(upbeat music) - Men, on the count of three, we gonna clap and give a good morning to these young kings.

Okay?

1, 2, 3.

Good morning, young kings.

Awesome, awesome.

Good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning.

- I could go grab it for my backpack, but there's a whole category of them.

- Okay, go grab it, go grab it.

I wanna go see.

We gonna find out what his favorite book is and he has it on hand because it's his favorite book, of course, we should all carry around our favorite book in our backpacks.

That's what we should do, all right?

- We have a young man that said he knew what community was, right?

That's what it's about, man.

That joy, right?

That joy of seeing Black men and Black boys smile, be imaginative and be happy.

That's where the power lies.

- This is the good in us and I'm your host Jerome Moore and today we're at Cumberland Elementary School.

Interesting to know, this is the old elementary school that I actually attended and today I'm gonna be volunteering with the I Read, I Lead Program where me and other gentlemen pour back into our younger gentlemen around literacy and how it connects with family and, of course, how it connects with community.

So, look, Ms. Miller, I'm back at Cumberland.

Let's go.

Ashford, man, I appreciate you allowing me to come volunteer with the I Read, I Lead Program today and you got me back in my old elementary school, Cumberland Elementary.

So it's like full circle for me 'cause this is where is a foundation of my reading journey.

Right?

Being in third grade, coming here.

- Man, it's gonna be an exciting day, man.

Today we're gonna come in and greet the young men.

We have some breakfast set up for them, some little snacks.

We're gonna be doing some affirmations.

Love the affirmation.

We're gonna stand up and do some stretches.

It's real energy packed.

Then we're gonna sit down and have a great story, "Milo Imagines The World," walk with them through the reading, we're gonna have men reading books, we're gonna have the kids reading along with us, then we're gonna come and ask some questions.

You're gonna be giving out some prizes today.

We're gonna be hearing how the kids comprehend the story that was told and then putting it back into real terms about how they can show up and use the lessons of the story in their day to day life.

And then at the end, we're going to gather together in community and take a big picture, man.

- So I'm gonna be reading.

- We gonna be reading.

- I'm gonna be reading and I gotta have my reading comprehension skills on too, right?

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

- Well, I'm excited.

I can't wait to do it.

I can't wait to hear the kids read and kind of see what they take from my "Milo."

So I'm excited about it.

You ready to make this happen?

- I'm ready to make it happen.

Let's make it happen.

- All right, let's do it.

- Let's go.

- You lead the way.

I Read, I Lead.

- What's up everybody?

What's up man?

What's up man?

Y'all good?

- I've been seeing you, sir.

- Oh, I keep seeing you, man.

- That's right, that's right, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

As students roll in, they're grabbing some snacks because nothing says ready to read like a full stomach.

Right?

I've got my volunteer and mentor guy in hand, looking official, and hoping I don't mess this up.

Once everyone's settled, we'll jump into some affirmations because confidence is key.

- Here are the instructions.

I'm gonna say the affirmation and you repeat after me.

I am talented.

- I am talented, - And I can achieve anything.

- I can achieve anything.

- I am proud.

- I am proud.

- Of all that I can do.

- Of all that I can do.

- I am talented.

- I am talented.

- And I can achieve anything.

- I can achieve anything.

- I am proud.

- I am proud.

- Of all that I can do.

- Of all that I can do.

- Did you have your own personal reading struggles growing up that made this be more personal for you?

- Man, my mother always taught my brother and I to read early.

One of my favorite books was Grover, "The Monster at the End of the Book."

But I had a very pronounced stutter growing up, so when I got to middle school with my mother and a sixth grade teacher who saw something in me said, "If we continue to help him reading along the way, "help him writing, it can help him calm down "and decrease his stuttering."

And from then on, I began that process and I've been an avid reader ever since.

- And so now we're finna start the reading process.

Me and Ashford are gonna go sit at the table with a group of kids.

We're gonna do 20 minutes of reading and, yeah, it's gonna be fun.

We got a great book.

I'm gonna get my reading skills on.

(upbeat music) - So my name is Ashford.

Mr. Hughes, this is my friend.

You can introduce yourself.

- I'm Jerome Moore.

- How you doing?

- I'm doing good.

- Doing good.

What's your name?

- Ke'Wanis.

- Ke'Wanis.

Nice to meet you.

What's your name, big guy?

- Cortlen.

- Cortlen.

Cortlen, nice to meet you.

- So, look, we gonna read this.

Now, there may be some times I may ask you to see if you all can jump in and read, but if not, we are going to do it, okay, together.

You ready with us?

We gonna start to the first page.

"What begins as a slow distant glow "and grows and grows into a tired train "that clatters down the tracks."

- "The train bucks back into motion and he and his sister "squeeze onto bench seats.

"The whiskerd man folds up his crossword "and hurries off the train."

You wanna read?

- Go ahead.

(upbeat music continues) - "(indistinct) reading by-" - Dueling.

- "Dueling cats and-" - Burrowing.

- "Burrowing rats."

(participants clapping) - [Jerome] When you all think about reading, why you think it's important to read?

- It's important to read because you can get a better vocabulary from it, you can learn more knowledge and mainly because reading is just fun to me.

- [Jerome] It is fun.

How about you, why you think it's important to read?

- Because you can get really famous if you read because there's a lot of writers that you have to read to get better at their job.

- Right.

Why do you think it's important for families to read together?

- Family story time?

- Yeah.

- Because then the whole family comes together.

If someone had a rough day, they could come together, read together and it makes people just happy.

- Yeah.

How about you?

Why do you think it's important for families?

- Because you can build a stronger bond.

- [Jerome] Build a stronger bond?

Yep.

What's your favorite book?

Oh, wow.

- I like horror books.

- [Jerome] What is it called?

"Five Nights at Freddy's."

- It's called "Five at Freddy's" "Tales from the Pizzaplex, Lally's Game."

- "Tales from the Pizza," so pizza's involved.

- Hmm.

(participants clapping) - Waterfalls.

- Shh!

- Who are some of the other characters in the book with Milo?

Who's on the trip with him?

- Right here.

- His sister.

- His sister's on the train with him.

- [Jerome] After my flawless reading performance, if I do say so myself, we wrapped up the day with her group discussion to see what the students took away from the book.

And let me tell you, they had some big takeaways and, of course, everything's a little more exciting when prizes are on the line.

- So now raise your hand if you like reading.

Raise your hand if you love reading.

- Woo!

What an incredible volunteer experience.

Today I had the chance to read with the students, engage in affirmations and truly feel the impact of I Read, I Lead.

It's a reminder that literacy isn't just about books, it's about family, community and empowerment.

- Man, we do this because it's purpose driven, man, to see the smiles, to feel the energy, the vibration, when they say the affirmations, when they reading the story, when we ask them the questions and they can piece together what that means, we're inspiring critical thinking.

We have a young man that said he knew what community was, right?

That's what it's about, man.

That joy, right?

That joy of seeing Black men and Black boys smile, be imaginative and be happy.

That's where the power lies.

- Seeing the joy on these young men, hearing their excitement and watching them piece together stories, that's the power of purpose and to do it alongside so many strong men, leaders and mentors, that's what "The Good in Us" is all about.

(upbeat music)