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00:00:00Fishes are quiet, but big doggies are loud!
00:00:28Slippers are quiet, but mommy's shoes are loud!
00:00:50You don't have any books at your house?
00:00:52Well, we're going to try to help you guys get some books.
00:00:56In fact, just one of you guys answer this question.
00:01:00One of you three guys, okay?
00:01:02I did a book about quiet and loud.
00:01:06Nasir, can you name something that was loud?
00:01:10The dog, the big dog.
00:01:12Now y'all got a book out there.
00:01:14I'm from this community, but I didn't realize 61% of kids in poor communities don't have libraries.
00:01:30It was three kids.
00:01:31We gave them a book.
00:01:32They were literally dancing about this book.
00:01:34And those kids had nothing.
00:01:36And that's when we were like, wow, we need to start giving these kids more books.
00:01:48To get these couple of books, it's the smallest gesture, but it's the biggest gesture.
00:02:00Over the years, Akif and I worked in social services throughout Philadelphia, Camden, New Jersey.
00:02:06We would come across these amazing young men that were usually in some type of criminal trouble already
00:02:12through the schools we were working at, the programs we were working at.
00:02:16And one of the main things we noticed is that most of these kids could not read.
00:02:21Having worked in a juvenile detention center, it wasn't something that I would have thought of.
00:02:27I wonder if this kid here knows how to read.
00:02:30These kids are good kids.
00:02:31These are nice kids.
00:02:32But if you read their criminal jacket, they're not nice kids.
00:02:35Your choices are extremely limited when you can't read.
00:02:39Getting a job, starting a business, opening up a bank account.
00:02:43I mean, you could go on and on getting your driver's license.
00:02:46If these babies can't read, they don't see hope for themselves.
00:02:49If a child has physical access to go and pick up a book in their home at any time,
00:02:54that that greatly increases their ability to read.
00:03:01Chicago is like the epic center of violence right now.
00:03:04Go back to 2012.
00:03:06Chicago reading scores.
00:03:0817% kids were proficient.
00:03:102% were overly proficient.
00:03:12So 19% of kids in Chicago were efficient readers in 2012.
00:03:18Fast forward to eight years later.
00:03:20Who's killing each other in the streets?
00:03:22The 18, 19, 20-year-old eighth graders from eight years ago.
00:03:27People don't realize that when you don't know how to read and you're poor,
00:03:31there is basically, there's not a lot of options for you.
00:03:36Young man shot 18, 20-some times right here in North Philadelphia, you know, and these stories are almost common.
00:03:46We can ignore it all we want to, but this stuff is punching us in our face every day.
00:03:51That is why the message that we share is so relevant because we have to have more men with voices willing to step up in these communities.
00:04:03Reading is so essential.
00:04:04Outside of being fun, it's how we better ourselves, and it's going to impact our community, and it's going to move it forward.
00:04:13I've been reading books since I was about a baby, and I've loved them because my dad always read them.
00:04:25Ready?
00:04:26Yeah.
00:04:27Okay.
00:04:28So we've got to choose something to read.
00:04:33I got used to reading a lot more books than usual and finding out more kinds of books.
00:04:41I've been getting real interested in them.
00:04:43What would you like to read?
00:04:45We've got National Geographic over there.
00:04:48We've got magazines.
00:04:50We've got Beauty Basic.
00:04:52What I've learned about reading, let the child pick the book.
00:04:57Let them read the story the best that they can.
00:05:01You know, even if it is just looking at the pictures and reciting whatever it is they see and having fun with that.
00:05:08What's the author's name?
00:05:10Langston Hughes.
00:05:18It's Langston Hughes.
00:05:20Very good.
00:05:21That's a great try.
00:05:22It does look like, would you say, Huggies?
00:05:26Langston Huggies?
00:05:27Well, he's Langston Huggies today.
00:05:29Okay.
00:05:30And what's the title of the book?
00:05:32Let's read the black first and then the red.
00:05:35It gives the child their own new outlook on, hey, so I'm going to go on and explore and I'm going to go, you know, on a safari.
00:05:44I'm going to, I'm going to take this trip to London, England.
00:05:48I'm going to become a fashion designer all with this one book that I've chosen myself.
00:05:55So reading and early literacy is probably the most important thing in impoverished communities that we can give our kids.
00:06:05And it doesn't cause much.
00:06:08You get to pick a book, okay?
00:06:11And this is a book for you to have forever and ever.
00:06:14Amen.
00:06:15Okay?
00:06:16I want that one.
00:06:17No, no, no.
00:06:18What book do you want?
00:06:19What book would you get?
00:06:20Cinderella.
00:06:21I had a feeling you would pick things.
00:06:23Can we do that book for a princess?
00:06:25From zero to eight, zero to third grade, you learn how to read.
00:06:29From third grade on, eight, nine years on, you read to learn.
00:06:35That's why they say if you haven't got it by third grade, you're going to end up in a world of trouble because no one else is teaching you after that.
00:06:42Poor communities, I don't care if you're black, white, Hispanic, whatever, you don't have that money to spend on reading.
00:06:50So what happens is you end up falling into traps of your community.
00:06:55You end up dropping out of school.
00:06:57You end up falling into prison.
00:07:00A, B, C, D, E, F, G.
00:07:05That's why Akif and I say, let's start with the daycares.
00:07:08How do you break the cycle of something?
00:07:10Stop it in the beginning.
00:07:13Because when you look at the statistics around men weeding with children, the outcomes are astronomical.
00:07:20I am C, now I know my ABCs.
00:07:28Next time won't you sing with me?
00:07:32Yay!
00:07:33Great job!
00:07:34Woo!
00:07:35Woo!
00:07:36You're looking for me, I'm not completely ignorant.
00:07:38You end up falling into scary stuff.
00:07:39This daycaresever is a great job.
00:07:40We find people I'm having a brother.
00:07:41And you'll find people we're trying to learn from as a boy.
00:07:43Yeah, the dawn's a boy, the afternoon's a boy.
00:07:45I'm not the boy.
00:07:46You're now the boy.
00:07:47You're feeling it.
00:07:48I'm not the boy, the boy, the boy's a boy.
00:07:49You're feeling it.
00:07:50Between birth to five years old, those years are very crucial.
00:08:15We want to keep young, beautiful, black, Latino, young men, young, poor children out of the prison system.
00:08:22And the best way to do this, to attack it, when they're starting to learn how to do the most important thing kids will learn how to do, and that is read.
00:08:32Say, hey, let's get these dads involved super early, from the beginning, and let's get them involved in literacy.
00:08:40When I was two years old, I was in a big custody battle.
00:08:45I was removed from my father, or he was removed from my life.
00:08:52I didn't even know about my biological father until I was five years old.
00:08:58And I was sitting in a barbershop with my mother, and a man came up to me with two boys.
00:09:04He said, are you Ikeith?
00:09:05I'm like, who is this man?
00:09:08And he said, I'm your dad.
00:09:10And he said, these are your two brothers.
00:09:12As we're leaving, we're in the car, and my mother didn't say anything to me.
00:09:18And we're almost home, and I said, Mom.
00:09:22I said, was that man my dad?
00:09:24And she said, Ikeith, I got something to tell you.
00:09:27Being a committed father came from not having it.
00:09:37My biological father, he had left the household when I was two.
00:10:07I did have a stepfather for about six, seven years of my life.
