The Vision
Through this approach, GET UP! acts as a living example of how communities can design equitable solutions for themselves. We are creating a model where:
• Art becomes activism, using creativity as a platform for expression, healing, and social change.
• Ownership replaces dependency, as residents shape the programs, policies, and priorities of the center.
• Collaboration replaces competition, fostering partnerships across generations and sectors—bridging artists, educators, entrepreneurs, and neighbors.
• Empowerment replaces marginalization, by giving people direct access to opportunities, education, and resources they have long been denied.
When Black children/people are given models to challenge traditional systems of exclusion and inequity by centering lived experience and community voice in decision-making. It transforms individuals from passive recipients into active creators of change. By investing in people’s creativity and leadership, GET UP! becomes not only a community space, but a blueprint for systemic transformation—one that can be replicated in other underserved neighborhoods across St. Louis and beyond.
Having spent 28 years incarcerated for a crime I did not commit, people like me face residual stigma and institutional bias that too often exclude formerly incarcerated individuals from leadership roles. The cradle-to-prison pipeline continues to funnel young people—especially Black youth—out of classrooms and into systems of punishment rather than support. This lack of access to creative, safe spaces is one of the root problems GET UP! aims to directly address. This is one area where we are going to elevate the voices of the formally caged who are just like me, trying to make a difference. We know marginalized young people will listen to us before they will to their mothers, fathers, teachers or preachers. I take very seriously the responsibility that comes along with this reality.
It is not an accidental causation that too many of our young people end up in the criminal legal system. Locking people up is a hundreds of billion-dollar industry. An industry that needs bodies sitting in a cell. We should at least question the operations of this system and how it continues to shape access, opportunity, and outcomes for far too many young gifted and black children today. After generations of broken promises and extractive projects, many residents are understandably skeptical of “revitalization” efforts. Building genuine trust takes time, consistency, and visible commitment—a challenge that I am uniquely positioned to meet because of my lived experience.
GET UP! directly confronts these systemic forces through ownership, creativity, and healing. By centering those most impacted by these injustices, the project models a path forward where the community itself becomes the system changer.
Driven by passion
Project Description
GET UP! Movement is a call to action, raising $5 million by mobilizing 50,000 people to each contribute $100.
The funds will complete and launch the GET UP! Community Art and Resource Center in the Walnut Park community in St. Louis. The building includes six one-bedroom apartments; they'll be converted into safe, nurturing housing for individuals and families in need. On the ground floor we will have a cultural & art center, a vibrant community space for workshops, exhibitions, mentorship, and healing through creativity. This center will stand as a beacon of hope, disrupting the cradle to prison pipeline by creating pathways for purpose and belonging. GET UP! will be designed to heal, empower, and uplift individuals and the community collectively.
Program Area
Economic Justice, Social Justice, Environmental Justice and So Much More.
Impact: What's Possible
This is the future we are creating, and this is how we are going to contribute to that future through this work.
GET UP! will serve as a catalyst for community empowerment, ownership, and justice. The people who live within the community will be directly invested in its success—because they will understand that this space belongs to them. This shared sense of ownership naturally promotes accountability, collaboration, and pride.
Through GET UP!, social justice and equity will not be abstract ideals, but daily practices woven into the fabric of a thriving, self-sustaining community. We will demonstrate what equity looks like when resources, opportunities, and creative spaces are made accessible to everyone, especially those historically excluded or marginalized. Every program, from art workshops to culinary training to community resource sharing, will be designed to affirm dignity, amplify local voices, and redistribute power within the community itself.
By cultivating creativity and connection, GET UP! will model a new way forward—one where justice and equity are lived experiences, not just words. The result will be a strong, resilient community rooted in compassion, self-determination, and shared purpose, ensuring that future generations inherit both opportunity and hope. I understand that lasting change doesn’t come from working around broken systems, it comes from reimagining and rebuilding them from within the community itself. I am rooted in the belief that when people are given access to tools, creativity, and collective ownership, they can shift the balance of power and create systems that truly serve them.
