I am the grandson of Charlie and Lenora Hitchens and Deloise and Pauline Holmes. I am my ancestors’ wildest dream.
My paternal grandfather, Charlie, was a math teacher who taught thousands of students in both Jim Crow segregated schools and in an integrated school at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. He was a corner store owner, a minister in his church, and a school board representative in our hometown, DeRidder Louisiana. My grandmother, Lenora, was a homemaker and a devout daughter of the rosary. She was graceful and classy with a smile always on her face. They were at soccer games, dance recitals, plays and productions, and everything in between. I never had to look for them. They were always there.
My maternal grandfather, Deloise, was a mechanic, church choir president, deacon, and the unofficial mayor of our town. When I was a small child, I would beg for a seat in the car alongside him and my uncles to go to tent revivals that lasted way beyond my bedtime and then show them I could “I know he’s alright” just like those preachers. He would have me sing at his church where I would emulate his passion and conviction. I’d belt “I ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around. I’m gonna keep on walking, keep on talkin, marching down freedom’s trail,” and I would march and walk around harnessing the fire of God I admired in him so much. He passed away when I was in fifth grade, but before he did, he made sure he had looked me in the eyes to tell me that whatever I would be, I would be a “good one.” The goodness he left in the world continues to shine through me.
In January, my maternal grandmother, Pauline, transitioned to the spiritual realm. She was an angel walking earth for 90 amazing years and now she’s an angel from above. She didn’t need titles or an organization to sow love and graciousness into the world, her life was her spiritual instrument, and she used it to the fullest. She created refuge for countless individuals right out of her kitchen, she kept secrets, she cared for the sick, she served as a deaconess through her church, and did I mention she made the most incredible food. She was especially known for her pound cake. Her pound cakes brought healing and joy to those facing illness and grief and celebration and everything in-between. You know how some folks “tote” bibles. She “toted” her pound cakes. She even would make them for me to sell slices out of my backpack when I was trying to raise money to go on a school trip or participate in another speech competition. She loved everybody, and she especially loved me.
Because of the selfless Changemakers in my church, in my community, and in my family my own personal leadership journey didn’t start at the elite leadership camps I was fortunate enough to participate in as a child or in the halls of Tulane or Harvard University where I studied. Those opportunities absolutely sharpened my skills, but it was the people closest to me who modeled servant leadership as the standard for living. They trained me to be a changemaker in the fellowship hall of my church, at revivals with my grandfather, in the homes of the elders of my community who watched over me, through the gospel music my mom saturated me with, outside the grocery store begging for loose change to go to the school function, and around the dinner table with my parents. It is in those spaces I learned who I was, what I carry, and what it was for.
The soul of Changemaker and the contents of this magazine are of that same tradition. It’s not just about leaders who were made by elite institutions or the titles they have. It’s not just about how amazing the Changemaker initiative is. It’s about honoring a collective history and reigniting a consciousness in the leaders of today and tomorrow around what really matters. Changemaker is a reminder that the call of leadership is not always about the harvest but is about the seeds sown and the unrelenting, oftentimes self-sacrificing, commitments required to create an “otherwise” when we are not satisfied with the status quo.
You may not find yourself on the frontlines of the next protest, you may not have the answer to that burning question you carry in your heart today, you may not think you can change the world. That is not the point of being a Changemaker. You do have a voice, you have hands, you have feet, you have talents, you have a smile, you have resources, you have everything you need already on the inside of you to leave the world better than when you found it.
As I close this chapter in my own changemaker journey I’d like to highlight two changemakers who reminded me what and who really matters in this moment, our two high school Changemakers Nathan and Aubrey. I created the conditions, but they’re the catalysts for everything you read in this issue. They conducted the interviews, led the research, and wrote the contents of the stories. They learned that they have the tools and skills to be the change they wish to see in the world. Our hope is that you walk away inspired and ready to look in the mirror and make that change for your own cause.
