We had the good fortune of connecting with Jelani Stowers and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jelani, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking is absolutely essential to making progress.

Last year, I’d just graduated from college, and I got a job making more money than I’d ever made before, but I wasn’t in my purpose, and I was taking work home with me every day. If you aren’t passionate about work, you better be in an environment with firm boundaries, it’s great to have both, but it’s unacceptable to have neither. The biggest risk we take is letting go and trusting others. When that trust fails, it’s a terrible, scarring blow, but nothing great is possible without that trust paying off.

I’ve taken to playing with a rubik’s cube recently, I haven’t solved it yet, but I’m getting close! Sometimes, you get one side, and you try not to mess up that side and get the rest, but you’ve unwittingly blocked your progress because you’re afraid to backtrack. It’s okay to mess up a side for a while if you solve the whole thing eventually, it’s not okay to never find a solution because you’re inflexible. I think it’s the same with life, I went from living very comfortable to honestly letting some debt spin out of my control for a while. But I spent that time building community, and taking even more control over my life than if I hadn’t. Even in life I haven’t solved the whole rubik’s cube, but I’ve got more sides this year than I did last year.

The last thing I’ll say about risks is that you should consistently take small risks, where the highest possible loss is something you can accept, if you get a victory, scale up that process. Those who can be trusted with little can be trusted with much.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I coined the term Critical Youth Theory, the intentional resistance of ideas that have historically and culturally stopped young people from holding positions of power, by inspiring true innovation and ethical action with a lasting impact, alongside Jeremiah Steen. What sets the work a part is the way we build inter-generational efforts. Typically, youth-advocacy is either completely led by adults, or young people have a lesser roll in the process, such as mentorship. On the opposite side of the spectrum, young rebellious movements have completely shut out the more experienced perspective, creating wide chasms between generations. We’re seeing the fruits of that now with the Baby Boomers. We’re researching and creating new examples of youth-led efforts that cooperate, not destroy or disrupt the efforts that came before.

One lesson we’ve carried with us from the beginning is a focus on Unity at all levels. We’ve spent the last year going even deeper than grassroots and began getting familiar with the earth, the individuals that we find ourselves inspired by. It’s tempting to focus on results and impact rather than people, because that’s where funding comes from, that’s where the flashy stories come from, but love comes from the relationships you build. Investing in love is a huge risk, but without it, no other return is worth a dime.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m honestly a bit of a homebody, so if my best friend was coming to town, and I wanted to show them the best time ever for a week. I’d probably set days for them to meet a different group of personal friends.

Some givens would be the riverwalk, the museum district, Buddy’s, a Coney Island, and a game. A personal favorite restaurant of mine is Yum Village.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are a lot of people and inspirations that I can thank for where I am now. Most obviously would be Jeremiah Steen of the Steen Foundation, my fellows in the BMe Community Skillman Cohort, and my current place of work, AccelerateKID, where we teach computer science and entrepreneurship principles to young people.

Specifically though, I’d like to shoutout Terrell White, who’s been a close friend and my collaborative risk-taker for years. After I graduated, I didn’t exactly hit the ground running. My last year of school was like standing on an escalator without paying attention, and when you get to the end you trip and fall. Terrell’s experiences, connections, and our creative partnerships set me on the path that I’m now on!

He’s currently building up his hard-skillset as an artist, creating clothes that invite people to talk and reflect, I think those communal conversations are absolutely vital right now. You may not be paying attention as you passively pass to the next stage of your life, and you may find yourself flat on the floor like I did. Artists like Terrell are those who call us to look around and get our bearings.

Website: https://www.steenfoundation.com/

Instagram: jelanikamau

Image Credits
Photos by Angel Kelly

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