Thursday, September 30, 2004
YOUNGSTOWN -- A nationally known attorney joined a local religious leader today to announce changes at a cable network that focuses on black families and urban living.
The pair hope the national channel will become available locally.
Atty. Willie E. Gary and the Bishop Norman L. Wagner, pastor of Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church, called a press conference in Youngstown to announce that the MBC Channel will become the Black Family Channel. It is a national television network based in Atlanta, Ga. Gary is a co-founder of and a partner in the network that started five years ago.
"They said we couldn't survive if we didn't have programming that promoted sex, crime and violence," Gary said in a recent radio broadcast, "But, today we are in over 30 million homes, in over 3,865 cities, and growing stronger."
Gary and Wagner said they hope the channel will become available in the Mahoning Valley through local cable and satellite services.
Gary, a Florida resident, grew up in a family of migrant workers and became an attorney. He has won several large lawsuits, including a $500 million verdict against a Canadian funeral home company, a $240 million verdict against Disney and a $139 million decision against Anheuser-Busch on behalf of the family of baseball player Roger Maris. Gary and his wife, Gloria, founded The Gary Foundation in 1994 to provide scholarships and other assistance among black youth.
The press conference is part of the annual leadership conference of Pentecost in Perspective International which is directed and founded by Bishop Wagner. It began Wednesday and continues tomorrow at Stambaugh Auditorium.