Michael Samuel Todd

08/19/2026

Cedric Richmond built his national leadership through a combination of legislative experience, concrete district results, caucus relationships, committee work, and political strategy. The position was earned internally—his congressional colleagues elected him; it was not automatically attached to representing Louisiana’s Second District.

How Richmond built his leadership

* Eleven years in the Louisiana House: Richmond served from 2000 until 2011, entering office at only 26. That gave him extensive legislative and coalition-building experience before reaching Washington.
* Repeated electoral victories: He entered Congress in January 2011 after defeating an incumbent Republican and then won five reelections, generally by substantial margins.
* Important committee assignments: He served on Small Business, Judiciary, Homeland Security, and ultimately the influential Ways and Means Committee.
* A law signed by the President: Richmond’s Honor Flight Act expedited airport screening for veterans traveling to visit national war memorials. President Obama signed it into law in December 2014.
* Major Louisiana disaster-recovery work: He helped protect approximately $2 billion in FEMA grants for New Orleans infrastructure and sewage repairs. He also supported the RESTORE Act, which directed 80 percent of applicable Deepwater Horizon penalties toward affected Gulf Coast states.
* Black-policy advocacy: He introduced measures addressing Black history and discrimination, including legislation recognizing Black Reconstruction-era lawmakers who were elected but denied their congressional seats. He later introduced the federal CROWN Act addressing discrimination based on natural hair.
* Relationships inside Congress: Richmond worked with Democrats while also collaborating with Louisiana Republicans, including Steve Scalise, on Gulf Coast recovery matters. Leadership positions often turn on whether colleagues trust someone to negotiate, communicate, and count votes.
* CBC organization and visibility: By 2016, after approximately six years in Congress, his CBC colleagues selected him to chair the Caucus for the 115th Congress, covering 2017–2019. Under his leadership, the CBC emphasized affordable housing, ma*****na decriminalization, HBCU engagement, and opposition to policies it believed harmed Black communities. U.S. House historical record⁠
* Committee leadership: After Democrats regained the House majority, Richmond chaired the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation. He led hearings concerning election security and threats to critical infrastructure.

How he reached the White House

Richmond’s later White House leadership arose from political work beyond his congressional title. He became an early supporter and national co-chair of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, advised the campaign on Southern and Black voters, and subsequently co-chaired the presidential transition. Biden then appointed him Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. The CBC described the appointment as recognition of Richmond’s campaign leadership and established record of service. Congressional Black Caucus statement⁠

The bottom line

Richmond’s rise rested on four pillars:

1. Legislative experience;
2. Documented results for his district;
3. Trusted relationships within the CBC and Democratic Party; and
4. Early, strategically important work for Biden’s presidential campaign.

That creates a legitimate comparison with Troy Carter. Carter is now First Vice Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, but leadership titles are only the doorway. The public is entitled to compare Carter’s legislation, federal funding, district results, HBCU advocacy, and national influence with the record Richmond had established before becoming CBC Chair. Titles shine; measurable results carry the weight.

08/19/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1LLnLhZgUC/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Question for Congressman Troy A. Carter

Congressman Carter, we—the readers and citizens you represent—request a complete, transparent accounting of your record during:

* Your service as Louisiana State Senator for District 7 from January 2016 through May 2021, including your leadership as Senate Minority Leader; and
* Your service as United States Representative for Louisiana’s Second Congressional District from May 11, 2021, through the present, including your leadership as Second Vice Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus during the 118th Congress and First Vice Chair during the 119th Congress.

Please provide your complete legislative and voting records; attendance; bills and resolutions sponsored or co-sponsored; committee work; public funding secured; constituent-service results; and documented actions addressing HBCUs, civil rights, voting rights, economic opportunity, historic preservation, public safety, and hazing prevention.

Your leadership in the Congressional Black Caucus carries a heightened responsibility to protect Black communities and institutions. Therefore, we ask plainly:

What legislation did you advance? How did you vote? What funding did you deliver? Whom did you protect? What promises did you fulfill—and what measurable, lasting results can the people see?

His CBC positions are documented by the Congressional Black Caucus⁠.

