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‘I Dropped Down on One Knee … And as I Proposed All of Our Friends and Family Started Gathering’

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BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY | Special to the Birmingham Times

Tamara & Jason Forbes

Live: McCalla

Married: Aug. 20, 2022

Met: Fall 2012, on Twitter, now X. Although Jason and Tamara were both students at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa [UA], they did not initially meet on campus. Jason took to Twitter to make her acquaintance.

“I knew of her because I saw her twitter activity through our hashtag #UA16. That was a way for incoming freshmen to connect, and I saw her posts. She was and is attractive, so I followed her [and when you follow someone] you see the person’s interest, likes, and tweets and that planted a seed,” said Jason.

“After that, we texted a few times and then we fell off. We didn’t end on bad terms or anything, we just never made time for each other,” recalled Tamara. “We’d see one another in passing and at parties but we had never gone on a date. Until, a few years later [fall 2015], he slid in my DM’s again, and that led to our first date.”

First date: Fall 2015. They went on a movie date in Tuscaloosa to see ‘Woodlawn’.

“I picked her up from her apartment and I guess I viewed it as a nice intro date where you get to talk to somebody,” Jason said. “But it went well. Getting to see each other outside of campus, parties, and seeing each other outside of our online personas and super social environments was a big step.”

“It was nice. He picked me up, he opened the car door, and he talked to me about his mom and his family. He was such a gentleman, it kinda made me feel bad about not pursuing it and making the effort the first time around,” Tamara said.

The turn: Spring 2016. “We started spending a lot of time together,” Jason said. “We went on more dates [but] we weren’t really making the turn, so I reached out to Tam, and I asked her to plan a date so that I could see some investment, like the time and investment I was putting in. I asked her if she would plan something interesting for us to do outside of the normal young 20s dating [activities such as movies, bowling, etc.], and a couple weeks went by and I wasn’t really hearing from her, and when I called her, she said the date had slipped her mind.”

Jason had had enough. There was seemingly no reciprocity, so he told her, “Never mind, don’t worry about it. I think we want different things. And we stopped talking for about a month, and that next time we saw each other, that’s when things changed,” he said.

That day was UA’s ‘A Day’ [the University of Alabama’s annual spring football scrimmage game. “I saw him at a tailgate and we hung out that night, and then the dates started becoming more frequent. I was beginning to hang out at his apartment, and he would come to my apartment, and we got pretty serious after that,” Tamara said.

The proposal: September 2020, at a Selfie Museum in Leeds. “I did it the weekend after her 26th birthday. At that point we had been dating for a while, had graduated and both came back to Birmingham… I knew it was time to get engaged, but I wanted to make it special. I tried to throw her off by making her birthday really big, and that following weekend, I suggested that we go do something lowkey like check out the new Selfie Museum in Leeds. And so, I set it up so that we ‘accidentally’ ran into a friend and his [wife] who just so ‘happened’ to have her camera with her. We went onto [one of the themed sets] and took some pictures, and then I dropped down on one knee and proposed. And as I was proposing, all of our friends and family started gathering around us,” Jason said.

“I was surprised, I started seeing all my friends and family appear right before he got down on one knee and I was in such shock that I didn’t hear anything Jason said,” Tamara laughed. “He had to ask me, ‘are you gonna say anything?’, and it took me about 30 seconds to respond because I was trying to take it all in. I think he was a little worried I wasn’t gonna say ‘yes’ because of my long pause, but I answered him, and I said ‘yes’.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Jason said. “I wouldn’t have been down there if I was worried about what she was gonna say.”

Tamara and Jason Forbes met in Fall 2012 on Twitter. The pair married in 2022. (Provided Photos)

The wedding: Downtown Birmingham, at BridgeStreet Gallery and Loft, officiated by Jason’s childhood pastor, Pastor Deborah Debardleben. Their colors were mauve and burgundy.

Most memorable for the bride was the first look. “We had got a bunch of opinions from people about whether or not we should do a first look, and I’m glad we did. He was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs with his back turned, and when the photographer said turn around, he looked at me and started crying,” Tamara said. “And then I started crying, and it was just a beautiful intimate moment. It was the only moment where it was just me and him that entire day.”

Most memorable for the groom was seeing his bride walk down the aisle and honoring his late mother’s absence. “I, of course, came down the aisle first, and we had an empty seat in the front to honor my mom’s life [who had passed away in 2017 from heart failure], and seeing that empty seat made me emotional,” Jason said. “When you have missing parents and you hit major life milestones it kinda brings it full circle that you don’t get to share it with them. And when I saw Tam coming down the aisle, I lit up, it lifted my spirit in a moment that I felt sad.”

