Breaking generational cycles through mentorship
DENVER — Kevin McClellan believes family is everything. So much so, he is dedicating his free time to mentoring youth at his local YMCA.
“A man is defined by the legacy he leaves with his family and his children,” said McClellan, 33.
McClellan, who recently moved to Denver from Kansas City for a job with Xcel Energy, said that for a large portion of his childhood, his biological father was not present in his life. He watched his mother struggle. McClellan described his mother as a “strong, independent Black woman” and said that while she was very nurturing and loving, he still missed having a strong male presence.
“Having that gap in my life with no father figure, it definitely affected me," McClellan said.
Around the age of 14, McClellan gained a stepfather, who he now considers his “real father” and the man he respected and modeled himself after.
As a young man McClellan became affiliated with a gang and ultimately landed in prison. While he was in jail, McClellan noticed the only people who visited him were his family, not anyone from the gang. The realization opened his eyes to what truly matters: family.
“Just overall to the youth, and to anybody out there — and I have homies that are still in the hood — I always tell them like, there is a better way to life you know?” McClellan said. “You can find a niche or a talent that you are good at and use the talents that God gave you to like be a better man and person.”
Volunteering at the YMCA, McClellan uses his experiences to help boys and young men avoid making the mistakes he made when he was their age.
McClellan is now a proud husband and father to a 9-year-old boy named Isaac.
“My wife is the greatest thing in my life, she brings me joy, and that’s why I’m smiling. She makes me smile. She makes me smile all the time,” McClellan beamed. “And my son, he looks just like me, it’s like I’m raising myself. So I get another opportunity to like raise a Black man how to really live in society in America the right way. And teaching him about respecting women, resecting himself to building a legacy people can smile about.”
McClellan said his son is his number one priority. He knows his son will make mistakes throughout life as he becomes his own man, but McClellan prides himself in knowing that he is there for his son no matter comes his way.
Because of McClellan's past, he said people are “shocked” when he tells them he is a poet. He picked up poetry during his time in prison as a way to express himself. Growing up, he said he was not taught how to share his feelings in a healthy way. Now, poetry provides that outlet.
“Me and my friends always just talk about becoming better men overall, just [through] anything: fitness, finances, dealing with people, social skills all of those type of things,” McClellan said. “I tell them every day. First, get up and pray, exercise, meditate. That’s what I do. Then find a niche or talent that you have. Be stoic, stand 10 toes down ... respect all women and respect all men. Those are core principles I live by. I believe in God, some people don’t, but I do.”
Lindsey Ford is a multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at lindseyford@rmpbs.org.