And Now… a Word From The Founder

My name is Davidson Jones, and I am originally from Turners Station, MD, a small town outside of Baltimore. Turners Station is not as big as Asheville but I often find myself noticing things in Asheville that remind me of home.

There are too many youth left alone to figure out how to become successful at adult living. Why does this happen? What can we as adults do? Well, we each can find a small space in this town and create a good experience for one youth at a time. Any adult that believes they are successful can recall events, and talk about the good experiences provided by adults.



I
remember reading Colin Powell’s AARP interview when he used the
metaphor of the pinball machine, as he reflected on his journey from
childhood to adulthood, and it resonated with me and defined my mission
with Youth at Jazz. In the interview Powell mentioned how the child is
akin to a ball in a pinball machine and the parents, peers, coaches,
and ministers are the flippers to prevent the child from “sliding off
into nowhere”. Youth at Jazz is that ‘flipper’ to keep the kids of WNC
into ‘play’.


I am a staunch
believer in the African proverb of “It takes a village to raise a
child.” I believe that what a kid needs is the tribal experience that
comes from family. It could be the kind of traditional family we know
or some of the nontraditional family units that are present. We need
the mentality of ‘You belong to this family and we will not let you
fail!’ If children do not get that from adults, what do they get when
there’s nobody pushing them? They will eventually drift off and find
other tribes. They will pick up the worst pathologies-drugs, crime-of
the communities in which they live unless they have adults who say, “
No, that’s not what we do in this family!”


The restoration
of traditional family would be great, but I think that’s much harder
than it might have been 20 or 30 years ago. There are kids who have
never had a laptop, with an aunt or a mommy reading to them-that kind
of laptop. A teacher once told me, “These kids come in here at age six
with their eyes blazing with excitement and joy, and by age nine the
lights have started to go out. They realize they aren’t making it.” So
you compensate for it with mentoring programs, with head start
programs, with school programs, with what you saw down at America’s
Promise on the fourth floor of my office.


It has taken me
a while to talk about Youth at Jazz, Inc. You must know the source of
my itch that needs scratching. You must remember the road traveled by
our youths has many potholes. There are many answers to: “What can we
grownups do?” Youth at Jazz is an answer. The mission is to use jazz as
a vehicle for preparing youths for successful adult living. You can say
that Youth at Jazz is my way of finding small spaces within the
community to create good experiences for one youth at a time. And I
have asked several sponsors to join in creating a village, intent on
helping youth towards successful adult living.


Youth at Jazz’s
motto is: “We will bring the village to one youth at a time. To use
Colin Powell’s pinball machine metaphor once more, Youth at Jazz will
generate a host of ‘flippers’ to keep youths in play. As a new
organization, Youth at Jazz is up and running. At Reid Center, Youth at
Jazz is playing a facilitator role as a jazz band; jazz jump rope teams
and a dance troupe are being developed. There is more to come in the
Asheville area. Stay tuned. Remember to visit our website at
youthatjazz.org. Do what you can to help out. We are on our way!


Davidson Jones, President and Founder, Youth at Jazz, Inc.