They honeymooned in Punta Cana, Mexico. “We did a lot of exploring, we ate a lot of good food, we partied, and we ended up missing our flight and got two extra days of honeymoon time,” Tamara said.

Words of wisdom: “Do what works best for you and your marriage. I’m not saying it’s horrible to take advice from other couples, but it may not work for you. So do whatever works for you and your household,” Tamara said.

“I think it’s important to keep you and your partner’s goals (long and short term) top of mind and do whatever it takes to make the goals happen and make your union work,” said Jason. “Even if that means throwing out societal roles as it pertains to gender norms, do whatever it takes to pour into your partner the way they need to be poured into.”

Happily ever after: The Forbes are expecting their first child, a baby girl, due on August 17.

Tamara, 30, is a North Birmingham native, and Gardendale High School grad. She attended the University of Alabama, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in communicative disorders and works for a municipal court system as a magistrate.

Jason, 31, is a West End native, and Ramsay High School grad. He attended the University of Alabama, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. Jason works as a footwear buyer for Hibbett Sports.

“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.

Birmingham Personal Injury Attorney | Guster Law Firm, LLC

School Superintendents Gonsoulin and Sullivan Reflect on Lessons from Military Training

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Birmingham Times
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Superintendent Mark Sullivan, Ed.D., left, and Jefferson County Schools (JEFCOED) Superintendent Walter Gonsoulin, Ed.D. meet at Titusville Branch Library for their first joint public interview. (Amarr Croskey, For The Birmingham Times)

By Javacia Harris Bowser | For the Birmingham Times

Whenever crises hit Birmingham City Schools (BCS) Superintendent Mark Sullivan, Ed.D., and Jefferson County Schools (JEFFCOED) Superintendent Walter Gonsoulin, Ed.D., both say they are uniquely equipped to deal with them in part because of their military training.

Sullivan, who served in the U.S. Navy Reserve for 24 years, and Gonsoulin, who served in the National Guard, were both deployed during the U.S.’s involvement in the Gulf War in Iraq. Gonsoulin was deployed in 1990. Sullivan, who was deployed twice but did not see combat, also worked stateside in military hospitals in 1990 and again in 2003.

In November 2019, Gonsoulin was named superintendent for JEFFCOED, becoming the first African American to serve in the role. Just a few months later, education systems across the country would be faced with the unprecedented challenges of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Meanwhile, Mark Sullivan was named interim superintendent for BCS in May 2020, at the height of the global health crisis, and by August of that year the school board officially appointed him to lead the district.

Under Sullivan’s leadership, BCS provided students with the technology, meals, and instruction they needed to keep learning. And for both Sullivan and Gonsoulin, communication was key. Gonsoulin, for example, gave teachers and students the guidance and reassurance they needed through videos and virtual listening tours.

During a recent conversation with The Birmingham Times, Sullivan and Gonsoulin reflected on how the military helped prepare them for their current roles and how camaraderie helped them cope with the pressures of the pandemic.

The first day of the 2025–2026 school year for both Jefferson County and Birmingham is Thursday, August 7.

Gonsoulin: The military, for me, provided stability, structure, guidance, discipline. It made me do things I never thought I was able to do. I’ll never forget reading the requirements to pass basic training. We had to walk 12 miles with all the equipment and everything on us. I was like, “Who walks 12 miles?” That’s what I was thinking at the time, but [the military] slowly developed me as a person to push beyond my own boundaries and taught me that I could do more than I think I can. I believe that has carried over into every other part of my life. So, when presented with an issue [or] an initiative … and people say, “Hey, we’ve never done this before” — well, that’s how I started off [in basic training for the National Guard]. I had never heard of anybody walking 12 miles. And guess what? I walked 12 miles and still had energy left.

Sullivan: That’s what I was going to say. [The military] prepares you for things you would not ordinarily think you would be able to do. … I would not be sitting here as superintendent if it were not for the U.S. Navy. In the military, they are constantly training. The reason they always train is because when something actually happens, it becomes automatic for you. It’s like muscle memory. It’s the same thing in education. Oftentimes, we just want to provide professional development one time, and teachers should have it. But you have to provide ongoing training and professional development, so it becomes muscle memory. Then, when you are in a very stressful situation, you just follow your training. It teaches you to calm your mind when you see a crisis happening. The slower you are able to think, the better decisions you make. When people make rash decisions, they tend to make the wrong decisions.

The military helped Gonsoulin and Sullivan prepare for careers in education, first as classroom teachers and eventually as district leaders who had to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and beyond. Here’s how they handled it.

