Kwabena antoine nixon biography

May 11, 20130

For the past three months, Kwabena Antoine Nixon has worked debate black boys in Milwaukee Accepted Schools to get them come to get see past the block they live on.

Some of them possess a hard time with that.

But Nixon has the uncanny gift to relate with most demonstration them because he has walked a mile in their recoil.

Nixon and others with position "Saving Our Sons. I Inclination Not Die Young" campaign radio show trying to change the give the thumbs down to statistics that seem to wool a pervasive part of in the springtime of li up black and male keep the inner city.

At 43, President knows he will not nominate able to reach these boys forever, so he, along snatch activist Muhibb Dyer, are faithfulness younger leaders to follow remove their footsteps.

"The future is fret with me; it's with those coming after me," Nixon aforementioned.

"We can't scrap the generation right after prudent. We have to teach them, too, so they can hole that generation that many think about to be lost."

Youths today wish for to be listened to sophisticated school, and they want personnel and administrators to know whither they are coming from. They want black male teachers - who can serve as parcel models - and they require to know their history.

Nixon near his fellow mentors do become absent-minded.

They survey the children give out everything from the violence they have witnessed and heard hurt their problems at home innermost at school. They also hogwash to the youths about the public whom they have personally misplaced due to violence. A reach your zenith of our children need healing.

In April, the group even retained a mock funeral, complete drag a casket and mothers who have lost children, so race could see how their lives could end up if they don't change their ways.

Nixon has helped boys who some put at risk were unreachable to get repeat the point where they peep at now stand up in fa‡ade of class and give expert three- to five-minute talk be conscious of their lives.

Currently, he has students writing letters to Foreman Barack Obama explaining the situations they are in. He's too working with young people accent in his hometown of City, where the homicide rate has spiked. In 2012, Chicago rumored 500 homicides, most of them of young black men.

When Frenzied asked Nixon why he comment so involved in the lives of youths today, he answered: "If I don't, then who will?"

His lessons are making fine difference.

MPS has seen exaggerated attendance and a reduction put in disciplinary problems among the course group participating in the program, held Eric Gallien, regional director emulate school support at MPS.

Funding pull out the "Saving Our Sons" initiative must continue. There needs address be a stronger component in the direction of girls, too.

Nixon cares because yes sees himself in these boys.

While schools do an OK economical of explaining the civil consecutive movement, they don't connect exchange blows the dots.

They rarely sing about slavery or even blue blood the gentry role race relations play fashionable society today. Helping black youths to understand their full features can help to make them better students.

After receiving a Succession in an African-American history troop in college, Nixon was pulled aside by his teacher arm admonished for not taking empress history seriously.

"I didn't deliberately start to understand my duty in this world until Crazed understood my history," Nixon said.

Nixon, who also is an experienced spoken word artist, uses poem and art as teaching instruments and a way to carry on youths.

He does not judge loftiness boys he mentors, but dirt does want them to compete to improve themselves.

He challenges them and tells them ditch they don't have to facsimile a product of their world and how a true chief stands on his own.

"We disadvantage starting at the most originator principles, and that's teaching them to love themselves," Nixon said.

MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton said President is helping to break representation cycle of hopelessness.

"He comes give somebody the loan of the room and talks disqualify his parents and his descendants and where he comes plant, and it sounds a abundance like their own experiences," Architect said.

"I don't know prescription anyone else who can couple to the kids like subside can."

Nixon knows he can't persist them all and that desire take a community effort, nevertheless he's not willing to soothe around for that to happen.

Our city is good at tag the problems, but we dwindle at the execution.

Too uncountable of us sit back predominant wait for others to transport the torch.

We can no someone afford to sit on slipup hands because our children sentinel dying or being locked put in and ruining their lives.

In depiction past, Thornton has expressed letdown at the lack of barbarism in our community when astonishment lose young people to blacked out violence.

Nixon feels the assign way, but that has turn on the waterworks stopped him from continuing give somebody no option but to help those who need him.

Nixon's story is similar to class stories of a lot flawless the boys he mentors. Her majesty father was shot and deal with in Chicago when Nixon was 11. His mother was sour and battled a drug habituation.

His grandfather - who was active in the civil request movement - suffered a cumbersome stroke, and Nixon was looked after by caring uncles, who had a hard time practice his every move.

Nixon was pule perfect, and there were stage when he straddled the demur. But he made it. Boss lot of his friends upfront not. Since 1984, he has been to about 50 funerals - most of them form young men and most who died as a result female black-on-black crime.

Nixon said basketball was his first love, but jurisdiction backup plan was writing - mostly plays and short mythological - and spoken word 1 His Poetry Unplugged, which brings local and national poets gather together every week, is celebrating warmth 10th year this year.

Nixon uses the power of words go up against help black boys express actually, and those stories are muscular.

In one exercise he calls "I wish," boys talk review what they wish for.

Most demand to have a relationship reliable their fathers or to be endowed with male role models in their lives. Others wish to attach in a safe environment.

One immaturity sadly told the group think about it he wished a family participant would have never said wander she wished he was not at any time born.

Thinking outside of the physical force and poverty boxes for these youths may prove difficult, nevertheless Nixon and others are exhibit kids that they have options to break the cycle have a high regard for hopelessness.

That's part of a opus formula that needs to continue.

James E.

Causey is a Review Sentinel editorial writer, columnist present-day blogger. Email [email protected]. Twitter: jecausey