MK Asante – best-selling author, college professor, filmmaker, and rapper – met with students inside the San Joaquin County Juvenile Justice Center to share his story about his own life struggles and deliver a message of hope to students in the juvenile justice system.
“When I look at you all, I see myself. I wrote this book for you all,” he said Monday to about 50 students at the San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE) one.John F. Cruikshank Jr. School. He connected with students while talking about education, art, and growing up in a rough neighborhood of Philadelphia.
“I wanted to write a story about what saved me. What saved me was the blank page,” he said, telling how being presented with a blank page in an alternative classroom motivated him to fill that page by living a life worth writing about.
Asante is the first author to speak to students at the school that is part of a push to promote the importance of reading that will bring up to four authors a year to juvenile hall and the addition of a new library, which could open in early 2016. A visit and personal interaction with an inspiring author can do more than just get across the importance of reading, said Brandy Thurman, school administrator. “The big picture is for students to be able to see how they are able to change their own lives.”
Education shaped Asante’s life. He is a tenured professor of creative writing and film in the Department of English and Language Arts at Morgan State University. His book “Buck” is a powerful memoir that was a Washington Post Best-seller and was an NAACP Image Award finalist for Outstanding Literary Work.
Asante spoke and answered questions from the students. They asked him where he had gone when he left his neighborhood. They asked what it was like going to Egypt. They asked him what Philadelphia rappers he knew and if he would rap for them some more.
“I liked it. I liked the metaphors,” said Dern about the rapping. It was different, too, using complicated words and different subjects.
Another student, Simon, called the talk “inspiring.”
So did Carlos, a student from the same unit, who said Asante was a good example when students look to their own futures. “Anything is possible.”
The one.John F. Cruikshank Jr. School is an SJCOE Court School and part of the SJCOE one. program. Students at the school are adjudicated youth located at the San Joaquin County Juvenile Justice Center. The curriculum is designed to help students develop an appreciation of themselves and others in an environment that is balanced between state standards and individual needs. The focus is on problem solving, critical thinking and successful transition skills.
The school is named after the late Judge John F. Cruikshank Jr., San Joaquin County’s first African-American judge. A juvenile court judge, Cruikshank believed that every young person has the potential to succeed. The school that bears his name is inside the San Joaquin County Juvenile Justice Center, which is operated by the San Joaquin County Probation Office.
Before Asante left, he passed out copies of “Buck” and stuck around to sign them.
“I already told the staff, I’m finishing it by Wednesday,” said another student, Richard, who has goals, too. He said he’d like to join the Marine Corps before going on to law school. Richard said he appreciated Asante coming, and that the author seemed genuine, too. “He said a lot of encouraging things.”