Gonsoulin: We had to have someone to lean on, that colleague, that confidant, when no one else understands what you’re doing. You can’t go home and explain it to your spouse, but the people that are involved in it understand the pressure. COVID was very unique in that it was ever-changing. If you think you were ahead of it at 8 o’clock in the morning, by 4 o’clock that afternoon you’re behind it. So, having colleagues like Dr. Sullivan and other superintendents to be able to call on and say, “Hey, look, I’m going through this” or “What are you going to do about this?” — that was key. It was a space where I could be vulnerable, as well, because sometimes situations would come up and there was no play in the playbook to deal with it.

Sullivan: Walter would always say, “Plan for 14 days out.” The pandemic taught us to be very agile, to be able to lean on each other. Because I took things 14 days at a time, it also taught us that we can’t be so rigid in our expectations, that when something is not exactly the way it should be, when it’s not working, well, let’s just figure it out. … If everybody works as a team, then you’ll see positive results.

How Kendra Lyas Turned Her Birmingham Business into Finalist on ‘Oprah’s Favorite Things’

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Birmingham Times
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Kendra Lyas, founder and CEO of Swaddle Bar, a Black-owned children’s brand based in Birmingham that’s equal parts comfort, community, and purpose. (Provided)

By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times

From college beauty queen to a mother of two to founder and CEO of Swaddle Bar, a Black-owned children’s brand based in Birmingham that’s equal parts comfort, community, and purpose, Kendra Lyas carries many titles under her belt. And it’s all because of another title that she embraces.

“I’m a hard worker, but I know that my success comes from God,” said Lyas.

Founded in 2024, it took just 10 months for her Swaddle Bar brand to secure placement in 50 stores across the country and earn a finalist spot on “Oprah’s Favorite Things” 2024.

“It [Swaddle Bar] is a women-led philanthropy company,” Lyas said. “We have a team of seven ladies. And we have put together a collection of products. The profits go towards a ministry called Mwana Village It is in Congo, West Africa.”

Her product line includes soft swaddles, waffle-knit robes, ponchos, and plush towels,

With 50-plus retail placements, a soon-to-launch Amazon store, and a commitment to Mwana Villages, a nonprofit that supports orphans in the Republic of Congo, Lyas is proving just how much of a hard worker she is.

“I have never been to Africa … But I have a friend, she’s the executive director from Mwana Village and her name is Wellen Bridgers. I know her personally, I know that whenever Swaddlebar donates proceeds to them, that the money is going directly to those children,” Lyas said. “I just view this company as a huge opportunity for not only Moana, but for other organizations that we partner with to really reap the benefit of retail sales.”

 Miss Alabama A&M

Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Lyas, 47, attended Fairfield High School where she graduated in 1996 as valedictorian and then enrolled at Alabama A&M University where she was pre-med/biology with a chemistry minor.

While at A&M, Kendra, who was Miss AAMU in 1999-2000, also studied Spanish Culture and Civilization abroad at Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain.

“I remember driving around campus a freshman and thinking like, ‘hmm, that’d be great to be Miss Alabama A&M one day. it was a dream that I knew that I might one day act on,” said Lyas.

At one time, Lyas said she wanted to be a doctor.

“I went to Yale University for a summer [between 1995 and 1996] worked with some cadaver, and realized, that I didn’t want to be in a clinical environment all day, every day, and started looking into some other options,” she said. “But after doing all that summer programs, I’ve realized that, you know, it was I was not built for the hospital all day.”

The Pharmaceutical Path

After graduating in 2000, Lyas worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative for 15 years after meeting another African American female rep.

”There were not many Black women in pharmaceuticals,” Lyas said. “I only knew her and maybe one other. She just showed me what she did, and it resonated with me because I was going to be able to use my science to read the clinical studies and figure out how certain medications were going to help patients.”

Lyas remembers the pharmaceutical path being tough. “They  usually don’t hire people straight out of college… The interview process was grueling,” she said. “I got hired before switching to another company and worked with them for nine years.”

Stepping back from that role felt like, “the road less traveled, “she said. Lyas decided to quit pharmaceutical sales in 2012 to become a stay-at-home mom.

“I looked at my priorities and said, ‘what’s more important that? I get one shot at raising these children,’”

While raising her children Lyas said she rediscovered her love for sewing which led to her first company The Paisley Pea, a baby and maternity brand in 2014.

“I ran that business for five years and it was pre-pandemic. When the pandemic rolled around, I was trying to decide what direction we were going to go in and decided to accept an offer for the sale of the company … [But] I couldn’t shake the wanting to give back,” she said. “And I know that business is a great way to do that. So you can call me a social entrepreneur. Someone who’s an entrepreneur for the benefit of the community.”

Grandma’s Hands

Sewing was something she picked up from her grandmother, Lyas said.

