Champions For Diversity

Champions for Diversity: Buddy Shannon Welcome to a new feature of the Diversity Matters Newsletter: Champions for Diversity. Each month a local "champion of diversity" will be highlighted. Let's celebrate the wonderful people of Sedgwick County! If you know of someone you would like to nominate for this distinction, please contact Melodie Kelsey at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . This month's champion is Buddy Shannon. Here is his story. My name is Buddy Shannon, I am 49 years old with a loving wife named Ollindia Shannon. I have 4 daughters and a step son. I grew up in Oklahoma and moved to Wichita when I was 19 years old. I started to work for what was then called Beechcraft but later became Raytheon Aircraft. After working at Raytheon for 17 years, I was offered a job at Tree Top Nursery & Landscaping to start their maintenance division where I have worked for the past 14 years. Diversity has not always been something that was important to me. Like many people I had my own circle of friends and I was not very trusting of those who were different. I never went out of my way to be rude or show prejudice but I was never close to anyone that was not African American. My parents on the other hand were very diverse in their thinking; in the late 60s and early 70s they had white friends who they considered close. In those days I was not as accepting of whites as my parents were. I had watched as a young boy many of the civil rights marches on television; I did not understand why people who looked like me were being treated so violently. Unknowingly I had built up a prejudice against all whites, stereotyping the entire race as bigots and racists. I was doing the very opposite of what Dr. King said in his I Have a Dream Speech: to not judge men by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I was guilty of the very thing I had blamed others for; I was a racist and didn't even realize it. Because of some poor choices and bad decisions in my early twenties, I hit rock bottom. One day while talking on the phone to my sister she encouraged me to visit a church that she had once visited. At that point in my life I was willing to try just about anything. I ended up visiting the church and it happened to have a 95% white membership. The following week the pastor visited my apartment and asked me if I wanted to become a Christian. I accepted his invitation and became a member of the small church located in south Wichita. The members of the church treated me like I was family, to the extent that I have never again allowed race to get in the way of making friends. The reason I am a manager at Tree Top and was given the opportunity to start a new division for the company is because of one of the members of the small church that I joined. His name is Ron Matney and he is the founder and former president of Tree Top. Ron has been more than a friend to me; he has loved me as a father would a son. Ron grew up in a small community in Arkansas where there were no blacks yet he accepted me based on my character, not my skin color. In 2007 the Real Men, Real Heroes organization was formed. The organization was made up of 32 African American men nominated by members of the community to serve as role models to at-risk youth. Our pictures were put on cards similar to baseball cards. The cards were distributed to all elementary and middle schools. We formed a partnership with USD 259 and we were invited to speak in classrooms and at assemblies teaching youth the importance of education, making good choices, teaching life skills and sharing our individual success stories. In 2008 the White House heard about the Real Men Real Heroes organization and we were nominated for the President's Call To Service Award. I accepted the award on behalf of the organization, presented by President George W. Bush at McConnell Air Force Base. Later that same year my wife and I were invited to the White House to hear the President's remarks on volunteering. As a result of visiting many local schools, giving presentations, speaking in classrooms, and assemblies, we recognized the importance of adding more diversity to our organization. This year we launched the Teen Hero program the latest addition of Real Men Real Heroes. The Teen Heroes are a racially diverse group of males. They are all seniors from local high schools. The teens will serve as mentors and tutors to elementary and middle school students. Last week the Teen Hero cards were distributed to schools in the USD 259 school district. We are already receiving requests for the young men, who are all 3.0 GPA students or higher, to share their individual stories of academic success and what it means to be a role model. The Real Men Real Heroes organization is proud to present Teen Heroes to the Wichita community. My goal for the future is to try to live out the example of kindness that many have shown to me. I am very fortunate to have met people like Ron Matney and others who are ground breakers in diversity. It has become obvious to me that America's greatness can be found in its diversity. I will spend my future sharing with others the importance of respecting and appreciating diversity and what can be gained by not shutting doors on those who may appear to be different. -Buddy Shannon President, Real Men Real Heroes