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Top:
Me and Alesha Renee, host of BET's "The 5ive" (I know I'm lookin' crazy in this pic)
Bottom:
Me with some of the other readers including: Front row: Tweetie (co-host of the MTV special "Dances From The Hood"), Nik (runner-up from season 5 of America's Next Top Model), Alesha Renee, Me, and legendary rapper Eric B. Back row: Spry (celebrity stylist, Nathan Hale Williams (TV/film producer), and Darnell Jefferson (actor).
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I just came home not too long ago from an event at the Magic Johnson Theatres up the street. About a month ago I was asked to participate in the Harlem USA Read-A-Thon, an event where celebrities, like Nik from "America's Next Top Model" and regular people (like me, cuz ya know I'm no celebrity) read books to kids and then encourage them to read. There were about three hundred kids and twenty of us. I was originally paired with the host of BET's "Hotwired", Alesha Renee, but we didn't end up together. I did end up with Smooth, a co-host of the upcoming MTV special "Dances From The Hood" (airing sun/06/17/07 at 8PM).
I have to admit I was a little nervous reading to the kids thinking that they may not be... well... so receptive... dammit I just thought they might be some bad ass kids! Fortunately I was wrong, the kids were little angels and were very receptive and interested for the most part. Smooth and I traded chapters of "Because Of Winn-Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo, a story about a little girl who meets and falls in love with a stray dog. The kids took over after that. After the reading session was over we had a brief question and answer period with the kids. As the kids asked me more about what I did as far as my web design business I saw how their eyes lit up while I answered them. The children were so impressionable, filled with such innocence and beauty. They can be anything they want to be. They have the power to change the world.
Being an adult now and being around all my fancy adult computers and fancy adult parties and shendigs I forgot what it was like to be a kid, to be around kids. Being with the kids today made me realize how much they need us. And more importantly how much we need them.
How sweet.
That's admirable.
(smile)