I've been meaning to watch Akilah and the Bee for some time now, and I finally had the opportunity to watch. Tonight kicked off a cool new program where the kids stay Friday night's to watch a movie in the chapel at the Salvation Army. Watching the movie in their company was almost too emotional for me to handle. They were Akilah. Everyone stood, clapped and cheered every time she spelled a word right in the finals, David even did cartwheels and handstands each time. I heard them talking about how, "We won!" when Akilah secured a share of the title. Daroff and Sulsburger could as easily be Crenshaw Middle School. Many family situations, social interactions, fears and insecurities were practically identical to so many of the kids in my neighborhood that I love and worry about every day.
A few weeks ago, I was helping Kiara on her second grade challenge spelling words and she was having some problems with "Pennsylvania" and "Philadelphia." She was working on spelling out Pa. and said, "Hold up, I'm going to be like Akilah," and she proceeded to pretend to jump rope as she spelled out our state without flaw. Today when we watched the movie, she left her seat to come find me and said that she was going to sit next to me for the movie. Several times I teared up and wasn't fully successful at hiding it, as she kept asking me why I was crying. Lawrence Fishburne's character chose to stay in his neighborhood despite being a professor at UCLA and after some hesitation, the two team up to focus on the Scripps Spelling Bee. Kiara leaned on my shoulder and asked me if I would be her coach and I practically melted.
Sitting there watching the movie reminded me of my interview last week. Upon sitting down, the Chair of the Community Development Corporation read a section of my resume to me where I described the places Mission Year participants live as, "neglected urban neighborhoods" and asks me, "Are you saying the neighborhood where I grew up and live in is neglected, and you want me to hire you for a job?" I pretty much froze as three black women were staring at this young white male, I didn't have an eloquent answer and stammered for a bit until I started talking about education.
I started talking about Maliq, who lives in the projects by my house and attends 6th grade at the public school across from my house and maybe reads on a second grade level and is on a third grade math level. A month or two ago, I started tutoring him individually after the hour of homework help and general tutoring. I help him during that hour too to work on his homework. During the homework hour, I spend a lot of time helping Kiara, who really doesn't need much help, but likes to hang around me. She's the tiniest second grader I've ever seen, and also the cutest little girl ever. She has huge shiny bright brown eyes, the cutest braids, and more fire per pound than anyone I've ever met. She attends a charter school and reads at a sixth grade level. Both of them know that she reads better than he does. It worries me terribly how that will affect both of them, particularly Maliq. He is missing so many fundamental building blocks that he has been left behind by all his teachers. My job is to fill in the holes for him that no one else has the luxury of focusing on.
Kiara is so smart, but enjoys asking me for help on her homework even when she doesn't need it at all. Every day, I try to let her know how smart she is and it is so rewarding to see kids decrease the amount of help they seek out because they recognize their strengths and how they really don't need me for everything.
I take tremendous joy when I watch my kids play Halo like me, the way they use grenades, rocket technique, the dance of the shotguns, and especially hearing them coach and share techniques with others. I see my influence when I watch them play and as much joy as I take from that, which is sadly very high, nothing is more exciting than seeing my m ath processes reflected in the way Maliq approaches long division or fractions. He has a long way to go, but I see a slow development in the kind of confidence which he's never really known. His dad doesn't live with him, but recently started coming in to check on him. His dad means well, but usually ends up just lecturing him about how far behind in school he is. I worry about him so much, especially now that I won't be able to help him every day.
The head of the CDC grew up in the neighborhood, went to Villanova Law school and stayed in the neighborhood and has encouraged friends and colleagues to commit to the area. I really respect that, and get excited. It's going to take successful people staying and also outside people moving into the city to truly revive disempowered neighborhoods. When Akilah finds out that her coach lives in the area, she responds by saying that she thought he was someone important, obviously implying that if he were, he wouldn't live there. That is so painful to hear and something I believe is so important to combat. As Tupac reminded us, "It's sad that Brenda doesn't know that just cuz you're in the ghetto doesn't mean you can't grow." This is a reminder that I seek to lovingly instill in both Maliq and Kiara daily.
When I was walking home from the job, the only thing that I could really think about was the comment about living in a neglected neighborhood and how I didn't respond very clearly to that question. My neighborhood is neglected; it is a marginalized part of society, practically forgotten about by our government, education system, healthcare system, and sadly to a certain extent, our churches too. That doesn't mean it's not beautiful, my neighbor's are some of the most beautiful people I have ever met, and I hope and dream big things for them, but I continually am reminded of how tough the road to success truly is for the kids that go to school in my neighborhood and grow up in the projects.
Akilah's coach doesn't just teach her spelling words, but speaks into her life, empowering her to begin to be the person she was created to be. He shares the Nelson Mandela quote about our biggest fear being excellence where he goes on to say:
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