The story goes that there was a young man walking along in Milwaukee; and pacing down Lisbon he observed students feeling disappear, so him and a few friends decided to start a campaign, “I Will Not Die Young.” As he put the inspiration back into the students… there were nay-sayers, asking “Why are you educating those kids?!” He replied, “Because they are purpose driven and have more fight to survive than their environment tells them— if I don’t get to them, they will die.” The nay-sayers said, “Young man, don’t you realize there are hundreds of kids on Lisbon?! You can’t possibly save them all; You can’t even save one-tenth of them. In fact, even if you worked all day, your efforts won’t make any difference at all…” The young man saw a young boy walking along the street screaming at the top of his lungs, “Hey, Kwabena! I Will Not Die Young Guy.” The young man inwardly chuckled and turned to the nay-sayers and said, “I made a difference to that one.” #TTYG #Turning45

Starting the Leadership 101 sessions, without question, Kwabena Antoine Nixon inquired and obliged much needed time to 26 students from blended educational backgrounds. Sharing his life story, Nixon became the griot, sharing his beginnings on the Westside of Chicago, known as 80s gangland capital. His realities catalyzed disclosure among students, anywhere else would be strangers. As Nixon shared his voice, students found the courage to share their own:

“Truth is I want to apologize to myself,” Female, age 16

“The hardest part of life is being someone else, because it takes away what you could have done,” Male, age 17

“I want to be someone important when I grow up,” Male, age 13

Conditioning the students to know themselves, Nixon shared, “If you don’t live on purpose, your life will be an accident…Believe in your assets over your liabilities.”

After the two and a half session, Nixon surprised five transparent students with a copy of his book “Eye Write What Eye See.” Leaving the students, Nixon shared his vision board and his “how-to” live every vision. By the end of the session, he positively impacted 26 students, and directly saved one. One teacher shared:

“I just wanted to say thanks for tonight and wanted to give you a little background on something. I'm going to tell you about the young man who said he wanted to be someone important. I've been trying to talk to him with no luck this week. After school, today, I started talking to him and he basically said that he is giving up on everything, because things are just the way they are. He said he was probably going to quit some programs at school and that he wasn't coming to [Our Next Generation] for any of the nights. I begged him to come. I told him that he had to come tonight and just give it a try. I knew that whatever was said tonight would stick with him.

Finally after a lot of prodding, he agreed to come and I am so glad he did. Tonight was exactly what he needed. When we were leaving, I noticed he started to just relax and smile (something I haven't seen him do in over a week). He really took to heart everything that was said. You guys got through to him tonight and I am forever grateful.” #WhatIveLearned

Alea Cross is the Youth Engagement Specialist at Our Next Generation located on 3421 West Lisbon Ave. High School Connection takes place Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 3pm-8pm (Tutoring 3-4:45pm)

As the winter harshly coated the city streets with frost and chilled winds, I won’t say I was disappointed to get outside duty, just more anxious to stay inside to scoot scholars outside the building; however, on my second day out, the care and concern scholars modeled despite the cold, made me honored to blaze the cold with them.

Being an educator, I am always amazed at the compassion and discernment of students; especially given, as an adult, you are cultivated to be vigilantly overseeing the surroundings of students. Pacing 27th & Capital Drive to manage student traffic to city buses, I observed a crowd of students hovering over a slowly moving figure attempting to waddle across the street in the dead of traffic. Anticipating a harmful accident, a student swiftly grabbed the elderly man from being hit by an oncoming car.

Rushing over, I observed scholars Preston and Raheem were asking the elderly man if he needed help crossing the street. The man, with an inaudible voice, points to the other side and protests to go without crossing signals that had changed twice since him attempting to cross. Without thought the two scholars grab the arms of the elderly man on each side, to steady his walk, and began to wave traffic to help him cross the street.

Though it took ten minutes to safely walk the elderly man across the street and escort him to Wendy’s restaurant, my heart warmed to see a man over 70 years old confided in scholars 53 years his junior. The overall compassion created a society consciousness as well as one scholar iterated, “Ms. Cross, that man shouldn’t have to be out here alone. It’s to cold for him…” As I shared a few words with them both on elderly care, we walked away with a seed planted that social change happens with discerning the small things to change our part of the world. #WhatI'veLearned

"Our human compassion binds us the one to the other - not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future."
                                                                                                             Nelson Mandela