👨🏾‍⚖️🧑🏾‍⚖️👨‍⚖️👩🏽‍⚖️🧑🏾‍⚖️👨🏾‍⚖️👨‍⚖️👩🏽‍⚖️🧑🏾‍⚖️👨🏾‍⚖️👨‍⚖️👩🏽‍⚖️🧑🏾‍⚖️👨🏾‍⚖️👨‍⚖️👩🏽‍⚖️🦌

FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OF MEMORY
DOCUMENTED COMMENTARY AND ADVOCACY STATEMENT By MICHAEL SAMUEL TODD

FIVE HUNDRED YEARS
OF MEMORY

Brotherhood, Protection, Accountability,
and a Father’s Decision to Move Forward

By Michael Samuel Todd
August 17, 2026

Prepared as a private working draft for review before public circulation.

Purpose and Publication Boundary

This document brings together a personal reflection, a historical record, and a call to protect future generations. It begins with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.’s 2026 Slavery Remembrance Day observance and follows a chain of legacy through New Orleans, Dillard University, Morehouse College, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, my son, and my own decision to move forward with dignity.
It is not a legal pleading, a medical diagnosis, or an adjudication of disputed facts. Where I describe another person’s conduct or emotional condition, I identify it as my perception or understanding. Private text messages, screenshots, intimate images, and details that could retraumatize another person are deliberately excluded.
PUBLICATION BOUNDARY
Before any public release, obtain consent or anonymize private individuals. No private image, private message, or intimate detail should be reproduced as proof of love, advocacy, or injury.

1. Slavery Remembrance Day at the United States Capitol

On August 15, 2026, Alpha Brother and Congressman Al Green hosted Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.’s Slavery Remembrance Legislative Update and Assembly at the United States Capitol Visitor Center. The program’s theme was “Harder Yet May Be the Fight.” More than 150 Alpha men and Prince Hall Masons reportedly participated in the observance, which included a VIP breakfast and a commemorative program. [1]
The occasion carried a moral demand. The history of Alpha Phi Alpha is not merely something to recite at breakfasts, conventions, ceremonies, or photographs. It is a legacy that must be lived when a brother, a student, a child, or a family is carrying pain.
Congressman Green has continued advocating for August 20 to be recognized as National Slavery Remembrance Day and for August to be recognized as Slavery Remembrance Month. The proposed observance remembers the arrival of the White Lion at Point Comfort in 1619, honors people who endured enslavement, and insists that the country confront the continuing consequences of that history. [2]
2. A Five-Hundred-Year Historical Frame

The year 2026 marks 500 years since the 1526 establishment of San Miguel de Gualdape, a short-lived Spanish colony believed to have been located along the present-day South Carolina or Georgia coast. Enslaved Africans were transported to that settlement and participated in what is recognized as the first recorded revolt against slavery on land that would become the continental United States. [3]
That history predates both 1619 and the Declaration of Independence. It reminds us that the African American story on this soil is not only a record of bo***ge. It is also a record of resistance, survival, self-determination, institution-building, faith, education, and the continuing demand for human dignity.
In 2026, while the nation commemorates 250 years since 1776, African Americans may also remember 500 years of presence and resistance. That layered anniversary makes August 20, 2026, a fitting date to honor the ancestors, affirm survivors, and renew the protection of young people.
A FITTING COMMITMENT
Let remembrance lead to action: every young man and woman should return home educated, protected, whole, and alive.