“I learned about sewing by watching her and I loved it,” she said adding, “when my kids would be taking nap, I would pull out my machine and make things for them.”

Her hard-working demeanor was something instilled in her from a young age, Lyas said.  “My parents always encouraged me and my brother. I feel that it was always a part of us that you better get the best grades. I feel like I’m self-motivated and that probably helped them in their parenting, because they just needed to tell me one time.”

Maintaining her varies roles is “much easier now because my first company, I had it when my kids were little. And so now that they’re bigger, oh, it’s so much easier because they have their own life.”

Her daughter is now a rising sophomore at the University of Southern California where she is a presidential scholar and a son who’s a rising sophomore at Vestavia Hills High School.”

To explore Swaddle Bar products or learn more about the brand, visit www.swaddlebar.com

New Poll Shows DEI Initiatives Downplay Racism, but Project 2025 Doesn’t

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Birmingham Times
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A new poll shows growing public skepticism toward the effectiveness of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. (BlackPress of America)

By Stacy M. Brown | Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows growing public skepticism toward the effectiveness of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Conducted July 10–14, 2025, the survey of 1,437 U.S. adults revealed that only about one-third believe DEI efforts reduce discrimination against women, Hispanic people, or Asian Americans. Four in 10 say DEI initiatives help address bias against Black people. Yet nearly 30 percent believe these initiatives increase discrimination, including against white people.

The AP-NORC poll also noted a sharp drop in the number of Americans who acknowledge racial discrimination against Black and Asian people. In 2021, 61 percent said Black Americans faced a great deal or quite a bit of discrimination. That figure now stands at 40 percent. For Asian Americans, it dropped from 46 percent to 30 percent. Despite this decline in perception, 74 percent of Black respondents say their communities continue to experience significant discrimination.

The polling results come amid escalating concerns about Project 2025, a sweeping 900-page policy blueprint published by the Heritage Foundation and widely viewed as a roadmap for a second Trump administration. According to the Legal Defense Fund’s Thurgood Marshall Institute, Project 2025 poses a direct threat to Black communities by proposing to dismantle civil rights protections, privatize education, and expand executive power with minimal oversight.

The LDF’s report, Attack on Our Power and Dignity: What Project 2025 Means for Black Communities, warns that the agenda would eliminate racial data collection in federal agencies, weaken anti-discrimination laws, and roll back protections for workers, students, and voters.

“The assault on Black communities envisioned by Project 2025 will almost certainly condemn us to demise,” said LDF President Janai Nelson.

Education is a central battleground. Project 2025 calls for eliminating the Department of Education and replacing federal oversight with state control, even in states with a documented history of racial discrimination. It also seeks to defund school programs that address systemic racism or acknowledge white privilege. These efforts echo past segregationist rhetoric.

In a February 2025 Newsweek opinion piece, Dr. Stephanie R. Toliver of the University of Illinois cited former North Carolina Justice I. Beverly Lake’s 1954 warning that inferior education was preferable to racial integration.

Toliver drew a chilling parallel to the present: “Just as Justice Lake once saw inferior education as an acceptable price to pay for preserving racial purity, today’s rhetoric proposes that a substandard education is a small cost for maintaining racism, homophobia, trans violence, and antiblackness.”

Human Rights Watch also issued a 2025 statement linking the rollback of DEI initiatives to the broader global assault on anti-racism efforts. The organization called the Trump-era movement against DEI a “clear example” of mainstreamed racism, urging governments to reckon with the legacies of slavery, colonialism, and apartheid by adopting reparations and structural reforms. As perceptions of discrimination wane and support for DEI programs declines, civil rights advocates warn that these attitudes reflect not progress, but apathy, denial, and a dangerous rewriting of history.

“Our democracy stands at a crossroads,” Nelson said. “A path of infinite promise towards a more inclusive, equitable, and durable democracy on the one hand, and one of immeasurable and, potentially, irretrievable demise on the other”

Birmingham’s Top Food Influencer Gets Dish Named in His Honor at Popular Restaurant

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Birmingham Times
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Collaborating with LaDarrius “LHUT” Hutcherson. Christina Renteria, CEO of Jake’s Soul Food Café, said she wanted to make sure that every element of the new meal “screamed” LHUT. (Provided)

By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times

What do you get when you combine one of Birmingham’s most popular restaurants with the city’s most renowned food influencer?

On August 8, Jake’s Soul Food Café in collaboration with LaDarrius “LHUT” Hutcherson is bringing the LHUT Meal to its locations in Hoover and Tuscaloosa.

Since 2022, Hutcherson has amassed nearly 120,000 followers on his social media platforms with his review of local Birmingham restaurants and activities. And the LHUT meal will feature the influencer’s favorites: salmon as the main protein, accompanied with white rice, cabbage, plantains, and a small skillet of cornbread.

