August “News U Can Use Spotlight” with Daria
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Jaylin Lowery August 2019 “News U Can Use” Spotlight
This months “News U Can Use” spotlight brought to you by U Turn’s new youth contributor Daria shines on Jaylin Lowery. She will be starting her senior year this Fall at Westinghouse College Prep and is interested in starting a club at school for mental health support & awareness. I just feel as if not enough schools offer that kind of club, let alone a student starting it them self. She’s already took the initiative to reach out to administration and organizations to be sponsors. I’m just really proud of her and she deserves that recognition.
“News U Can Use” Contributor Daria Gaiter
DREAM combats bullying!
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At seven years old DREAM started his own clothing line to raise awareness on the topic of bullying. His stop bullying campaign has been supported not just locally but nationally. His apparel has graced the stages by international performers doing a concert in Nigeria. In honor of his 8th birthday, he has a youth entrepreneur expo being held July 20th 2019, his overall mission is to raise money for anti bully programs. His Facebook page is Dream In Color Clothing and the website is https://sites.google.com/view/
Kudos to DREAM for combatting bullying, he is definitely someone we should know! #Ucanturnitaround
Protection From Unseen Dangers
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When I reached middle age I started questioning everything. I questioned many of the choices I made, the people who I chose as friends, my career choice, and my personal faith. This apparently is the season of questioning for me. I believe that doing a self inventory is VERY important as you go through life. At some point in life you want to ask yourself “Is this really working for me?” I have been going through the process of seeing what has been working and what hasn’t. Sometimes a self inventory is scary because you may find that some things and people who you really have taken a liking to simply are not adding to your life but actually taking away. This is one of the reasons that many people don’t inventory their lives. One particular area that I am in the process of inventorying is my faith. A few of the major questions that I have asked myself are: Why does God allow so much suffering? Does God bless his children in abundance in all areas? Does God really care? I know you must be saying “How could a believer have these type of questions?” My answer is that everyone’s journey is different and does not have the same relationship with God. Our relationship with God just like with people evolves and we understand it better as we get to know not only him but ourselves. Most people that know me know that I consider myself frugal. I’ve never been into shiny things and have pretty much lived a simple life. Sometimes my approach to life leads me to procrastinate. There are some areas that you should not procrastinate in, safety is one of those areas. This brings me to the center of this story. I drive a modest 1999 Honda Civic. It’s not shiny or elaborate it just serves it purpose to get me from point A to point B. You must be saying “what does a car have to do with midlife or ones questions about God?” Car repairs are always a headache and no one likes to shell out money especially if the expenses are unplanned. When you drive an older model vehicle there are bound to be repairs, when you add in driving on the streets of Chicago that number escalates! Cars normally will give you an indication when something needs attention. Sometimes there is an indicator on the dashboard, sometimes,a rattle or a sputter all of them scream I NEED YOUR ATTENTION! Unfortunately we don’t always pay attention to the warnings and in this case I chose not to address the matter immediately. So I hopped in my car one evening to attend a wedding on the South side ignoring the screeching and other things that were going on. Later that evening on my way home I was pulled over by a police officer. Now I almost always do the speed limit and figured did I turn wrong? Did I become distracted with my device while supposed to be watching the road? The officer asked ” Do you know what I stopped you?” I answered, “No I don’t.” He let me know that my one of my front lights was out and asked me for proof of insurance and my drivers license which I handed over. Everything was clear so I was let go without a ticket and encouraged to get it fixed. Now we know that things don’t always turn out that well when a Black man is stopped by the police so I thanked God because even though I am at this point of inventory and questioning blessings and care I was taken care of in that instance. The next day I took my car to my mechanic to replace the lights and figured I needed to fix the brakes as well even though I was ignoring the signs that they needed to be repaired. I found out that I not only needed my brakes shoes replaced but that my rotors were pretty bad and that a tie rod was on it’s last leg and that there was significant leaking in one of the brake drums in the rear as well. I thought to myself you have been driving all over putting yourself in danger because you are procrastinating and ignoring the signs. I also said to myself that God has been protecting you from unseen dangers. In closing I am still on my midlife inventory and I still have questions about multiple things BUT I am glad that even though I have questions about God he is still keeping me as I get to know him better!
West Suburban Church of Christ Hosts F.O.R.E.A.L Friday Session
0With all that’s going on in the world it’s very easy to forget what matters the most. The most vulnerable people always seem to get lost in the shuffle which are the young people and the aging. West Suburban Church of Christ in Berkley Illinois hosted its first F.O.R.E.A.L Friday. The topics of the first event was conflict resolution and anger management. The event was hosted by Minister Jonathan Johnson and his team. U Can Turn It Around was invited by board member Robin Ewing. We were able to sit back and listen to what the youth had to say about such an important topic. The atmosphere was pleasant and teen friendly. It was an evening of transparency and discussion that was not one sided. Normally when you have events hosted for younger people they can turn into sessions where they are talked at but this was not the case. There was a short movie that included the panelists with a real life scenario for discussion, food, fellowship and prizes. Attendees were able to have honest discussions about solving conflict and what challenges young people face in doing so. These days there are not a lot of safe places for young people to go. Most people are afraid of them or won’t open themselves up to have honest dialogue with them. Kudos to the team at West Suburban COC that put this event together, it was a perfect event for a Fall evening! This was the first of this series, we look forward to next month! Mark your calendars for Friday November 2nd at 7pm West Suburban Church of Christ 141 St Charles Rd, Berkeley, IL 60163
Incite an explosion
0With all that is going on in the world we could all use some great music! Check out Marisa Ayala with her original song Incite an explosion.
Marcus Jones WVON Interview
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I met Marcus Jones at a Healing Corner community outreach event. I was initially impressed because he just seemed to get to work right away without anyone asking him to do anything. He is a natural at interacting with people especially youth. He has a drive that the average person does not have. Naturally I wanted to ask right away about his story but I didn’t want to come off as being nosey LOL! Luckily I would have another opportunity to work with him in the community to purchase his book Everyone Has A Story……This is Mine. Got to learn about Marcus’s journey and I couldn’t put the book down. I knew that I wanted to do some type of work with the brotha after learning about the portion of his life that he shared through his work. Eventually we chopped it up and talked about both of our desires to help the youth and I extended an invitation to him to Join us at U Can Turn It Around which he thankfully accepted. Yesterday I had the opportunity to hang out with Marcus at WVON where he shared shared his story. Marcus is an author, mentor, activist, businessman, talk show host and now I’m glad to say I’m working with him. Check out a portion of his interview and grab a copy of his book to bless your life and the life of someone else.
https://www.facebook.com/marcus.jones.77128261
Instagram @Marcusjonesstory
