Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 2-28-17

Features
Retired Police Officer Connects With Students Through Rap
Grammy Award Winner John Legend Treats Black, Brown And College Bound Luncheon Attendees To Powerful Message And Mini-Concert
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
For more than 27 years, Tampa Police Officer Lawrence White served the community. His last 14 years were served as a School Re- source Officer.
Now, he is back in the school system, this time as an entrepreneur delivering posi- tive advice and messages through rap music. White has written several songs that he shares with the students such as, “If It’s Wrong, Don’t Do It,” and “Don’t Hate, Don’t Hurt, Don’t Harm.”
White said he began the Bullying Campaign about 5 years ago. He came out of re- tirement and visits all Hills- borough County Public Schools.
The students are first ad- dressed in an assembly and he talks to them in small groups. He also talks about inappro- priate behavior and how nega- tive choices affect them. He spends the entire day at the school and has tailored his ma- terial to be age appropriate.
“Instead of lecturing the kids, I use appropriate music and the message in the form of song. One song I have written is “Ignore That Foolish Stuff.” This song teaches them to ignore things such as people talking about the way you dress or speak.
“But, it doesn’t pertain to
LAWRENCE WHITE
bullying. I let them know that you don’t ignore bullying. In- stead, I teach them to stand up for themselves by speaking up and saying, ‘I don’t like that’ or ‘I’m going to report you’”
White said he also tells students it’s alright to be “Up- standers, by helping others who are being bullied because bullying hurts.
White knows his program is making a difference because he has had hundreds of teach- ers tell him that the students are quoting him in the class- room when a bad situation comes up.
He is married to Mrs. Vi- vian White, who is also a re- tired Tampa Police Officer, and the father of two adult children.
Recently, his program made local and national news when he was interviewed by a local media outlet. His video can be viewed at www.all- hiphop.com.
Grammy-award winner John Legend addressed the young men of Black, Brown and College Bound.
Legend also gave the young people a mini-concert.
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
The keynote speaker at this year’s Black, Brown, and College Bound Summit luncheon treated 700 atten- dees to a special message – and a song or three.
Grammy Award-winner, John Legend didn’t disap- point with his moving rendi- tion of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’s “Wake Up Everybody” nor with his own signature tunes “Ordinary People” and “All of Me.”
But before the mini-con- cert, Legend offered words of inspiration and encourage- ment to hundreds of young men in the audience at Thursday’s event. Dr. Sylvia Marion Carley, a retired president of Hillsborough Community College’s Ybor City Campus, is the Summit’s founder and convener.
The Summit, hosted by the college, addresses the na- tional problem of a lack of success in the areas of per- sistence, retention, and grad- uation for all students, particularly African-Ameri- can and Latino males.
Legend, a graduate of the University of Pennsylva- nia, credited the influence of his family and “great teach- ers” for his success.
“They believed I could aim higher than my circum- stances,” he said. “I was one ofthefortunateones.”
During his childhood, Le- gend was a part of The Stephens Five, a family gospel group.
“We thought we were the gospel version of The Jack- son 5,” he said.
Legend’s world crum- bled when his maternal grandmother died. Unable to cope, Legend’s mother spi- raled into drugs and depres- sion. She and Legend’s father divorced.
Legend poured himself into school and graduated salutatorian of his class.
“I was an exception in my neighborhood,” he said.
Legend serves as a global ambassador for Teach For All – the central hub for a world- wide network that includes Teach for America – said he is a passionate supporter of teachers and works with schools to improve instruc- tion and provide resources.
“I know from the data and my own personal experience that teachers have the power to change lives,” he said.
“The fight for educational equity is tied to the mass in- carceration – which begins in schools,” Legend said.
“Too often, students in- volved in altercations that can be handled with a talk with a principal or teacher end up at a police station talking to an officer,” he said.
Legend questions, what schools would look like if stu- dents were shown more care and concern and not easily passed through the justice system.
“We’d make sure all of
them had the resources they need to succeed,” he said. “How do we stop throwing away the lives of young boys and girls?”
One way to do that is by changing students’ realities by helping them look beyond what’s around them and push them to become independent thinkers, Legend said.
“I believe students have unlimited potential to create change in the world,” he said. “I’m confident we can build a brighter future for young men of color.” (Photos by BRUNSON)
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