One day I asked one of the young brothers walking from Washington High School in Atlanta did he know of Mr. Stewart.
“Mr. Strike – Out!”, he said in response to me. His neighbors participated in the L.E.A.D. program. They refer to him as “Mr. Strike Out” because of the lesson behind it. It’s a powerful life lesson a lot of our Black boys need to hear.
Never strike out in life when you have a chance to succeed.
This is a great example of why we need more Black men like C.J. Stewart in communities across America supporting our Black boys outside of the classroom.
Seeing the challenges our Black boys faced in school inspired the development of L.E.A.D. (Launch, Expose, Advise, Direct).
We use baseball as a vehicle to help Atlanta Public Schools (APS) youth males grades 6th through 12th grade overcome crime, poverty and racism.
I don’t believe that Atlanta will ever become a world-class city until hundreds of thousands of Black males are living a sustainable life of significance. – C.J. Stewart
Civic engagement is another way we engage the boys in overcoming crime, poverty and racism.
L.E.A.D uses it’s platform to teach Black boys how to advocate for themselves and make it to home plate.
Beating the odds and taking a stance against racism can be done through baseball. Jackie Robinson and others have proven that to us.
L.E.A.D is doing it’s part to help bridge the economic and educational gap in Atlanta.
L.E.A.D. (Launch, Expose, Advise, Direct) was established in 2007 and is a an Atlanta based non-profit 501c3 sport for social good organization.
Jason has worked in education for over 15 years as a teacher, blogger and community advocate. He speaks and writes primarily about the need to improve education for Black boys, particularly increasing the number of Black male educators in schools. In addition to blogging here at EdLanta, Jason is also a featured writer at Education Post.