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Referee: No timeouts in life

• ASU held a conference for African American men Saturday on campus.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — Ken Hudson remembers his days as one of the pioneering black NBA referees with an almost giddy fondness for the game that he admits re-directed his life’s plans of being a famous baseball player.

But sitting in the auditorium of Albany State’s ACAD building Saturday, he knows one thing is for certain; he would’ve never made it into the NBA Hall of Fame if it weren’t for two things: effort and determination.

Now the former ref, teacher, author and Coca-Cola marketing executive says he likes to spend his time sharing information. The very same information that helped him achieve his dreams nearly 40 years ago.

A key speaker at ASU’s National African American Male Conference Saturday, Hudson shared with the participants tidbits of information from his life that have served as signposts he says that have pointed him to success.

“I’m here to encourage young men to be the best people they can be,” Hudson said.

It’s a simple statement, but a monumental undertaking, Hudson said.

But the concept of being a good person is ultimately the key to finding success and happiness, he says, because that is the foundation for all interpersonal relationships upon which a successful life is built.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, Hudson said he was fortunate to be exposed to a mix of ethnic groups that helped further his social education. It was during this time he says he “grew as a person” and began to learn that the way you treat people can be a predictor to a person’s future success.

“One thing I tell people during these seminars is that you have to get exposure,” Hudson said. “You think you’ll be just around a certain group of people — black, white or Latino — when you get out in the working world? Of course not, so it’s important to get that social experience outside of your own cultural background.”

Underscoring the value of effort and determination, Hudson says there isn’t anything that can’t be accomplished when you put those key components of life together.

Nicholas Freeman, student president of ASU’s Center for African Males — the group that sponsored the seminar — said that the group’s goal is to get young black men together to address social issues they believe effect them most.

“If you look at the statistics, there are certain social problems that seem to center in on African American males,” Freeman said. “By having a place where high school and college-age African American men can come together and talk with each other about those issues, we think we can better the situation.”

The seminar focused on a variety of topics through breakout sessions which included financial issues, criminal and educational obstacles and health and wellness. Freeman said he hopes by providing access to those people like Hudson who he said is a product of a lifetime of good decision-making, that young black men will make productive, dream-fulfilling choices themselves and be positive contributors to society.

“We see on the news all the time about people who make poor decisions and go down a path in life that is so hard to correct later,” Freeman said. “We want to help these men build a foundation of decision making that will lead them to be successful businessmen or whatever they may want to be.”

Hudson, who said he got his motivational engine running after a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King at his college commencement, believes that it’s not what you do, but the desire to it well that helps a person transcend the boundaries that society has created.

“I can remember him saying that if you had to be a bush on the side of the highway, be the best bush you can be,” he said. “That’s a powerful message.”

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