Hometown Hero
Sometimes hero’s run inside of burning buildings to save you. Other times they catch you when you fall. Often, they advise you before you make a bad decision or help you recover when you do. In my experience my hero’s include my family and mentors, who support me and my endeavors with unwavering conviction. 10 years ago nearly to the day, I founded SOS in my high-school dorm room intending to serve inner city youth with wrap-around education services, such as tutoring, coaching, and mentoring, aiming to resolve practical poverty and the poverty mindset. J Bush, MaxBowl & Co, and countless others leaned in to help us get off the ground and soften the landings from the lows. We grew an organization from zero to hero and transformed my views and expectations for my community and myself. That experience, start to finish, taught me more about business, academia, relationships, and faith than any other chapter of life. More importantly, it inspired me, in my own way, to seek to be a hero for others in need, specifically for the economically disabled. My current research and film work on homelessness, advocacy for black artists, BIPOC land reclamation efforts, and continued education philanthropy all directly trace back to the ethos instilled in me by these select long term benefactors. It boils down to 3 principles: seek justice, serve others, and love deeply. A life update, I am back in the classroom at Harvard studying MLK’s poor people’s campaign; I’m working with my family and partners to develop businesses and public-private partnerships to create equity in healthcare, education, and housing. I’m helping a few black and indigenous artists earn mainstream notoriety. I’m producing a documentary on homelessness and housing insecurity in the Black community. If you know anyone interested in education volunteerism, healthcare implementation in poor communities, real estate development in the Texas Black community, or modern black-made Art, please let me know. In the meantime, reflect on who your own hero’s are, what they’ve taught you, and how you can pay it forward. Cheerfully, Rk.
