“Blessed
assurance, Jesus is mine. O what a foretaste
of glory divine.
Heir
of salvation, purchase of God, born of his
Spirit, washed in his blood.
This
is my story; this is my song, praising my
Savior all the day long.” - Mrs. Joseph
F. Knapp, 1873
SAN
MARCOS, TEXAS - In the winter of 1965, a
28 year old single pregnant mother of 8
left the east Texas town of Tyler to escape
the horror and shame of being sexually abused
to find a better place to raise her children.
She was told to have an abortion or she
and her children would be harmed. Despite
the threats, she refused and took her five
small children to Ft.
Worth, Texas looking for a better way of
life.
In
a May, 1980 interview with the Fort
Worth Star Telegram, Carol Tatum, then
a licensed free Pentecostal preacher, describes
the time as “the worst winter of her life.”
That was saying a lot for a woman whose
“color purple' experience had caused her
to leave home at an early age to escape
the abuse of her step-father. Her mother
would not accept that her husband, a Baptist
preacher, could ever do such a horrendous
thing to her oldest daughter. Carol Tatum's
life was devastated.
Carol
Tatum's fortitude and sure determination
helped her find an abandoned house on the
northside of Ft. Worth . With no other alternatives,
she moved her family into an old dilapidated
shotgun house to escape the harsh cold weather.
The house did not have any running water
or electricity, but it was a roof over her
and her children's heads. Carol Tatum's
young son Alistair Jose would cut firewood
for the iron, wood burning stove that sat
in the middle of the room and neighbors
would give her jugs of water for the family
to use. The only electricity available was
provided by a generous neighbor who allowed
Carol Tatum to run extension cords from
the windows to the house to help provide
lights and power for an electric skillet
to cook food for her children. Her
unexpected pregnancy caused her incredible
pain. The premature labor and birth to another
son on December 19th was another hurdle
for Carol Tatum to overcome. Concerned about
the baby's life, doctors kept the baby away
from her in fear that the infant was not
going to live. Against all odds, however,
six days after an excruciating delivery,
the doctors brought her baby in to be with
his mother. Holding her infant son was the
most memorable Christmas gift Carol Tatum
would ever receive.
To
many, this would seem like an unthinkable
nightmare, however, to Kyev Tatum, this
was the beginning of his life story. “I
guess you can safely say that I was not
born with a silver spoon in my mouth,” says,
Tatum, the founder, president and chief
executive officer of the Mitchell Center
Boys & Girls Clubs of South Central
Texas in San Marcos , Texas . “Abraham Lincoln
said it best, all that I am or ever hope
to be I owe to my mother. She was both my
father and my mother.” Tatum still does
not know his biological father.
Reared
in abject poverty, Tatum lost his innocence
involuntary at the age of 5 to incest and
became a product of his impoverished environment.
When his mother ignored his cry for help,
rebellion set in and at the age of 6 he
would leave home without permission to go
to work at a neighborhood grocery store
to escape the abuse at home. He became heavily
influenced by the conditions of the housing
projects in the inner city and would stay
out late to avoid his situation at home.
School was hard and not important to Kyev.
He would attend seven public schools before
graduating from high school. “I was frustrated
with school because they made it hard for
me to learn. I still have a difficult time
dealing with the effects of what happened
to me in public school. I hid my pain by
acting out in school.” An immature teenager,
he would father four children out of wedlock
before his 22nd birthday. “I felt ashamed
and hurt inside because no one loved me
enough to understand my pain, hurting heart
and physical frustrations. I was very insecure
and sex and drugs were my way to cope with
my reality.”
Yet
Tatum would not let his personal failures
stop him from moving forward. After graduation
from high school in 1984, he enrolled at
Tarleton State University in Stephenville,
Texas and joined the football team. It was
at Tarleton that he developed a mentoring
friendship with then president, Barry B.
Thompson, and gained a new perspective on
life. He continued, however, to suffer and
struggle from the physical and mental abuse
of his adolescent years. He left Tarleton
in 1986 and enrolled at the University of
North Texas, (UNT) then North Texas State
University to play football and complete
his college degree in criminal justice.
Attending North Texas gave him the opportunity
to develop as a person. Despite his internal
struggles, Kyev Tatum was not afraid to
get involved. He became a prominent student
leader on campus. UNT Dean of Students,
Dr. William Gregory Sawyer, became his mentor
and encouraged him to continue his involvement
with student leadership organizations.
