Add Passion and Stir

Flipping the Script: Rewriting the Story of Urban Youth


Listen Later

How do we find opportunities where others see only problems? The BASE founder and president Robert Lewis Jr. and Mida chef and owner Douglass Williams join host Billy Shore for an enlightening conversation about using love and generosity to build community and create generational change. Lewis started The BASE as a way to re-imagine pathways to success for urban youth. “Language matters… we don’t use language around ‘at-risk, disadvantaged and underserved.’ Our young folks are ‘untapped, great and resilient,’” he says. Williams agrees that words can help change minds and hearts. “If everybody just picked up a book about something that they’ve never read before, that would solve 90% of the racism, 90% of the problems we have. It’s just about educating yourself,” he says.

 

Both guests discuss how their personal experiences have shaped the work they do today. Williams talk about having a serious illness as a child and how his world travels have shaped his perspective. “It’s humbling because you see how other people live… that’s what changes your mind, that’s the mind switch. You cannot unsee the truth,” he explains. Lewis tells personal stories of the racism and violence he endured growing up in the projects in Boston. “People said ‘mother had me at 17, welfare, growing up in the projects, no dad, somebody already wrote the story.’ And we turned around and I guess we kicked that story.” Now he is helping inner city youth because he believes all kids deserve opportunities.

 

Share in this uplifting conversation that illuminates the impact of sharing the spirit of generosity and love.


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Add Passion and StirBy Share Our Strength

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

82 ratings


More shows like Add Passion and Stir

View all
The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,890 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,914 Listeners

This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,749 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,152 Listeners

The Moth by The Moth

The Moth

27,321 Listeners

Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,137 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,491 Listeners

Pivot by New York Magazine

Pivot

9,067 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,165 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

55,956 Listeners

What A Day by Crooked Media

What A Day

12,182 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,281 Listeners

NPR's Book of the Day by NPR

NPR's Book of the Day

610 Listeners

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus by Lemonada Media

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

10,535 Listeners

The Wirecutter Show by The New York Times

The Wirecutter Show

1,073 Listeners