00:10:17We didn't have a close-knit relationship.
00:10:22It was like I knew he was there.
00:10:23You know, it was a sense of security.
00:10:25However, we didn't have, I would say, meaningful conversations that could set me up for the future.
00:10:35I have not faulted anyone for what has occurred because fatherhood is so important to me and something that I hold close.
00:10:47Back in April of 2008, I was at my mother's house, and I was sick.
00:10:58I had lost about 50 pounds, and I was in denial.
00:11:02My sister was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when we were younger, and my mother had onset diabetes when she turned 50 years old.
00:11:13It got to a point where my mother said, Ikeith, you have to check yourself in to the hospital.
00:11:20I'll be perfectly honest.
00:11:22I didn't want to have diabetes.
00:11:29I was diagnosed on April 4, 2008.
00:11:33In 2009, I was married and became a father to our then 10-year-old son.
00:11:41And since that time, my wife and I, we've had two more children.
00:11:46I knew my diabetes was not under control, and I had to start making a choice for myself and my life if I wanted to be here for our children.
00:11:58Thinking about our, you know, I'll call them our babies.
00:12:02If I don't learn how to control this, you know, the diabetes can eat me up inside.
00:12:08Me being a father, first time around with an infant, there are things that I'm with him all day, and I just want to make sure that my little man is okay and stays healthy.
00:12:23Diabetes and fatherhood.
00:12:38You know, I really, I stay as positive as I possibly can.
00:12:50Because my wife and I are schedules, there are a lot of times I'm with our children.
00:12:56And just thinking back on moments when my blood sugar can drop really low, and telling my children, daddy doesn't feel good.
00:13:09You did?
00:13:11All right.
00:13:12Just what to do if daddy passes out.
00:13:26Because I could be anywhere with them, and you know, it could hit me just like that.
00:13:31And that, that sucks.
00:13:33Daddy, did you know this for a brick?
00:13:36That was a nice little box.
00:13:38I do it for our children, so that I can be here, present, when, you know, to see them grow up, and to see their, their children, you know, become a, become a grandparent.
00:13:51Even a great-grandparent, maybe great-great.
00:13:59Can you take your last few bites?
00:14:08Well, go ahead and take your bites, and...
00:14:18I have a lot left.
00:14:29Go ahead, you can eat some more.
00:14:30I'll give you two minutes, and we gotta go in.
00:14:40Okay?
00:14:45I give our children the engagement, the attention, a million-fold.
00:14:51Everything that I did not have, I give them.
00:15:00When we go into our lessons, when we're talking to the kids in early childhood, and in the daycares, and I get to tell them my story on their level.
00:15:12And I say, you know, Mr. A got, got really sick, and had to go to the hospital, and the doctor told me that, Mr. A, you're gonna have to do some things different with your life.
00:15:24And instead of all that, you know, candy or junk that you may have been eating, you know, start focusing on more fruits and vegetables.
00:15:33To implant that into these children, you know, letting them know, okay, do we want candy?
00:15:40Yes.
00:15:41You know, do we want soda sometimes, or whatever juices?
00:15:46One of the stories I've read was about a healthy snack.
00:15:49Who remembers, well, everybody, what was the name of the healthy snack that I like?
00:15:55Popcorn, yes.
00:15:57It's just like, okay, we can have it, but don't have too much of it.
00:16:01And, you know, then we ask them, what are some fruits that you eat?
00:16:05You know, what are some vegetables that you eat?
00:16:07And we make a promise right there in that sitting.
00:16:12It's like, hey, can you promise Mr. A that you'll eat more fruits and more vegetables?
00:16:17Anybody like hot sauce on their popcorn?
00:16:19Yes, yes.
00:16:21Okay, so this story is about hot sauce on my popcorn.
00:16:26Ready?
00:16:29Hot sauce on my popcorn.
00:16:31I like to have hot sauce on my popcorn.
00:16:35Yeah, I know it's weird, but not as weird as hot sauce on the top of a beaver's beard.
00:16:42I like hot sauce on my popcorn.
00:16:46Yeah, I know it's strange, but not as strange as hot sauce on a handful of change.
00:16:53Well, I like hot sauce, and I like spicy things, but I'm not a fan of hot sauce and popcorn.
00:17:00Kind of weird, right?
00:17:02Yeah.
00:17:04I like hot sauce on my popcorn.
00:17:06Yeah, I know it's funny, but not as funny as hot sauce on a beehive full of honey.
00:17:13It's enough of me.
00:17:14Being a father and living with this diagnosis has opened my eyes to a new way of living.
00:17:25And, you know, I enjoy taking that on.
00:17:36I accept the challenge.
00:17:37My name is Brent Parrish Johnstone.
00:17:45I have dyslexia.
00:17:48As a person who struggles with reading, you lose a lot of confidence.
00:17:56It can be a very, it can be a very scary place.
00:18:00When I started learning how to read, man, I started having some problems.
00:18:05I started seeing words differently.
00:18:08I started seeing words that wasn't there.
00:18:11The words that was there, I wasn't able to read them.
00:18:14Childhood literacy is my passion because I also realized where a lot of struggles in my life came from
00:18:21and insecurities in my life came from was being a struggling childhood reader.
00:18:26Well, if you guys go to school and you start reading and you start having problems,
00:18:30can you make me a promise?
00:18:31Can we make this to be a promise?
00:18:33Can you promise that you will tell your teachers?
00:18:35You will tell your parents that you're having problems with reading.
00:18:39Can you do that for me?
00:18:40Can you do that?
00:18:41Who does this mean to be that?
00:18:42I didn't throw their hands in the air.
00:18:43I didn't throw their hands in the air.
00:18:44I'm like, you just don't care.
00:18:46I'm like, you just don't care.
00:18:48Now, listen up.
00:18:49Even though I have problems with reading and writing, Mr. B graduated college and I'm also an author of two books.
00:18:57So just because you're having problems doesn't mean you can't get help.
00:19:01Embrace reading with your child now when they're babies.
00:19:05Because one of the biggest things you're going to find out, one, is their interests, what they like.
00:19:12But if they're struggling, when is the best time to find out if your kid is a struggling reader?
00:19:17At 13 or at 3?
00:19:19Because at 13, now they're surviving.
00:19:22At 3, we can address these issues.
00:19:26Who knows why you read?
00:19:27Raise your hands.
00:19:28Why do we read?
00:19:28Come on, I'm there.
00:19:31Let's do it again.
00:19:33Let me do it to both of us.
00:19:42Silly Billy.
00:19:43Silly Billy from North Philly.
00:19:45My children don't know they impacted me before they even appeared here, before I knew who they were.
00:19:51At 18, 19, 20 years old, when I knew in the future I wanted to have kids, I wanted to work with them,
00:19:58I wanted to help them with their homework, I said, I have to address this reading thing at some point.
00:20:03I have to get better.
00:20:05I have to tell people.
00:20:06I have to ask for help.
00:20:07My kids changed my life because without them, I don't know if I ever would have addressed my reading problem.
00:20:19I don't know if I ever would have talked to kids about reading.
00:20:21Parents, the community, I would have done none of that if I didn't even think I was going to have kids and wanting to be there for them.
00:20:31So, my kids changed my life years before they was even born.
00:20:37I got help for myself because I knew I was going to be a father.
00:20:51God willing, I knew that I wanted to have a family.
00:20:56Get it.