Before
leaving North Texas in December of 1990,
Tatum was awarded for his efforts. He holds
the honor of being one of the first recipients
of the distinguished University of North
Texas Community Service Award and Outstanding
Young Men of America. Before graduation,
Tatum accepted a position as the Assistant
to the Dean of Students and Coordinator
of Student Justice at Southwest Texas State
University (now Texas State University-San
Marcos) in San Marcos, Texas. While at SWT,
Tatum was responsible for enforcing the
student code of conduct for over 21,000
students. He also served as a Research Associate
for the Executive Vice President for Athletic
Compliance and Coordinator for Student Support
Services and Multicultural Student Affairs.
“My mother was proud when I got the job
at SWT, because she knew I was motivated
to make a better way of life for me and
my family. I was trying to turn my internal
struggles into triumphs. I was driven to
succeed.”
His
commitment to education reform became apparent
when in the winter of 1993, God gave him
a vision to take an old Army barracks and
turn it into a safe and positive place for
kids to learn and grow. “Our young people
were dying and it seemed nobody cared.”
San Marcos was a beautiful small city in
South Central Texas where over 50% of the
children were failing to graduate from the
public schools. More black and brown children
were lost to the juvenile criminal justice
system before they even left middle school.
Teen-age pregnancy was high; drugs abuse
and neglect ran ramped in the town.
San Marcos was
also the home of one of the largest and
wealthiest universities in the state of
Texas . SWT, the university that produced
the only Texas born President of the United
States of America in Lyndon Baines Johnson.
“It was disheartening to me; here I was
working at one of the top universities in
the state on the hill, while many poor children
down in the valley were dying on the vine.
My heart was convicted with compassion and
I had to do something about it. I was chosen
by God to help save the children.”
His
own experiences gave him the passion and
determination needed to speak out clearly
on the need to improve public education.
“I knew the issues because the public schools
failed to educate most of the kids in my
neighborhood in Ft. Worth . We were poor
and nobody wanted to associate with kids
with special needs. Most of us did not have
fathers and were dealing with some major
dysfunctional situations at home. Nobody
wanted to deal with our issues. So I believe
now more than ever that every parent, especially
parents of economically disadvantaged circumstances
deserve the right to choose where they send
their kids to school. Parents know their
kids, and parents should be able to send
them where they feel their kids can get
the proper education and help they need
to be successful in life.”
While
employed at the university, Tatum and others
in 1995 defied conventional wisdom and renovated
the old Army barracks that once served as
apart of the old San Marcos ‘Colored' School
into the Willie Mae Mitchell Community Opportunity
Center (The
Mitchell Center). The Mitchell Center opened
its door in 1995.
The
Mitchell Center began its mission as a summer
reading and writing program. Today the concept
has grown into a multi-program system that
includes Boys & Girls Clubs, the Texas
Preparatory School - which is the city's
first and only state charter school - Toddlertown
Preschool, and World of Wisdom Seasoned
Citizen Ministry. “Early challenges from
many leaders within the San Marcos community
did not cause us to detour from our mission,”
Tatum says. “We were determined to overcome
any obstacles to create a place where kids
could go if they were failing in school,
escaping abuse at home, or needing spiritual
guidance and support. No child ever deserves
to be mistreated, and funding should not
be the reason to ignore the issues.”
The
Mitchell Center has received some funding
in the past from the San Marcos CISD, the
city of San Marcos, County of Hays, and
the United Way in its short history. Though
the school district, county and United Way
no longer provide funding to the center,
the demands for the Mitchell Center's services
have increased . The Center currently serves
over 180 full-time students and over 600
students through the Boys & Girls Clubs.
Grants from the Hobby Family Foundation,
Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the
Meadows Foundation have played crucial roles
in funding the mission. In short, it hasn't
been an easy road. "We've developed
the Mitchell Center on the layaway plan,"
Tatum explained in another interview with
the San Marcos Daily Record . "We
had to put it together piece by piece. We
never had proper funding - we have been
fighting for validation since the day we
started this ministry. Many of the children
who are touched by Mitchell Center programs
come from tough home environments, and 98%
of participating students have special needs,
minority, at-risk, or latchkey youths. Some
were labeled as troublemakers in other programs;
here they are "labeled for success."
In
April of 1997, Tatum left the university
to work in the private sector. Yet his heart
was still with the children at the Mitchell
Center. “I would leave work early
and go over to the center to make sure the
kids did their homework and hug as many
of them as I could, which was the highlight
of my day.”
In
September, Tatum received a call that a
group of students felt that they were being
mistreated at a federal residential training
center in San Marcos and were going to march
to dramatize the unhealthy living conditions.
