Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 283

Today in microfashion…

Today in microfashion…

"There aren’t a lot of girls basketball teams around here,...

"There aren’t a lot of girls basketball teams around here, so I practice with these guys."
“Which ones can you beat?”
“Him, him, and him.”

“There are a lot of boys on the streets around here, aged 14...

“There are a lot of boys on the streets around here, aged 14 through 19, who
are the real terrors of the neighborhood. They didn’t make it in school
and most of them aren’t getting a second chance, so they go around
causing trouble. I try to grab the kids early so they don’t go down
that path. Most of my team lives in the housing developments, so they
are surrounded by gangs and drugs. But basketball gives them a solace
from all of that. When they’re on the court, it’s only about
basketball.”

“When I was younger I couldn’t control my anger. But every day...

“When I was younger I couldn’t control my anger. But every day I’m working on
it. Now if I make a mistake on the court, I take deep breaths like
Coach Randy said, and I try not to yell. If I’m still upset, then I tell
my teammates how I feel and see if they can help me.”

“I grew up with a lot of these kids’ parents. One of their...

“I grew up with a lot of these kids’ parents. One of their fathers
actually used to beat me up on the basketball court. So did his uncle.
When I graduated from college, I could have left Brownsville. But I
wanted to come back and be an agent of change. I wanted to help piece
the neighborhood back together. So when Ms. Lopez told me she needed a
basketball coach, I told her I’d do it for free. This is our second
season. Our first season, we weren’t even in a league, so I had to call
other schools and beg them to come play us. We didn’t even have
jerseys. But we still went 8-1. Every one of these kids could make the
NBA if they put in the time. And I’m here to offer that.”

“I stutter when I read sometimes, and people laugh. It makes me...

“I stutter when I read sometimes, and people laugh. It makes me feel ashamed, and it makes me worry that when I grow
up I won’t be able to teach my kids how to read because of how I read.
But I go to study hall every day because Coach Randy says that if I read
a book every day, nobody will ever tell me again that I stutter.”

"I want to be a real estate broker. My mentor is a real estate...

"I want to be a real estate broker. My mentor is a real estate broker
named Anthony Morris. He says that he can relate to what I’m going
through because he grew up with a lot of challenges and had a hard time
when he was younger."
“How did you meet him?”
“One day I got in a
fight with another girl in the hallway, and Principal Lopez said that
she wouldn’t suspend me if I spent a day with Mr. Morris.”

“My students are going to need education to advocate for...

“My students are going to need education to advocate for themselves. They
need to understand the law, so they know if it’s being applied to them
fairly. They need to understand the services they deserve, so they know
if they’re receiving them. They even need to be educated about simple
things like fresh fruit. There isn’t any fresh fruit in the stores
around here. And they think that’s normal. They need to know that’s
not normal, and that they deserve fresh fruit.”

“My family emigrated from Haiti when I was seven. None of us...

“My family emigrated from Haiti when I was seven. None of us spoke any
English. So I learned at a very early age that I would need education
to advocate for myself. My father worked as a landscaper and my mother
was a janitor. Whenever they visited my elementary school, they would
need a translator to speak to my teachers. Ms. Rogers, my first grade
teacher, told me that I would need to learn fast
so that I could advocate for my family. She gave me extra books to
bring home during the summer. I remember being a child, and arguing
about bills with cable and utility companies. I kept advocating for my
parents until my father passed away last year. Because he couldn’t
speak English, his doctors never took the time to fully explain his
cancer to him. So I had to get on the phone and draw the prognosis out
of his doctors. I had to tell my father he had stage four pancreatic
cancer, and I was the one who had to deal with the insurance companies.
I would not have been able to do that without my education.”

"I’m not going to get a criminal record because I...

"I’m not going to get a criminal record because I don’t want to be a bad
person in life. But if I do get a criminal record, I’m going to try to
make sure my child doesn’t make the same mistake I did."
“Who taught you that?”
“My father.”