I was born in 1976 in Atlanta, GA.  I’m a proud “Grady baby”.  I was around the age of 8 when I began to understand the tradition and legacy of Atlanta.  If the streets could talk, it would share stories of some amazing men in this city like Alonzo Herndon, Herman Russell, and Hamilton Holmes to name a few.

We are doing great work in the city of Atlanta through L.E.A.D. I often laugh because I know that there is no way that L.E.A.D. would have existed when I was a child.  Simply because there was no need.

I grew up playing at the Cascade Youth Organization (C.Y.O.) and we had hundreds of youth in year round programming.  There were thousands of African-American boys playing baseball throughout the city.  My C.Y.O. coaches were great mentors and put me on a life and baseball development path that I will never forget.

I was a member of a Boy Scouts Troop out of my church at Elizabeth Baptist Church on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.  I became a Webelo Scout before my baseball passion and commitment caused conflict with my scouting schedule.  My scout masters were great mentors and put me on a life and service path I will never forget.

I was a student at Grove Park Elementary School within Atlanta Public Schools (APS) from 1st through 5th grade.  I excelled academically and was exposed to some of the best that Atlanta had to offer.  I flew on a plane for the first time as a second grader while in Mrs. Jacob’s class.  I visited the Herndon Home as a third grader in Mrs. Blue class.  My teachers were great mentors and put me on a life, academic and civic engagement path that I will never forget.

In order to make impact in the inner city of Atlanta, you must close the history gap.  We all want to serve and make Atlanta a better place.  Atlanta has thousands of non-profit organizations that would have never existed 20-plus year ago.  To that end, you have to understand the history of the inner city  of Atlanta before you help the youth inside of it.  Often times, we place our flag of support in the ground without speaking to the pastors, teachers and community leaders that have been grinding here for years.  It all comes down to respect.

It takes a village to raise a child but if we don’t close the history gap, we can be viewed as an enemy.

I have been a fan and supporter of Sheltering Arms Early Education and Family Centers for three years.  The staff is amazing and the youth are truly being developed academically and socially.  I am convinced that our future Mayor of Atlanta, Governor of Georgia and President of the United States is being taught in a Sheltering Arms Center.

Sheltering Arms is Georgia’s oldest nonprofit early childhood education program, and one of its most respected. Our mission is to serve working families with high quality, affordable child care and education and comprehensive support services, as well as to provide professional development for early childhood educators and community outreach. Founded by Atlanta volunteers in 1888, Sheltering Arms now annually serves more than 3,600 children, ages six weeks to five years old, and their families, in 16 centers in 6 metro Atlanta counties. Sheltering Arms is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization.

I was able to read to a Pre-K age three class today and I had so much fun.  It was early morning and my coffee hadn’t kicked in yet but when a classroom full of three year old boys and girls scream, everybody wakes up.

What does the word empact mean? It’s actually not a word.  The topic of this blog is impact with an “i”.  Impact could be mistakenly spelled using an “e” but if it doesn’t begin with an “i”, it’s wrong.

L.E.A.D. Ambassadors at Ebenezer Baptist Church

The ability to make an impact on the life of someone is a privilege.  Those that are being impacted are in need.  Especially young men that are in the Atlanta Public Schools (APS).  Young men within APS are at risk due to high crime rate and poverty which are two main reasons that 34% of African-American males graduate from high school within APS.  APS is full of amazing educators that have to deal with outside risk factors that make their jobs a challenge.  The good news is that academic excellence is returning to APS under amazing leadership.

Every problem creates an opportunity.  Thus inner city Atlanta is a prime place for non-profit organizations to serve. In order to make impact anywhere, a cultural, language, geography and history gap must be closed.

Obviously, English is the main language in America but inner city Atlanta has a language of it’s own. My experience with the language code is due to being raised in the inner city of Atlanta and my consistent engagement with youth.

If you don’t understand what’s being said, you won’t be able to communicate and make impact.  I agree that ebonics isn’t an acceptable form of communication in corporate America but it works well in the inner city of Atlanta.  To that point, if you come to Atlanta to make impact, you are responsible for understanding the language. No different than if you went to Paris for vacation.

We meet our LEADers in L.E.A.D. where they are and over a period of time and meaningful conversation impact the way that they speak so that they may properly communicate in several environments. It has to be understood that if you don’t live in the inner city of Atlanta, you are the outsider and the way that you speak is often considered wrong.

There is indeed a lot of work to do in the inner city of Atlanta to get our youth to a high level of achievement.  Let’s be respectful and patient and close the language gap before we go all in to make impact.

This blog is inspired by a recent blog that I read from John Hope Bryant entitled “Why Thug Culture Is Actually Our Inner-City Problem”.  Mr. Bryant was our keynote speaker at last years L.E.A.D. Dinner With Champions Awards Celebration at the Delta 755 Club at Turner Field.  He tells it like it really is and influences change.

Impact is the ability to influence or alter. There isn’t a day that goes by when organizations and individuals make attempts to influence positive change in Atlanta Public Schools (APS).  There are several problems that are faced in the inner city of Atlanta and as a result there is a tremendous desire to help.

I was born and raised in the inner city of Atlanta during a time when the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) were among the top academically in the state.  There were several social issues that existed but not to the point of having so many non-profit organizations being involved with the schools to promote excellence. With so many organizations available to serve youth in the inner city of Atlanta, why is the high school graduation rate of African-American males within APS still 34%?

In order to make impact anywhere, a cultural, language, geography and history gap must be closed.

The first gap that must be closed in order to make impact is a cultural gap.  As Mr. Bryant mentioned in his recent blog, there is a “thug culture” that exists in the inner city of Atlanta.  There is a desire for some youth to live a life of crime instead of making sacrifices in the classroom.  The thug life can bring fast money but it can also shorten your life on Earth. These young men want to excel but lack the tools and consistent mentor-ship to become productive citizens.

L.E.A.D. doesn’t judge the young men that we serve.  We simply meet them where they are. I understand the inner city Atlanta culture because I grew up in it. We give them what they need and not what we think that they want. L.E.A.D. offers year round programming so that we can create a new culture for our LEADers through four pillars of excellence that include academics, athletics, service/civic engagement, and exposure.

The solution to changing this negative culture is to first understand how we got here.  We got here by not remaining connected with our youth.  As a child, I was constantly asked what I wanted to be when I grew up.  My answer was always to become a professional baseball player for the Chicago Cubs.  Know one ever told me that I couldn’t do it.  With support from my family and the Atlanta community, my dream came true.

The “Thug Culture” can change by asking young students what their dreams are.  We as an Atlanta community can use our resources to help those dreams come true.  Youth organizations will create catchy slogans to raise funds and awareness but it is now time to do the work that your mission speaks of.  It is time to stop talking about the problem and be a part of the solution.