Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 284

“I always get in trouble for talking. I start out talking about...

“I always get in trouble for talking. I start out talking about the work,
but then I start talking about something else, and that’s when I get
caught. The other day we were in social studies class, so I was talking
to my friend about social studies, but then we started to talk about
eating at Checkers. And we got caught. The teacher never catches you
when you’re talking about social studies. They only catch you when
you’re talking about Checkers.”

“My life has been around my children. And I can say that even...

“My life has been around my children. And I can say that even as a single
mother, not one of my kids hit the streets. I made sure I was hard,
especially on my two boys. They’d try to test me when they got older.
If they ever tried to talk to me like they saw their friends talking to
women on the street, I’d put them right in their place: ‘Who the fuck
do you think you’re talking to? You think I’m a bitch on the street?
I’ll show you bitch on the street!’ Sometimes they’d be so hard headed,
I’d leave the room, throw up my hands, and give up. But then I’d think
about it, and decide: ‘No way I’m going to let them beat me.’ Then I’d
march right back in the room.”

"It’s too late to get to the pros. I was good but I...

"It’s too late to get to the pros. I was good but I didn’t take it seriously
and I messed up. I was averaging 15 or 16 points a game. I was
supposed to be the first one to make it out of Brownsville."

Just amazing. And in less than five days. Thanks to the 34,893...

Just amazing. And in less than five days. Thanks to the 34,893 of you who
have donated so far. (That’s getting close to an Indiegogo record, by
the way!) Thanks also to those of you who have been following along,
and lending comments of support. I’m so proud of how everyone has
rallied around this story, in ways that go so far beyond just raising
money.

“Before all of this happened for our school, I felt broken. And...

“Before all of this happened for our school, I felt broken. And I think the world felt a little broken too, because a lot of bad things have been happening lately, especially between black people and white people. But all of you gave people a reason to feel a little less broken. And the craziest thing about all of this is that it’s happening in Brownsville. Before this, people watched the news and read the newspapers, and some people even thought that all we do here is fight and act crazy. But now there are so many people out there that care about you and want to know more about you. People are even emailing me and asking if they can meet you and mentor you. Not just people from Brownsville, not just people from Brooklyn, not just people in New York, but people all over the world. So I need all of you to work a little harder. Whenever you don’t feel like doing your homework, I need you to remember that you’re helping tell the story of Brownsville to people all over the world.” 

We are currently profiling Mott Hall Bridges Academy, a middle school in the under-served neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn. As we learn about the school, its scholars, and its educators, we are also raising funds to provide a financial boost to the school’s mission. All funds raised over $700,000 are being used to establish a scholarship fund available to graduates of MHBA. The scholarship fund is named The Vidal Fund, after the young man who inspired the entire story. Nearly 30,000 people have donated so far. If you’d like to participate, you can do so here: https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/let-s-send-kids-to-harvard

“I have something to admit to all of you. Before all of this...

“I have something to admit to all of you. Before all of this happened, I was about to give up. I was broken. I felt like typing my resignation. I told my mother: ‘Mom, I don’t think I can do it anymore. Because I don’t think my scholars care. And I don’t think they believe in themselves enough to care. I’m afraid they don’t think they’re good enough.’ And she told me to pray on it. But I told her, ‘I might be too angry to pray.’ And I know this is hard to believe, because you guys have never seen me break. But I was broken. It’s just like when you see your mom break down. You only see your mom cry when she’s been fighting so hard for you and she doesn’t think you care. That’s how I felt. But then a couple nights later I was with my daughter at a Broadway show, and we were waiting for the show to start, and I started to get all these text messages from my teachers and former students. And then I saw Vidal’s face pop up on my screen. And my first thought was that something bad had happened. Because that’s normally the case around here when someone’s photo shows up unexpectedly. And the moment I realized that Vidal had said something nice about me, the usher came over and made me turn off my phone. When intermission came, my daughter said: ‘Mom, we’ve got to find out what’s happening.’ So we went and sat in the car. And I read what Vidal said, and I began to read the comments. And tears started coming down my face. Because even though I always tell you that you matter, up until that moment, I didn’t feel like I mattered.”

We are currently profiling Mott Hall Bridges Academy, a middle school in the under-served neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn. As we learn about the school, its scholars, and its educators, we are also raising funds to provide a financial boost to the school’s mission. All funds raised over $700,000 are being used to establish a scholarship fund available to graduates of MHBA. The scholarship fund is named The Vidal Fund, after the young man who inspired the entire story. Nearly 30,000 people have donated so far. If you’d like to participate, you can do so here:

https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/let-s-send-kids-to-harvard

There was an assembly on Monday where Ms. Lopez explained the...

There was an assembly on Monday where Ms. Lopez explained the fundraiser to the entire student body. Most of the students had already heard bits and pieces about what’s been going on, but Ms. Lopez projected the blog onto a screen and walked through the entire story. She began with Vidal’s original post and ended with the final tally raised thus far. ($707,000 at the time. $875,000 now!)

“The scholars of MHBA are inspiring the entire world,” Ms. Lopez said. “People have written me letters from New Zealand, England, and South Africa, telling me that they care about you.” An especially great part of the assembly was when Ms. Lopez scrolled through the posts featuring teachers, and the students let out a giant cheer when each teacher’s name was announced:

“Even Ms. Powell told her story!” (Cheers)
“And Ms. Stangl!” (Cheers)
“And Mr. Turner!” (Cheers)

Vidal also got a huge cheer when his story was shown. But the biggest cheer of all was reserved for the end, when Ms. Lopez announced: “As a result of this fundraiser, the entire school will be going to visit Harvard. We’re all going to Harvard!”

The kids went nuts.

So far our campaign has provided the funds for ten years of Harvard trips and ten years of summer programs for Mott Hall Bridges Academy, a middle school in the under-served neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn. All funds raised over $700,000 are being used to establish a scholarship fund available to graduates of MHBA. The scholarship fund is named The Vidal Fund, after the young man who inspired the entire story. If you’d like to contribute, you can do so here: https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/let-s-send-kids-to-harvard

"When you posted last week about all the ways Vidal helps around...

"When you posted last week about all the ways Vidal helps around the house, most of the comments were very nice. But a few people really ripped into me. They said that I was lazy and I was a bad mother. I wanted to reply, but Vidal stopped me. He said: ‘Don’t worry about them, Mom. Let them be negative. They don’t know how it is.’"

“I try to be very open with them about everything, because I...

“I try to be very open with them about everything, because I want them to feel that they can be open with me about everything. I work as a nanny, and work is steady right now, but sometimes it’s slow. And when it’s slow, I explain that we need to cut back financially. On Friday we have family night, where we watch a movie and the kids get to choose what food we eat. But they know that when Mom isn’t working, we can’t have family night.”

“The buildings are filthy in the housing projects. Some people...

“The buildings are filthy in the housing projects. Some people poop and pee in the hallways. And some of the people around here aren’t friendly. I don’t think it’s a sadness or an anger that they feel, but a sort of emptiness. You look around and see a lot of negative things, and you can’t help but feel like you’re a part of something negative, and that maybe you’re something negative. Part of me wants to leave. But part of me wants to stay, because I have a lot of family nearby, and I don’t want to live far away from them.”