Black History: Community Service Is Central For Kirk Mayes

WWJ Newsradio 950 celebrates Black History Month by recognizing our local young African American professionals and their heroes. 

DETROIT (WWJ) - Kirk Mayes has a heart for community service in word and deed as the Executive Director of Brightmoor Alliance, Mayes is the young bright mind leading a coalition of groups, churches, organizations and schools that are tackling problems together in their northwest Detroit community.

"I realize that I could probably work for some corporate entity and thrive in a corporate environment, but it also left me begging the question - what happened if I gave that, all those gifts and abilities what if I gave it to my community?" he asked. "So, I do see my role as a servant to the community."

Mayes told WWJ's Stephanie Davis he thought about things differently when he learned about the people of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the early 1900s.

"These folks struck oil - it was an all African-American community - segregated that way because of Jim Crow, and what you found was that community became one of the most affluent African-American communities in our history," he said. "One of the most impressive parts was that the dollar circulated in that community over one hundred times. The women in that community, when they went on their big shopping trip, they got on a private plane and flew to Paris."

Hear the complete interview:
http://nyc.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d1/d4/dN/dN/dY/14NNY_3.MP3
[Click here to listen on your mobile device]