Reach - Then Teach Derrick Brown

Dear Hannah - Truth without grace is mean. Grace without truth is meaningless.

Dear Hannah, My name is Derrick. My name means "leader of my people". I am the brother from another planet. My ways are strange - even to strange people. I know why the caged bird sings. And still I rise. I like to gather "my people" for small-group fellowship that facilitates hope, healing, and change. Nothing gathers and connects us like playing games. Nothing divides and alienates us like playing games ...

Dear Hannah - In January 2024, your school (Dunleith Elementary School) won our school district's Reading Bowl for perhaps the first time ever. That's a great story ... but it is part of a bigger story ... one that I do not know how to tell completely. So, I will tell you what I can. Let me show you something ...

Dear Hannah ... I'm a #StandupStoryteller. I'm the brother from another planet. Strange people think I am strange. I think that what I experience is strange. And still I rise. I am learning to be #CircumspectAboutDisrespect. Let me show you something ...

[1-16-2017] Being part of a church has helped me to grow - both in my walk with God, and in my understanding of life and people.Church helped me to wake up, grow up, speak up, and wise up. The experience has not always been "pretty" - but has taught me key lessons ...* Your gifts can become weapons (against you and others) without the BALANCE of healing and accepting, affirming, accountable, authoritative relationships (SEE TABLE BELOW).* Hurt people hurt people.* Healed people help people heal.* People who help people sometimes exploit the people they help - and the people who help them.* We are all mentors to each other through shared life experiences - good, bad, and ugly.* Your mentor's good works are beacons of light that show you the path; his missteps are clear warnings to you. Take heed.

[3-3-2017] A long time ago (1997) in Petersburg, VA (where my wife Keisha was born and raised), Tim and Daphne Maxwell Reid launched New Millennium Studios - a 15,000-square-foot full-service movie production studio on 60 acres of land ... land with a rich Civil War history. It was the only full-service movie production studio in the state of Virginia. Tim Reid (a native of Norfolk, VA) may be best known as "Ray" - Tia and Tamera's dad on the 1990's sitcom "Sister, Sister". He was also the star of the underrated, award-winning 1980's CBS sitcom "Frank's Place". Daphne Maxwell Reid was "Aunt Viv" (the second one) on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". She was also on "Frank's Place". After me and Keisha married in March 2011, that Christmas holiday I took her to New Millennium Studios for their guided tour. We arrived and thought we were the only guests who signed up for our time slot. It turned out that we were the only 2 people in the studio besides Tim and Daphne. Daphne was our tour guide. This lady epitomizes style and elegant grace. She explained that the Steven Spielberg movie "Lincoln" had just wrapped up filming at New Millennium. That was part of the reason why it was so quiet during our visit. She took the time to tell us the history of the studio, the land it sat on, and the reality of the tough times they were enduring. Their vision was for New Millennium to become the centerpiece of a Virginia film community. The growth of their business in Virginia was hindered, though, by a lack of state-supported film production financial incentives. As she led us through their offices, I spotted Tim Reid at his desk and we made eye contact ...