Every day Travis Burrell is hustling.
He hustles in their school, hustles in their homes and hustles in their lives so the children at Ferndale Middle School in High Point, NC, won't end up hustling on the block.
"I'm doing five things at once all day," he laughs. It's usually for the kids.
Travis puts his own children down to bed. It's been a long day working at the school. The incoming-call light on his Bluetooth headset twinkles, tucked behind his ear. It's another call, someone wants his help with a fundraiser and they want to meet up.
And he's back out the door, into the night.
A Father Figure to Many
When Travis isn't changing young lives through Communities In Schools of High Point, he's working on one of his many businesses or on his nonprofit I AM NOW, Inc., which he operates out of an old house between the CIS High Point office and Ferndale Middle School. He has created a haven there for children and young adults who have nowhere to go after school because their parents are working, they are homeless or struggling otherwise. It's a place for them to avoid getting into trouble in High Point's streets, which is all too easy.
He puts a lot of his own money into I AM NOW because he can identify with the plight of many of the young people he reaches out to. Travis wants them to have male role models, which can be more precious than diamonds and worth their weight in gold in many African American communities. He hopes that his entrepreneurial spirit can serve as an example to his "kids," as he calls them.
He often finds his kids in In-School Suspension (ISS) at Ferndale because they have misbehaved. He hates watching them fritter their time away and perpetuating the cycle, or the "systems," as he calls it.
Systems
The city jail stands a little over 100 yards from one of the poorest subsidized housing projects in High Point. Many residents of one have spent time in the other. It's one of the "systems" and Travis knows all about them.
The school system, the foster home system, the welfare system and the prison system. Travis watched his brothers flow through them all. He became a foster child at an early age himself. He knows that if his kids don't take advantage of the first one, they'll be shuffled through the last one, which is already overflowing with African-Americans.
Travis sees them as slaves to their situations, slaves to their minds, slaves to the block—a statistic.
He reminds his kids that Africans kidnapped and sold as slaves had to be chained and shackled not because they were inferior but because they were strong and clever. One African slave could do the work of four English settlers. Travis wants his kids to do more than play football or rap because not every kid can be an NFL star or the next Lil' Wayne.
"I like for them to explore, have them understand what kind of options are out there, and tap into what gifts they have," he tells me.
Looking to the Future
Travis says a lot of his work is "preparing yourself to be in a position to receive a blessing, a blessing to help others." At 30 years old and six years into his philanthropy work, he says his method is an important part of making us all one community, with the common interest in lifting up our young people. Travis wants to continue working toward that end, but his means may change soon.
He tells me the grant money that funds his position with Communities In Schools of High Point is about to run out. When that happens he wants to begin serving at the macro level, by improving policy that affects "his kids."
Travis finds great joy when he doesn't find his kids in ISS, or when they thank him. He feels honored when they begin to understand the consequences of their choices and begin to take responsibility for them. "I don't consider it work; it is the best thing that ever happened to me. Being able to interact with youth from all walks of life, to let them know that this is not the end, but the beginning, that is a beautiful thing," he says.
Who knows, among those youth may be the next Martin Luther King, Jr.
Or maybe even the next Travis Burrell.
Justin Cook is an independent documentary photographer who lives in Durham, NC. He is the multimedia producer behind Communities In Schools of North Carolina's "Overcoming Obstacles: CIS Success Stories." His work has been honored by College Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year International, Virginia Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations. Although Cook's photojournalism is award-winning, he gauges his success not in trophies but in the relationships he establishes with his subjects. View his work online at justincookphoto.com. COPYRIGHT JUSTIN COOK/2011
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Greater Joy Shout Nov 12, 2010.mp4by shasha26031,150 views
@MarioDiddle thank u somuch <3
jabbetupac 3 weeks ago
Great Video. I wish somehow we could get the video viewed by more people. Keep the coming please very inspiring.
MarioDiddle 3 weeks ago