The Colors We Carry: An afternoon with IMOGUL Mentoring Group | A Chronicle News Community Spotlight Feature

Photo Credit: The Chronicle Media Group- Young Liam works to get his tie dye shirt just right. This was more than making a shirt for him, it was a thread stitched into the very fabric of his being.he’s soaking in lessons that will last a lifetime.

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The room didn’t look like history at first glance.

It looked like plastic-covered tables, bottles of dye, gloves too big for small hands.

It looked like a Saturday afternoon.

But if you stayed long enough, if you listened closely, you realized something deeper was happening. Because at one table, a young boy sat quietly, watching.

Not just the colors.

Not just the process.

He was watching time.

Across from him sat a man whose hands had lived longer than his questions.

Hands that had built, lost, learned, and kept going anyway. Hands now gently guiding fabric into folds, tying it tight like a story that refuses to unravel. Conversations began that no classroom could teach.

Around the room, it was happening everywhere.

Laughter echoing between generations. Stories being passed down without a microphone. Wisdom, unfiltered and unpolished, landing exactly where it needed to.

Young men watching older men, not through screens, but in real life. Seeing patience. Seeing presence. Seeing what it looks like to show up, not just for yourself, but for somebody else. And in a world that doesn’t always offer that image, that moment mattered more than anyone could measure.

Liam didn’t just make a shirt that day.

He made a connection. He saw that strength doesn’t always raise its voice. That leadership doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes, it looks like standing beside someone, guiding their hands, and saying, “You got it.”

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Photo Credit: The Chronicle Media Group-Mr. James Jackson Founder and Executive Director of IMOGUL works with residents for an amazing relationship building program. If you’ve ever wondered what real impact looks like this.

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Not just programs.

Not just events.

But bridges.

Between young and old.

That’s what IMOGUL is building.

Between who we are, and who we’re becoming.

Because when a young person sees a man who looks like him, moving with purpose, leading with heart, giving without asking…

Something shifts.

Something sticks.

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Photo Credit: The Chronicle Media Group-Sometimes life gets messy, but somehow it still turns into something beautiful.

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And when the shirts dry, the colors fade into patterns, the tables get cleared, and the room goes quiet again, what’s left isn’t just fabric. It’s memory. It’s meaning. It’s proof that community still lives when we choose to show up for each other.

Many generations. One shirt. Endless stories.

And somewhere in that room, the next leader wasn’t just learning how to tie-dye, he was learning how to become.

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Courtesy Photo: Every fold tells a story.Every color holds a memory. Tie it. Dye it. Live it.

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To learn more about I MOGUL Mentoring Group

Visit: www.mogulmore.org or Follow on Facebook and Instagram