‘Only way to change the world.’ How One Lexington’s director uses mentoring to curb violence

Devine Carama headed into Beaumont Middle School one morning in March, bearing a Kroger bag with Pop-Tarts and Capri Suns inside.

Ten boys trickled into an empty classroom, getting fist bumps and high fives from Carama as they came in.

After they’d grabbed a snack and settled in at a long table at the middle of the room, Carama introduced the lesson for the day: “Willie Lynch was a slave master in the West Indies,” he began. “The tactics that Willie Lynch used centuries ago are still being used today on you.”

The group is one of 15 “It Takes a Village” mentoring groups that One Lexington holds in 11 Fayette County schools in service of its mission of reducing gun violence among teens and young adults.

Four of the mentoring groups are led by Carama, though he said that’s a bit of a break for him now that One Lexington is contracting with more community partners to get the work done.

“Last year, I was doing nine of them by myself,” he said.

Helping kids see their own worth is what drives Carama, and it’s work he has been doing on his own for years, long before he was named One Lexington’s director two years ago.

The young people who participate in the mentoring program work on conflict resolution strategies, money management and other practical social and life skills. They are identified by their school’s family resource center staff. Many of them, he said, have been impacted by gun violence.

“I’m trying to look at ways for them to reframe how they identify themselves as young men of color,” he said, “and understand that they’re great.”

Carama said lessons like the one on Willie Lynch are important for kids, since they put life experiences into historical context.

“You’ve gotta know where you’ve been to know where you’re going,” he said in an interview.

Carama went on to explain to the boys how Lynch’s “strategy of divide and conquer” was used to pit enslaved people against each other to keep them from revolting — men against women, darker-skinned people against those with lighter skin tones and young against old.

“Let’s translate that into modern day society,” he said. “Do we joke about each other’s skin color? ... What that is called is colorism. What we are doing is dividing.”

He said sometimes Congolese students talk about being bullied by African-American peers.

“Those are still your brothers,” he said.

He took the lesson a few steps further and connected it to popular music and video games, relationships with girls, family dynamics and the generation gap.

“Next time you get in a conflict with somebody, think, ‘Hmm, (that’s) what Willie Lynch wanted,’” he said. “How is your generation going to break the cycle of what Willie Lynch created?”

Their earlier giggles had now turned to somber reflection.

“Be careful, fellas,” Carama told them before he left amid a series of hugs. “Some of the most innovative minds ... are no longer with us because they fell victim to what Willie Lynch created. I believe there’s some business owners in here, some doctors ... athletes. I don’t want to see you six feet (under).”

Carama told the boys that just as he is mentoring them each week, they are teaching him, too.

“We need the wisdom of of our elders and the young people’s energy,” Carama said, quoting Common and John Legend’s song “Glory.” “It’s the only way to change the world.”

Carama said one of his goals is to grow the mentoring program and possibly create a pathway for some former offenders to help with the work.

“The schools can’t have enough help like that,” he said.

Carama, 42, whose legal name is Richard Spaulding, grew up in Lexington and has long been known as an independent hip-hop artist and community activist.

Through the youth organization he founded, Believing in Forever, he has conducted an annual coat drive for kids and worked as a youth mentor and motivational speaker.

Positivity is one of his hallmarks.

In 2015, when he released a new album, Carama asked his fans to pay for it by doing community service and to share the story about what they did as a means of encouraging others. He said at the time he had donated the proceeds from two previous albums but wanted to take it a step further by getting other people to take action themselves.

‘He’s certainly a spark plug’

Mayor Linda Gorton said Carama stood out when she was looking for a new leader for One Lexington, which was created in 2017 and previously led by Laura Hatfield, who took a position with the city’s parks and recreation department.

“When I interviewed for Devine’s position, I interviewed two fairly traditional types of people,” she said. “And then Devine came in, and he is not traditional. We don’t need tradition.”

She said Carama had already been doing the community work the city needed done on his own.

“He’s certainly a spark plug,” she said. “He has a passion for it.”

“I live the work,” Carama said in an interview.

In a recent email to people working to address gun violence in Lexington, Carama said he has a dry erase board in his office that says, “Remember your why.”

“When times get hard and you can’t quite see the path you know exists, find strength and direction in your purpose,” he encouraged them. “Block out the noise, do the work!”

So what is his “why?”

“My passion is youth, young people,” Carama said. “Once upon a time, I was in those streets, a single father, no college degree. ... I didn’t check the boxes of what a leader is.

“How many other kids are out there who are like me?”

“I don’t see these kids as leaders of tomorrow,” he said. “You’re the leaders of today.”

A Lexington city program is trying to keep youth out of ‘the cycle of violence.’ Here’s how

Community partners are One Lexington’s ‘special sauce’ in fight against gun violence