Rev. Dr. Herbert Daughtry...Pastor,Actor,Educator,Community Leader,Author,Activist

The Rev. Dr. Herbert Daughtry hails from a family that has produced five generations of Black church leaders.  Currently National Presiding Minister of The House of the Lord Churches, he has previously served as Chairman of the National Black United Front as well as Founder and President of the African People's Christian Organization.  More than 50 years of involvement in church and community service has earned him the title, "The People's Pastor."

Rev. Daughtry's long career of activism began with the civil rights struggles in the 1950s working with Brooklyn CORE and Operation Breadbasket, and continued in the fight for community control of schools in the late 1960s. He subsequently helped to found several organizations, including Black Leadership 

Commission on AIDS, Alonzo Daughtry Memorial Family Life Services, which serves the community through innovative programming such as Families of Victims Against Violence, and Alonzo Daughtry Memorial Day Care Center, which provides early childhood education under the motto, "Nurturing and Educating the Leaders of Tomorrow."  He currently serves as Chair of National Religious Leaders of African Ancestry Concerned about Darfur.

Reverend Daughtry has previously served as Chair of the New York Citywide African-American Clergy Council, African American Clergy and Elected Officials, and the Association of Brooklyn Clergy for Community Development, which built and renovated more than 500 units of housing for low- and middle-income families in Brooklyn. 

His commitment to global human rights and self-determination has led Rev. Daughtry to travel and lecture extensively around the world, and he has participated in dozens of international conferences and conventions, including speaking at United Nations subcommittee meetings regarding South African apartheid, Cuba, the Middle East, and the state of U.S. civil rights.

Currently, Reverend Daughtry is one of a handful of community leaders working with Forest City Ratner Companies to build Atlantic Yards, a $5 billion complex that includes a 19,000 seat arena to house the New York Nets.  Daughtry was instrumental in the creation of the landmark Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement that ensures delivery of a wide variety of services to the Brooklyn community, including a state-of-the-art health facility, an intergenerational center, and a community foundation as well as housing opportunities for low- and middle-income New Yorkers, construction jobs for minorities and women, and thousands of other employment opportunities.

Ordained to the Ministry in 1958, Reverend Daughtry was installed as the third National Presiding Minister of The House of the Lord Churches in October 1959.  His father, Alonzo, had served as the Church's founder and first Presiding Minister.  Daughtry has pastored the Brooklyn congregation since 1958.  In 2010, he established a Jersey City branch of the Church, and he also serves as pastor there.

In the field of religion, he has served in various capacities with the World Council of Churches; has studied and done research at the Theological Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland; and has been the preacher in residence at the Interdenominational Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. Rev. Daughtry has also lectured at Harvard University School of Divinity and at both Union and New York Theological Seminaries in New York City. Additionally, he was one of the principal lecturers at the 150th anniversary of the Virginia Theological Seminary and his lecture, “A Theology of Black Liberation: the Who, What and How,” was published in the school’s journal.

Rev. Daughtry is a prolific author. His book, No Monopoly on Suffering: Blacks and Jews in Crown Heights and Elsewhere, published by Africa World Press in 1997 with a foreword by Dr. Cornel West, gives a chronology of the building of a movement in Brooklyn which can serve as a guide for the empowerment of any people. His other books include My Beloved Community, published by Africa World Press, Effectual Prayer and Dear 2pac: Letters to a Son, published by Seaburn Press. Other publications to his credit include “Jesus Christ: African in Origin, Revolutionary and Redeeming in Action,” “South African Reader,” “Seize the Future,” “From Magnificence to Wretchedness: The Sad Saga of Black Humanity,” “Inside the Storm: A Report on the Uprising in Crown Heights,” and another work on Tupac Shakur – who joined his congregation at the early age of 11 – entitled, “A Seed Planted in Stone: The Life and Times of Tupac Shakur.” 

The pastor appeared in Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues as the minister who married Bleak Gilliam (Denzel Washington) and Indigo Downes (Joie Lee).

Reverend Daughtry is married to Reverend Dr. Karen Smith Daughtry.  They have four adult children:  Leah, Sharon, Dawnique, and Herbert, Jr; and three grandsons, Lorenzo, Herbert III, and Myles.

http://holc.bluestatedigital.com/pages/presiding-minister

http://www.holnj.org/nationalpresider.html

Writer, actor, producer, and director Tyler Perry has built an entertainment empire that consists of successful films, plays, and a best-selling book.

