By: Ayana Bryant-Weekes
Don’t you hate when you wake up and
can’t remember a dream you were just having. How is it possible to lose an
entire vision in one instant going from being asleep to being awake?! As
frustrating as forgetting a dream can be, there are some dreams we can never
forget. From a very young age we are encouraged to dream, to create an ideal
future for ourselves in our minds. The adults around us carefully cultivated
our interests and expressions so that our dreams could become attainable goals.
For some of us these adults were our parents, aunties and uncles, for others
these adults were teachers and sports coaches, and for 80’s and 90’s babies
like me, the adults at our local community center helped develop our dreams
through creativity in a fun, learning environment.
This past weekend was filled with
dreams, old and new, justifiably so as the nation celebrated the legacy of one
of the greatest dreamers in American history—
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His daring ability to dream, to
imagine, envisioning a future far more beautiful than the present, echoed
through generations and continues to rouse the dreamer in each of us.
I got to
celebrate Dr. King’s legacy of a dream by supporting the dream of another, and
got to hear some good Detroit singing too! This celebration took place on Monday
January 19, 2015 (Martin Luther King Day) at The Revolution Church in
Southfield, Mi (such a befitting venue for the spirit of this occasion). Some
of the biggest—as well as some of the newest— names in gospel singing along with
other amazingly talented young people came together in concert to celebrate the
dream of Dr, King as well as the dream of Kimberly Sheard, founder of Kreative
Beginnings Development Center.
What is Kreative Beginnings? Kreative
Beginnings is an early childhood development center, “A Place Where Learning
and Creativity Are One” as the slogan reads. The founder, Kim Sheard, has been
in the early childhood development field for 10 years and has always valued
creativity as a tool to expand the minds of children in the beginning stages of
their development, hence the name Kreative Beginnings.
The I Still Have A Dream Benefit Concert honored Dr. King’s dream and
simultaneously offered support for Kim Sheard in the continuation of that dream
in the lives of our own children, and the line up was MAJOR—ChozenTeens Youth
Choir of Second Ebenezer Church (Pastor Edgar L. Vann), Staccato Dance Works
(Hazel Park), Shelby 5 (Ypsilanti), Marc Jay & Jay Crew(Detroit), Kierra
Sheard and Shana Wilson-Williams! Along with other young, Detroit bred
entrepreneurs in attendance, we celebrated and encouraged Kimberly Sheard and
her dream, which has now become a reality.
I cannot forget to mention this was a FREE event!
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| Kierra Sheard |
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| Shana Wilson -Williams |
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| ChozenTeens - Second Ebenezer Church |
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| Staccato Dance Works |
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| Staccato Dance Works |
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| Marc Jay & Jay Crew |
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| Shelby 5 |
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| Shelb 5 |
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| Detroit Entrepreneurs present Kim Sheard with Honorable Plaque. |
Kim Sheard is so passionate about
children that even when her first attempt at a child development center didn’t
happen, she didn’t let a lack of financial resources stop her from stepping out
on faith a second time, “My main [obstacle] was to just start…and to believe
that one day it will become the big dream that I have.” At the end of the
concert (which was more of a worship experience than a concert) as Kim took the
stage to say her thanks she announced “A Kreative Summer”, the Kreative
Beginnings Summer Program, despite difficulty finding infrastructure, and despite
what seemed like a lack of financial resources. Inspired by Kim’s
accomplishment, I quietly said a prayer for the success of every person sitting
in the room with a dream, that their faith would be increased to take the first
step without seeing the full staircase and that their passion be fueled by
their God given purpose. “We don’t realize how much we learned as a child…I want
to be the part of society that says disregard what ‘they’ say, you can be
anything… especially for African American children.”
A Kreative Summer starts June 15,
2015 - August 28, 2015 for ages 4-12 and offers weekly field trips, academic
reinforcement, tutoring Zumba and MUCH more! To find out more information about
Kreative Beginnings or to register your child/children for A Kreative Summer:
Kreative Beginnings Development
Center
13737 Curtis Ave. Detroit, Michigan 48235
248-325-8129
Instagram @KreativeBeginnings
Intelligence plus character — that
is the goal of true education.
-Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
