: About Me

Listen to my Internet radio talk show "FIRM...but fair" with Jeffery A. Faulkerson @ http://www.blogtalkradio.com/firmbutfair

My name is Jeffery A. Faulkerson, and I have over 17 years of professional experience in nonprofit administration and direct service delivery to children and their families. From 2001-2005, I served as the Director of Youth Opportunities Upheld, Inc.'s Bruce Wells Scholars TRIO Upward Bound Program in Worcester, Massachusetts (For more information about the federally funded TRIO programs, visit www.trioprograms.org). I oversaw a long-term federal grant allocation that made it possible for my staff and I to offer pre-college services to 70 low-income, first-generation (to attend college) and disabled high school students.

I graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1998 with my Masters of Science degree in Social Work Management and Community Practice. During my years of study at UTK, I also completed 24 credit hours of classes in Communications/Public Relations through the College of Communications.

I am the Past President of the Massachusetts Educational Opportunity Association (MEOA) (www.meoaonline.org), which advocates on the local and state levels for disadvantaged secondary students desiring a postsecondary education . I have also written and/or participated in the writing of successful letters and grant proposals submitted to private and public funding sources.

I have worked for state social service departments in Tennessee and Massachusetts, being responsible for the assessment and placement of children and adolescents in foster homes, group homes, residential treatment facilities and juvenile detention centers. I also served as the Staff Development Coordinator in the Human Resources Department of a large social service agency in Tennessee.

My writing credits include feature and sports articles and columns published in the Daily Beacon, Knoxville Journal, Oak Ridger and MEOA News (see Portfolio section). Raising My V.O.I.C.E. (Verbalizing Orderly Impressions through Creative Endeavors), my first nonfiction book title, is now available for online purchase at www.buybooksontheweb.com, and is produced by Infinity Publishing.

Special presentations that I have facilitated for educational professionals and student groups include Essential Ingredients for Staying Motivated (educators), Preparing for Collegiate Success (students), Servant-Leadership: The Art of Being a Positive Influence on Those Around You (students) and Do Your Children Have the Drive to Thrive? (parents).

I believe education is the key to opportunity in this country, especially for the most disadvantaged of students. As the oldest of three children raised by a once poor, single parent mother, and the first in my immediate family to graduate from a four-year, postsecondary institution, I have dedicated my life to instilling this same belief in students.

I have been a born-again Christian for over 30 years. God's favor has enabled me to be happily married to my wife for over 14 years, and together we serve as the proud parents to our four-year-old son.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY.

My passion is ...

Helping people help themselves.

I know too much about ...

Track and Field.

My parents always told me ...

Apply yourself in all that you do.

My childhood ambition ...

To be the next Carl Lewis.

My favorite memory ...

Graduating from the University of Tennessee.

Why I write ...

For the love of it.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

"Winning the Race" by John McWhorter; "The Pursuit of Happyness" by Chris Gardner with Quincy Troupe; "Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby" by Stephen L. Carter

My first job ...

Day Associate Teacher/Counselor

My best moment ...

Reading my first sports article in UTK's student newspaper, The Daily Beacon.

My inspiration ...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory Conservatives battle liberals over reform issues

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We black Americans had a lot to be proud of in 2008. That was the year Barack Hussein Obama, an Illinois communit yorganizer turned state Democratic senator, became the 44th president of the United States. And he accomplished this feat on the strength of his character, not the color of his skin. By the same token, Michael Steele, another prominent black American, was selected as the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Again, by the strength of his character, not the color of his skin. But the honeymoon period is over for both of these men. They are now being asked to put up or s...

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