'American Idol's' Willie Spence, NFL sports figures attend forum on Black men in West Palm Beach

Former "American Idol" runner-up Willie Spence and a trio of sports luminaries were on hand for a panel discussion Sunday about rearing successful Black men.

Spence, who came in second on the popular TV show in 2021, sang a pair of songs — "Stand Up" and "Worth Saving" — as roughly 200 people waited for the forum, held at Redemptive Life Academy in West Palm Beach, to begin.

It was a homecoming for Spence, who attended Redemptive Life Academy as a child.

In those years, he said he was too shy to sing in front of others and "hid" by playing drums. When he was invited to sing before a Black men's forum, he said he was happy to accept.

"This is the school that groomed me," he said. "This is the very first place that groomed my love for music."

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Next year, that love will take him to England, where he is expected to perform as part of celebrations honoring Queen Elizabeth II's 97th birthday.

Willie Spence, Anquan Boldin's father, and others led forum on raising successful Black men

Spence had a front row seat as a trio of sports luminaries — former NFL player Abram Elam, former welterweight boxer Thomas Roy Williams and Carl Boldin, a coach and the father of retired NFL great Anquan Boldin — led a discussion on what parents and families can do to raise successful Black men.

Carl Boldin said one critical factor is to have high expectations. Not everyone, he noted, was allowed to play for him.

"If a young a person wanted to play for me, you had to have at least a 3.2 grade-point average," he said. "(But if) you didn't have that, it wasn't a death sentence."

He said he would help the would-be player find tutoring or other academic assistance so he could get his grades high enough to play. And, when he could, Boldin partnered with a player's parents.

"For me, everything begins in the home," he said. "The teaching begins at home. The discipline begins at home."

So, too, does an introduction into religious faith, Elam recalled.

He remembered being "anointed" by a loved one before taking the field. "I'd be going out to play with oil running down my forehead," he said as the audience laughed.

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Williams said religious faith is an important factor in turning Black boys into successful young men.

Carl Boldin said parents should not be shy about reaching out to others to get help and to have questions answered.

"As a culture, we do not ask enough questions of each other," he said. "No parent comes with a manual on how to raise a child. You will remain ignorant if you don't reach out and ask."

He said he has long understood that, for many of the boys he coaches, he was more than a voice on what to do on the field.

"Coaches are not just coaches," he said. "You're a father. You're a doctor. You're an Uber. You're everything."

And often, he said, you're called on to deliver tough news.

"Part of coaching is to get the very best out of them," Boldin said. "At some point in their life, they have to hear the truth. I don't believe in participation trophies. You're not going to go on a job and get paid if you're not doing nothing."

Elam, whose seven-season NFL career included stints with the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Jets, the Cleveland Browns and the Kansas City Chiefs, agreed.

"My thing is controllables," he said, telling the audience that Black boys should focus on what they can control. "Never let anyone out-work you. You have the mind, the things that pay you. You have to put in the work."

Wayne Washington, a member of the Palm Beach News Guild,  covers West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations. E-mail tips to wwashington@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Willie Spence, Anquan Boldin's father at Black men forum in West Palm