3. Sigma Lambda and the New Orleans Alpha Legacy

Since 1925, Sigma Lambda Chapter has stood as a pillar of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and the City of New Orleans. Its documented legacy includes Brother A. P. Tureaud, the late Brother Ernest N. “Dutch” Morial, Brother Emmett Bashful, and Brother Charles C. Teamer, Sr. [4]
Brother Ernest N. Morial served as Alpha Phi Alpha’s 23rd General President from 1969 through 1972. Brother Charles C. Teamer, Sr. served as the 27th General President from 1985 through 1988. Brother Walter Tillman, Jr. should be acknowledged as an important New Orleans and Southwestern Region Alpha leader; however, the Fraternity’s official record does not identify him as a General President. [5][6]
The distinction matters because honoring legacy requires precision. Titles should not be enlarged, reduced, or transferred from one brother to another. Truth is strong enough without decoration.
The Morial and Urban League leadership circle
Brother Dutch Morial’s legacy continues through his son, Alpha Brother Marc H. Morial, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban League. Alpha Brother Winston Burns also belongs to this New Orleans circle of civic and business leadership and is publicly identified as Chief Executive Officer of Newburns Management Group. [7][8]
Sidney H. Evans, Jr. serves as the National Urban League’s Senior Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer. He previously served as Vice President for Finance at Dillard University during approximately eight and one-half years of my tenure there. Sidney is not an Alpha; he is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. [7]
At an ESSENCE Festival celebration associated with Congressman Troy Carter, Sidney stood directly in front of me as a line opened. Because he knows my family, professional history, and fraternal commitments, I experienced the encounter as an act of rejection and closure. That is my interpretation of the moment, not an assertion that I can prove his intent.
4. Brother Harry E. Johnson, Sr. and the King Memorial

Brother Harry E. Johnson, Sr. served as Alpha Phi Alpha’s 31st General President from 2001 through 2004. He is associated with Alpha Eta Lambda Chapter in Houston and has been honored there for his fraternity service. [5][9]
After his national fraternity leadership, Brother Johnson led the Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation as President and Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership, the foundation raised approximately $127 million to complete the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall. The memorial was dedicated on October 16, 2011. [10]
Brother Johnson is a graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana, not Morehouse College. The Morehouse connection belongs to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and one of my mentors, Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook.
5. Morehouse, Dillard, King, Cook, and Mason

Dr. King and Dr. Cook entered Morehouse College together at 15 years of age through the wartime early-admission program. They were friends and classmates, and both graduated in the Morehouse Class of 1948. [11]
On May 31, 1959, Dr. King delivered “The Dimensions of a Complete Life” as Dillard University’s baccalaureate address inside Lawless Memorial Chapel. Dr. Cook later became Dillard’s fourth president, serving from 1974 until 1997. He became one of the most influential mentors in my professional development. [12][13]
Brother Herman “Skip” Mason, Jr. served as Alpha Phi Alpha’s 33rd General President from 2009 until April 2012. His term directly overlapped with my son Lawrence Williams Todd’s years at Morehouse College from 2009 through 2013. Brother Mason also served Morehouse as a professor of history, college archivist, dean, and vice president of student services. [5][14]
The circle is unmistakable: Morehouse educated King and Cook; King carried his message to Dillard; Cook later led Dillard and mentored me; Alpha Phi Alpha transformed the dream of a national King memorial into stone; Harry Johnson led the fundraising campaign; and Skip Mason served as both a guardian of Morehouse history and Alpha Phi Alpha’s General President during Lawrence’s Morehouse years.
6. Acknowledgment of Living Fraternity Leadership

I offer special acknowledgment to my mentor, Dr. Charles Carl Teamer, Sr. His guidance, wisdom, and example shaped my understanding of leadership. Dr. Teamer served as the 27th General President of Alpha Phi Alpha and later as Grand Sire Archon, the international president of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, also known as the Boulé. [5][15]
I respectfully acknowledge Alpha Phi Alpha’s 37th General President, Brother Lucien J. Metellus, Jr., and the living Past General Presidents identified by the Fraternity: Dr. Charles C. Teamer, Sr.; Dr. Henry Ponder; Milton C. Davis; Adrian L. Wallace; Harry E. Johnson, Sr.; Darryl R. Matthews, Sr.; the Reverend Dr. Herman “Skip” Mason, Jr.; Mark S. Tillman; Dr. Everett B. Ward; and Dr. Willis L. Lonzer III. [16]
Brother Harry E. Johnson, Sr. was elected Grand Sire Archon-Elect of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity in July 2026. He is scheduled to begin his term as Grand Sire Archon in July 2028. His election places him in distinguished company with Dr. Teamer as one of two Past General Presidents of Alpha Phi Alpha identified by the Fraternity as having risen to that office. [17][18]
I acknowledge these leaders not merely to recite titles, but to ask them to use their continuing influence to protect young people, reject hazing and violence, uphold truth, and ensure that the institutions we love remain worthy of the generations entrusted to them.
THE MEASURE OF LEADERSHIP
The highest honor of leadership is not found in holding office. It is found in using influence to protect people who do not yet possess the power to protect themselves.

