Youths Urged to ‘Do the Right Thing’

On stage, speaker after speaker showered the youths with praise: for being positive, for being responsible, for doing the right thing.

Out in the crowd, a group of children from Phillips Temple Christian Methodist Episcopal Church quietly embodied those values.

As the program stretched on and a restless second-grader whined to play basketball, 18-year-old La Shawnda Freeman took care of things. “You can’t go yet,” La Shawnda said, carefully watching her charge while listening to the speeches.

“But they’re playing basketball.”

“Later,” she said, asking an older boy to lift the child so he could see.

When a seventh-grader read a speech about being positive, enthusiastic encouragement rose from the Phillips Temple crowd.

“Go ahead now!” shouted 16-year-old Tekoma Chaney, clapping.

The young people of Phillips Temple are the kind of youngsters the Urban League hoped to reach with its “Doing the Right Thing” celebration Saturday on the campus of USC. The organization puts together programs with games, booths, a free lunch and entertainment for hundreds of children and teenagers who, like the Phillips children, are trying to stay on the right track.

“We think it’s very important . . . that we make sure we assume responsibility for encouraging young people and supporting them,” said John Mack, president of the Los Angeles Urban League. “We want to encourage them not only to go to school but to pursue excellence and plan for the future.”

The gathering was part of a nationwide celebration held in 100 cities where there are Urban League chapters, Mack said.

A long list of personalities spoke to the gathering, from Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and Los Angeles School Supt. Ruben Zacarias to former Laker Cedric Ceballos, actor Robert Townsend, designer Karl Kani and others.

Ceballos likened life to taking a shot at the free-throw line.

“The life is yours,” he said. “The opportunity is yours.”

La Shawnda, a Cal State Northridge freshman, learned much from watching family and members of her church, she said. Now it is her turn to help teach.

“I step back and let her handle [things],” said Voncile Cockrell, who works with the youths of Phillips Temple. “She’s my assistant. Each generation must take responsibility for the generation behind them. That’s what we’re doing.”

Saturday’s gathering helps show that the community, not just one church, expects and praises excellence in its young people, Cockrell said.

That message is not always what young people hear. Last week on the bus La Shawnda overheard two older people deriding youths.

“It made me feel that they had no hope,” she said. “People here have hope.”

For Tekoma, the event showed that somebody is noticing responsible youths--not just the negative ones. “I’m not trying to have kids at a young age--or die” young, she said. “I’m trying to be a lawyer or a cop.”

Jared Brewer’s college education will be paid for in full through a Merill Lynch scholarship program--as long as he maintains good grades. The 14-year-old said his family and his church friends provide the encouragement that helps him achieve.

“They tell me to strive hard and keep faith in God,” said Jared, who attends Vermont Church of Christ. “They say life will be good if you keep your mind on good things and have good hopes and high dreams.”