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Stedman Graham was born on March 6, 1951 in Whitesboro, NJ, a community founded in 1901 by a group of prominent African-Americans which included Booker T. Washington and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Stedman attended Middle Township High School where the 6’6? phenom starred on the varsity basketball team.
After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Hardin-Simmons University, he played professionally in Europe for a few years before returning to the U.S. to work on his Master’s in Education from Ball State.
An enduring, high-profile relationship with Oprah Winfrey has perhaps overshadowed the long list of business and charitable accomplishments accumulated over the course of Mr. Graham’s impressive career as Chairman and CEO of S. Graham & Associates, a management and marketing consulting firm specializing in the corporate and educational fields.
A prolific writer, he is also the author of ten books, two of which became NY Times bestsellers. And he has taught at several colleges, including a course on leadership at the University of Illinois and one on strategic management at Northwestern.
Most importantly, Mr. Graham has exhibited a lifelong commitment to community via Athletes Against Drugs (AAD), a non-profit organization he founded in 1985 which remains dedicated to developing leadership in underserved youth through scholarships and education. Recently, Stedman talked to me about his work with AAD and other projects.
All White B-Ball League Founded: ‘Not a racist thing,’ says owner. This is very interesting to say the least. And it’s no joke, either. A Georgia boxing promoter is starting an all-white basketball league that coincides with a TV reality series called “Snow-ball versus bro-ball.” Tony McNary of WGCL, CBS’s Atlanta affiliate, spoke to the man, Don “Moose” Lewis, also league commissioner, to discuss his plans for the league. When asked if the All-American Basketball Alliance (AABA) is racist, Lewis flatly responded, “No,” adding, “It’s not gonna be the street-type ball mentality. It’s going to be different.” McNary also spoke with Charles Barkley who, to no one’s surprise, didn’t mince his words about the new league. “It’s just blatantly racist if you look at the code words used,” the Hall of Famer said. “I don’t take it seriously, but it just lets you know there’s blatant racism out there…. It lets you know, as a black man, there are people out there who don’t like you.”