A chance to learn a trade, a chance to go places
GREENSBORO — He’s Ishmael Hinson. But call him Ish. Two weeks ago, he stood less than 10 feet from President Barack Obama.
How did that happen? Start at a gas pump.
Ish had big hoop dreams. He had played point guard for Northeast Guilford High and had hit big cities like Los Angeles, Miami and New York for basketball tournaments with D-1 Sports, his AAU team. In the fall of 2007, though, he was just another player with no court. He had dropped out of Rockingham Community College, quit its basketball team and had no idea of what to do next.
All that changed at a gas station beside Cone and Pisgah Church. Next to him was a bear of a man he’d seen in the stands at Northeast Guilford.
He knew him as Tecumseh’s dad, the Baptist minister who did something with the church.
That man? The Rev. Odell Cleveland, president and CEO of the Welfare Reform Liaison Project, a local program that helps the disadvantaged and the down-and-out get jobs.
“Ish,’’ Cleveland asked him. “How’s school?’’
“Oh, it didn’t work out,’’ Ish told him. “But I’m do- ing fine. Playin’ ball.’’
Cleveland reached inside his car, pulled out a dog-eared business card and handed it to his youngest son’s teammate because he couldn’t shake something from his mind.
A few months back, Ish had created a film for Northeast Guilford’s basketball banquet. He took the team’s game films, and with only a television, a video camera and two VCRs, he spliced it together and created a highlight reel.
From that, Cleveland knew Ish was more than just a point guard. He saw him as an aspiring filmmaker who could benefit from Welfare Reform’s video production classes, a program geared to help people obtain skills and get jobs.
“Call me,’’ Cleveland said, handing Ish his card.
“Sure, Rev. Cleveland,’’ Ishmael responded. “I’ll call you.’’
He didn’t. But Cleveland didn’t give up. He saw so much of himself in Ish: growing up poor, raised by a hard-working mother, a star athlete because of the basketball in his hands.
Cleveland did it in South Carolina, and since then, he’s excelled way beyond the court. He wanted to see Ishmael excel, too — and not become another player disillusioned and lost when the cheering fans go away.
With the help of his son, Cleveland finally got Ish in his office and had him spend a year working as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer with Welfare Reform’s various video program projects.
With Cleveland’s help, Ish enrolled at N.C. Central University. With Cleveland’s prodding, he spent last summer at the New York Film Academy. At Cleveland’s insistence, he began teaching video production at Welfare Reform.
Enter Obama.
Cleveland got the call that Obama wanted to encourage businesses nationwide to provide summer jobs to low-income youth, and he wanted to bring sterling examples of what worked to the White House.
Cleveland knew who to bring: Ish.
On Jan. 5, Ish sat less than 10 feet from Obama. He felt like the only person in the room. He shook hands with rocker Jon Bon Jovi, gave advice to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and sent 30 emails to everyone he met.
And he called his mom. The next day, he turned 23.
On Thursday, Ish was back at Welfare Reform, helping people learn how to shoot videos. And as he stood by the window watching them work, he thought of much.
“I look through this window, man, and I see so many other Ishmaels,’’ he said. “No one gave them a chance, and it’s my obligation to help them. I mean, going to the White House is good. But it showed me what a chance can give you.’’
Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe @news-record.com
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis spent 30 minutes talking with Ishmael Hinson about how to provide jobs to low-income youth. “It was a life-changing experience, man. So good,” Hinson says.
Courtesy of the Department of Labor
Courtesy of the Welfare Reform Liaison Project
The Rev. Odell Cleveland (center) of Greensboro’s Welfare Reform Liaison Project stands between R.T. Rybak (left), the mayor of Minneapolis, and musician and social activist Jon Bon Jovi (right) at a Jan. 5 meeting at the White House.
JERI
ROWE
Ishmael Hinson (left) graduated from a video production class that he now teaches at the Welfare Reform Liaison Project. Hinson says the Rev. Odell Cleveland gave him the chance he needed to succeed.
H. SCOTT HOFFMANN
