Elijah: His Battle Against the Cycle of Poverty
There is more than meets the eye when you speak with Elijah. The 21-year-old thinks and speaks more maturely than his age suggests.
Elijah grew up and lives in Queensbridge Houses. He has been a member of Urban Upbound for a few years, and recently reconnected with the organization while searching for a job back in November of last year. Now he is already back to work in a security service company on 5th Avenue, while trying to finish school. Elijah says that at this stage of his life, he is focused on “setting up” his financial capacity.
While working on building up his financial security, he keeps his eyes on the target. Having worked in a few different positions — from wedding preparation assistant to art instructor — Elijah’s ultimate goal is to build a nonprofit that helps kids with trauma, especially incarcerated youth who need assistance in transitioning back into their community. This goal comes after his involvement with a nonprofit that utilized the power of art to encourage self-expression and serve as therapy for incarcerated youth.
Elijah’s connection with art does not come out of nowhere. Outside of work, he is a visual artist and a lyricist. He also plays piano. For him, music is more than a medium to express himself — it is a way he can have a positive effect on people. Elijah grew up wanting to be a music artist. “I just wanted to be someone who influenced, someone who left something. I wanted to be the person who was making me feel inspired — and that’s anybody. Even with music, I just wanted to create the feeling that I was feeling when I was being inspired through melodies. I just wanted to be somebody who brought something positive — something beautiful.”
His role models are the very people he is trying to emulate — those who made a mark and influenced a big change in the world. Elijah mentioned that his mom, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X are among the people on the list. “I was raised by a single parent. She has done a lot, she fought for us, she didn’t walk away, she kept giving us love, she makes sure that me and my siblings have a family bond. Even though we grew up separately, we have the same morals and we still have that bond. (…) I always respect my mother.” With Dr. King, Elijah looks up to him because of his courage to speak up at a time when it was dangerous to do so; and Elijah appreciates Malcolm X’s charisma — the energy that gathers people. He adds, “if we have those types of energy today, a lot of people would be able to communicate better with each other.”
Elijah believes that our energy pushes us further. Perhaps it is his vibrant energy that keeps him true to his life’s motto: “keep moving forward!” He doesn’t let growing up in poverty shut his light off — he does something about it and he moves forward. “I grew up with hand-me-downs and we didn’t even have cable — all we had was our imagination to have fun and entertain us. But, even though it was hard, everything happened for a reason.”
He believes that people shouldn’t get comfortable with what they have and he is always curious — it’s the reason why he reads quite a wide range of books, from history and philosophical books to popular literature. His curiosity of life makes him analyze himself a lot and gives him his mental soundness. “We don’t have enough time in life to completely know ourselves, but I feel like I spent enough time to just myself.” He admitted that he experienced depression. “What I learned through my depression is my best quality — to learn to ask myself a question about myself and focus on finding answers.”
In more ways than one, Elijah is an example of the positive energy that Urban Upbound hopes to kindle in our members, especially our youth. His outlook on life and eagerness to learn matched with our resources that are accessible to him and the community makes a perfect formula for growth and continuous success.