Christina Renteria, CEO of Jake’s Soul Food Café, said she wanted to make sure that every element of the meal “screamed” LHUT.

“It’s All Him”

“It’s all him,” she said. “It’s all about what he likes. It’s all about what represents him. Everything that you’re gonna see leading up to the actual launch of [the meal] on August 8 is all him shining through food, through this representation, through marketing, through everything.”

Hutcherson said, “When doing this, I wanted it to be something exclusive to me. Together, [Renteria and I] decided that the protein should be salmon, [even though] it’s not currently on the menu. … I love salmon, and people who follow me know that I love it. That’s my go-to. It’s no secret.”

Also available with the meal will be the LHUT drink: “It’s a mocktail Lemon Drop,” said Renteria.

“We are a family-friendly restaurant, and we do not serve alcohol,” she added, “but we wanted to make sure the drink was something [everyone] could enjoy. … Even if you bring your kids or your teenagers, you all can be cute and fancy [sipping the LHUT] drink together.”

The LHUT Meal will be available at Jake’s Soul Food Café for a limited time at both locations: Fridays through August, and then on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays until the end of November.

On August 8, Jake’s Soul Food Café in collaboration with LaDarrius “LHUT” Hutcherson is bringing the LHUT Meal to its locations in Hoover and Tuscaloosa. (Provided)

The “Only Option”

When Renteria had the idea for a collaboration, she had only one name in mind — “LHUT,” she said.

“He was my only option. I knew I wanted to do a collaboration with someone who was consistent in what they’ve been doing, someone you’ve seen grow, someone that was in the food-influencer industry because we’ve never seen a restaurant, local or even national, do this kind of collaboration with an influencer. I thought it was a great way to bring together two industries that no one would think of.”

Just so happens that Renteria and Hutcherson crossed paths at an event they happened to both be attending. “I was at the table with my partner, and I said, ‘He’s right there. I’m gonna shoot my shot,’” recalled Renteria.

“I got up, went over, and talked to him. It was just genuine and direct, and I said, ‘Look, I have this idea I want to talk to you about — and you’re my only option, so you have to say yes.’”

Renteria continued, “I want to show the community, I want to show our industry, I want to show our city, our state, and even beyond, whoever it reaches, that there can be community among all industries.”

“Divine Timing”

“It was an honor to be considered,” Hutcherson said. “I feel like, at this point, Jake’s is a household name. If you’ve been to Birmingham, if you’ve been anywhere surrounding Birmingham, you know of Jake’s, you’ve heard of Jake’s. They have a really good reputation. I’m all about aligning myself with brands that are consistent with where I’m trying to go with my brand.”

“I also believe in divine timing, and I believe in things happening organically because this, of course, was always the idea I had for myself. For it to come to fruition the way it did, to me, says everything it needed to say: ‘This is God.’”

Hutcherson added, “I’ve seen other not necessarily influencers, but celebrities, do these collab meals. Whether it’s through McDonald’s or Popeye’s, it’s always kind of curated based on what’s already on the menu. I think what makes this menu special is that it’s something Jake’s doesn’t currently offer.”

The launch date of August 8 was especially important to Hutcherson because of what it represents in his life.

“It was my grandmother’s birthday. She passed in 2021,” he said. “This is a big deal for me. Not only is the collaboration a huge deal for me, but the date makes it even more special.”

“The Power of Collaboration”

The LHUT Meal is just one part of the collaboration between Hutcherson and Jake’s Soul Food Café. In September, Renteria and Hutcherson will host a conference titled “The Power of Collaboration.” The event will be held on September 27, at The Harambe Room (1815 4th Ave. N., 3rd Floor, Birmingham, AL 35203).

“It’s really going to focus on showing and teaching how to do collaborations,” said Renteria. “My background is in legal and in business. I’m going to be talking about the legal way to create a contract, what should be included, what is a win-win situation when you’re doing a partnership or collaboration, and what’s the difference between [the two].”

Hutcherson will speak from an influencer perspective on how he negotiates, how he makes sure he’s covered legally, and how influencers help with projects.

Want to experience or order the limited-time-only LHUT Meal? Visit here for tickets or one of Jake’s Soul Food Café’s two locations — Hoover (3075 John Hawkins Pkwy, Hoover, AL 35244) and Tuscaloosa (3615 McFarland Blvd. E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35405). And you can follow LaDarrius “LHUT” Hutcherson on Instagram and TikTok.

