MPR’s Brandt Williams profiles Jamil Jackson, who manages a basketball league where he mentors youth through a program called Change Equals Opportunity. Every week, Jackson convenes the program and basketball league at the Jerry Gamble Boys and Girls Club in north Minneapolis.
BRANDT WILLIAMS: Every week, Jamil Jackson convenes a mentoring program/basketball league at the Jerry Gamble Boys and Girls Club in North Minneapolis.
JAMIL JACKSON: This is what I need, gentlemen. I need us all to calmly and respectfully make a line here.
BRANDT WILLIAMS: The gentlemen Jackson talks to in the gym are 14 to 19 years old. And like sprinters waiting for the starting gun, they're just itching to get on the court and have at it. But Jackson has other plans for them. Before they shoot hoops, they gather in a room just off the gym.
JAMIL JACKSON: All right, so basically what we're doing today, guys, is we're starting our CEO sessions.
BRANDT WILLIAMS: CEO stands for Change Equals Opportunity. It's a mentoring program Jackson developed. He's also the codirector of the basketball league called Run and Shoot. There are eight teams in the league, nine players to a team. Two teams start the evening in the mandatory mentoring session, while another two teams are on the court. Mentoring sessions can include guest speakers or chats about relationships and career goals.
Tonight, Jackson wants the guys to watch some of a documentary called more than a game. He tells them the movie features NBA star LeBron James.
JAMIL JACKSON: I thought when I first seen it that it was just about LeBron James. But it's not. It's actually more about his friends and the loyalty and the dedication and commitment that they brought forth together to play for the school. Does anybody even know what the movie's about?
BRANDT WILLIAMS: Jackson pushes play on the DVD player and gets ready to leave the young men to watch the movie. But he stops it and rewinds the film to make sure that they absorbed the first 30 seconds.
DRU JOYCE II: Basketball is a vehicle. It's not the end all, be all. It's a vehicle to get you from point A to point B.
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
BRANDT WILLIAMS: Back in the gym, Jackson watches a blur of red and blue uniformed teens on the court. Basketball is a vehicle for this program too. Jackson wants to be the role model he didn't have as a teenager. His father wasn't always there for him as he was growing up. But now his father and brothers are coaches and mentors in the program. Jackson says he has an idea of where some of these young men would be if they weren't in the gym.
JAMIL JACKSON: In my opinion, they'd be either hanging on somebody's street corner or in somebody's house where drugs and alcohol is allowed. And I'm not saying that's all of them. But the majority of them, that's the case. There's a lot of kids I have here that are in group homes. So it's an outlet for them to get to other kids.
BRANDT WILLIAMS: Jackson wants the kids to learn discipline, respect for others, and other life skills that will help them off the court. Players earn points for being on time, for attending team meetings, and for completing their required weekly five hours of community service. They can lose points for being late and for getting technical fouls. The points can be used as money to buy t-shirts and wristbands from the league or to buy food from the concession stand at the Boys and Girls Club.
JAMIL JACKSON: Good pass, Gino.
BRANDT WILLIAMS: Jackson is 33 years old and a single father of three. He teaches construction classes at Dunwoody Academy High School. He's also a volunteer youth coach at another Northside park. And he coaches a sixth grade basketball team that plays in tournaments in other parts of the country. Jackson doesn't get paid for this, so he goes door to door for donations. But Jackson says he often has to put up his own money to keep it all going.
JAMIL JACKSON: As much as I dislike paying out of my pocket, these kids can't miss out on the opportunity because I can't find funding yet or somebody is too tight to help support these kids.
BRANDT WILLIAMS: Jackson returns to the room just off the gymnasium, where a group of players have watched part of the basketball documentary. He gets the sense that many of them weren't paying attention.
JAMIL JACKSON: OK, so what's interesting about the movie to you?
SPEAKER 1: How long they had to stay together for. They couldn't lose. Sixth grade?
JAMIL JACKSON: Sixth grade.
SPEAKER: That's a long time.
BRANDT WILLIAMS: Jackson also suspects some of the guys are not taking their commitment to the CEO program seriously. And he reminds them that if they don't follow the rules, they won't play basketball. He hopes that having a few hours a week with these kids is enough to make a difference. And Jackson plans to expand the league to include younger kids. His goal is to get the high school aged players to coach the younger kids and referee the games. And he wants the young people to broadcast the games and post video on the league's website.
JAMIL JACKSON: So I'm dreaming big here. But if you're not dreaming big, then why are you dreaming, I guess.
BRANDT WILLIAMS: Brandt Williams, Minnesota Public Radio News, Minneapolis.
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