C.J. Stewart – Page 69

Black Youth and The Dabnus Brickey Connection

January 20, 2015 by C.J. Stewart

I recently asked a teen age white male when, if ever, does he get an opportunity to interact with black people. He responded that during community service is the only time that he is able to interact with black people. Meaning, he’s the one serving Blacks who are in need.

Members of the 2015 Ambassadors ready to serve on L.E.A.D.’s adopted segment
of the Atlanta Beltine at Washington Park on MLK Day.

I know this young man really well and he is an amazing individual. I believe that the danger with his statement is that he could develop a negative bias towards Black people as he enters adulthood. He could have the mindset that Black people are always in need and can only advance or do better when White people offer help. Without strong core values, bias can turn into racism. Thankfully, this young man has a strong set of core values and a heart for human beings.

But consider the narratives we read everyday that are written by way of statistics as it relates to Black inner-city Atlanta youth:

There are 50,000+ students in Atlanta Public School
80% of those students live at or below the poverty level
80% of Georgia prison inmates are comprised of youth that come from Atlanta zip codes 30310, 30315 and 30318

Ambassadors complete monthly service projects that instill in them a
sense of belonging and investment in their community.

Those stats portray a group of people who don’t have a chance of having a great life, right? I mean, if you had to draft an All-Star team made up of the individuals who these stats speak of, could you draft a winning team?

Absolutely you could! As a matter of fact, I have drafted such a team and I call them Ambassadors. The statistics above are positioned to speak of their futures, but through L.E.A.D., we are helping them create new statistics. Numbers like these: to date, 100% of L.E.A.D. Ambassadors graduate from high school, 95% enroll into college and 92% receive college scholarship opportunities. We are creating new narratives with these new statistics, so we can begin to plant a positive bias in society as it relates to young Black males.

We value things and people by the way they are presented to us. I know with the recent controversy associated with Bill Cosby, folks are trying to steer clear of any associations with him. I am neither judge nor jury on the issues facing Mr. Cosby’s life at this time and I can’t forget the many life lessons that The Cosby Show taught me. One of which has to do with value.

Remember when Vanessa, came home from college and she brought Dabnus home with her? If you recall, she brought him there under false pretenses: he was just a boyfriend from school. The truth finally came out and it was revealed that Dabnus was more than just her boyfriend, he was her fiance. During the “come to Jesus meeting” between Dr. Huxtable and Dabnus, Dr. Huxtable shared that he thought Dabnus could be a porterhouse steak quality of a guy, but the problem was that Vanessa introduced him to the family on a trashcan lid. Now who wants to eat a porterhouse steak, grilled to perfection, off of a trashcan lid? No one.

That’s what’s happening to Black youth in Atlanta and across the country. The stats that are being pounded into our consciousness every day through media and other forms of propaganda are presenting our young men, who have amazing potential, on filthy trashcan lids. Through the Ambassadors, we are working to positively raise the profile of young Black men in Atlanta so that the world can see their true promise – educated, civically-engaged, compassionate youth who will grow up to be excellent citizens, husbands and fathers.

As we search ourselves on this Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, let us ask these questions:

What biases do I have?

How often do I interact with people from other races on a personal level?

Is racism a problem for me?

Do I find it difficult to have conversations about race?

Am I an asset to my neighborhood, city, state, country?

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Models are the best mentors

January 17, 2015 by C.J. Stewart

Did you know that Mentor was actually a person that later become a verb?

noun. Mentor Greek Mythology Odysseus’s trusted counselor, in whose guise Athena became the guardian and teacher of Telemachus.

verb. To serve as a trusted counselor or teacher, especially in occupational settings.

One of the best methods of mentorship that is often underused is modeling.

The Hebrews established an amazing 4-step method of effective mentoring “back in the day” that was based on modeling.

Here is their simple method.

1. I do it.

2. I do it and you watch me do it.

3. You do it and I watch you do it.

4. You do it.

Watch me lead and I will watch you lead then you will lead. ~C.J. Stewart

When I began traveling down the road to officially become a mentor in 2007 by way of L.E.A.D., I didn’t even really know what the word mentor meant. In that, I realized that knowing is better than assumptions if you want to serve and make significant and sustainable impact.

I learned that in order to become an effective mentor, you need to first know what you are doing so that you can model it. I’m able to effectively empower an at risk generation of black males from Atlanta Public Schools (APS) to lead and transform their city of Atlanta because I was them.

L.E.A.D. Ambassador Denzel Campbell (USC-Beaufort), C.J. Stewart and L.E.A.D. Ambassador Desmond Stegall (Grambling State University)

I attended Grove Park Elementary School (APS) which is an inner city Atlanta school and used baseball and education to access Georgia State University as a student-athlete and later went on to play professional baseball in the Chicago Cubs organization.

In addition to L.E.A.D., my wife Kelli and I own Diamond Directors which is our for profit business that provides the blueprint of success for diamond sport athletes. Since 1998, our clientele includes over 100 college baseball scholarship athletes, several MLB 1st round draft picks and Major League Baseball clients such as Jason Heyward, Dexter Fowler and Andrew McCutchen.

I think a role model is a mentor – someone you see on a daily basis, and you learn from them. ~Denzel Washington

My childhood through adult life experiences as well as my professional expertise uniquely positioned me to reestablish baseball in the inner city of Atlanta in 2007 with my wife.

L.E.A.D. offers 12-month programming to over 200 APS black male student-athletes grades 6th through 12th. Our pillars of excellence include academics, athletics (baseball), commerce and civic responsibility. We strategically use the Habitudes curriculum by Dr. Tim Elmore as a performance enhancer for our L.E.A.D. student-athletes.