7. Honoring My Son and Protecting Those Who Come Next

On July 3, 2026, I learned something no father, mother, or adoptive parent of an adult son or daughter should have to carry alone. I will not disclose the private details here. During this difficult time, I choose to honor my son, Lawrence Williams Todd, without turning his pain or experience into a public spectacle.
Lawrence is a Morehouse Man, a son, a father, a brother, and a respected professional. His life must never be reduced to a painful experience, an allegation, a fraternity process, or a chapter in someone else’s institutional history. His experience belongs first to him. He has the right to decide when, how, and whether his story will be told.
At the same time, silence cannot become the price of protecting institutional reputations. I will advocate for young men and women entering colleges, universities, fraternities, sororities, athletic programs, bands, and other organizations. No student should become the next headline because a weapon or dangerous object was placed against the student’s body, physical punishment caused serious injury, or violence was disguised as tradition, discipline, initiation, loyalty, brotherhood, or sisterhood.
Tradition does not excuse violence. Brotherhood does not require suffering. Sisterhood does not demand silence. Loyalty must never mean protecting an institution while abandoning a person who may have been harmed.
This advocacy is not about destroying Morehouse College, Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, or any other institution. It is about insisting that the institutions we love become worthy of the young people entrusted to them.
FOR LAWRENCE
I honor you. I stand beside you. I love you. I will work for a future in which every young man and woman can return home educated, protected, whole, and alive.

8. Four African American Women, Four Different Responses

Four African American women have taught me that pain, fear, protection, and recovery do not speak with one voice. Their experiences are not interchangeable, and no one—including me—has the right to narrate their private lives as though intention alone creates permission.
Stephanie Marcellé: music as a path toward recovery
Stephanie Marcellé is the only one of the four whom I understand to be publicly working to transform personal pain into music and to move toward the fullest recovery she can achieve through her artistry. This statement reflects my understanding; it does not claim to define her private experience. Her publicly released music may be recognized as artistic expression. [19]
Adrian and Bambi: separate private struggles
Adrian Yvette Williams Todd and Bherita Ruanda “Bambi” Hall are, in my understanding, confronting trauma separately and with fear. Their communications also established firm requests for privacy, distance, and control over their own stories. I may disagree with some accusations or characterizations made during formal disputes, but disagreement does not erase a boundary.
Their private messages, screenshots, and intimate material should be preserved where legitimately necessary for a formal record—not republished as public content. A demand to remove private material or end unwanted contact must be taken seriously. Advocacy cannot become another way of taking control from someone who is asking for privacy.
Alaina Arrie Todd Banks: the meaning of silence belongs to her
My daughter, Alaina Arrie Todd Banks, has remained silent throughout this period of communication. I will not treat her silence as agreement with me or with anyone else. I will not define it as rejection, indifference, fear, or approval. Only Alaina can explain what her silence means, if and when she chooses to speak.
One woman has used music. Two have expressed boundaries while confronting private struggles. One has remained silent. Each response belongs to the woman who made it.
THE GOVERNING PRINCIPLE
No person’s body, image, private communication, trauma, silence, or personal history belongs to another person—not to an institution, fraternity, partner, parent, advocate, or storyteller.

9. “Thank You for Your Lack of Support”

To those brothers, friends, and individuals from whom I reasonably expected compassion, concern, and support—but received silence—I offer these words: “Thank you for your lack of support.”
That is not an expression of gratitude. It is an acknowledgment of a painful truth. Absence reveals who will stand beside a person when the road becomes difficult and who will quietly step away.
Brotherhood cannot exist only at breakfasts, commemorative programs, festivals, photographs, and ceremonial gatherings. It must also appear when a brother is burdened, wounded, isolated, or struggling to carry what no parent should have to carry alone.
Yet accountability must run in both directions. If I ask institutions and other people to respect bodily autonomy, consent, privacy, and human dignity, I must practice those principles within my own family and relationships. The cause cannot be justice if the method creates another wound.
10. My Decision to Move Forward

