By Jesse B. Johnson, Jr.

 The 100 Black Men of Long Beach, Inc., is a nonprofit 501(C)(3) professional organization. During the 38th International Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia, June 11-18, the “Best of the Best” Stock Market Game competition took place, where only the top four teams competed for top prizes. Fourteen weeks prior to the conference, 750 high school students participated and competed against each other with the support of chapter mentors. All teams were given $100,000 virtually, to invest in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, to better secure a financial future, learn the value of capital markets and maximize their portfolios. A team within the 100 Black Men of Long Beach mentees won 1^st Place and are now the Best of the Best.”  The winning crew consists of Jaylen Bell, Lance Robert, Jr., and Chase Strozier. They call themselves “Strong Beach Stock Stars.” They were coached and led by Lionel Jenkins, the chapter’s Economic and Empowerment Chairman with the help of fellow members of the chapter.

Accolades and acknowledgement also go out to Eric Burroughs, the 100 Black Men of Long Beach Health & Wellness Chairman. During the convention, Burroughs received the highest award presented by the organization, which is The Dr. James T. Black Award. Dr. Black was a doctor of dentistry and the founder of the 100 Black Men of America Health & Wellness Committee. Eric Burroughs has been a Health & Wellness powerhouse since his appointment as 100 Black Men of Long Beach, Inc.  Health & Wellness Chairman in 2010.

The 100 Black Men of Long Beach, Inc. is a chapter of the 100 Black Men of America, Inc., an international organization with more than 100 chapters and over 10,000 members around the world including the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. The organization was founded in New York in 1963 by former professional baseball player and civil rights activist Jackie Robinson, David Dinkens, who later became the first black mayor of New York City, and other powerful African American men. Jesse B. Johnson, Jr. founded the Long Beach chapter in 2008 with the help of other influential, committed, and devoted African American men of the greater Long Beach area. Mentoring, education, health & wellness, economic empowerment are the core programs of this international organization. Leadership development was added in recent years.

Many mentees have gone on to graduate college from Ivy League schools, University of California, Berkeley, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) such as Howard and Morehouse.  Today many are engineers, educators, researchers, hospital administrators and entrepreneurs. Several novels have been published by mentees. One entitled Young Brothers Dropping Ink, Volume 1, a book of poetry that is prominently featured at the Michelle Obama Library in Long Beach. Some mentees joined forces with the Long Beach Branch NAACP and Kessal, Young & Logan Law Offices to win the American Bar Association 2018 National Best Interpretation of the Law Day Theme Award. The theme was: Separation of Powers – Framework for Freedom. The 100 Black Men of Long Beach, Inc. was also the 2022 International Chapter of the Year Award Recipient.