00:20:57Get you the muscles.
00:20:58Get the muscles going.
00:20:59And that's when your pop-pop was in the newspaper.
00:21:03He was in front of the newspaper.
00:21:042006.
00:21:06This was right before you was born, before he started getting real sick.
00:21:13They did a big article on naming the paper.
00:21:15All these kids, your pop-pop helped thousands of kids.
00:21:19And he started out just trying to help his own kids.
00:21:23We had to throw a bunch of hay for everybody at the stable.
00:21:26Mace, when you get older, you're going to be throwing hay, boy.
00:21:29I've been struggling with reading since the day I started reading.
00:21:34Where do I fit in in this world?
00:21:36How can I be successful?
00:21:38And these questions are starting to arise at 9, 10, 11 years old.
00:21:42So, it can be a dark place at a very early time for kids who struggle with reading.
00:21:49You got to figure out, how can I make it in this world without one of the greatest assets to have in this world?
00:21:57Reading.
00:21:59Mason's your friend?
00:22:01No.
00:22:02It's me, right?
00:22:04Gianna's your friend?
00:22:05No.
00:22:08My dad told me how to read maps when I was young, right?
00:22:22And because of that, I always felt like I could get a job.
00:22:25I could be a trucker.
00:22:26I knew how to read maps.
00:22:27All you had to do was follow lines.
00:22:30I could do that.
00:22:31There's no reading involved.
00:22:32Before GPS, it's even easier now.
00:22:34But he taught me how to read.
00:22:36So, I had some hope.
00:22:37My oldest brother was a trucker.
00:22:39I'm like, I knew what type of money.
00:22:41You can make good money being a trucker.
00:22:42So, I had hope.
00:22:43When you're a young person growing up in poor communities and you don't have hope, you start
00:22:50looking for instant gratification.
00:22:51He's not going to bite you.
00:22:52It's like when you're holding a hermit crab.
00:22:57Like when you're holding a hermit crab.
00:22:58Go ahead.
00:22:59I'll show you.
00:23:00I'll put it with you.
00:23:02Hermit crab.
00:23:04You did it!
00:23:05Yeah, Maeve.
00:23:06See?
00:23:07Feels funny, huh?
00:23:10Did you get scared?
00:23:11Go ahead, Gianna.
00:23:13Like a hermit crab.
00:23:16Like a boss.
00:23:17Like a boss.
00:23:19By yourself.
00:23:20Go by yourself, Maeve.
00:23:21With the other hand, do you have more?
00:23:24There you go.
00:23:27Little nibble.
00:23:31Little nibble.
00:23:32Little nibble.
00:23:33Peace out, Boy Scout.
00:23:34I'm scared of heights.
00:23:35You're scared of heights.
00:23:37It's only...
00:23:38They're going to fill all this up today.
00:23:40They went to go get hay.
00:23:41And they're going to fill me up.
00:23:43It's only four blocks.
00:23:44So, they're going to throw it on top of you.
00:23:46We're going to leave you here.
00:23:47No.
00:23:47Peace out, Boy Scout.
00:23:48And they're just going to throw all the hay on top of you, Boy Scout.
00:23:51Jump.
00:23:51No.
00:23:52Mm-hmm.
00:23:52Jump down.
00:23:53No.
00:23:54Come on, I got you.
00:23:55No, I'm going to drop it.
00:23:57I got you.
00:23:58Just get me.
00:24:00Take me.
00:24:01Taking care of horses is good because you learn that horses totally dependent on somebody else.
00:24:07I'm going to kill it.
00:24:08Like you guys.
00:24:09How y'all dependent on me and mommy.
00:24:13So, being a kid taking care of animals is a good way of learning how to take care of other people just depending on them.
00:24:20If these people don't come and feed their horses, they don't eat.
00:24:23Take charge.
00:24:24There you go.
00:24:24Cool.
00:24:24You're the leader.
00:24:26He's going to follow you.
00:24:28Remember that.
00:24:28If you're going to be a leader, you got to make sure your people follow you.
00:24:33Don't stand right in front of them because if he take off, he can run you over, right?
00:24:37Always stay to the side of them.
00:24:39I don't think nobody's faster than daddy.
00:24:43What you think?
00:24:44Golden baby.
00:24:45Yep.
00:24:46Who feeds you?
00:24:48Yeah.
00:24:48Then where Gianna moves at?
00:24:49Where Gianna?
00:24:50See if you like Gianna moves.
00:24:52Go ahead, Gianna.
00:24:54Do you?
00:24:55Ah!
00:24:58Oh, where was the, uh, him, him, him, and John?
00:25:05Put on the nose.
00:25:06Put on the nose.
00:25:07He said get his boogies out.
00:25:10He said get his boogies out.
00:25:11Hey, get your friend from school.
00:25:14I'm not the best helper with homework, but like my dad, I set expectations.
00:25:19I try.
00:25:20I try to put them around the best people who are good for homework.
00:25:23My kids, they don't know nothing else.
00:25:26They changed my life.
00:25:28And, and, and by doing that, they changed the lives of a lot of other young people I helped.
00:25:36Imagine if you ate that every day.
00:25:39I know for Brent, his struggles with dyslexia are not having these struggles and not knowing what that was can be very challenging.
00:26:00Um, and you know, those are things as a parent that you just want to safeguard them.
00:26:04You just want to protect them from all of that and to kind of give them all the tools that you can to be sure that they don't have those obstacles.
00:26:12But if they do, that you're there to assist and help them with those things.
00:26:16Thank God for my father.
00:26:19My dad started working at Temple University.
00:26:21When you worked at Temple University, your kids could go to school for free.
00:26:25And from the time we were born, we knew that the expectation was y'all going to Temple.
00:26:31And when I got older, I'm like, wow, that's amazing that this man not only set an expectation for us,
00:26:36he created the pathway for us to actually do it.
00:26:42I was fumbling around with going to different colleges and Temple University has showed up and they had offered a full scholarship to me because I was playing sports.
00:26:53My grades were fairly good with the school system I was in and I was actually going to go to another school because Temple wasn't winning at the time.
00:27:07My stepfather in our house, and I remember this, he said it with conviction.
00:27:11He said, boy, you're going to Temple because that was the only school that offered a full ride.
00:27:20I met Brent at Temple.
00:27:22We both played football together and coming out of camp, breaking camp, he and another gentleman were the first, you know, interactions that I had as far as getting accustomed to the life, the college life.
00:27:38I believe this relationship was destined to be.
00:27:44Akif and I are so much alike, but we're so much different.
00:27:47And I think that's the beauty in our relationship.
00:27:49When you come into our readings, you'll see me reading a lot.
00:27:54It's funny because I'm a struggling reader.
00:27:56I'll be reading a lot and this guy is flying around the room, he's doing airplanes.
00:28:01He's acting the book out.
00:28:02And I'll be honest with you, I'm not, I wouldn't be that good at doing that.
00:28:06Brent, he is a goof.
00:28:08Oh.
00:28:09Oh.
00:28:10No.
00:28:10Bring him back up to the sky.
00:28:11Who can touch the sky?
00:28:12Who can touch the sky?
00:28:13Where my dancers at?
00:28:14Where my dancers at?
00:28:15There's a little dance room where you're touching that sky.
00:28:17Okay, now go back to them toes.
00:28:19Back to the toes.
00:28:20Brent's voice takes over the entire room.
