Rodsyln Brown-King is an innovator. Instead of merely watching the demise of our youth through gang violence, drug and alcohol addiction, increased drop-out rates, and other behaviors that can steer youth in the wrong direction, she has decided to do something about it by starting Project A. She has turned her home, a 106-year-old dwelling, into a center of early engagement for youth. Brown-King has developed relationships with the Cherokee Nation’s fire department, police department, and the Mayor, as well as Principle and Deputy Chiefs Bill John Baker and S. Joe Crittenden. Believing in the scope and reach of Project A – so far the Cherokee Nation has provided funds of up to $104,000
For the NEIU students who were selected as participants for the Alternative Spring Break to the Cherokee Nation, it was time well spent. We helped Rodsyln build her dream community center for youth and we were invited into the Cherokee culture, which has held on to traditions dating back centuries. The students of The Center for Tribal Studies at Northeastern University were our guides through various points of entry into the vast culture of the Cherokee Nation. They included us in drumming circles, initiated us into the art of Cherokee underwater basket weaving, and they played the sport “stick ball” with us.
While there was a lot of work to be done, and we learned from that as well, I’d venture to say the best part of the experience was learning of the culture that arose from the ashes of colonization to rebuild its own thriving nation.