Tatum, who was then the president of the
local branch and third vice president of
the Texas State Conference of Branches of
the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored, (NAACP) decided that he would
go and support the student's efforts on
his lunch break. “I remember telling my
assistant that I was going to lunch and
that I would return in an hour or so.” Tatum
never returned to the office.
Along
with 21 of the center's students, Tatum
was arrested for failure to comply with
law enforcement's request to stop blocking
the entrance to the facility. Although Tatum
lost his job, the experience changed his
life forever. While in jail, Tatum overheard
some of the students talking about their
commitment to change living conditions at
the center. “That was when I heard the call
from God to preach the Gospel but I was
not ready to accept it.” A couple of days
later, Tatum and the local branch hosted
the State Conference of the NAACP in San
Marcos and he knew he would have to explain
his actions to the state and national leadership.
Some members in the community felt that
it was a publicity stunt to drum up support
for the convention and tried to discount
the event as a way to stir up the community.
“You should have seen the courage in those
student's eyes. I would have been a hypocrite
if I had let those students stand there
alone. I was willing to die for those kids
on that day.” Instead, destiny would bring
Bishop John Richard Bryant, now senior bishop
with the African Methodist Episcopal Church
to the state conference to preach at the
NAACP prayer breakfast. Bishop Bryant praised
Tatum and the students for their act of
courage and sacrifice. “Kyev Tatum is a
testimony to the goodness of God,” Bishop
Bryant told the large crowd of leaders from
across the country. The bishop went on to
preach a message on the life on Nehemiah
that was entitled, Fight by Family. “I accepted
my call to preach after hearing that message
and I've been working full-time in the ministry
every since. With the assistance of local
attorney Charles Soechting, now chairman
of the Texas Democratic Party, the criminal
charges against Tatum and the students would
soon be dropped.
To
further his call in the ministry, Tatum
enrolled at Austin Presbyterian Theological
Seminary and continued to work on the development
of the Mitchell Center . Things however
would not get easier for Tatum. His wife
Martha was pregnant with their son and his
mother's health was deteriorating rapidly.
To deal with the deteriorating health of
his mother, who was dying from Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Tatum decided
to move her to San Marcos in February of
2000 so she could live her remaining days
in comfort. “My mother was the cornerstone
of our family and I could not sit by and
let her die without trying to make her life
easier.” To keep his mind off his personal
pressures and struggles, he buried himself
in his work. Yet nothing could prepare him
for the tragic events that were to come.
In
April of 2001 his grandfather passed; his
oldest brother died of AIDS; in June his
next oldest brother died in a swimming pool
accident in California and on July 10th
his beloved mother passed away after her
long battle (16 years) with lung disease.
His mother's sister would also pass away
two months later. He describes this time
period as “the 180 days I will never forget.”
Yet
despite his personal losses, Kyev and his
wife stayed focused on their mission to
help save children in San Marcos and the
Mitchell Center opened the Texas Preparatory
School (formerly San Marcos Preparatory
School ) in San Marcos on September 5, 2001
with 99 students. The Tatum's dedicated
the school to the memory of his mother and
brothers. Two months later, the Mitchell
Center was chartered as the first university-affiliated
Boys and Girls Club in Texas through Boys
& Girls Clubs of America and opened
a state licensed daycare preschool several
months later. “Through it all we never gave
up on our faith and trust in God.”
In
2002 the Tatums were faced with yet another
personal setback. On August 26, 2002 , Tatum's
wife, Martha , who also served on the San
Marcos City Council, and their 4 year -old
son were involved in a gasoline spill accident
at a local convenience store in San Marcos
. Martha was showered with gasoline while
her son watched in horror. The events that
followed nearly knocked him off of his feet.
“The company refused to take responsibility
for the accident and we could not get the
city to investigate. I almost lost two more
people in my life and I became very depressed.
No one stood up with us. I was dumb founded.”
While
the issue still has not been resolved with
the convenience store or the city, the Tatums
have remained committed to the mission to
provide children with educational opportunities.
“The Mitchell Center has a proven track
record of success and is in position to
help hundreds of school kids.” We need proper
funding and resources and we can not give
up on these children.” To advocate for the
Center's programs, Kyev and Martha spend
a lot of time in Austin walking the halls
of the State Capitol. They have become strong
supporters of school choice legislation
to increase competition and performance
within our public schools.
Through
his tireless efforts, Tatum has become a
strong voice for school choice in Texas
. The Mitchell Center has been recognized
nationally as a successful model for educational
choice and experts from the Center
for Community Support (CCS)
at Texas A&M University (TAMU) in College
Station named the Mitchell Center as their
January 2003 “Success Story” of the month.