00:28:23He's so boisterous and he has this squeak to his voice and to the kids.
00:28:28He's like a little cartoon character.
00:28:30A little dance.
00:28:30I see you over there playing.
00:28:32Look at that.
00:28:33Look at y'all.
00:28:34He's loud.
00:28:37Uh-oh.
00:28:38Uh-oh.
00:28:39Oh my God.
00:28:41Where y'all think that's going?
00:28:42Oh my God.
00:28:44From my observation of Ikeef, Ikeef is maybe a little bit more serious.
00:28:52The itsy-pitsy spider went up the world.
00:28:57Nobody really sees Ikeef's personality other than us.
00:29:01He's a goof.
00:29:02Out came the sun and dried up on the rain.
00:29:09And the itsy-pitsy spider went up the spider again.
00:29:14He's so serious out in public.
00:29:17And to see him let that shell down and just become that, it's great.
00:29:22Because I know who that is.
00:29:23They were sleeping.
00:29:24So guess what he did?
00:29:26He went to his closet.
00:29:27He opened his closet.
00:29:29He put on his pants.
00:29:30He put on his boots.
00:29:31He put on his shirt.
00:29:32He put on his pants.
00:29:33He put on his jacket.
00:29:33He put on his hat.
00:29:34Then he put on his what?
00:29:36Clash!
00:29:38Then he ran outside.
00:29:39He started doing the snow angel.
00:29:41And he started playing with Ava.
00:29:42They having fun.
00:29:43She swinging her beats.
00:29:44And guess who saw them next?
00:29:45Oh my God.
00:29:46Dakota said, is that my friends out there having fun?
00:29:50They look like they would be coming into a scare street when you first see them.
00:29:54Because they're huge.
00:29:56You know what I mean?
00:29:56But then when they lighten up and you get to hear like this goofiness to them and how playful
00:30:02they are, it makes you want to just kind of just jump in and do the things with them.
00:30:07What's something that's loud?
00:30:09Say it loud.
00:30:12Tell them.
00:30:13Say it loud.
00:30:15Airplane.
00:30:18Airplane!
00:30:18Yeah!
00:30:19Airplane!
00:30:19They tell them to like tell their parents that please read this book, like teach them
00:30:26how to beg their parents, which is so funny to me.
00:30:29And even they're going in environments where some of the kids don't speak English, but they
00:30:36can still feel, you can still see them get excited and still see them understand what's
00:30:41going on.
00:30:42And it might probably be the best thing to happen in their day.
00:30:45It's powerful.
00:30:46Who?
00:30:48I didn't get a hug.
00:30:49Everybody's going to get one.
00:30:50Everybody's going to get one.
00:30:51Everybody.
00:30:52Everybody in the club.
00:30:54Rents are.
00:30:56High.
00:30:57Clouds are.
00:31:00But it is.
00:31:01It is.
00:31:03And I leave them.
00:31:05I feel like Superman because I'm like, I'm able, I'm able to do something that I, I wish
00:31:10somebody, I was calling for Mr. A and Mr. B to come help me with reading.
00:31:15Read every day, okay?
00:31:17Every day.
00:31:18I never told anyone I struggle with reading, never, except for my mom and some people at
00:31:24school when I fell down at Temple University.
00:31:26But I never mentioned, even though every report card said it, I never, I never said it, right?
00:31:31But I thought I was dumb.
00:31:33And because I thought I was dumb, I took chances I shouldn't have taken.
00:31:37I didn't see a future that many people might assume that I saw.
00:31:42I didn't see a future that a lot of people who are great readers saw.
00:31:46So when you're struggling with reading, you're struggling with surviving.
00:31:49So when I was your age and I couldn't read like I wanted to, guess what I used to do?
00:31:54I would make up these stories.
00:31:55I would grab my little pencil, I'd hold my eyes, and I would just make up all these fun
00:32:00stories because it was hard for me to read.
00:32:02So right now, what we're going to do, we're going to make up a story together.
00:32:06With my name being Mr. A and his name being Mr. B, what we'd like to get started with is
00:32:12our ABC.
00:32:14Raise your hand if you know your ABC.
00:32:16Because we are in very rough neighborhoods who may not have those resources.
00:32:25We know the difference that the books are going to make for these children, for these parents.
00:32:33I had a young guy who couldn't spell is a it, sixth grade, 13 years old, literally couldn't
00:32:38spell is a it.
00:32:39He's about to go outside and start the fight.
00:32:42Everybody just wants to be good at something, right?
00:32:45And when you're not a good reader, you're not doing good in school, but you're still going
00:32:51to school, you need to find, where can I be good?
00:32:53Oh, I cuss the teacher out good.
00:32:55I run out of class good.
00:32:56I beat people up good.
00:32:58I disturb the class good.
00:33:01You're looking for where I get my love at, right?
00:33:03And that's natural.
00:33:05People that are locked up are being locked up for things where they're really just trying
00:33:10to do something to provide for themselves and their family, but they have limited options
00:33:15on what they can, you know, choose to do.
00:33:18When you teach someone how to read, that's love.
00:33:21Giving them the ability to be able to learn.
00:33:24Reading is love.
00:33:25And so many of these young kids go from being these young, loved individuals to these older,
00:33:32angry, upset individuals.
00:33:34And a lot of it goes right back to reading.
00:33:39So August 10th, 1994, I was so scared.
00:33:43That whole ride, we talked about football.
00:33:45And I wanted to be like, dad, I was scared.
00:33:49I don't feel I was cool.
00:33:50I'm scared.
00:33:51I knew I was.
00:33:52And I couldn't, I didn't feel like I could tell him that.
00:33:55And I'm not sure how he would have even responded to that.
00:33:58My dad wasn't, he wouldn't be crying.
00:34:01Yeah.
00:34:01He didn't cry.
00:34:02That dude didn't cry.
00:34:02Him and my brother, they don't cry.
00:34:04I'm the cry baby.
00:34:04And I always felt like, and this is not a knock on my dad.
00:34:08No matter where my kids are, I want them to be able to open up to me.
00:34:13I do believe men of color can struggle with being intimate with their children, family,
00:34:20for whatever stigmas are out there.
00:34:23Not wanting your son to be soft.
00:34:26Come on, Grace.
00:34:30We do our own camera work.
00:34:32I hug my boys.
00:34:34We have the daughter, you know, I hug her as well.
00:34:37I give her a lot of hugs and kisses, but I also kiss my boys.
00:34:41You know, I give them hugs.
00:34:43I don't think that they're going to grow up to, to be something that I would disapprove of.
00:34:49They're going to be who they, they are ultimately.
00:34:52And I'm, I'm going to love them regardless.
00:34:55I never told my dad I love him.
00:34:58He never told me he loved me.
00:35:00We showed it, right?
00:35:02But we never had those moments like me and my son had when I was like, yo, I love you, man.
00:35:06Like, I love you too, daddy.
00:35:08A lot of them at my age and around there haven't had those moments with their dads.
00:35:11My pop passed years ago.
00:35:25I miss my dad.
00:35:27It's weird because I actually feel like me and my son, my son replaces my dad.
00:35:37And he doesn't know that and I've never told him that, but it's like I'm getting a second chance with my dad and my son.
00:35:44Oh my God, miss, it sounds like you're losing your voice.
00:35:49Are you losing your voice, Will?
00:35:52No.