CEO Jamie Dimon, in Birmingham AL, Offers Insights on Growing America’s Most Powerful Bank

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Birmingham Times
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JPMorganChase President and CEO Jamie Dimon stopped by one of the firm’s branches on Birmingham’s Southside, near the UAB campus as part of the company’s Southern Swing Bus Tour. (Barnett Wright, The Birmingham Times)

By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times

JPMorganChase President and CEO Jamie Dimon is in control — not just as head of America’s most powerful bank but as a visitor to one of his firm’s branches on Birmingham’s Southside, near the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) campus.

Clad in a blue short-sleeved shirt and jeans, the CEO arrives at the branch with members of his team on a scorching, late July afternoon as part of the company’s Southern Swing Bus Tour to field questions from employees, and then members of the media.

Earlier this year, JPMorgan Chase pledged to triple the number of its bank branches in Alabama by 2030, opening 24 across the state. But it’s clear that Dimon’s formula for branches in Alabama is not that different for the banking giant’s other locations, as he calmly and coolly explains at the branch and later during a gathering of city leaders at the Birmingham Country Club.

“I’m relentless,” he said in response to a question from The Birmingham Times at the branch. “I do this around the world, town halls around the world. I write my own chairman’s letters. I expect these guys [pointing to his team members] to all do the same thing and, you know, to take phone calls and to treat our guards the same way they treat CEOs … and I get a little pissed off when people don’t.”

Dimon said he wants to grow branches not just locally but nationally: “We were in 27 states, something like that, and I had a vision: I wanted to be in all 48 [contiguous states].”

He added, “We have a good product. … It’s not just a branch, we hire people, we do affordable housing, we do some kind of philanthropy.”

“You Have to Get Out”

JPMorganChase President and CEO Jamie Dimon said he wants to grow branches not just locally but nationally. (Barnett Wright, The Birmingham Times)

Dimon, 69, has been the head of JPMorgan Chase & Company since 2006, steering a bank that handles $10 trillion in transactions globally every day. His stop in Birmingham was one on the company’s five-state sweep that began in Mississippi and will include visits to Georgia and the Carolinas, as well. Visiting bank locations across the nation gives Dimon a chance to hear from managers and workers.

“I believe if you’re going to be a good CEO, a good leader, you have to get out,” he said. “You go to a lot of corporations, and they’re too busy to do that. ‘I don’t have time for that,’ [they say]. … I think they make a huge mistake because you learn through every single trip. Hanging out with branch managers, you hear one or two really good questions, and [we’ll] follow up on them. We take notes. … You get customers, you get governments, and you get local press, which tells the story, whether or not we like it exactly.”

During visits, Dimon said he expects feedback — and pushback — from employees.

“We want them to speak up,” he said during his 30-minutes with the Birmingham media. “Literally, you could not offend me by asking, ‘Why did you do this?’ Sometimes when I’m with senior management, they’re offended. Like they’re twisting in their chairs. I watch them. But I’m saying, ‘Your people are telling you what we can do better. That’s a gift.’ I have a chance to be better. When people complain, I also ask, different from other people, not whether they were right or they were wrong [but] ‘Are they partially right?’”

After visiting Birmingham, Dimon and team members headed to Georgia and the Carolinas, where he would travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, to celebrate building 1,000 new branches in seven years — more locations than most of the financial institution’s competitors operate in total.

There’s still value in local branches, even with more people banking online, said the CEO.

“A million people visit our branches every day,” he said. “A million. So, you have to ask, ‘What do they want?’ … The branches have effectively gotten smaller [and] less operational but [they provide] more advice. There are more people in the branch, there’s a business banker, mortgage loan officer, wealth advisor. People [still] come in for advice. They like to visit their money, and half of the accounts are opened in branches, [as well as] a lot of credit cards, a lot of mortgages. Even digital-only people really like having a place to go if they need to. … It enhances a little bit of everything.”

Dimon pointed out another reason branches provide a valuable service.

“The president of this branch, he or she knows local people. … He knows when you walk in the door, he knows your business, he knows your kids, knows your friends, he knows when you go on vacation, he gives the kid a credit card when he’s going to college, he’ll fill out the paperwork, except the signature. They’ve got a special thing.”

Likes and Dislikes

Dimon also spoke about running one of the world’s largest banks and said he dislikes bureaucracy. “I have almost no meetings after meetings. If employees have something to say, say it in the goddamn room in front of your partner — or don’t say it all. If you don’t have the guts to do it, you probably shouldn’t have your job.

Complacency is something else that bothers Dimon. “[Some companies], instead of functioning to serve a client, function to serve a CEO. … You will die, and that’s why it’s so damn serious. To get around complacency, you’ve gotta work your ass off, look for where you’re wrong … and don’t assume you’re right about everything.”

