April 19, 2017
Fighting for kids
Around Town Ferguson Twilight Run announces 2017 Donnie White, Sr. Memorial Award recipients. P.4
Community Voices By Dr. Rance Thomas. P.2
School
Hazelwood elementary students sponsor clean water project. P.9 Earnest Hart (left) works with students (from left) Maggie Stebelman, Anna Kruger and Brendon Bay in a kickboxing class at Logos School.
Photo by Nicholas Elmes
Learn & Play
World kickboxing champion teaches life lessons to at-risk youth By Nicholas Elmes Former world kickboxing champion Earnest Hart shares a lot with his students at Logos School – his time, his skills, his knowledge, his life experiences and real understanding that life is full of adversity and challenges. But Hart said there is one thing in particular that he is most proud of giving his students. “I am giving them hope and showing them that there is a different way of getting things done,” he said. “They know you don’t have to be a tough person to be good. I have given them the tools to succeed.” As a Jehovah’s Witness growing up in the projects of St. Louis, Hart knows that it takes time to learn those lessons. “The projects were a rough neighborhood,” he said. “Every time someone would chase me and beat me up, my mother would give me a scripture to tell them. I would tell them the scripture but they would still beat. She said I just was not doing it with enough conviction.” Hart eventually learned that even scripture delivered with conviction would not keep him safe as a child, so he turned to the superhero’s he saw on television. “I eventually dressed up as Batman,” he remembers. “I thought maybe they would not notice me. I saved up 25 box tops from cereal boxes and got a Batman mask. I put on an outfit I had cut out and thought I was fighting bad guys. Unfortunately, you think they will come at you one at a time like they do on TV, but the brothers were all on me at once
and would beat me up. I had a wood hanger that was a Batarang and I would throw it at them. I had a utility belt with screwdrivers and wrenches but that didn’t work. “I was about ready to give up. I knew where my dad’s guns and knives were and was this close to getting the guns out,” he said, noting that he was saved from a path that would have likely destroyed his life by another television show. “I happened to see the Green Hornet and there was a guy on it called Bruce Lee. When I saw him it was like the sun came out. It changed everything.” Hart started exploring karate schools in the Southside but did not have the money to pay for classes. “So I taught myself,” he said. “I would hand chop people and scream and holler. I had a bible and was chopping at them. I did not have a lot of technique but I was crazy and people started to leave me alone.” Eventually, Hart found an instructor who was willing to take a chance on him. “I was looking in a window at this class and the instructor looked like Charlie Manson,” said Hart. “He started coming for the door and thought about running but he asked if I wanted to come in and watch. He asked if I wanted to take classes but I told him I could not afford it. He offered to let me clean up the school for my tuition and told me that if I did not work for it I would not respect it. Within two to three weeks, he told me I was going to be great. Nobody had ever said that to me before.”
With a strong mentor, Hart quickly advanced but he soon learned that just being tough would not get him very far. “When I started competing in tournaments and winning there were a lot of guys who were into black power,” he said, explaining that winning in a karate tournament was dependent on the judges awarding points. “I never wore black. I was respectful to the judges and I would win. I let all of my talking go into the ring. I also realized that it matters how you handle yourself outside of what you do. I learned real fast that communication skills were really important and you can learn a lot if you are real with people. If I had not been able to get that skill early on I would not be here now.” Hart’s skills and attitude took him around the world, to a world championship and eventually to Hollywood where he had roles in “Batman & Robin” and “Mortal Kombat.” But Hart said that working in small group sessions at Logos School, a nonprofit school for at-risk students in Olivette, has been just a rewarding as his other accomplishments. “The martial arts opens the door for the students,” said Hart. “I always start out talking about a certain subject matter from the perspective of what is going on that day. I let them talk and I tell them what I had to deal with as a kid, letting them know I have learned that no one is perfect. We make mistakes, but you have to admit them and learn See ‘FIGHTING’ page 2
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A colorful, crunchy salad. P.11
Movie
Has the San Diego Comic-Con become too successful? P.16
Weather FRIDAY Scattered Storms 63/49 SATURDAY Showers/Storms Likely 63/49 SUNDAY Chance of Storms 63/49 FirstWarn Weather
prepared by meteorologist Nick Palisch. For the latest updates visit www.facebook.com/nickswx.