TROY – A nationally known minister urged attendees of a leadership conference celebrating Black History Month Saturday to have a clear vision for success and practice teamwork to lift up the African-American community.

The speaker, the Rev. Jamal Harrison-Bryant, pastor of Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, Md., told the more than 300 people in attendance at Troy University’s Trojan Center that modern society is too concerned with the “size of success” and not the quality of success. True progress, he said, is not working for a bigger house, nicer car or fancier clothes, but it is “giving back to the source of our strength, which is God.”

The 2006 Leadership Conference celebrating Black History Month was sponsored by the City of Troy and Troy University. The two-day conference featured motivational speakers and sessions on a wide variety of leadership skills, such as legal issues, financial planning, time management and proper etiquette.

Bryant said black Americans should unite in a “group effort” to make sure their community succeeds spiritually, socially and economically. And, the fuel for that success begins with parents who instill in their children a love of learning.

“Before the sixth grade, the average African-American child excels in reading, math and science,” he said. “But then too many make the pivotal decision to be popular rather than smart. They know the latest dances, but they won’t pass the classes.”

Successful African-Americans should also be prepared to acknowledge those people who have helped them along the way, such “as their grandmothers in Alabama” who united behind young persons with potential and helped show them the way. He pointed to his own grandfather, a cook at Duke University, who inspired him during his quest for a master’s degree.

Others speaking at the luncheon and closing ceremony included Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford and State Rep. Alan Boothe. The Rev. S.D. James, Bishop, Evangelistic Pentecostal Churches Worldwide, Inc., served as the presiding officer.

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