Writer, actor, producer, director. Born Emmitt Perry Jr. on September 13, 1969, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tyler Perry has forged his own way in the entertainment industry, building an empire that consists of successful films, plays, and even a best-selling book. One of four children, he had a difficult childhood, suffering years of abuse at the hands of his carpenter father. He once described his father as a man "whose answer to everything was to beat it out of you."

At one point, Perry even attempted suicide in an effort to escape his difficult situation. At 16, he changed his first name to Tyler to separate himself from his father. Perry dropped out of high school, but he eventually earned a general equivalency diploma, or GED, later. Trying to find his way professionally, he held a series of unfulfilling jobs before discovering his true passion.

Watching an episode of Oprah Winfrey's talk show, Perry was inspired by a comment on the program about how writing about difficult experiences could lead to personal breakthroughs. He started a series of letters to himself, which became the basis for the musical I Know I've Been Changed. While the show tackled such tough subjects as child abuse, it also touched on forgiveness, a theme has remained central in many of his works and reflects his deep connection to his Christian faith. After saving up $12,000, Perry debuted the show—which he directed, produced, and starred in—at an Atlanta theater in 1992. The musical's run lasted only one weekend and drew a measly 30 people to see the show.

Disappointed yet determined, Perry continued to work odd jobs while reworking the show. He staged the show in several other cities, but success still eluded him. Broke, Perry was living out of his car for a time. "Can you imagine a six-foot-five man sleeping in a Geo Metro?" he once told Essence magazine. In 1998, Perry tried one more time to win over theater audiences. He rented out the House of Blues in Atlanta for another production of I Know I've Been Changed. Soon Perry was performing to sell out crowds and the musical was moved to a larger theater. After so many years of hard work, he finally earned critical acclaim as well as commercial success.

For his next project, Perry worked on an adaptation of evangelist T. D. Jakes's book Woman, Thou Art Loosed, which proved to be quite popular. His next effort, however, brought to life his most famous character Madea. The gun-toting, sharp-tongue grandma first appeared in his 2000 play, I Can Do Bad All by Myself. Basing Madea on his mother and several other mature women in his life, Perry played the eccentric character himself wearing drag. She next appeared in Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2001). Developing quite a following, Madea has starred in a number of plays, 

including Madea's Family Reunion (2002) and Madea's Class Reunion (2003). Perry toured extensively with his shows. According to his website, 35,000 people a week saw one of his shows in 2005.

That same year, Perry proved himself to be a box office powerhouse with the release of his debut film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, starring Kimberly Elise as the scorned wife and Steve Harris as the adulterous husband. Perry appeared as three different characters in the film, including the legendary Madea. Eventually grossing more than $50 million, the film's success showed Hollywood that there was a market for urban African American comedies.

Perry's plays continued to make a successful leap to the big screen. He took on the leading role in Madea's Family Reunion (2006), which he also directed and produced, which scored well with movie goers bringing in more than $63 million. Now a major media figure, Perry established his own movie and acting studio in Atlanta that year. He also launched his first television series, House of Payne, on the TBS cable network. Starring Cassi Davis and LaVan Davis, both of whom have worked with Tyler previously, this sitcom features a multigenerational African American family. 

Adding to his already dynamic career, Perry wrote the 2006 best-selling book, Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life. The book went on to win two Quill Awards—Book of the Year and Best in Humor.

Back on the big screen, Perry has continued making films about family, morals, and overcoming adversity. Daddy's Little Girlsstarred Idris Elba as a father who fights regain custody of his three daughters with help from a lawyer played by Gabrielle Union. InWhy Did I Get Married?, Tyler explores the relationships of several married couples. The large cast included singers Jill Scott and Janet Jackson as well as Perry sans his Madea costume. Examining the struggles of a single mother, Meet the Browns (2008) starred Angela Bassett who takes her two children to meet her father's family after his death. In August 2008, it was announced that the film is being adapted into a television sitcom, which will premiere in January 2009.

Perry's next release, The Family That Preys (2008), features two talented veteran performers, Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodward, as two longtime friends who try to heal their broken families. Next up for Perry, another film installment featuring one of America's best-known grandmothers, Madea Goes to Jail, which is slated for release in 2009. He also has a role in the latest big screen volume of the Star Trek saga—another 2009 release.

Despite all of his work in film and television, Perry continues to write and produce new plays. His latest effort, The Marriage Counselor, is currently on tour.

http://www.biography.com/people/tyler-perry-361274