Shanquavious Hickson-James: A Woman of Integrity Fighting for Equality

16 Nov 2012 Economics of Poverty Brooks

Anyone would be proud to be a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. And for good reason. Named for Alfred Nobel, the prize is awarded annually to those who have put forth their best effort to encourage fraternity between nations, for the promotion of peace congresses. But to a woman of integrity, the award itself would not be worthy of pride, but the work it represents. When she received notice that she would be receiving the 2065 Nobel Peace Prize, Shanquavious Hickson-James did not hop, holler, or call every number in her phone and it is not because she is a woman of 70+ years of age. But rather because she chose to rejoice internally, as she played the many events of her life that led to her gaining international recognition even as an elderly woman who wishes nothing more but to spend the rest of her days with her husband by her side improving the lives of those who need it the most, and encouraging others to do the same. The fight against poverty is seen as a never-ending problem to some. Thus to some, it is also viewed as a lost cause, something that could never truly be changed on a global level. But to Shanquavious Hickson-James, who is also known as Shan to almost everyone who has come in contact with her, poverty has always been a condition we should never accept as is. Growing up in a community where single-parent families are more present than in any other community, she knew from the age of 16, that the poverty experienced by single parent households was something she would want to spend a lifetime resolving. Though she considers herself very blessed having had both parents in her home, she recognizes through seeing the hardships and lack of opportunity experienced by her friends and family because single parent homes have

almost always equaled a poverty where the road to gaining what most in this country a good education and economic stability is not as smoothly paved as it is for middle-class families, and upper class families, including those headed by a single parent. After graduating from Georgia State University Cum Laude in December 2012 with a Bachelor of Science (B.S) in Psychology, Hickson-James went on to study family law at the University of Miami. It is at the University of Miami where she met Todd James who would later become her husband and best friend. With the help of James, she was able to found her non-profit organization Families on the Rise, or FOR. Shan Hickson-Jamess contributions to the fight against poverty have been more inspiring than one can imagine. Shan Hickson-James wanted to fight poverty so she fought it. How did she fight it? Well she began doing research in her graduate study years at the University of Miami on the state of single family households. Together with her future husband, she studied initiatives in the past that were started in order to help single family households with a special focus on those with low income. It was then that she found that that members of single parent households especially the children start out at a greater disadvantage than those in households led by both parents. Because of her life experiences and her transition from a lowincome community to collegiate communities that consisted of a more diverse crowd, it was not much of a surprise to find that those within single parent family home have lower birthrates, higher death rates, and are more likely to reproduce within their teen years. But as she discovered more and more statistics, such as the fact that children growing up in single parent

households are 60 percent less likely to gain an education past undergraduate years at a college or university and, especially since the American recession of 2009, are 50% less likely to obtain executive positions in companies, she came to find that the differences between the two demographic populations had more to do with income status, opportunity, access, knowledge, and stability then it did with the number of parents in a home. From there she decided to create a graduate student organization titled Hearts of Nourishment and Support (HONS) with which she devoted herself and led her fellow members to mentoring middle school and high school students in low income communities. Within the after-school program offered by Hearts of Nourishment and Support, members as well as outside volunteers tutored students in the subjects that troubled them the most, with heavy concentration on Science and Math, and also taught them about financial literacy. Hickson-James knew that in order to attempt to put an end to a vicious cycle of poverty and lack of opportunity, she would have to reach out to the youth who had had the world at their disposal and had the potential to be much greater than their parents. Upon seeing the impact made on the lives of the youth reached by the organization, Hickson-James became more motivated to help others. The success of HONS confirmed that she was meant to be doing this for a lifetime. After graduating from University of Miami Summa Cum Laude in 2015, she and James transformed Hearts of Nourishment and Support into Families On the Rise Incorporated, a 501c (3) nonprofit organization with a mission to expand the original after-school program into four different divisions. In a matter of six years Hickson-James, along with James as Senior Vice President, was able to enrich and strengthen the four prongs of the organization: increase

educational opportunities within single parent households, teach financial literacy to middle and high school children in underserved communities, provide job training to those who need to work but lack the proper experience, and teach life & relationship skills to single parents and their children to promote the importance of healthy relationships. To date, Families on the Rise has helped to bring over 3 million single family households out of poverty and into a world of opportunity, access, and stability in America alone. On an international scope, FOR Inc. has been able to help over 10 million families in over 200 countries in North America, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. FOR works to increase educational opportunities by creating after-school programs for children that teach them all about the options of going to and graduating from college, providing scholarships in each market served by FOR, and establishing a community center that houses the technology and resources that even most schools in low income communities could not provide on their own. For those who have not the means to gain a collegiate education, FOR offers job training programs, free of charge, which focus on vocational career fields and the high positions that could be gained within them. The life and relationship skills workshops operated by FOR staff, families learn to how unity has the power to encourage love and mental stability and to create platforms for discussions that otherwise are ignored and swept under the rug. Thousands of volunteers have entered the classrooms of middle schools and high schools within each market of FOR to teach them the importance of financial literacy and how learning how to manage their credit and banking accounts, and save with thoughts of the future in mind.

By empowering the youth all around the world, FOR has been able to prevent the instability that is often paired with poverty. It is important to note that within this six year span, Hickson-James managed to pass the state bar in four states and gain a position as a family attorney at Daniels & Taylor LLC. in Miami, Florida. Every individual who walked through the doors of Hickson-Jamess office and happened to be going through a divorce or a child support case received not only the legal prowess of Hickson-James but also were exposed to the many different programs of FOR. With FOR, which by the year of 2035 held international offices and a database of over 10,000 volunteers, she was able to ensure that every client or potential client who needed the helped would be able to gain stability and financial stability, regardless of whether a case is won. Within her position as a high profile attorney, she was able to make everlasting connections with many powerful people who were able to contribute to the success of FOR. The most notorious connection is the one she held with Anabel Peralta for over 40 years. Donations from Peralta made up almost 40% of FOR finances, but when talking about this dynamic duo, money has the least significance. Peralta, CEO of the advertising firm, Images USA, also served as the Visionary Director for Families On the Rise, contributing her design and marketing knowledge in order to successfully target the intended public of FOR. Being of Venezuelan heritage, Peralta was also able to help Hickson-James appeal to many different Latino communities and important figures as well. Tireless weeks spent on creating and planning each

campaign promoted by FOR nourished the friendship of Peralta and Hickson-James that still remains to this day.

By the age of 35, Hickson-James became a senator representing the state of Georgia in Washington D.C. In her two terms she created legislation that proposed to take fewer taxes away from those in poverty and more from those living in wealth. She was also a part of the bipartisan team of senators who created a set of bills meant to restructure education with the federal government having more of a heavy hand in the uniformity of school districts all across the United States of America. These senators believed fervently that adequate education, as well as the material it requires, should not only be for those who are blessed enough to be born into wealth, but should be an equal-opportunity institution which, in the land of the free, should have been establish from the day of the countrys independence. The day that Shan Hickson-James accepted her prize in San Jose, Costa Rica she felt at rest. Her work was done, and now she could serve as inspiration for those after to continue to work against poverty and the inequalities created by it.