In my life I’ve been assigned many titles: little brother, business man, actor, drummer, off-putting comedian, even boss; but mentor has never been one of them, until now.
—
I grew up as the youngest brother of three in a single-parent home where we all played musical instruments and loved wrestling. I, unfortunately, being the baby boy, was also the pilot subject for the most painful moves, particularly the figure-four leg lock and a “top step” body splash. I never really fought back as a youngster, I usually just cried to mom about being bullied. And although at the time I felt like I was just a punching bag, looking back, those moments we spent mimicking WWF and WCW personalities were some of the highlights of my childhood as a “little brother.”
I thought I would’ve the chance to be a big brother to a little guy and finally get my turn to hand out the “daily routine,” which was the name my brother Leonard gave his less than welcomed assaults on my then small frame. However, my mom made it clear she wasn’t having anymore children, eventually getting her tubes tied to drive home her point; I was a little disappointed to be honest, but whatever.
My mother ended up getting married to a gentleman named Brian who had two sons, one a little older than me and one younger. The youngest son of his was named Christian, he was shy, not very talkative, but he was my little brother, I viewed him as such and I was thrilled to have him in my life.
Although he didn’t live with us because we had different mothers, he always came over on the weekend and we would built forts and play games, you know, stuff that brothers do. One weekend I was visiting my godparent’s home in West Philadelphia when my entire life came crashing down. A phone call came in and while I couldn’t hear what was being said, I could see the pain the messaging was causing, I didn’t want to know happened but I didn’t have that choice.
It was my mother on the other end of the phone informing my godparents that my brother, Christian, has died in a fire set by his mother’s boyfriend; he was burned alive. My tenure of being a big brother was over before it really got started and I wasn’t sure how to cope with it. I keep the pain and the story inside for more than 15 years, revealing for the first time on my 27th birthday to Rashaun Williams, my mentee and someone I’m just as happy to call my little brother as I was with Christian.
***
I met Rashuan, who’s the only child in his home, when he was 17 year-old, still a senior in high school. I had heard about the awesome things he was doing around social entrepreneurship and sustainability with his startup, Phresh Philly, on a conference call hosted by OIC of America, Inc, where he was the featured guest. I’m not easily impressed, but I admittedly was somewhat star struck to learn there was a well-spoken, well-mannered teenager who cares just as much about saving the world by promoting sustainability as I did, we shared a purpose.
Williams was on the call to promote an “Employ and Empower Yourself” teen workshop for entrepreneurs. I found him on Facebook and asked how I could support his endeavors. I showed up to the event and covered it for www.PhillyinFocus.com and from then on was very intentional about being in his life and sharing with him all of the knowledge and experience I gained from being salesman, marketer, brand developer and CEO.
I asked Williams to speak to a group of 7-12 year-olds at an annual event that a close friend of mine organizes, entitled “The Boy’s Power Lunch.”
Without reservation, Williams showed up to the event, on-time and ready to inspire. His energy reminded me so much of myself at his age and I knew that he would only get better overtime. Since that moment, Williams and I have done almost everything together, including but not limited to, becoming 2013 BMe Leaders and collaborating on a 21st century learning tool that uses interactive content to promote sustainability, giving the keynote address at Mobilize.org’s reGenerate Philly Summit – where we debuted our joint edutainment program that uses my drums and his turntables to promote idea development and action – even being trained together by Ignite Good in the public narrative framework, enabling us to serve as “Igniters” in our local community, providing powerful storytelling skills that will enable active citizens to become more compelling and memorable activist.
Most recently, Williams and I spent significant hours together developing his application for Echoing Green’s Climate Change Fellowship. Next Friday, Williams – who serves as Techbook Online’s Director of Youth & Millennial Initiatives – will join me at the January Open Access PHL convening where I will present Techbook Online to a cohort to civic innovators, entrepreneurs and government officials.
Although I was already fully committed to being a mentor to Williams, he asked me very directly one Sunday afternoon when the reGenerate Philly Summit came to an end. “I want to be in business with Flood the Drummer. I’ve always wanted a brother in the business,” he said. I responded simply: “I’ve always wanted a little brother.”
♦◊♦
Now, as self-proclaimed actionists, our collective goal is to mobilize communities by providing them socially relevant content on the issues they care about and providing doers the resources they need to take action. The steady decline in the Earth’s natural environment – such as the rapid melting of glaciers and declining health of heat-sensitive coral reefs – is not just a technical problem, but has much to do with the way societies operate. Williams and I exist to promote the practice of econology, which is the synthesis of ecology, sociology and economics that can be used as the basis for creating an economy that is both socially and ecologically sustainable.
In my life I’ve been assigned many titles: little brother, business man, actor, drummer, off-putting comedian, even boss; but mentor has never been one of them, until now. And to be honest, although I still have a secret dream of being WWE Champion one day, holding the title of mentor is the greatest honor anyone could be bestowed and I recommend that everyone – in a traditional or nontraditional form – become a mentor, because while you’re giving of yourself to another, you’re receiving more of yourself than you knew existed.
Happy National Mentoring Month! Celebrate by becoming a mentor today!
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE
Source: TBO Inc®
Twitter: @therealTBOInc
Facebook: /therealTBOInc
©2013 All Rights Reserved.
—
Photo: C. Norris
Awesome piece, and so sorry for your loss!
Tahnk you man, and kudos for being such an agent of positive change!
Simply wonderful and inspiring. I’ve never had a little brother either. You have shown that you never can sometimes tell!
Awesome stuff, man. The work that you’ll do, the places you’ll go! Great article and so sorry about your little brother. That’s sad, and so tragic.
Mr Norris i have read all your of your work. This is by far your best
Work to date. You are an amazing human being. Keep up the great work