For my part, I must continue living. I intend to build a peaceful, stable, and comfortable life while remaining open to finding another partner—someone who freely chooses to walk beside me and with whom love, trust, respect, communication, and companionship are mutual.
I will not waste the years God has given me pursuing someone who has asked for distance, attempting to force closure, or waiting indefinitely for a relationship that is no longer available to me.
Moving forward does not erase the love I once felt or the life I once hoped to build. It means accepting reality, respecting established boundaries, protecting my health, and refusing to abandon my own future.
I will focus on healing, family, faith, meaningful work, travel, friendship, and purpose. If another woman enters my life, she will not be asked to repair my past or compete with anyone who came before her. She will be welcomed as a new person and respected for the life we may freely choose to build together.
CLOSING DECLARATION
My remaining years are not leftovers. They are still part of my purpose, and I intend to live them fully.

11. Final Commitment

Five hundred years of history have taught us that silence can protect systems while courage protects people. I choose courage, but courage must be disciplined by truth, consent, privacy, and love.
I choose my son without taking ownership of his story. I honor the women whose words, music, fear, boundaries, and silence have forced me to look again at what protection truly requires. I honor my mentors and living fraternity leaders by asking them to turn legacy into action. I honor myself by moving forward rather than remaining trapped inside rejection, grief, or unfinished expectations.
Remembrance must become responsibility. Brotherhood must become protection. Leadership must become service. Pain must not be passed to the next generation.
That is the work before us. That is the road I now choose.

References

[1] Congressman Al Green, “Congressman Al Green Hosts Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Slavery Remembrance Legislative Update and Assembly,” August 2026. Source link
[2] Congressman Al Green, Slavery Remembrance Day and The Conscience Agenda (official briefing document). Source link
[3] South Carolina Senate Resolution S.1090, recognizing the 500th anniversary of the San Miguel de Gualdape Revolt, April 1, 2026. Source link
[4] Sigma Lambda Chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., official chapter history. Source link
[5] Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., official list of General Presidents. Source link
[6] Alpha Phi Alpha Southwestern Region, Past Leadership. Source link
[7] National Urban League, Executive Leadership profiles for Marc H. Morial and Sidney H. Evans, Jr. Source link
[8] Louis Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp, board profile of Winston Burns. Source link
[9] Alpha Eta Lambda Chapter, Houston, official chapter history and leadership legacy. Source link
[10] The Memorial Foundation, biography of Harry E. Johnson, Sr. Source link
[11] Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, Samuel DuBois Cook biography. Source link
[12] Dillard University, record of Dr. King’s 1959 baccalaureate address in Lawless Memorial Chapel. Source link
[13] Dillard University, History and Traditions: Samuel DuBois Cook. Source link
[14] UNCF, biography of the Reverend Dr. Herman “Skip” Mason, Jr. Source link
[15] BlackPast, “Charles Carl Teamer, Sr. (1933– ).” Source link
[16] Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., official leadership page identifying living Past General Presidents. Source link
[17] Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., announcement of Harry E. Johnson, Sr.’s election as Grand Sire Archon-Elect, July 30, 2026. Source link
[18] Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Boulé Foundation leadership listing. Source link
[19] Stephanie Marcellé, Spotify artist page. Source link
Editorial Note on Personal Sources
The personal portions of this document are based on Michael Samuel Todd’s recollections, interpretations, and communications supplied during drafting. The underlying private communications are intentionally not reproduced. Before public circulation, any statement about another person’s private experience should be reviewed for consent, accuracy, necessity, and potential harm.
Michael Samuel Todd | August 17, 2026 | 1

// Look at this gem I found. You’ll see me with friends, former NOLA Mayor & current National Urban League CEO, Marc Morial, and former New Orleans City Council, Cynthia Morrell!

This was taken at the ribbon-cutting for the newly renovated McDonogh No. 15 School, a.k.a. the “Little Red Schoolhouse,” in the historic French Quarter. Councilwoman Morrell was the school’s principal at that time.