Tatum in another interview with the San
Marcos Daily Record said the distinction
came as a surprise, though TAMU has had
an interest in the initiative since the
beginning. "We didn't apply for it
and we were not nominated," he said,
adding that officials from that university
visited the Mitchell Center shortly after
it opened its doors and again in 2001. TAMU
also assisted the initiative in securing
a $93,200 Meadows Foundation grant in 1994
to complete the barracks renovation project.
He said the distinction "just says
there are others outside the community that
support us and see what we're doing as very
crucial to creating positive opportunities
for children and the larger milieu in which
they live and develop as human beings.”
Though the concept has come a long way since
its inception, Tatum has his eyes on the
future and predicts great things for the
Mitchell Center and its programs in the
future. "I will be spending a lot more
time in Austin and (Washington) D.C. trying
to get some of our elected officials to
understand the need for more funding for
the children we serve.” United State Senator
John Cornyn visited the school and praised
its accomplishments when he was the Attorney
General of Texas and some of the students
from the Mitchell Center appeared in his
campaign commercial when he ran for the
Senator. Students also had an opportunity
to meet then Texas Governors George W. Bush
and Rick Perry. Both former US Ambassador
Allan Keyes and Texas State Representative
Rick Green have praised the Mitchell Center
for its commitment to excellence and instilling
the principles of freedom and democracy
within the students. “We live in the greatest
country in the world and I believe our students
should appreciate the men and women who
fought and died defending our freedom.”
Tatum
has built quite a reputation both for his
involvement in the Mitchell Center and the
NAACP. "We need to focus attention
on respecting children. We need places where
kids can go to stay off the streets and
out of jail. Our public schools are not
doing a good job educating poor children
and I believe school choice is the cornerstone
of the civil rights movement of the 21 st
century.”
To
those who accuse him of having a hidden
agenda, Tatum said nothing could be further
from the truth. "Our people and community
are grossly undereducated, under-served,
and underdeveloped and we are rapidly losing
our heritage. There's not a school within
5 miles of our neighborhood, so subsequently
my goal is to pull resources into the neighborhood,
to make it a vital community resource for
the people, no matter where they come from.”
He says it is about fairness. "Fair
treatment and equal protection under the
law - for me that's a moral issue so subsequently
we've devoted ourselves to drawing attention
to this area. It doesn't have anything to
do with color and it really doesn't have
anything to do with stage in life, either
economically or family-orientation. It has
everything to do with loving, caring and
sharing with people who are missing that
in their lives." He continued, "There
are some who would want to make this a racial
issue but it's not about race, it's about
humanity. If it's racial it's about the
human race - to help the least of these
in our community is a noble calling, which
in San Marcos is our children." Now
Tatum will lead an effort to raise 10 million
additional dollars for the Mitchell Center
to develop a lifelong learning campus in
the historic Dunbar community. There has
not been a school in the Dunbar neighborhood
since segregation ended in the 1960s. “The
school is the heart of any community and
for 30 years or more our neighborhood has
been without a heart. We are going to change
this real soon. God being my helper.”
Tatum's
goal is to join their already-thriving programs
with a new Dunbar Learning Campus and community
development master plan to create a web
of activities that will challenge kids and
keep them safe from 7 AM to 7 PM . Tatum
and the Mitchell Center is prepared to invest
over 10 million dollars over the next ten
years into the development of the historic
Dunbar neighborhood and is challenging others,
including the city, county, and university,
to match their commitment to the Dunbar
Neighborhood. "If we can get others
who will match our investment and we can
keep these kids for 12 hours a day, you're
going to see the brightest, most talented
kids come out of our program," Kyev
beams. His drive and fortitude to create
positive places for children have placed
Kyev Tatum in the Texas history books. In
2000, he led a team of progressive thinkers
to get his wife elected as the youngest
and ‘first and only' woman of color to serve
on the City Council in over 150 years. On
October 22, 2002 , the Texas Commissioner
of Education appointed him as the youngest
and first charter school representative
to serve on the Executive Board of Directors
for Region XIII Education Service Center
in Austin , Texas . “My mother instilled
in me that anything is possible when you
keep your faith, hope and trust in God.
I believe we will accomplish our goals when
we encourage others to give back from their
hearts. It is the right thing to do.”
For
Kyev Tatum, his heart is in the right place.
“This is a divine call that has been placed
on my life and I must stay the course until
every kid in America has a positive place
to learn and grow." If history is a
good indicator, this champion for children's
rights and education choice will reach his
goal.
For
more information on the Mitchell Center
contact 512-805-3000 or visit the school's
website at www.texasprep.us
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