Rev. Dr. Velva Flowers spoke in unusually personal terms as she signed books on Sunday at The Torch of Wisdom Foundation in Southfield. She talked to person after person about how she got her inspiration to write the book, “Choices, Teaching Youth to Think Strategically and Make Moves to Win,” from her husband.
Flowers discussed how at times she was without a vision and direction as she contemplated Detroit’s numbness to the plight of young Black men. Drawing on the power of her own experiences, in a way only whoever is talking to her at that moment can understand, Flowers sought to connect her personal narrative about life, growing up on the streets of Detroit, to that of a generation of young Black men throughout the city, to what they can do versus what they can’t do.
“This all was inspired from my husband’s life,” Flowers said. “My husband graduated from a Detroit public high school, went away to college and graduated with a degree from a Fortune 500 company and basically ended up making a poor choice.”
Her husband one day decided to take a trip with a friend, who wasn’t going in the same direction. What ensued was an event that would change his life forever.
“He went with a friend who was going to do some illegal business, and he ended being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Flowers said. “Those consequences, not only impacted his life but the future as well. Of course, all of this happened before I met him. But that’s why this was dropped into my spirit. I realized I was supposed to take a group of young men through this process.”
What Flowers did was locate 15 young men and challenge them to seek out African American men who had become successful and get them to share their story of knowledge, experience and the lessons they had learned, good and bad, and how they had put together a roadmap to success, despite various obstacles. Each young man wrote a chapter in the book and can now call themselves published authors. They responded to the people as if they had been signing books for most of their lives.
One of those subjects was state Sen. Bertrum Courtney Johnson, from the 2nd District of Highland Park, who at the age of 19, served 18 months in jail for armed robbery. His story has inspired many.
“I learned from Sen. Johnson that despite what people may think or say about you, always strive for greatness and stick to your path,” said D’Andre Simpson, 17, a 12th grader at University of Detroit Jesuit High School and one of the book’s young authors. “Sen. Johnson, came out of jail and he still became a senator. People go through trials and tribulations, but it’s up to us to push through those obstacles in order to become great.”
Flowers said her vision comes out of a common belief that Black men are exceptionally endangered by racism, occupying the bottom of every metric, especially school performance, workforce participation and involvement with the criminal justice system. She saw it as an opportunity to help improve their lives, an opportunity to be an influential promoter of the positives that come with Black men, young and old.
America is in the process of managing, accommodating and containing a crisis that should be intolerable. More than 50 percent of young Black men in inner cities are now dropping out of school, making high school graduation the exception to this dismal new rule. They consequently lag behind other groups in college attendance and graduation.
Their rates of incarceration are disproportionately high and rates of workforce participation disproportionately low. For virtually each outcome considered, young Black men now lag behind every other race and gender group in the United States.
“When I really started engaging it, I thought, “Am I really supposed to do this?” Flowers said. “What I found was that it really wasn’t that I was supposed to do it, it was that I was supposed to take some young men through a process. I was supposed to have real-life case studies from real- life men. So I asked African American men that I knew if would they share two stories, one where they made good choices and the other where they made poor choices. I actually took the boys through this process — from interviewing skills to work shops — for a whole year. Every chapter has a specific structure to it.”
The young men greeted everyone with a smile, a firm hand shake, executed strong eye contact, stood tall with pride and shared their educational experience and aspirations. It was a clear reminder of what happens when the community, particularly men, assume responsibility. Powerful things happen.
“It’s been a great experience,” said Christopher T. Jackson II, 16, an 11th grader at Detroit Country Day High School. “We’re in the community. I can put it on my résumé: published author. Just being here, being a part of this experience is a blessing to me. My dad gave me the choice to do this, he didn’t pressure me at all. I just thought it was a great opportunity to become a better person and just expand my future. Now it’s about continuing to go to high school, go to college and see where it takes me. Maybe we have another book down the line. Who knows?”
Zack Burgess is director/owner of Off Woodward Media. His work can be seen at zackburgess.com. Twitter: @zackburgess1
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