What a precious memory of living and leading in the city of New Orleans! I loved my city then, now, and ALWAYS. ⚜️

08/17/2026

SLAVERY REMEMBRANCE MUST BECOME RESPONSIBILITY

On August 15, 2026, Congressman Al Green hosted Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.’s Slavery Remembrance Legislative Update and Assembly at the United States Capitol under the theme, “Harder Yet May Be the Fight.”

As America marks 250 years since 1776, we must also remember 500 years of African presence, resistance, survival, and institution-building—beginning with the enslaved Africans brought to San Miguel de Gualdape in 1526.

But remembrance cannot end with ceremonies, titles, photographs, or speeches. It must become action.

I honor my son, Lawrence Williams Todd, while respecting his right to control his own story. I also acknowledge four African American women—Stephanie Marcellé, Adrian Yvette Williams Todd, Bherita Ruanda “Bambi” Hall, and Alaina Arrie Todd Banks—whose different responses through music, boundaries, private struggle, and silence remind us that no person’s body, image, trauma, communication, or history belongs to anyone else.

Tradition does not excuse violence. Brotherhood does not require suffering. Sisterhood does not demand silence. Leadership must protect those who do not yet possess the power to protect themselves.

I am also choosing to move forward—respecting established boundaries, protecting my health, and remaining open to a peaceful life and a mutually chosen love.

My remaining years are not leftovers. They remain part of my purpose.

Remembrance must become responsibility.
Brotherhood must become protection.
Leadership must become service.
Pain must not be passed to the next generation.

—Michael Samuel Todd

Summary Recap:

Exactly 255 characters—including hashtags:

Five hundred years of Black presence and resistance call us to act. Remembrance must become responsibility, brotherhood must become protection, and leadership must become service.

Full hashtags for the complete writing:

08/05/2026

I wasn’t supposed to survive everything I have walked through.

BUT GOD. 🙏🏾

Through victories and disappointments, open doors and closed doors, love and loss, financial challenges, professional battles, family disagreements, unanswered questions, and moments when I could not see what tomorrow would bring—God kept me.

At 66 years old, I can look backward and understand something I could not always see while walking through the storm:

I was never walking alone.

Some people stayed.
Some people left.
Some doors opened.
Some doors closed.
Some prayers were answered exactly as I hoped.
Others were answered in ways I did not understand at the time.

But God was present through all of it.

My faith does not mean that I will never face another difficult day. It means I know where I stand when that day arrives.

So today, I am not posting about what somebody did to me.

I am celebrating what God has done for me.

He gave me another morning.
Another opportunity.
Another lesson.
Another chance to love.
Another chance to forgive.
Another chance to serve.
Another chance to tell the truth.
Another chance to finish the work He placed before me.

I remain The Thinker. The Believer. The Lover. The Papy.

And through every chapter, I will continue to Respect the Soil—honoring those who came before me, serving those walking beside me, and preparing something better for those who will come after me.

If you are going through something today and cannot yet understand why, remember two words:

BUT GOD.

The story is not finished.
The journey is not over.
And neither am I.

LOOK AT GOD. 🙏🏾

— Michael Samuel Todd
Dillard University, Class of 1981
The Thinker | The Believer | The Lover | The Papy

Respect the Soil. 🌱

08/05/2026

OP-ED | APRIL 8. APRIL 15. SEVEN DAYS. WHEN AN EMPLOYMENT DECISION DOESN’T ADD UP, THE RECORD MATTERS

There comes a point when silence does not create clarity.

Documentation does.

For me, two dates are central to the questions I continue to raise regarding my separation from MedCura Health, Inc.:

April 8, 2025.

April 15, 2025.

Seven days.

On April 8, 2025, I met with MedCura Health Chief Financial Officer Clayton Knox and Human Resources Director Billie Inclan.

One week later, on April 15, 2025, my employment as MedCura’s Financial Controller was terminated.

That seven-day sequence matters.

More than a year later, I continue to believe that several questions surrounding my separation deserve straightforward, transparent, and documented answers—not simply for me, but because accountability matters in every organization entrusted with employees, patients, students, healthcare dollars, institutional partnerships, federal resources, and the public trust.

I understand that Georgia generally follows the employment-at-will doctrine.

I am not disputing that principle.

But employment at will should never be confused with employment without accountability.

