SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With all of the heavy news lately, it can feel like Sacramento is a city divided.
That’s evident in the reactions to the Sacramento County District Attorney's decision earlier this month not to charge the two police officers who shot and killed Stephon Clark last year.
But there’s a lot of good happening in Sacramento, too.
Kenneth Duncan is a part of that positivity. Standing in the gymnasium of Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High School, he talked with ABC10 about how his weekly youth gathering he started in 2013 is about way more than just basketball. It’s about letting kids know, “you matter, you’re important and we care about you.”
He and other mentors with the Greater Sacramento Urban League, Black Child Legacy Campaign and Boys & Girls Club of Greater Sacramento empower and encourage young people at this weekly hangout. About 20 to 30 kids show up at the gymnasium every Tuesday evening, for basketball, socializing, music, haircuts and fun. Most of the kids live in the low-income neighborhoods of Seavey Circle/Marina Vista, New Helvetia/Alder Grove and Oak Park.
"We go to different schools, but at the end of the day, we are family,” Duncan told the kids during a mid-practice huddle.
On Tuesday evening, he addressed the topic of Stephon Clark, the hurt and anger felt throughout the community and how they can move forward.
"[A] 22-year-old young man, killed in his grandmother's backyard,” Duncan told the kids, who ranged in age from kindergarten through late teens. “That could've been any one of us. That could've been me. That could've been my son. That could've been your best friend. So, just keep that in mind when we're coming together, that life is precious and we are still here to play basketball, able to interact with our friends, because we've got peers losing their lives every day. So, just remember how important a safe space is."
This safe space is ultimately all about the power of relationships.
“I've literally started working with some kids when they were in second grade, I was the after-school teacher. Now they're in 11th, 12th grade, got college ambitions, and I've watched them go from babies to young men and women,” Duncan said. "I had a young lady go to college last year from the neighborhood, and we just plan on doing a lot more of that."
He believes firmly that it takes a village to raise a child.
"I've seen kids slip through the crack, and at times, I feel like I'm one of those people who can catch a kid before they slip,” Duncan said. “They used to test me and kind of, you know, ‘He’s just going to leave anybody like everybody else,’ and I’m still here, it’s 2019.”
Duncan, who grew up in Oakland and got his degree in psychology from Wilberforce University in Ohio, returned to Northern California and has been mentoring kids in Sacramento since 2012.
“I had two parents who support me in that, and I feel it’s very important to pass that on to our babies and let them know that they have support, whether it’s not directly in your household, you have a support network that you can lean on and call,” he said.
He strives to broaden kids’ understanding of their possibilities, “motivating them to, you know, definitely continue education, you know, seek different job opportunities, don’t just look at your surroundings.”
Duncan also talks with the kids and teens about the realities of living in the US as a person of color.
“A lot of young, black men are scared of police officers, don’t feel comfortable around police officers, and I was one of them at one time,” Duncan said, “but when I got older, I was, you know, able to build relationships with certain people and realize there’s good people and bad people in every situation, whether you have a badge on or you’re a person on the street. So, we can’t just cancel anybody out.”
It’s a difficult conversation Duncan says he wishes he didn’t have to have.
“I do try to coach my youth on, you know, in a traffic stop, ‘What are the basic things we’ve got to do as a black man?’ which may be sad sometimes, but we’ve got to be cautious of our movements. We’ve got to be cautious of those things, and it shouldn’t be like that,” Duncan said. “I believe officers should understand that and understand that there may be some nervous movements at times for being uncomfortable in a situation.”
Some of the conversations may be tough, but Duncan makes sure he’s fostering an environment in which the young people feel safe discussing important topics of all kids.
“In this space, we feel like a family,” Duncan said. “We know we have each other’s backs.”
The free youth event is every Tuesday night, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the gymnasium of Health Professions High School in Sacramento.
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