00:35:52You ready to go for a swim?
00:35:54No.
00:35:55You ready to go for a swim?
00:35:57Dad, you won't put me.
00:35:59I didn't grow up sitting on laps.
00:36:02I didn't grow up getting hugs.
00:36:04That is definitely something that I had to create, a nurturing side of me.
00:36:09So when I go back and, you know, just seeing those experiences, you know, it's something that, you know, I'll have to work through.
00:36:18That was something that I always took from my relationship that I wanted to be able to be so open with my emotions with my kids that wherever they were at, they can emotionally, we can emotionally connect.
00:36:31When me and my daughter was young, I was working two jobs at the time.
00:36:38A lot of times when I was getting home, it was time for her bath time.
00:36:41Bath and we read a book.
00:36:43We snuggled and we read the same books over and over again, the same one.
00:36:49But it was so special.
00:36:52And I think when dads do this, they start to realize how much power they really had in the intimate part.
00:37:01So when it comes to mothers being more of the nurturing type, that's, that's what I was for our children.
00:37:13How do you scoop the game?
00:37:18Okay.
00:37:20You take it like this and you just press it on the side, okay?
00:37:24Okay.
00:37:25Okay.
00:37:25I don't care you, DJ.
00:37:35All right.
00:37:37I keep staples, sure.
00:37:39That's my doctor tip.
00:37:41Do it all here.
00:37:42Don't.
00:37:43Say bye.
00:37:44Say bye.
00:37:45Say bye.
00:37:46Come.
00:37:47Hey!
00:37:48The boy's all that.
00:37:49The boy's all that.
00:37:50All right.
00:37:51Let's go.
00:37:52I can walk in the house and it could be 12 o'clock at night and they'll all still be on the couch watching TV.
00:38:00And my first response could be, you know, why are they still up at 12 o'clock or why are they still on the couch?
00:38:05But they're cuddled up and they're so just loving, you know?
00:38:10And I knew for my daughter what that was going to be like to be able to have her first love be her dad.
00:38:16She made him mush, where, you know, he was a little bit more rugged before her.
00:38:21We talk about the, you know, fathers and being intimate.
00:38:27That's when I learned that it's okay.
00:38:30It is okay to give these children love, especially at a young age.
00:38:36I'll read some N-double-A-C-P.
00:38:39As is now customary, this combination of letters is not a natural syllabic sound.
00:38:47Like, Senator, you don't have to be certified to read to your children.
00:38:50You don't have to be certified to be engaged.
00:38:53But we do know that when you take those actions, change will happen.
00:38:58But in doing so, it creates new generational habits.
00:39:01So now I'm giving my child this experience and it creates this norm that my son doesn't have to learn.
00:39:07Right?
00:39:08And so when he's now a parent, that's not a new thing he has to pick up.
00:39:11He will automatically read with his child.
00:39:14January 6, 1998, my freshman year.
00:39:28I'm 18 years old and I come home on winter break.
00:39:34I'm home with my older sister and we hear this loud sound.
00:39:42And my sister, Desiree, she ran up the steps.
00:39:45She said, I keep, did you hear that?
00:39:47And then about five seconds later, she just starts screaming.
00:39:52And I jump up and I'm just bumbling and fumbling and I'm making my way to the room.
00:40:01And as I get to the door, my sister is on top of my step five, giving him CPR.
00:40:08He had shot himself.
00:40:09It was at that moment that my life literally flashed before my own eyes.
00:40:16And the whole trajectory of my life changed in that moment.
00:40:21And I'm sure it changed for my sister as well.
00:40:25We both ended up taking on our own forms of therapy.
00:40:29And as a result, we both became addicts.
00:40:37It was something that we had dealt with for a number of years.
00:40:42I have two sisters.
00:40:58And I, and I lost one.
00:41:14And it wasn't until I met my wife because our relationship happened so fast.
00:41:31We, we met and got married in 28 days.
00:41:34I knew she had a son.
00:41:36I hadn't met him.
00:41:38I was still in my addicted phase at that time.
00:41:42And we were about a month into our marriage and she sat me down.
00:41:48I was coming in, hanging out with friends.
00:41:53You know, it was alcohol.
00:41:55She said, I keep, I can't do this.
00:41:58And you're going to have to make a choice.
00:42:01I keep, she said, you either stop or else if you don't, I'm leaving.
00:42:08It was in that moment that she said, you're a dad now.
00:42:12And I couldn't imagine what my father, now I'm talking about my biological father.
00:42:20I can't imagine what he felt like when he had his child taken away from him.
00:42:28And to try and build that relationship and I'm 42, it's been 40 years.
00:42:38I had the opportunity to celebrate my first birthday with my father since I was from two
00:42:47years old was when I turned 40, I myself could now change history.
00:42:54And, and what I always wanted in life was a family.
00:42:59So my wife gave me the choice of having that family.
00:43:06And it was that day, September 26, 2009.
00:43:11And she sat me down on that bed that I gave up drinking.
00:43:15And I have not had one drink since.
00:43:23And I always tell him this, my oldest son, that he changed my life by giving me that opportunity
00:43:31to be his father.
00:43:34Let's ask questions.
00:43:39Let's build powerful relationships, win new business, and influence others.
00:43:46The fact that he just naturally picked up to do all of those things and be present with
00:43:52them.
00:43:52And then when you get reports from school and the teachers and other people are telling
00:43:58you how great your kids are and how amazing they are, and I know that he is their caregiver
00:44:0290% of the time, I know that's nothing but him.
00:44:06I didn't have my dad in my household growing up.
00:44:10So seeing Brent with the kids, it's something that I can view and appreciate, whether it's
00:44:16them chatting.
00:44:17Like I can see like sometimes Mason and Brent just having these long little chats.
00:44:22Gianna, she confides in Brent too, like, and Brent, something that Brent does, after he
00:44:27picks them up from school, he'll have conversations with them.
00:44:30Just bring up combos like, you know, how was your day today?
00:44:34And then that just kind of stirs the conversation.
00:44:36But kind of, you know, after a long day of school or then going into after school and just
00:44:42kind of checking in with them.
00:44:43And then it brings them to just talk and just whatever quality time that is within kind
00:44:48of conversations, which I think is good.
00:44:51Because then you kind of find out what's going on with your kids.
00:44:54How was their day?
00:44:55With math, I really go to my dad about that because he's better at it than my mom.
00:45:03My dad is clumsy.
00:45:05I know you all too.
00:45:09It's different when your mom holds you and kisses your boo-boos.
00:45:12Mom's supposed to do that.
00:45:13But when dad still allows you to be gentle, but then explain things to you, why he's toughening
00:45:19you up, why he's pulling you back together to just let things go.
00:45:22It just gives a different support to their emotional growth.
00:45:34Oh, we can get the, after this, I can go get the milk cards.
00:45:38I just tell them stuff that happened, like today or other days.
00:45:45Do you like being able to talk to your dad and mom?
00:45:48Yeah.
00:45:49How does that make you feel?
00:45:51Happy.
00:45:53Why does it make you feel happy?
00:45:55Because other people don't have mom.
00:45:57Little boys are almost raised to be robots, like not human.
00:46:03Boys don't cry.
00:46:04Boys don't dance.
00:46:05Men, for years, were just told, stop crying.
00:46:09Don't, don't, don't, don't.
00:46:10They never realized how to.
00:46:12How do I regulate my own emotions?