Dimon is constantly on the move. Before the Magic City visit, the CEO visited media and a branch in Mississippi. And after the Southside meet-and-greet, he met leaders of the Birmingham community — and never missed a step.

“Remember, I do [town halls] in 30, 40, 50 countries a year,” he said. “It’s not just this bus trip, we’re always out.”

There’s a reason Dimon stays fit.

“I love what I do, and I try to take care of myself as best as I can,” he told the Birmingham media. “On these trips, we leave a little bit of room for exercise in the morning, but it’s basic stuff. Take care of yourself. It’s your job to take care of yourself — your mind, your body, your spirit, your friends, your soul, your family. If you don’t, you won’t have longevity.”

Asked by The Birmingham Times the one thing his successor needs to keep JPMorgan Chase one of the world’s top banks, Dimon said, “I’m not going to name one thing, but I’d say, heart, curiosity, grit, and give a shit. … People make a list of these management skills, which I believe in, but I am more on the heart side.”

‘Business with BHM’ Vendor Opportunity Expo to Connect Local Businesses to City Procurement Opportunities

By
Birmingham Times
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An upcoming expo will provide step-by-step guidance on Birmingham’s bidding process. (Adobe Stock)

birminghamal.gov

The City of Birmingham’s Department of Finance invites small business owners, entrepreneurs, service providers, and vendors of all sizes to attend the Business with BHM Vendor Opportunity Expo, a free, in-person event designed to help local businesses navigate and access procurement opportunities with the City of Birmingham.

The event will take place Thursday, August 7, from 4 to 7 p.m., and will serve as a comprehensive guide for doing business with the city.

Whether you’re a start-up, a seasoned supplier, or a mom-and-pop operation, this expo will provide step-by-step guidance on Birmingham’s bidding process. Attendees will meet directly with members of the city’s purchasing team, learn how to become a certified vendor, receive help obtaining a business license, and discover a wealth of citywide resources to support their growth.

“This is more than an information session—it’s an open door,” said Robbie Martin, Procurement Director. “We’re committed to doing business with businesses that reflect the richness and diversity of Birmingham. If you’ve got the services, we want to hear from you.”

Pre-registration is required and is recommended to be completed by Friday, August 1. To register or request more information, contact the Purchasing Division at 205-254-2265, email purchasing@birminghamal.gov, or register online.

Birmingham’s Salaam Green Adds to List of Prestigious Poetry Honors

By
Birmingham Times
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Birmingham Poet Laureate Salaam Green. (File)

By Alaina Bookman | abookman@al.com

Birmingham’s poet laureate, Salaam Green, is a recipient of the prestigious Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship which will support her project for incarcerated teens.

The Academy will award Green and 22 other fellows $50,000 in support of their community-based poetry projects. In partnership with the Magic City Poetry Festival and Radical Reversal, Green’s project, Lyrics for Life Birmingham, is a 10-week poetry and hip-hop workshop program. Green will lead teens at the Jefferson Youth Detention Center through weekly sessions about self-expression, personal development and rehabilitation.

“This fellowship is an extraordinary honor,” Green said in a statement. “Poetry is how we navigate grief, joy, injustice and reconciliation. Teaching literary excellence as a form of healing is at the heart of my work. Through literary arts, we repair what systems have broken and I’m eager to apply this work with incarcerated youth.”

Green, a poet, educator and activist, is from Greensboro, a historic town in the Black Belt, known for its role in slavery, sharecropping and the Civil Rights Movement.

Her work focuses on racial healing, resistance, spirituality and Southern storytelling.

As part of the fellowship, Green will present work from her new book, The Other Revival, a collection of poems highlighting the stories of descendants of those enslaved on an Alabama plantation.

Green’s work has earned her recognitions such as Kellogg Foundation Racial Healing Facilitator, Alabama Humanities Foundation Road Scholar and Healing Arts Practitioner.

Green has also held residencies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Auburn University and The Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation.

Green’s work both in the community and on paper has amplified the voices of those who often go unheard.

The fellowship places her among other nationally recognized leaders, changemakers and trailblazers.

“The Academy of American Poets is jazzed to champion wide-ranging poetry projects produced by poets laureate in big cities and small towns alike—all across the country,” Tess O’Dwyer, board chair of the academy said in a statement.

“At a time when more readers are turning to poetry to make sense of the world around us, American poets are beacons of free expression, cultural insight and civic engagement.

‘Back to School Digital Detox’ Initiative Helps with Mental Health Preparedness

By
Birmingham Times
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Back to School Digital Detox Week is a mental health wellness initiative designed to help communities adjust to the demands of Alabama’s new FOCUS Act, which restricts phone use in classrooms. (Adobe Stock)

By Don Rhodes II | The Birmingham Times

In an age where digital dependency is second nature and schools prepare to open for the 2025-26 school year, one Birmingham-based leader is encouraging families, students, and educators to pause, reflect, and reset.

