Mrs. Cherrye Trotman is a Milwaukee legend who started the Martin Luther King Jr. Club back in 1968 just months after his assassination. While she’s currently a Milwaukee resident and has been for decades, she grew up in the same church as Dr. King in Montgomery, Alabama.
As a teacher for 50 plus years, children have always been a passion of hers. Mrs. Cherrye didn’t just teach for a check. Her heart was and is still well vested into impacting our young people.
After joining Mrs. Trotman for an interview, I was inspired by the works that’s she has done, and continues to do. Her stories of old times seem to hold so much weight to the key of healing our future.
The mission of the Martin Luther King Jr Club was not only to recognize and remember Dr. King but also to build up phenomenal youth. Trotman had a method to her madness when she formed the group.
She mentioned how exciting it was to see her youth doing great and striving to become their best self. They put together programs, performed songs, rapped, and so much more all around the country.
The club was recognized nationally and gave her much notoriety. Because of the incredible work she put in, she received numerous amounts of awards and recognition.
One of the responses that stuck out most to me is when I asked her her opinion of how we can save the youth today. In a nutshell, she put emphasis on the importance of sitting down with youth and asking them about their interests. She makes it clear that we can expect children to be bored if all we do is talk at them. They want to be apart. They want to be involved.
I believe this statement is powerful. Our youth need to be healed. Granted theirs lots of work to be done, yet one of the most valuable keys is to be able to listen to what they have to say.
Another point that intrigued me is when she talked about how important it is to travel with the youth. They need to know that there’s more outside of their homeland. Taking kids out of their comfort zone is a great practice. If they start early, they’ll crave to do the same as they grow. These types of activities do lots for their personal development as well as life skills.
Listening to Mrs. Trotman’s journey spoke so much value to my life. I believe her story and perspective needs to be heard in our generation. Taking tips like these can put us in a better place.
Thank you for your works Mrs. Trotman.
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