00:46:17Not just shut them off, because shutting them off ain't good.
00:46:20How do I simmer down?
00:46:22How do I go from 10 to 1, still being able to express myself emotionally?
00:46:30Well, people always like to say we look alike.
00:46:35And I always like to say.
00:46:37It's not true.
00:46:38Yeah, there's no way.
00:46:41We ain't close to looking up here.
00:46:44I got to know.
00:46:45I'm happy I don't look like you.
00:46:48You should be happy when you look like me.
00:46:50What's real is, I cut myself.
00:46:53I'm hurting.
00:46:54You all right, my man?
00:46:55All right, you get that.
00:46:55I'm going to wash it off.
00:46:57Bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah.
00:46:58Not shutting down someone's feelings.
00:47:02And I think far too often, men shut down little boys' feelings
00:47:07and don't allow them to grow into who they are emotionally.
00:47:14Oh.
00:47:15Those jokes.
00:47:17Those jokes, yeah.
00:47:19They're not going to tell them the jokes.
00:47:23I got to remind them about the talk of you.
00:47:25This is a chapter in my book called July 1st.
00:47:28July 1st was the first day football magazines came up.
00:47:34They previewed the season, college, NFL.
00:47:38I love sports back then.
00:47:39In the 80s, there was no internet, right?
00:47:41You couldn't just get stuff by pushing the button.
00:47:43We would go to the Shelterham Mall to this bookstore every July 1st.
00:47:48He would buy me like three, four, five books.
00:47:50But my dad never read the books.
00:47:53He would go get them and I would go read them.
00:47:55Now at the time, what I was really doing, I was teaching myself how to read.
00:47:59He has no idea.
00:48:00He was, that's how I was teaching.
00:48:02To this day, I use little skills when I'm reading.
00:48:05That's what taught me how to read.
00:48:07I wanted to read so bad what was in that football book, but I was struggling.
00:48:11I wasn't going to tell him, right?
00:48:13I wasn't going to tell my mom.
00:48:14I just go sit in my room forever and just keep reading these books.
00:48:18And he doesn't know that.
00:48:20And I wish I would have told him that before he passed.
00:48:22But he played a big part in me becoming a better reader.
00:48:30Me and my dad was exactly, I'm like, my dad couldn't read really well.
00:48:34He couldn't write really well.
00:48:36But I never knew that.
00:48:37Dad was the main stickler about education.
00:48:41Being smart.
00:48:42Being smart.
00:48:42Sometimes that used to mess me up.
00:48:44Dad, I'm not smart.
00:48:45And he's like, no, he's smart.
00:48:47You got to be smart.
00:48:48Gotta do your work.
00:48:49When you really think about it, reading isn't everything.
00:48:51Reading is in, you know, filling out a job application or buying a home or anything.
00:48:59Reading is everywhere you go.
00:49:00Signs, streets.
00:49:02And if you are not equipped or don't have that knowledge, it's a real struggle.
00:49:18I'm beautiful.
00:49:19I'm proud.
00:49:20I'm beautiful.
00:49:21I'm proud.
00:49:22I'ma say it out loud.
00:49:24I'ma say it out loud.
00:49:27I love my hair.
00:49:28I love my skin.
00:49:29I love my hair.
00:49:30I love my skin.
00:49:32I love my smile every time I grin.
00:49:34I love my smile every time I grin.
00:49:37I'm beautiful.
00:49:38I'm proud.
00:49:39I'm beautiful.
00:49:40I'm proud.
00:49:41I'm beautiful.
00:49:42I'm proud.
00:49:43I'm beautiful.
00:49:43I'm proud.
00:49:43Once we read the stories, we wanted to gift the children with books, you know, with some
00:49:50literacy resources.
00:49:52Now, these books are books that we took from our own home when we started out.
00:49:56They were books from our children's shelves that, you know, they may not have been reading.
00:50:01And during our campaign at the time, we read in 30 day cares in 30 days.
00:50:07So we had to have at least around 100 books to give away because we were saying we were
00:50:12going to give three books away.
00:50:14It was great.
00:50:15You know, it was good.
00:50:16However, when you have a room full of 30 kids and only three of them are receiving a
00:50:25book, it was the kids and it was the children that were coming up and they were crying and
00:50:32they were like, well, I want a book.
00:50:35Where's mine at?
00:50:36And that's when Brent and myself, we really had to go back and we started asking or, you
00:50:42know, it either popped up or sure the universe showed up, giving us access to more books.
00:50:47That is always something that's stuck in my head is making sure that the kids have have
00:50:54access to books and that they get these books in their hands.
00:50:57Now, what was the title of the book?
00:51:00How many monkeys did the book start out with?
00:51:05Hold on.
00:51:06Got to raise your hand.
00:51:07Everybody raise their hand.
00:51:09Can everybody answer it?
00:51:11How many monkeys?
00:51:12Yes, very good job.
00:51:16Well, Lee, you screamed our first five.
00:51:18There you go, buddy.
00:51:19You get a book today.
00:51:20What do I like to put on my popcorn?
00:51:24Hot sauce!
00:51:26Oh, she was first.
00:51:28Say it again.
00:51:29Hot sauce.
00:51:29Hot sauce.
00:51:31Very good.
00:51:32When you have individuals that look like you, that are not afraid to show up and be present
00:51:39and be of service, that, that is a difference maker.
00:51:46I remember this little kid we had in Kensington, and anyone knows about Kensington, the biggest
00:51:52drug epidemic in the country right now, as far as opioids go.
00:51:56It's a rough neighborhood.
00:51:58And we were in there with these kids, and we asked him, like, what's the most important
00:52:03thing?
00:52:03Whatever it was.
00:52:05He started speaking about father, how fathers were the greatest thing in this world.
00:52:09Because when we talked to them, we'd speak from that point of view.
00:52:13And the lady was crying.
00:52:15The lady worked there forever.
00:52:16For over 30 years, she was crying back there.
00:52:18She said, you know, that boy hasn't seen his father in years.
00:52:23His father was, like, locked up for, like, murder or something.
00:52:26He wasn't in his life.
00:52:27And she was like, for him to have so much passion about what a father is, what it should be,
00:52:33what he took away from you guys.
00:52:35Like, she couldn't stop crying.
00:52:36And it was like, listen, even though this kid doesn't have a father, right, he understands
00:52:43that fathers are important, right?
00:52:45It may be the link that leads him to being a positive father in the future.
00:52:51It gives them a different view on what good men are, what passionate men are, what caring
00:52:58men are, and that it can be very cool to be this.
00:53:02But there was these two young teens, and this guy was fighting to get his son back.
00:53:06They get custody of his kid.
00:53:08And he said, so wait a minute.
00:53:09So I could read, because he was into Batman.
00:53:11This dude, he knew all about Batman.
00:53:13He said, so I could read Batman with my son?
00:53:15We were like, yeah.
00:53:16And we had some Batman books.
00:53:18And he was really like, wait, I can't, like, literally, like, I can do this?
00:53:22Like, yeah, you can do this with your son.
00:53:24He left there with maybe a dozen books, a lot of Batman.
00:53:30And with the idea that, oh, this is how I can connect with my child and help him become
00:53:36a better reader.
00:53:37I do know that given love, given resources, you could take your mind and your body anywhere
00:53:45in this world.
00:54:00Reading is love.
