Teaching the "Ties" to Greatness through Mentoring
"I know that in my life I am where I am because somebody helped me. There is no way I could have gotten to the level of success that I have in and of myself and when you really begin to think about it, you now have a responsibility to the next generation. It's kind of like the whole 'pay it forward' so that's what we're doing." ?Alex Ellis
(Norfolk, VA)?Putting into action the concept of "paying it forward," author, mentor and motivational speaker, Alex Ellis, is passing down an opportunity to be successful to a rising generation much in the need of mentoring.
According to a CBN.com report, Ellis brings his non-profit organization's program Tied to Greatness to schools, churches, and community centers?wherever young black men are in need of encouragement for staying on the right path, and to learn to tie a tie.
Says Ellis, "The fact [is] that this over-glamorized gangster image is pervasive in our communities, and what we're doing is we're gathering the support from men in the community and we're saying 'look at us. Look at positive, educated, well-groomed, articulate men of color?this is an example for you to emulate.'"
Some of Ellis' Tied to Greatness objectives and strategies, found on his website, are listed below:
Objective
The outlook for young men of color is not promising. We intend to foster self pride in these young men of color so they will recognize the power of their self-image, and ultimately, make better life choices by implementing the following strategies:
Strategies
We overwhelm the young men with images of strong, educated, articulate, well-groomed men of color to combat the negative stereotypes seen in their environment.
We teach the young men the power and importance of a strong self-image through personal stories from positive influential men of color.
We teach them to "tie a tie" as a ritualistic rite of passage which will ignite personal pride in appearances and build inner self esteem.
We have each young man recite the Tied to Greatness Pledge whereby they commit themselves to finish their education, live a better life, and be more conscious of their image?
One Tied to Greatness mentor remarked, "I just like mentoring these kids, sharing my story with these kids, trying to find some way to encourage them and inspire them because I was once one of those kids. I walked the same streets, I walked the same hallways and I'm living proof that they can become something great coming out of the Hampton Roads area."
To watch the CBN video report, follow the source link provided.