Courtney Woods, founder of PC Empowerment and PC Media Techs. (Provided)

Courtney Woods, founder of PC Empowerment and PC Media Techs, has launched Back to School Digital Detox Week, a mental health wellness initiative designed to help communities adjust to the demands of Alabama’s new FOCUS Act, which restricts phone use in classrooms.

“After being in business as a web designer for about 10 years [with PC Empowerment and PC Media Techs] I just over time realized how overwhelmed and exhausted I would feel mentally at times,” Woods said. “I ended up researching and realizing that a lot of those triggers were due to something that we call information overload… it didn’t sound safe. It sounded dangerous. This is my mind that we’re talking about. I need my mind.”

The detox week includes themed days where participants remove unused apps and silence excessive notifications. “These things can invoke anxiety,” said Woods. “We want to help people have a clearer relationship with technology.”

Listeners can access Back to School Digital Detox Week live on V94.9 radio through Aug. 4th leading up to the new school year, where each daily theme and activity is broadcast with pre‑recorded segments. They can also visit PC Empowerment’s website (pcempowerment501c3.org) to catch replay sessions, sign up for RSVPs, and get notified about each day’s resources and reflection exercises.

As digital habits shift with statewide legislation, Woods’ initiative arrives at a critical time. “This is the first year that phones will be prohibited by law in schools. We don’t know how it’s going to be enforced, but we do know that we want to help prepare people,” she said.

The Alabama FOCUS Act is a state law which takes effect this school year, prohibits students from using personal mobile devices during instructional time to minimize distractions in the classroom. PC Empowerment’s Back to School Digital Detox Week directly supports this effort by helping students, parents, and educators build healthier digital habits and prepare for a phone-free learning environment.

With support from community partners like radio station V94.9 and on-air personality Lady Woo, the campaign is already reaching thousands. “Lady Woo had always been present in the mental health industry and expressed her concerns,” Woods said. “She jumped right on board.”

Woods said she hopes the detox initiative helps elementary school and high school students realize just how much digital exhaustion affects their decision-making, even when they’re consuming positive content.

“Even if you’re watching a bunch of positive content, we still need to take a break from our devices,” she said. “Get to know yourself.”

The expectation for the digital detox is for people to try it, to listen in, and hear key words like ‘notifications invoking anxiety’ and think, ‘Hey, I’ve experienced this before. Maybe I should silence some notifications,’” Woods said.

Ultimately, Woods believes the Digital Detox Week is just the beginning of a larger shift to improve digital mental health. “And most importantly, it will help people become more self-aware,” she said.

Access Back to School Digital Detox Week live on V94.9 radio through Aug. 4 leading up to the new school year, where each daily theme and activity is broadcast with pre‑recorded segments.

Birmingham’s Alanah Melton Selected for 2025 Next City Vanguard Class

By
Birmingham Times
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Alanah Melton. (City of Birmingham)

birminghamal.gov

Alanah Melton, Director of Special Projects in the Mayor’s Office, has been selected to join the 2025 Next City Vanguard Class. Melton will be among 45 rising urban leaders from across the country convening in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from October 6–9, 2025, for Next City’s 17th annual Vanguard conference.

As the City of Birmingham’s point person on homelessness strategy, Melton has led with vision and compassion, advancing policies and programs that improve quality of life for the city’s unhoused residents. Her inclusion in the 2025 cohort is a testament to her commitment to equity-driven public service and her ability to forge creative, community-centered solutions to systemic challenges.

The Next City Vanguard Conference brings together urban professionals from sectors including food justice, affordable housing, climate resilience, public space, and community development. This year’s fellows represent trailblazing organizations such as the Center for Community Progress, Self-Help Credit Union, BlackSpace, and the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation.

“It’s an honor to represent Birmingham and be part of a network of changemakers who are passionate about building more equitable cities,” Melton said. “Homelessness is a complex, deeply human issue, and I’m excited to both learn from and contribute to national conversations about justice, housing, and belonging.”

Hosted this year in Philadelphia—home to Next City’s headquarters—the four-day Vanguard conference features interactive workshops, neighborhood tours, and peer-led sessions, all focused on reimagining cities through a lens of economic, environmental, and racial justice. The program will also spark a year-long reporting initiative on urban solutions in partnership with Resolve Philly and supported by the Knight Foundation.

The 2025 cohort joins a dynamic alumni network of more than 600 city-builders working to transform urban communities around the globe.

To learn more about the 2025 Next City Vanguard Class and view the full list of fellows, visit: www.nextcity.org/vanguard. 

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