "Our goal is to make it a Super Bowl event."
Classic organizers estimate it pumps $30 million into the city's economy. Some proceeds from the weekend's events will go to 100 Black Men of Atlanta's flagship charity, Project Success, a mentorship program for Atlanta Public Schools students.
Florida A&M and Tennessee State played each other in the first two Classic contests in 1989 and 1990 at Georgia Tech's Grant Field. Saturday's game will be the ninth consecutive year they meet in Atlanta. The two schools earlier this year signed a three-year extension to play each other at the Georgia Dome through 2010.
COUNTDOWN
5: Florida A&M's winning streak over Tennessee State
54%: Attendees from outside Georgia
78: Companies at the job fair
3,800: Parade participants
$70,000: Average household income of attendees
Source: 100 Black Men of Atlanta Inc., Atlanta Sports Council
THE SCHOOLS
Tennessee State University
>Mascot: Tigers
>Colors: Reflex Blue and white.
>Founded: Nashville on June 19, 1912, as the Agricultural & Industrial State Normal School, serving 247 students.
>Today: The present-day school, 65 buildings over 500 acres, exists as a result of a 1979 merger with the former University of Tennessee at Nashville. More than 75 percent of the school's 9,000 students are black; 46 states and 45 countries are represented. Since 1994, TSU has been listed in the U.S. News & World Report's "Guide to America's Best Colleges."
>Claim to fame: The Tigerbelles. Coached by Ed Temple and anchored by the great Wilma Rudolph, TSU's women's track team was perhaps the most dominant in history.
>Football: Simply put, TSU was a national power for decades, winning 10 black college national championships, stringing together a 27-game win streak in the early 1950s and producing nearly 100 All-Americans.
Six Great Tigers:
>Oprah Winfrey, media mogul.
> Harold Ford, Sr., politician.
>Ed "Too Tall" Jones, former NFL great.
>Carl Rowan, award-winning journalist.
>Wilma Rudolph, Olympic gold medalist.
>Moses Gunn, co-founder of the Negro Ensemble Company.
Source: Kina Cleveland, a media representative at the university and a 2001 graduate.
Florida A&M University
>Mascot: Rattlers
>Colors: Orange and Green, representing the citrus industry.
>Founded: Oct. 3, 1887, in Tallahassee with one building, two instructors and 15 students as the State Normal College for Colored Students.
>Today: African-Americans represent 92 percent of the school's 11,700 students. In 2006, Black Enterprise named it the best school in the country for African-Americans.
>Claim to Fame: Under William P. Foster, the Marching 100 has been the school's major public relations machine for decades. It marched in the Bastille Day Parade to celebrate the Bicentennial of the French Revolution and performed at the 1993 inaugural parade of Bill Clinton. Earlier this year, they played with Prince at the Super Bowl.
>Football: Beginning in 1945, under legendary coach Alonzo "Jake" Gaither, the school won 203 games in 25 seasons, captured six national titles and produced 36 All-Americans.
Six Great Rattlers:
> Julian "Cannonball" Adderley and Nat Adderly, jazz greats.
> Althea Gibson, tennis great.
>Kwame Kilpatrick, mayor of Detroit.
> Pam Oliver, sports reporter.
>LaSalle D. Leffall, former president of the American Cancer Society.
Source: Murell Dawson, archivist and curator of the Carrie Meek-James N. Eaton Sr. Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum and 1983 FAMU graduate.
The streets of downtown Atlanta will be covered with Florida A&M green and orange and Tennessee State blue this weekend as approximately 150,000 people are expected to attend the 19th annual Bank of America Atlanta Football Classic.
Classic events began Wednesday with a town hall meeting on childhood obesity, and will continue with a step show, a health and job fair, parade and Saturday's football game at the Georgia Dome (3 p.m. kickoff). Many of the Thursday and Friday events will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Next to the State Farm Bayou Classic, held each November in New Orleans, the Classic is considered the largest historically black colleges and universities football game and weekend. Slightly more than half of those who will take in some portion of a Classic event come from outside Georgia. The Classic is organized and hosted by 100 Black Men of Atlanta Inc.
"It has grown because we have tried to make it more inclusive," said John T. Grant, 100 Black Men's chief executive officer. "Our goal is to make it a Super Bowl event."
Classic organizers estimate it pumps $30 million into the city's economy. Some proceeds from the weekend's events will go to 100 Black Men of Atlanta's flagship charity, Project Success, a mentorship program for Atlanta Public Schools students.
Florida A&M and Tennessee State played each other in the first two Classic contests in 1989 and 1990 at Georgia Tech's Grant Field. Saturday's game will be the ninth consecutive year they meet in Atlanta. The two schools earlier this year signed a three-year extension to play each other at the Georgia Dome through 2010.
COUNTDOWN
5: Florida A&M's winning streak over Tennessee State
54%: Attendees from outside Georgia
78: Companies at the job fair
3,800: Parade participants
$70,000: Average household income of attendees
Source: 100 Black Men of Atlanta Inc., Atlanta Sports Council
THE SCHOOLS
Tennessee State University
>Mascot: Tigers
>Colors: Reflex Blue and white.
>Founded: Nashville on June 19, 1912, as the Agricultural & Industrial State Normal School, serving 247 students.
>Today: The present-day school, 65 buildings over 500 acres, exists as a result of a 1979 merger with the former University of Tennessee at Nashville. More than 75 percent of the school's 9,000 students are black; 46 states and 45 countries are represented. Since 1994, TSU has been listed in the U.S. News & World Report's "Guide to America's Best Colleges."
>Claim to fame: The Tigerbelles. Coached by Ed Temple and anchored by the great Wilma Rudolph, TSU's women's track team was perhaps the most dominant in history.
>Football: Simply put, TSU was a national power for decades, winning 10 black college national championships, stringing together a 27-game win streak in the early 1950s and producing nearly 100 All-Americans.
Six Great Tigers:
>Oprah Winfrey, media mogul.
> Harold Ford, Sr., politician.
>Ed "Too Tall" Jones, former NFL great.
>Carl Rowan, award-winning journalist.
>Wilma Rudolph, Olympic gold medalist.
>Moses Gunn, co-founder of the Negro Ensemble Company.
Source: Kina Cleveland, a media representative at the university and a 2001 graduate.
Florida A&M University
>Mascot: Rattlers
>Colors: Orange and Green, representing the citrus industry.
>Founded: Oct. 3, 1887, in Tallahassee with one building, two instructors and 15 students as the State Normal College for Colored Students.
>Today: African-Americans represent 92 percent of the school's 11,700 students. In 2006, Black Enterprise named it the best school in the country for African-Americans.
>Claim to Fame: Under William P. Foster, the Marching 100 has been the school's major public relations machine for decades. It marched in the Bastille Day Parade to celebrate the Bicentennial of the French Revolution and performed at the 1993 inaugural parade of Bill Clinton. Earlier this year, they played with Prince at the Super Bowl.
>Football: Beginning in 1945, under legendary coach Alonzo "Jake" Gaither, the school won 203 games in 25 seasons, captured six national titles and produced 36 All-Americans.
Six Great Rattlers:
> Julian "Cannonball" Adderley and Nat Adderly, jazz greats.
> Althea Gibson, tennis great.
>Kwame Kilpatrick, mayor of Detroit.
> Pam Oliver, sports reporter.
>LaSalle D. Leffall, former president of the American Cancer Society.
Source: Murell Dawson, archivist and curator of the Carrie Meek-James N. Eaton Sr. Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum and 1983 FAMU graduate.
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