Miles College Honors Master P, Announces Economic Mobility Initiative at Inaugural Business and Research Conference

Special to the Times

Miles College hosted its first Judge U.W. Clemon Center Business & Research Conference on Friday, during Homecoming 2026, bringing together Alabama leaders and nationally recognized voices across business, entertainment, justice and civic engagement.

New Orleans Hip Hop Pioneer and philanthropist Percy “Master P” Miller was recognized as a Distinguished Honoree for his impact on entrepreneurship, independent ownership and economic advancement.

During the conference, Dr. Jamila T. Davis and civil rights attorney and Until Freedom co-founder Angelo Pinto, Esq. were introduced as the Clemon Center’s inaugural Scholars-in-Residence. Davis and Pinto will help lead the center’s new Health, Wealth and Civic Engagement initiative focused on economic mobility, community safety and civic participation.

Davis and Pinto have already worked alongside Miles College and the City of Birmingham through Rise Up Birmingham, a youth-focused initiative that has combined paid opportunities with entrepreneurship, leadership development, civic engagement and violence prevention.

The Center’s namesake, retired U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon, also participated in the conference. A Miles College graduate and Fairfield native, Clemon was among the first Black members elected to the Alabama Senate following Reconstruction and, in 1980, became Alabama’s first Black federal judge.

The conference, held at the college’s Kirkwood Balton Theater, also featured national leaders such as Tamika D. Mallory, Yandy Smith, Tara Wallace, Shanté Bacon, Syrita Steib and others, alongside Miles College students, researchers and Birmingham-area community leaders.

Conference programming included HBCU student research presentations, conversations on entrepreneurship and entertainment, artificial intelligence, advocacy and civic engagement. The keynote discussion “Changing the Narrative of Justice,” featured Judge Clemon, Miles College President Bobbie Knight, Davis and Pinto.

The conference also announced the expansion of the U.W. Clemon Center. As part of the expansion, Miles will launch the new Health, Wealth and Civic Engagement initiative and advance plans for a proposed Community Safety Research and Publications Lab that would document Birmingham’s violence-prevention and youth-development efforts, examine outcomes and produce research that could help inform future investment in the work. The Center’s inaugural scholars-in-residence Davis and Pinto will help lead the effort.

To learn more about the U.W. Clemon Center, visit miles.edu/miles-college-center-for-economic-and-social-justice.