00:54:09Like, reading is really love.
00:54:11Like, teaching a person how to read or helping them in that journey, right?
00:54:15You may not be able to teach someone how to read, but you can help them in that journey.
00:54:19You can advocate.
00:54:20I'm a father who has to advocate for his son, who struggles a little bit with education
00:54:26like I've built.
00:54:27And, you know, that's the biggest thing you could do is advocate, teach your child, be
00:54:33along for that journey.
00:54:35No one teach children how to read after third grade.
00:54:38Reading is love.
00:54:40That's what it means.
00:54:41That's exactly what it says.
00:54:45Because, you know, to me, when you look at the issues that we have in the world where
00:54:51that love is removed, it's like, OK, how did it get here?
00:54:57Because I always say, you know, we're not born innately mad at the world.
00:55:04If it's a mother, it doesn't matter if it's a parent, caregiver, whoever is with these children
00:55:11from a very young age or still even in the womb, because you can still read to children
00:55:16in the womb.
00:55:17I did it with our children.
00:55:18And that love is teaching or educating without having the certification, but just being willing
00:55:27to be in the moment with those children.
00:55:32And it doesn't have to be perfect.
00:55:35He always wrote with the kids.
00:55:36And me watching them grow in their capacity for reading, especially daily.
00:55:43I mean, she's so expressed in her reading.
00:55:45And it takes her away from the computer and the iPad and Bryce away from his gaming system.
00:55:55And it's like you get to become whatever's in the story.
00:56:00But it opens up your mindset to seeing things outside of where you are.
00:56:05And I think that opens up kids' minds to realizing that life is not just that one place that
00:56:13they're in and that there's way more to what they know than just where their home is or where
00:56:19their block is or their street or their neighborhood or anything like that.
00:56:23Just seeing that there's more to life than just that.
00:56:25Always been about the children.
00:56:26Always been about helping the community and forming families.
00:56:30And because of that, because of their willingness to not be paid, their passion about the community
00:56:36has come out in their work.
00:56:38You get hit with so many closed doors.
00:56:40Closed doors with funding.
00:56:42Closed doors with reluctance in a community for people to open their doors to you and assist
00:56:47and say, yes, we see your value.
00:56:49I mean, I keep literally did this with nothing for two years.
00:56:53No money, no vehicles, taking books from my kids' bookshelf.
00:56:58I remember, like, for a while, he, like, he would go through my bookshelf, just take some,
00:57:05or I'll just go through them, like, stuff I don't really read that much anymore.
00:57:08Whoever got it, they're enjoying it too, like I did.
00:57:12I was in a good career, working in social services.
00:57:15I was a dean in schools, making good money, and I said, I'm done with it.
00:57:22I didn't like working in these agencies who I felt like, at the end of the day,
00:57:29we're not really trying to help this situation.
00:57:31We're trying to keep getting paid, right?
00:57:33I didn't feel like we were doing the best as we could for these kids and these families.
00:57:40So I walked away from it all.
00:57:41I literally got myself fired.
00:57:43I'll also be honest with you.
00:57:44I wasn't in a position financially where leaving a full-paying job was smart, probably smart to do.
00:57:51And I was very surprised when my wife was like, all right, cool, I'll back your play.
00:57:54When it first started, it was kind of like, oh, I'm no longer doing my job.
00:57:59Okay.
00:57:59So then it's like, whoa, okay.
00:58:01And so what are we doing now?
00:58:03And, you know, kind of just going off on this idea and, you know, encouraging him because definitely
00:58:09I wanted to encourage him.
00:58:10I know that he had, when he left the previous employment, it was, you know, there was a lot
00:58:16of taxing emotions involved with that particular employment and just leaving them.
00:58:22But then also having that motivation and that thought that this idea was going to be the
00:58:29next thing and being able to foster him as best as I could.
00:58:32During that time, I got off a true job.
00:58:35There were way more money than I ever made in my life.
00:58:39But they were back in schools doing the same thing.
00:58:42And I turned both of them.
00:58:43One was six figures.
00:58:44I turned them both down.
00:58:45People looked at me like I was crazy when I did it.
00:58:47And I said, no, I'm making fathers read 365 for it.
00:58:52Like me and I keep got something amazing going on.
00:58:54I often had an issue in the beginning when we first started, you know, about finances because
00:59:06the job doesn't pay them, you know, a salary.
00:59:09So everything fell on me a lot.
00:59:11And I was resentful probably because that's what the world told me that a man was supposed to do.
00:59:18And it's taken years, you know, to really relax your mind and kind of see value totally different.
00:59:25He's the first person up in the morning, getting them ready for school, making sure that everything
00:59:30runs on time.
00:59:31He's the conductor of the train.
00:59:33I pulled the caboose.
00:59:34Us being entrepreneurs and having a business where we can create our own schedules.
00:59:39I've been the one that's been home taking care of our children.
00:59:44I literally went to nothing.
00:59:45I went to working in clubs, going to cheerily four or five in the morning.
00:59:49I passed out from exhaustion one night because I would work all night so I could keep my days
00:59:54open.
00:59:55But then we only had one car, so I had to take my family to school in the morning, school
01:00:00and work.
01:00:01And then me and I keep going to have some work to do.
01:00:03So sometimes I wasn't sleeping.
01:00:05Today, October 26th, in about a half an hour, my partner Keith Staples and I are meeting
01:00:13with the mayor's office.
01:00:14When we got together last year to put this thing in motion, ultimately we knew we needed
01:00:20funding.
01:00:20We needed the support of people hired bigger than us.
01:00:23Programs, especially Black-led programs for children in the city, right?
01:00:36Grassroots, just starting out.
01:00:38A lot of times these programs falter because we don't get the proper funding.
01:00:42Yes, that F word, funding.
01:00:45Funding, funding, funding.
01:00:47And being very honest, a lot of times it's not coming from our community that we're serving.
01:00:51We haven't necessarily learned how to be totally charitable to each other.
01:00:58And those big private foundations, they make you jump through loops and paperwork you to
01:01:05death and disqualification.
01:01:08They move the goalposts a lot.
01:01:09Because even when you're there, right, Keith and I, we're learning this, we're climbing
01:01:14this ladder, ultimately to come back and try to teach others.
01:01:17And we see how the goalposts, you know, you're a small organization because there's two of
01:01:22us, but another organization is big and they have five people and they get, you know, millions
01:01:28of dollars.
01:01:29Right now, North Philadelphia School giving kids 13 books apiece, pre-K and kindergarten
01:01:35students.
01:01:36We do two to three interactive readings with them.
01:01:40And, you know, that costs money, right?
01:01:43It costs $45,000 to get all those books.
01:01:46And we try to figure out how to do it.
01:01:48How can we do it for the whole school district?
01:01:49How can we do it for all the kids in the city and all the cities?
01:01:54We know how there's a path there.
01:01:56There's other blueprints there of organizations that have been successful throughout the country.
01:02:01Um, but it doesn't happen without funding.
01:02:04The only way for you to survive is to have funds, some type of funds.
01:02:11And there are so many great organizations that don't see the light of day.
01:02:16You could have Miss Annie May, who has been on Westchester Avenue for 50 some odd years, just
01:02:26taking care of the kids, providing diapers, providing things for new mothers or new parents
01:02:34out there.
01:02:35And they don't get any recognition, but they just do it because of their love for their
01:02:42community, their love for people.
