First Posted: 3/4/2015
LIMA — Marlon Shackelford’s mother welcomed all types of people into her life and taught them how to believe in themselves.
Shackelford said his mother would bring in people such as prostitutes and ask them, “I believe in you, why shouldn’t you believe in yourself?”
As he watched her do this in her life, he became inspired to do the same.
Wednesday at Ohio State Lima’s Reed Hall, Shackelford spoke to students about staying positive and referencing the Civil Rights Movement to show adversity.
“You have three choices in life of where you want to be,” Shackelford said to students, “honor roll, death row or skid row. You have to choose where you want to end up.”
Shackelford said the younger he can reach out to students, the better.
By inviting young artists on stage to perform rap songs, pop songs and short skits, Shackelford hopes to send a positive message.
“Things may happen to you, things may happen around you, but the things that happen in you are the things that are going to make a difference,” he said.
Rich Carlson, founder of Power of 3 Ministries, and fellow speaker said he got his calling for inner city ministry over a period of six years, and has seen his career as a life coach expand.
For Carlson, however, he can relate to some youth on a deeper level.
The former member of the gang “The Latin Kings,” Carlson said he knows what inner city youth experience on a day-to-day basis. “They think, ‘Man, he was me’ and the opportunity of, you can get out”of a gang, Carlson said of the youth he mentors.
Carlson said one of his protégés, who is homeless, has been offered a four-year scholarship to play football in college.
“I think the biggest impact is that I don’t dwell so much on all of the junk. … I want to be about how God moves them in life,” he said.
Lima West Middle School students were members of the audience in conjuction with a program called, Closing The Achievement Gap. CTAG was formerly a state-funded program, but has since been adopted by the Lima City School District.
Bridging CTAG Linkage Coordinator, Angel Cowan, said the opportunity was a great way for students “to see other kids, or students, doing some of the things we encourage them to do to stay positive, stay out of trouble, just think that education is important and to stay positive about themselves, that they can do whatever they want to do.
A teen musical group from Dayton, Wiiildflower also performed multiple songs about positivity.
“They’ll definitely be talking about this for the rest of the week,” Cowan said.