L.E.A.D. has an amazing Pathway2Empowerment methodology that moves our APS students-athletes from grades 6th-12th to and through college.

So what is it that I ultimately want our L.E.A.D. Ambassadors to do you might ask?

I want our L.E.A.D. Ambassadors to lead their city of Atlanta and state of Georgia to lead the world. Here are three ways that they will do it.

1. Serve as a Chief Executive Officer for an Atlanta based Fortune 100 company by 2040. Leadership is influence.

2. Serve as the Governor of the State of Georgia by 2040. Governors are the heads of the state and not a position for just any body.

3. Represent the State of Georgia as a U.S. Senator by 2040. Senators create law.

C.J. Stewart at the 2015 Governor Nathan Deal Inauguration

Before you can give back, you must have something to give. ~C.J. Stewart

Are you a mentor?

What skills do you model well for others?

What guarantees can you make to your mentees?

Living Each Day On Purpose

January 14, 2015 by C.J. Stewart

You’ve heard the saying that “we can learn something new each day.” Since January 1st, I have established a new habit of journaling one thing that I have learned each day. It forces me to become aware of the things that I’m doing and saying throughout the day.

On January 1st while spending some time with our L.E.A.D. Ambassadors, I learned that problems are waiting on a great leader to solve them.

C.J. Stewart and the L.E.A.D. Ambassadors at Booker T. Washington High School

Today while spending time with my good friend and discipleship partner Mike Moye, I learned that the basis of establishing and maintaining healthy relationships is found in The Lord’s Prayer “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us.”

My prayer is that I can remain discipline enough to live each day on purpose and record what I’m learning each day in my journal.

What is something new that you learned today?

Rhythm of Life – Who I Serve

December 31, 2014 by C.J. Stewart

A rhythm is a strong, regularly repeated pattern of movement. Songs with good rhythm makes us feel good and dance. Good music inspires.

Life is like music. There’s music that inspires us to love deeper, think differently and understand others. Good music moves you.

I must admit that I’m that guy that bobs my head to music and often times not even knowing the lyrics. I have music on my iPhone that gets me in the mood spiritually, mentally and emotionally. My positive mood allows me to move positively.
Is there a rhythm to life? Things that must happen in a strong, regularly repeated pattern in order for each of us to live out our purpose?

Our hearts must beat to a rhythm. If not, poor health, even death, can be near. Animals communicate with a rhythm of sounds to protect themselves. Winds create a rhythmic pattern of water movement called waves.

I believe that most of exist on earth without being aware of our rhythm of life. As hip-hop artist Cee-Lo Green stated so eloquently: We’re alive but we ain’t living.

In order to have a good rhythm of life, one that blesses and empowers us personally (self, family) so that we can do the same corporately (community, world), there must be boundaries that help us serve as good stewards over what has been entrusted to us. This year, instead of creating New Years resolutions, I am focusing on creating and maintaining a good rhythm for my life.

I’ve spoken to several people that suggested five boundaries that create a good rhythm of life: spiritual, mission driven, mental, emotional, physical and relational.

Spiritual-Who I Serve

I am a follower of Christ who believes that the Holy Spirit lives in me serving as my conscience.

There are many religions and I respect everyone’s right to serve the deity of their choice. I’m sure that we can agree that regardless of who or what you serve, you must have a conscience in order to function well with other humans.

Ask yourself: How do you connect with your spiritual self each day?

A Benefit of being spiritually fulfilled: When you are spiritually fulfilled, you become accountable to something greater than you. That accountability can help you make the best decisions.

Risk of not being spiritually fulfilled: Destruction to yourself and others.

Do this: List 3 ways you can connect spiritually on a daily basis

As a leader, this is what I learned from the Falcons this season

December 29, 2014 by C.J. Stewart

Watching this debacle of an Atlanta Falcons game has me giving thought to the cause of losing seasons by organizations.

Here are three reasons why teams lose often.

Poor leadership

Everything rises and falls on leadership and I mean everything. Effective leaders establish the mission and vision of the organization. They also represent the culture of the organization.

Winning cultures must have standards and accountability.

As the CEO of L.E.A.D., I am charged to establish what our wins and loses are as an organization in the short and long term. If we lose repeatedly as an organization, I will no longer be the leader.

Click here to see L.E.A.D.’s scoreboard.

On set for ESPN’s E:60

Poor strategic plan

Strategic is a game changing word. We can create any plan of any type off the top of our head. If a plan is strategic, it aims to win. I can’t think of anyone that plans to fail. In order to win, there will be loses and those loses better move us towards the big win.

Strategic planning can be complicated because lots of questions must be asked and answered with the right people at the table over many days and long nights. Preferably, the people at the table need to have experience winning. If not, your strategic plan could end in failure.

Lack of talent

If you are fortunate to have the right leader in place with a strategic plan, you better have talent if you want to win.

The strategic plan determines who you bring on the team. Every willing and able person can’t join the team if they don’t have the skills to help the team achieve it’s mission and vision.

In 2015, Kelli Stewart and I are planning to add some amazing talent to our team of L.E.A.D. in order to continue to serve Atlanta families in an amazing way.

Reality check

The reality however is that all teams say that they want to win because that have to. Actions speak louder than words. And for good measure, talk is cheap and anybody can afford it.

L.E.A.D.’s mission is to empower an at risk generation to lead and transform their city of Atlanta. L.E.A.D.’s vision is for our Ambassadors to lead their city of Atlanta to lead the world.

L.E.A.D. Weekend 2014 at Turner Field

L.E.A.D., Inc. | L.E.A.D. Center For Youth