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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 2011)
news Ken Bevel: the “Courageous” A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Ken Bevel is a graduate of the University of Memphis with a bache- lor’s degree in Computer Engineering Technology; he’s also a graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School with a MBA in Logistics Management. After 20 years of active service in the United States Marine Corps, Capt. Bevel retired to serve in the ministry on the staff of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. After 20 years of active service in the United States Marine Corps, Capt. Bevel retired to serve in the ministry on the staff of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. However, he’s also become a recogniza- ble film actor. Bevel played Lieutenant Michael Simmons in the inspirational film “Fireproof,” and is now on big screens across the country, playing police officer Nathan Hayes in “Courageous,” a police- and family-focused drama from Sherwood Pictures. Here, the Marine Corps Captain- turned-pastor/actor talks about life and about his latest role. c eLeBriTy i NTerview by Kam Williams kam williams: Hi Ken, thanks for the inter- view. It was great meeting you Julie, Paul and Pastor Alex in person the other night. ken Bevel: Thanks Kam. We enjoyed meet- ing you and your wife and we definitely enjoyed the conversation. kw: What interested you in “Courageous?” kB: There are two things that drew my interest. The first was my conviction to the messages told by Sherwood Pictures. In each of the four films they’ve done, the Sherwood Pictures team handles with care the weighty issues of honesty, integrity, marriage and fatherhood. As these topics are addressed through the silver screen, I have seen lives changed and families restored. So, seeing the fruit of the movies drew me more than anything. The second is the topic, fatherhood. There are many men who deeply desire to be a man of integrity upon whom their children can look to for guidance, instruction, affirmation and love. However, due to a lack of wise counsel, many are straying from the path of true fatherhood and settling for good instead of great. As a man, I long to be a part of the solution that will assist men in being the fathers they were designed to be. kw: Tell me a little about your character, Nathan Hayes? kB: Nathan Hayes is a man most of us would consider a “good” man. He is a hard- working African American male, with a beautiful wife and three wonderful children. Although his life may seem picturesque ini- tially, his earlier years were filled with iden- tity struggles, violence and doubt due in part to the absence of a father. However, through the assistance of a mentor, William Barrett, Nathan was able to learn what it means to be a man. While the presence of a mentor helped his belief in God and person- al growth, he believed there was more to being a father and was willing to seek after it. kB: Very much so. I see myself in the same light as Nathan Hayes. I too grew up with my father being absent from our home for many years. As a result of the lack of affirmation and encouragement, I grew up doubting myself as a young man and strug- gling to understand how to deal with the kw: Are there any parallels between Nathan’s life and your own? See BeveL on page 7 Occupy continued from page 1 ment are the Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke to the crowd in New York Monday, and Georgia’s Rep. John Lewis. However, when Lewis tried to speak to the crowd in Atlanta, he was blocked by a small number of people. The Occupy movement operates by concensus which means everyone has to agree to every decision. The Occupy Wall Street move- ment has spread to cities all over the country, and beyond. Despite the onset of cold weather, protest- ers have indicated they’re in it for the long haul. Occupy Seattle demonstrators sent the mayor a list of demands, including approval for large tents to be used as a kitchen, infirmary, storage area and information center - and writ- ten approval of long-term occu- pancy. In Oregon, Monday Oct. 10, protesters marched and rallied at the Oregon capitol in Salem. Organizers plan to camp indefinitely at Salem’s Wilson Park. In Portland protesters are camping at Chapman Square. The Occupy Wall Street movement, which has spawned grass-roots activities around the U.S. and prompted comments from President Barack Obama, is now drawing political remarks from Protests against wealth inequality spread from New York to cities across the country overseas. Iran’s top leader said Wednesday that the wave of protests reflects a serious crisis that will ultimately topple capitalism in America. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the United States is now in a full- blown crisis because its “corrupt foundation has been exposed to the American people.” The remarks came a day after U.S. officials said the Obama administration plans to leverage charges that Iran plotted to assas- sinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador into a new global campaign to iso- late the Islamic republic. For the past 3 1/2 weeks, the economic protesters have besieged a park in lower Manhattan near Wall Street. A march on Tuesday, past the homes of wealthy resi- dents, marked the first time the movement has singled out individ- uals as part of the 1 percent they say are getting rich at the expense of the rest of America. More activities were planned Wednesday. In Ohio, the group Occupy Cincinnati was staging a march. Protesters in New York planned to gather at the headquarters of JP Morgan Chase, where they’ll con- tinue to decry the expiration of the state’s 2 percent “millionaires’ tax” in December. Meanwhile, the lawyer for a woman pepper sprayed during an action last month is demanding page 6 The Seattle Skanner that the Manhattan district attor- ney prosecute an NYPD deputy inspector on an assault charge. Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the matter is being investigat- ed by police internal affairs and the Civilian Complaint Review Board. In Washington, six people were arrested Tuesday for demonstrat- ing inside a Senate office building. More than 125 protesters in Boston were arrested after they ignored warnings to move from a downtown green space, police said. The New York state comptroller has issued a report showing that Wall Street is again losing jobs because of global economic woes. The job losses threaten tax rev- enue for a city and state heavily reliant on the financial industry. The industry shed 4,100 jobs in the late spring and summer and could lose nearly 10,000 more by the end of 2012, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said. That would bring the total industry loss to 32,000 positions since the financial meltdown of 2008. The sector employed 166,600 people in investment banks, secu- rities trading firms and hedge funds as of August.Christopher Guerra, an artist and Occupy Wall Street protester from Newark, N.J., said the job losses aid the protesters’ cause.”That means more people on our side,” Guerra said. “The companies are destroy- ing this country by helping them- selves, not the people, and pushing jobs out of America. If they get shafted, they will realize that what we are saying is true.”