01:02:44And they ran in the house.
01:02:45And they said, don't you ever go outside.
01:02:47Don't you ever go outside again without asking for a school.
01:02:50Oh, I'm going to go to Miss Annie.
01:02:53Miss Annie.
01:02:53Don't go outside without asking for permission.
01:02:56You just can't be a father to your kids.
01:03:00You have to be a father to your community.
01:03:02So one of the things we say is, uh, Father's Week 365 is a father initiative that engages
01:03:08fathers and their kids' early literacy and kids in their community.
01:03:14He put on his boots.
01:03:15He put on his shirt.
01:03:16He put on his jacket.
01:03:17He put on his scarf.
01:03:18He put on his hat.
01:03:19Then he put on his.
01:03:20What do you put on?
01:03:21When you put on your hands when it's cold.
01:03:22He put the gloves on.
01:03:25Then he ran outside.
01:03:27We can just show up at a very early stage of their lives.
01:03:31Um, and then they, they get to see us, um, in that position and to be able to champion
01:03:38something like literacy, reading, making sure that you dream big in this life.
01:03:46Um, we want them to know that it's coming from us and it, it may not look the way they expected.
01:03:56Um, but now they, they have that possibility within themselves.
01:04:01And then we want to make sure that other men, fathers, father figures, caregivers out there, uh, who are with these children, see us doing it and are able to take that, take that on as well.
01:04:17You can't buy the type of energy that's put into these kids, not even from a babysitter.
01:04:24And it's nice to have that, you know, cause I get to live a great life and really only have to do half of it.
01:04:32Um, and he does a lot of the work in between the homework is done.
01:04:37You know, the kids are well-behaved.
01:04:39If there's ever an issue with them, all he has to do is walk in the room.
01:04:43Meanwhile, I'm screaming and hollering and try to like get everything, you know, in order and make them listen to me.
01:04:51They think I'm a joke.
01:04:52You know, mom's silly, mom's goofy.
01:04:54She's, you know, she's not really serious when she's yelling.
01:04:57Meanwhile, he can walk into a room and just be quiet and stay in there and the room goes silent and everybody does what they need to do.
01:05:05You can't bottle that up.
01:05:07If I could bottle that up, I would be rich.
01:05:09I would.
01:05:10Peaches, peaches.
01:05:11Squeaky, leaky, rubber ducky, lucky, lucky, time to fly, rubber ducky going.
01:05:17Oh my boy!
01:05:20Here we go.
01:05:21Rubber ducky.
01:05:22Bye, bye, bye.
01:05:24Bye, bye.
01:05:24Favorite jammies?
01:05:25Where do you think they going?
01:05:26Favorite jammies.
01:05:27Oh my boy!
01:05:28There you go.
01:05:29Alien, little lambies, they going?
01:05:32Oh my boy!
01:05:34Bunny wipers, they going?
01:05:37Oh my boy!
01:05:39Uh-oh, stinky bunny diapers, they going?
01:05:42Oh my boy!
01:05:44When we realized, wow, you know, there's just not enough voices out here speaking about early literacy,
01:05:50especially in the communities that we're touching, all those ways that we can create content,
01:05:56um, to help better our community.
01:05:58Literally, when we started this, it was the second reading we've ever, we ever did.
01:06:03And, um, from there to now, it's like, wow, we've really done a lot.
01:06:08You know, we've read to over 8,000 children, we've, uh, given out over 50,000 books, um,
01:06:16we've trained almost thousands of parents.
01:06:19I mean, for the first two years, we did this with no money.
01:06:22We did this with no money, really not even anyone knowing about us.
01:06:26And now to be featured on the news four or five times now, and we're actually impacting kids.
01:06:33Like, we're still doing what we set out to do from the beginning.
01:06:37I'm able to do something that I, I wish somebody, I was calling for Mr. A and Mr. B to come help me with reading.
01:06:45Telling kids that, hey, even if you're struggling with reading, you're going to be okay.
01:06:48It means a lot when you see someone going through what you do, what you went through,
01:06:52and you see them in a successful position.
01:06:54Because it's like, wow, okay, this is not a death sentence.
01:06:58There are not enough black male educators.
01:07:02And when they see us, um, we want that, we want to represent, uh, images or models
01:07:14that they can relate to in their own household.
01:07:18We want to make sure that that engagement lives on.
01:07:22You know, watching it start off as just an idea with them.
01:07:25And I see how much effort my husband puts into all of this.
01:07:31And I watch the kids, and I watch how exciting they, you know, the experience is.
01:07:36I'm so proud of them, you know, and I know they're out here in this community making a difference.
01:07:41And that's really all that matters.
01:07:44There's a lot of legwork behind it.
01:07:45It's almost a lot of, um, knocking on doors and hoping that someone will, you know,
01:07:51be able to believe in your idea and want to support your idea and being determined and
01:07:58believing in your idea enough to go through all of these different steps to get it to where it is now.
01:08:04I have to thank, you know, he, he's my stepfather, but I call him dad.
01:08:11You know, I have two dads, and it was when I was in high school, my senior year, playing sports, playing athletics.
01:08:19It was my stepfather that chose my path for me.
01:08:23I mean, he said, boy, you're going to Temple.
01:08:26And Brent and I joke about this all the time because that's where we met.
01:08:32That's where we met at Temple and, and his father was on the police force at Temple for a number of years.
01:08:41It was written, Brent and I mentioned that a lot.
01:08:43It was written that our fathers had a lot to do for what is going on right now with the organization.
01:08:54Fathers are so important.
01:08:55The message that we're trying to bring across, you don't have to wait for Superman.
01:08:59Put on your own goddamn cape and get out there and start saving lives.
01:09:03You don't have to wait till you have this degree.
01:09:06You don't have to wait till you have this website.
01:09:08You don't have to wait till you have all this funding.
01:09:10Get into the community where you're trying to help.
01:09:13Develop a plan on how you want to help and do the, and do the work.
01:09:17We literally were told y'all will never get fully funded by the William Penn Foundation
01:09:23for your little program in your black and brown community.
01:09:26A week later, we got a call from William Penn Foundation saying we want to work with y'all.
01:09:32To any mother out there, parents, individuals who have created children,
01:09:50do the very best you can to show, to continue to show love, not only to your children, but
01:10:05to each other, because not all relationships are going to work out.
01:10:10However, something that I took on, I said, whoever has my child, whoever births my child,
01:10:28whoever that woman is, I'm going to do whatever it is that I possibly can to remain in the life
01:10:36of my child or children.
01:10:39We've done a lot.
01:10:40It's just so much more we have to do and want to do and can't wait to do.
01:10:44That's the beauty of it.
01:10:45You see, the tree is growing, growing from the ground, beautiful and pure, energy, energy.
01:11:10Beautiful, growing, beautiful.
01:11:15Beautiful, growing, beautiful.
01:11:19Oh, oh, oh, oh.
01:11:49They don't drink Gatorade, they sip Gatorade.
01:11:56What happens when they go out, when we want to buy stuff?
01:12:04Why do you feel so sad?
01:12:07Hey, there's too many things.
01:12:10Too many things?
01:12:13Hold on, we don't even know what to do.
01:12:16I'm wondering if you look at this?
01:12:19I don't know what to do.
01:12:23I don't know what to do.
01:12:26I don't know what to do.
01:12:30Bye!
01:12:34Bye!
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