January 2022 - Picture Stories

Divide a piece of paper into four quadrants. Find an object to draw. Top left corner, you have 10 seconds to draw it. Top right corner, draw the same object for 1 minute. Observe three details you were unable to draw in the previous pictures. Bottom left, you have three minutes to draw the same object. Observe three more details you were unable to draw in the previous picture. Finally, bottom right, you have 10 minutes to draw that same object. A 7th grader, Daiyona, drew this picture of one of our ping pong paddles and I think you'll agree, this activity does a great job demonstrating that the more time you take doing something, the better the result. Last week during the NBA All Star game draft, LeBron James was asked what charity he was playing for. He said, "I am very proud to announce that I'm playing for the Kent State I Promise Scholars Program. These are my kids that are now at Kent State that started the I Promise program in 3rd grade and now they're in college. They've been awarded full time scholarships, their room and board is taken care of, and these are kids that come from the same walks of life that I came from in Akron, Ohio. For them to have an opportunity to graduate college, to be on a college campus, for them to have an opportunity to have dreams that they didn't even believe or their families believe, this is something that I've envisioned for a long time and for it to become a reality. Now that I'm up here playing for my kids that've been a part of my program for so long, it makes me extremely happy." Seeing a vision that will take a long time and then executing it, man! What a feeling that must be for him.

These simple canvases are part of a larger vision. As the middle school students learn this specific style of painting with tape on these small 8 by 10s, they are being set up to use this experience to transfer this style of painting to spray painting onto one of our picnic table outside, which will eventually, hopefully lead to painting an entire fence at our Nutritional Garden. We taped the canvases first, with straight lines, curved lines, thick, skinny. What I love about this project is that even students who declare to themselves that they stink at art, the results turn out pretty well. We only had about 30-45 minutes to work on these, but they turned out great! I can't wait to see some of the middle school students begin to realize that they can make a difference, even a visual difference in their community. Students have a greater capability of igniting change than we may realize or give credit for. I want to shout out what the Evac Movement has been doing lately. They are in Jacksonville, made up of young black men living for change. Please take a few minutes and watch how they made national news by getting creative with NFTs, Evac Movement NFTs.

Back in 2016, 2nd Mile would meet once a month for Walk it Out at a local track, encouraging others to get out and live physical and  healthy lives. This transitioned in 2017 to Open Court which would meet at Brentwood Park to catch more families and kids in the community. Come 2018, this transitioned to Open Court at North Pearl St. Baptist Church (where 2nd Mile is located). We open up the space once a week in the summer time to anyone who wants to play basketball outside or games inside. There's music, food, and the atmosphere of competition. During the school year, we aspire to have Open Court once a month, depending on the weather and scheduling. January's Open Court had a small attendance, due to the fact that it was in the low 40's and was raining pretty hard. Regardless, we held a Connect 4 tournament inside. I'm pretty good at strategy games, but it was a tall task to get past Ernest (left) and 8th grader Devaric (Daiyona's sister). I can see maybe three steps ahead, but they can see like five or six. This pic is the championship game, of which Ernest made quick work. Ernest has been around 2nd Mile since the beginning (2003) as a teenager. With a steady full-time job, we shouldn't see Ernest around as much as we do, but he always makes a point to stop by and make sure the staff and students are seen (and maybe to take down the occasional kid in a game). Don't ever change Ernest. You are loved bro. I had the privilege (and some luck) of seeing the Packers play the Saints for game 1 of this NFL season with Ernest.

Our garden has a very special place in my heart; however, it is not always in the condition that the eyes of my heart can see. I close my eyes and I see garden beds overflowing with ripe fruits and vegetables, leafy greens that you could pluck off and make a salad right then and there, places to sit, relax, and meditate. I can see many colors of food so diverse that you can't help but be drawn into it from the outside. When I open my eyes, especially in the wintertime, I see many empty beds, lots of leaves scattered, fallen from the neighboring trees, collected over months. A few weeks ago, I was invited by Ms. Brenda, a participant in our As We Gather program for the older people in our community, to come visit a community garden being run in Springfield, a neighboring neighborhood to Brentwood. Created in the back alleys to some nice houses, I couldn't believe what I saw. In January, I saw so many plants growing. Every plant was either good or great, no runts, no rotting, no disease. My eyes weren't shut, they were open. It had seating, it had shade, it had strung lights, it had life! It also had a couple people devoted to caring for the garden as their full-time job, but still. It reminded me of college when our viola professor would occasionally bring in a famous violist to our class to play in front of us. I was equally in awe and embarrassed. I was in awe that a viola could sound so good and slightly discouraged at the difference in our skill levels. I loved the viola after all and it brought me a lot of joy the way I knew to play. This well-maintained garden was equally as inspiring as it was daunting. I didn't know a garden could be so "fruitful" and I wonder if 2nd Mile has the ability to be just as devoted and rigorous with our garden. Thankfully, we've received a couple grants recently that are 100% for using in our garden. Hopefully I will have updates in the future for how our garden will slowly transform into something not just in our minds and our hearts, but in reality.

Me + game with dodgeballs = happy me

Music demonstration at 252