At-will employment does not erase applicable federal or state employment laws and protections. Nor does it eliminate an organization’s responsibility to follow applicable policies, contractual obligations, regulatory requirements, governance procedures, or other legal requirements.

That distinction is particularly important in this case because MedCura operates within the Federally Qualified Health Center healthcare framework and under applicable federal and Georgia requirements.

An organization participating in federally supported community healthcare does not cease having employment obligations simply because Georgia recognizes at-will employment.

Nor should federal healthcare participation be treated as a technical designation disconnected from governance.

Federally supported healthcare organizations serve communities that depend upon responsible stewardship of public and private resources. Financial accountability, internal controls, compliance, documentation, transparency, quality improvement, and sound governance are therefore not merely administrative concepts.

They are fundamental institutional responsibilities.

And those responsibilities were central to the work I performed.

As Financial Controller, my responsibilities included financial reporting, internal controls, compliance, governance, quality improvement, organizational accountability, and stewardship of resources supporting MedCura’s healthcare operations, including its community and school-based healthcare initiatives.

That is why I continue returning to the chronology.

APRIL 8, 2025 — MEETING WITH THE CFO AND HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR.

APRIL 15, 2025 — TERMINATION OF MY EMPLOYMENT.

What occurred during those seven days?

That is a reasonable question.

But the questions do not end there.

During my exit interview with CFO Clayton Knox and Human Resources Director Billie Inclan, I was presented with several options that appeared difficult to reconcile with the employment action MedCura had just taken.

First, I was asked to sign and return a termination letter issued on behalf of Chief Executive Officer Jeff Taylor.

I declined.

After reviewing the circumstances, I did not believe I should sign a document merely because it had been presented to me during the separation process.

Second, I was encouraged to submit a letter of resignation.

I declined that as well.

Why?

Because I had not resigned.

If an employer terminates an employee, I believe the employment record should accurately reflect that the separation was initiated by the employer.

A resignation submitted after an employer has communicated a termination could materially change how the historical employment record is understood.

I was unwilling to characterize an employer-initiated separation as my voluntary resignation.

Then came another development that remains particularly difficult for me to reconcile.

During that same separation process, I was advised that I could reapply for the Financial Controller position and that I should expect additional communication regarding that opportunity by approximately April 22, 2025.

Think about that chronology:

April 8 — I meet with the CFO and HR Director.

April 15 — My employment is terminated.

During the separation process — I am encouraged to resign.

During that same process — I am advised that I can reapply for the Financial Controller position.

Approximately April 22 — I am told to expect additional communication regarding that opportunity.

Thereafter, the Financial Controller position—or a position involving the same or substantially similar financial-controller responsibilities—was advertised and ultimately filled, whether under the identical title or through a revised title, organizational structure, classification, or compensation arrangement.

That sequence leaves legitimate questions.

Why was I encouraged to submit a resignation after MedCura had initiated my termination?

Why was I advised that I could reapply for the same or substantially similar position from which I had just been separated?

If MedCura believed I remained qualified enough to reapply, what documented circumstances justified terminating my employment in the first instance?

And now we return to those seven days:

What happened between April 8 and April 15, 2025?

What was discussed?

What was documented?

What changed?

What was recommended?

When was the termination decision actually made?

Who participated in making that decision?

What business, operational, organizational, financial, performance, compliance, or governance rationale supported it?

What documentation exists establishing the reasons for the employment action?

Was the Financial Controller position subsequently restructured?

Was it retitled?

Was it reclassified?

Did the responsibilities change?

Did the compensation change?

When were any of those decisions made?

And were those decisions made before or after my termination?

There is another question that I believe deserves examination:

Were all applicable federal requirements, Georgia requirements, employment protections, organizational policies, governance procedures, compliance standards, and responsibilities associated with MedCura’s federally supported healthcare operations properly followed throughout this process?

I raise that as a question—not as a predetermined legal conclusion.

In my opinion, based upon what I personally experienced and the documentation presently available to me, there are legitimate questions concerning whether all applicable employment requirements and procedures were followed.

That is my opinion.

It is not a judicial finding.

