Recap of the Tied to Greatness™ Tour

The motivating guest speakers for the event were Paul Brown, an award-winning television producer and member of Alpha Phi Alpha, Grayling Williams, president of the Washington DC chapter of NOBLE, Brent Jones, USA Today reader’s editor, Keion Carpenter, former NFL football player, businessman and community advocate, and Dr. Ron Watson, school board member from Prince Georges County.

After the speakers, there was an insightful video presentation called Gallery of Greatness that portrayed some of the negative images of African Americans in mass media as well as some of the positive images of role models like Dr. Charles Drew, Dr. Martin Luther King, etc. Ellis explained how the video was shown so the teens could see our African American journey through both negative and positive images.

Oprah Winfrey’s scholarship winner, Messiah gave a motivating and intense spoken word performance, which centered on the tied to greatness theme. He said to the teens “the power is in you … the only limitation on you is yourself.”

Ellis had the men to stand around the front and sides of the auditorium for the highlight of the tour, the tie-tying ceremony. He had four teens stand in front of each man. Ellis told the men to speak affirmations into the lives of their four teens. He asked the young men first to watch how the men demonstrated tie tying and then they were given a chance to tie their own ties. It was a moving experience to look around the auditorium and witness this rite of passage. After everyone finished tying their ties the guys proudly walked back to their seats with their new ties and a sense of accomplishment. Ellis said to the young men, “we believe you are going somewhere to wear a tie.”

There was the Tied to Greatness pledge led by Ellis and recited by the teens to seal the purpose of the event. Ellis told the teens that each of them would get a copy of his book, Restoring the Male Image: a Look from the Inside Out. He told the group to read his book and submit an essay about how the book impacted their lives. The selected winner of the essay contest would win a custom suit along with a shirt, cufflinks, a tie and a pair of shoes.