Faith in Action

A Baraka success story
Teenager talks about his life-changing experience at the school in Kenya
By Makeda Crane | Sun reporter
August 3, 2008

UniSun recently caught up with 18-year-old Devon Brown, one of 20 boys from the most crime-ridden neighborhoods in Baltimore who was chosen to attend the Baraka School in Kenya, a two-year experimental boarding school that was supposed to separate the students from their city lives in hopes that they would focus on their education while in Africa.

Brown is one of the success stories from the program. Last spring, he graduated from the Academy for College and Career Exploration. Later this month, he will attend the Maryland Institute College of Art on a full scholarship from the Abell Foundation, which also sponsored the Boys of Baraka project. He plans to major in film production.

Brown was the kid preacher featured in the 2005 documentary The Boys of Baraka. Although the school closed after one year due to political unrest in Kenya, it altered his life, he said.

Unlike many of his peers, Brown had the support of his grandmother, who encouraged him in his passion for preaching in the pulpit of Zion Baptist Church, which he began doing at an early age.

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As I shared last month, I am a proud mentor in a program that serves incarcerated youth at the Charles Hickey School in Baltimore County. I’ve joined with four other strong brothers and we go to Hickey every Saturday for a strong 90 minute session - half youth develoment / half recreation.

The 15 (or so) young men that we mentor range between the ages of 15 and 18. Their charges are as petty as not completing community service as a stipulation of probation and as serious as selling narcotics and grand theft auto.

Because Hickey is a short term facility (supposed to be anyway), we only have about 5 weeks to positively impact the lives of these young men before they are moved out to a placement, another facility, or released back into the community.

We’ve been going strong now for two months and have learned much about the young men and ourselves. God has really blessed the mentors with great chemistry and comraderie. We all are 30 or younger, college educated, community-involved, married men - some with children. And all of us have a personal relationship with God that we do not hide from our mentees or staff. Prayer is a central part of our sessions and we stress to the young brothers that if they don’t have a spiritual connection with Almighty God that they will continue trafficking in the same hazardous circles that got them in Hickey in the first place.

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This past Resurrection Sunday, I joined about 4 other brothers in going inside the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center to lead a nontraditional worship experience for the young brothers who were incarcerated.  Spearheaded by Rev. Russell St. Bernard (who’s now serving as a Youth Pastor in FL), we had a wonderful time taking the gospel of Jesus Christ behind the bars of juvenile lockup.  Since that time, I’ve been itchin’ to get back behind bars to reconnect with young men in that situation.  I knew that though a one time visit was nice, if we were going to make a major impact we needed to establish a program that included weekly visits.

Thee one and only Ezekiel Jackson of Soul Cannon (SIDEBAR:This brother has a serious gift from God as an MC and musician.  Soul Cannon’s sound demands an international audience and I’m sure that a much larger platform is coming.  Support my Brother!) and I have been mulling over how we bring greater permanency to the idea of mentoring incarcerated youth since we both walked behind those bars on Easter Sunday 2007.  Then Anjelene Branch, Case Manager Supervisor from the Charles Hickey School called me looking for mentors.  Hickey is a state-owned facility operated by the Department of Juvenile Services providing alternative education options to detained youth ages 12-18.

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Hey Family.  Many of you know that I did a five year stint on a local public radio station connected to my alma mater - Morgan State University.  I hosted a gospel music show called the Gospel Grace Early Morning Show.  At different times there were various hosts and during the last 18 months or so I was the only host of the show.  I loved being on the air and really enjoyed talking to so many people every Sunday morning from 5AM - 8AM. (or was it 9AM?) 

Anyway during my last year on the air, the station positioned myself and a good sisterfriend of mine named Rev. Myisha Cherry to host a new religious public affairs program called Faith In Action.  With our show we purposed to “build the bridge between belief and service.”  At Myisha’s suggestion, I started this blog to serve as the online version of the show.  When she suggested this, I had no idea what a blog was, but I liked the idea of conversing with our Sunday morning listeners during the week.  As it turned out, Faith In Action lasted only a little more than 1 year because of managerial shifts.  I, along with many others, were scrapped from the station as well, but the blog continued and eventually grew to this level because I had no other creative outlet.  So thank Rev. Myisha Cherry and a certain public radio station for the Faith in Action Online Blog as you know it today.

Ok Heber - why the history lesson?  Good question.

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Dear Supporter,

There are all kinds of mentors needed for all kinds of boys and girls. Any caring adult can make a difference! But right now our greatest need is for African-American mentors, especially men. Sound like you or someone you know? Please don’t wait! Summer is the perfect time to sign up for mentoring. Please volunteer, tell a friend, or make a donation to support Big Brothers Big Sisters. Somebody needs you!

Patrick Mohan, Webmaster

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Joe Madison is testifying for the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.  He drops stats, facts, and figures left and right.  While half of my brain is listening to him - the other half is trying to organize my thoughts and sound half way intelligent while testifying. 

Madison is done and Walter Fauntroy goes next.  Like a good preacher he makes a little joke before starting to warm up the crowd.  They chuckle and he proceeds. 

While he’s talking I get my stuff together.  I think I can pull this off impromptu style now.  It hits me in that moment that growing up in the Black Church prepared me for this.  All those times that I had to stand and welcome visitors, respond to the welcome, sing a lead on a song, or pray over the offering prepared me for speaking confidently in front of people.  Thank you Church! (I gotta give a nod to the Future Business Leaders of America Club in high school too.  Did I mention that I placed 2nd in the county in the Impromptu Speaking competition?)

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