Magic Opens Computer Center in Hometown
Mon May 19, 1:16 PM ET
LANSING, Mich. - Magic Johnson has opened centers in Atlanta, Chicago and Houston devoted to making sure every child knows how to use a computer.
Former basketball star Earvin 'Magic' Johnson joins Jennifer Lara, 9, a fourth grader at Public School (P.S.) 96 in Manhattan's East Harlem section , as she use a computer at the Magic Johnson and HP Inventor Center at Taino Towers in New York, Wednesday Dec. 18, 2002. The new technology center, a community initiative from Hewlett Packard Computers and the Magic Johnson Foundation, is aimed at bridging the digital divide in inner cities. The center is the eighth and join others in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Chicago. P.S. 96 students will use the center twice weekly in an after-school program. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Last week, the Lansing native opened one in his hometown.
The 11th Magic Johnson HP Inventor Center at Lansing's Black Child and Family Institute features $60,000 in equipment donated by Hewlett-Packard Co.
"Young people need to be guided," Johnson told the Lansing State Journal. "They need to be touched. They need to know someone cares about them. They have that here."
The center has 20 computers, printers, digital cameras and a digital projector. It is open to the public except when in use by a special class or session.
About 300 people stood in the rain and cold Thursday to hear Johnson speak.
"It's one of the most wonderful things to happen since Magic was on the basketball court," Lansing resident Claudine Walker said about the center.
Johnson led his Everett High School basketball team to the state championship in 1977 and Michigan State University to the NCAA (news - web sites) title in 1979.
The computer centers are part of a partnership between HP and the Magic Johnson Foundation. Five more are planned in cities including
Cleveland and Baltimore.
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On the Net:
Magic Johnson Foundation,
http://www.magicjohnson.org/
Hewlett-Packard Co.,
http://www.hp.com
Black Child and Family Institute,
http://www.lcc.edu/ece/location/ingham/black_child.htm
I was not very knowledgeable about Magic's philanthropic activities before he was diagnosed with HIV, but I must say that brotha has definitely stepped it up since his diagnosis.
Kudos to Magic Johnson
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