It is not my purpose through this Op-Ed to declare that MedCura, Jeff Taylor, Clayton Knox, Billie Inclan, or anyone else violated a particular law.

That determination should be based upon the complete evidence and, where appropriate, made through the proper legal, administrative, regulatory, or judicial process.

But I am entitled to ask the questions.

And stakeholders are entitled to understand why those questions exist.

The solution is not complicated:

Produce the records.

Preserve the emails.

Review the April 8 meeting.

Establish what occurred between April 8 and April 15.

Determine when the termination decision was made.

Review the April 15 separation documentation.

Review the discussion concerning resignation.

Review the communication telling me I could reapply.

Review what was supposed to occur by approximately April 22.

Examine the subsequent job posting.

Compare the old and new job descriptions.

Compare the responsibilities.

Compare the organizational reporting structure.

Compare the compensation.

Identify when the subsequent hiring decision was made.

Then allow the evidence to determine what happened.

That is not retaliation.

That is not speculation.

That is governance.

That is accountability.

That is why records exist.

I have spent decades working across finance, operations, healthcare, higher education, banking, nonprofit governance, institutional leadership, and community organizations.

One principle has followed me throughout that journey:

Good governance can withstand good questions.

Responsible leadership does not fear documentation.

Strong institutions do not fear their own records.

And financial executives should never be afraid to follow the numbers, documents, chronology, and internal controls wherever they lead.

Healthcare organizations carry an especially important responsibility.

Behind every financial statement are people.

Patients.

Children.

Families.

Employees.

Physicians.

Nurses.

Teachers.

Students.

Community partners.

Federal agencies.

State agencies.

Taxpayers.

Funders.

Boards.

And entire communities depending upon leadership to exercise responsible stewardship.

That responsibility becomes even more significant when healthcare organizations operate within community and school-based environments and work alongside respected institutional partners.

That is why I am respectfully bringing these concerns to the attention of:

Congressman Hank Johnson

Congressman Troy A. Carter

The Chairman of the Dillard University Board of Trustees

and

Dr. Deborah Holt, Emory University School-Based Clinic Stakeholder

I am not asking Congressman Johnson, Congressman Carter, Dillard University, Emory University, Dr. Holt, or members of the public to accept my conclusions.

I am not asking anyone to prejudge MedCura.

I am asking something much more fundamental:

Examine the record.

If the decisions were appropriate, the documentation should help establish that.

If policies and applicable requirements were followed, the record should help establish that.

If there was a legitimate business rationale for terminating me and subsequently inviting me to reapply, explain it.

If the position changed, document when and why it changed.

If the April 8 meeting had nothing to do with the April 15 termination, the records should help establish that as well.

That is what transparency looks like.

My concern remains straightforward:

The employment record should tell the truth.

My professional commitment has always remained unchanged:

Serve with integrity.

Protect the public trust.

Strengthen internal controls.

Demand accountability.

Protect the integrity of financial reporting.

Respect governance.

And leave every organization stronger than I found it.

I will continue to operate from facts, documentation, faith, and respect for the historical record.

Because the lesson here reaches far beyond one employee or one healthcare organization.

Positions come and go.

CEOs come and go.

CFOs come and go.

Controllers come and go.

Board members come and go.

Titles eventually disappear from the office door.

But decisions leave records.

Records create history.

And history eventually asks leadership to account for its stewardship.

April 8, 2025.

April 15, 2025.

Seven days.

What happened between those dates?

Why was I terminated?

Why was I then encouraged to resign?

Why was I told I could reapply?

Why was additional communication expected by approximately April 22?

What happened to the position afterward?

And were the federal, state, employment, governance, compliance, and institutional requirements applicable to this federally supported healthcare environment properly followed?

Those questions deserve documented answers.

Not rumors.

Not assumptions.

Not rewritten history.

Documents.

Evidence.

Facts.

My commitment remains unchanged:

Ask the questions.
Preserve the evidence.
Follow the facts.
Respect the record.
Respect the employees.
Respect the patients.
Respect the community.
Respect the public trust.
Respect the Soil.

With love, respect, and gratitude,

Michael Samuel Todd
Dillard University — Class of 1981

The Thinker
The Believer
The Lover
The Papy

Respect the Soil