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Middle and High schoolers in the Chambers County School District had a special Black History presentation on Monday. Motivational Speaker Willie Spears traveled to Valley and LaFayette High School to share his story of resilience with students. 

Spears spent 20 years in education as an administrator, teacher and coach. He has authored many books on education, mental health and coaching. Spears now tours around the country, giving talks.

“When I was a teacher, I was able to help a little bit of people a lot. As a speaker, I can help a lot of people a little. And so all I do is come in and reiterate what their teachers and their parents have already told them. They hear it from a different person. It’s kind of like, ‘Oh, wow, my granny was right. I do need to do the right thing’,” Spears said.

Despite garnering over 222K followers on social media, Spears said coming to the smaller communities is a big part of his work. 

“We can add value to all audiences. And so it’s so important to come to these towns. You can see how receptive they were,” he said. “It’s important because everyone needs hope. And one of our slogans is, ‘Hope is on the way.’ Hopefully, we provide a little hope today in an entertaining way.”

Much of the two presentations focused on getting the kids to develop foresight. Spears question of the day; “When will you listen?”

It was not an admonishment but a genuine question that arose in Spears’ own life. 

“I do a lot of speaking in prison. And when I go in prisons, I always ask this question, ‘How many of you wanted to be here?’ And none of them raise a hand,” Spears said. “Then the second question I asked was, ‘How many of you had somebody trying to help you in your life when you were a teenager?’…And they all raise a hand. And then I say, ‘Keep your hand up if you wish you would have listened,’ and they all keep their hands up.” 

Spears recalled how his parents were often in trouble with the law growing up. 

“My life at your age was not great because my parents made bad decisions when they were your age,” he said. 

After the talk, he told VT-N that he wants the students to walk away thinking about how decisions affect their future, for the better or for the worse. 

“Sometimes when you’re young, you’re so nearsighted, you don’t really look down the road…The windshield is a lot bigger than the rearview mirror because what’s in front is more important than what’s behind,” he said. 

In his presentation, Spears asked the students to take a look back. 

“Our goal today is to educate, to teach people about the history of black people and their contribution to society. Then we’re going to celebrate, we’re going to honor the achievements of black people, including activism, leadership and the cultural contributions. And we’re going to acknowledge, the way we acknowledge is we’re going to highlight the resilience of black people and to acknowledge the role of shaping American history resilience,” he explained. 

His slide show had historical black figures from Activist Coretta Scott King to Rapper Kendrick Lamar. 

“I put people up there [that] I thought you would know, but they all have the same track record of overcoming adversity, of working hard, of doing great things,” he said. “I want to show you that because I believe you’re next.”

He emphasized the fact that the students are actively deciding their life’s path. 

“I want you to know that there’s greatness on the inside of you, but every single day you get to make a choice. Am I going to add to my legacy or take away from my legacy? Am I going to embarrass my race, embarrass my family, embarrass my heritage, embarrass my faith, embarrass my town, or am I going to make my town proud? Are you going to be perfect? No, you’re not, but every single day, you have the opportunity to make a choice, to overcome,” Spears ended.