Sole Models to Role Models: Express Yourself!

LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR THE FUTURE SOLE DESIGN COMPETITION
Today's the last day to register for the Future Sole Design Competition put on by Nike and Jordan Brand. If you haven't submitted yet, well buddy you got a day a left, and if you already submitted, good luck. Let's face it, we love our shoes and we're always looking for new kicks. If you've entered the competition, you might win the chance to design the next big hit.

Lisa Leslie and D'Wayne Edwards

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE ...
So that's the competition, but there were also some workshops provided to Inglewood students on footwear design. Now besides the tips and techniques on how to improve their art

If there's one thing good competitors know, it's that you have to practice, practice, practice. After all, practice is all about learning, 'cause learning makes you a better athlete. Learning is part of the path that makes you a star.

I recently had the chance to sit in on two Future Sole Design Workshops in Inglewood, California put on by D'Wayne Edwards, footwear design director for Jordan Brand. With him on different days were Lisa Leslie of the LA Sparks, and Seattle Seahawk, Lawrence Jackson.

You gotta love it when star athletes -- record-breaking, pennant-winning, awe-inspiring folks that appear as super human on the field, on the court, or whatever -- do something real special like spend an afternoon with others to share their experiences and just hang out.

Yea, they usually drive home the proverbial 'push hard and you can make it too', which is definitely cool 'cause they speak from the heart, but they do something even cooler in the process: their actions--the fact that they donate their time, energy, or money--reveal that stardom is only part of who a star can be.

A star can teach others by example. And that's one of the things that has stayed with me almost two weeks later. Whether it was Edwards' giving drawing tips to the art students, or Lisa Leslie's advice off the court. a star is not defined by their stardom, but by their star qualities.

D'Wayne Edwards: Future Sole Design Workshops in Inglewood (pt. 1)

The following post is from YouthNoise Play City—a community dedicated to changing the world through sports and play. PLAY ON!

SOLE POWER!
Whether your breakdancing or balling it up on the court, we all need our kicks to survive. Our shoes take us to new heights as we leave our mark on the planet. Few know this better than D'Wayne Edwards, Footwear Design Director of Jordan Brand and a creator of Nike's Future Sole Design Competition.

D'Wayne, a graduate of Inglewood High School in California, is a living example of how soles really can take you places. Sketching and designing footwear for over twenty years, he says that footwear design is more than a job. It's his passion!

SOULS UNITE: FROM ARTISTS TO ATHLETES
It's no surprise than that D'Wayne recently returned to his old alma mater to share his passion with others by providing his Future Sole Design Workshop to a group of graphic art students. The workshops are an opportunity to share his wealth of design experience, to provide feedback on the students' footwear designs, and to urge them to enter the competition.

I attended the second installment of his workshop and had the pleasure to see young artists being introduced to footwear design techniques, marketing practices, and industry basics -- juicy bits of information most folk would have to pay for!

Another Inglewood graduate, Seattle Seahawk defensive end, Lawrence Jackson, was also there to offer advice on how to succeed off the field, and to provide feedback on the work submitted by workshop participants. D'Wayne and Lawrence reminded the students that they too can make it big in anything from athletics to footwear design if they work hard and aim high -- to dream big is to begin big.

D'Wayne Edwards and Seattle Seahawk, Lawrence Jackson
(Graduates of Inglewood High School)

INDUSTRY PRACTICES: STUDENTS PRESENT THEIR WORK
The student artists presented their footwear designs and discussed such things as the motivation behind their color schemes and overall inspiration for their designs. Some artists even had a handful of impressive specs detailing the type of material to be used for the shoe and where it would be placed.

Another artist shared that he had talked to Inglewood High athletes to learn about players' needs and wants in a basketball shoe -- a research process common to the design industry, especially to industry leaders like Nike and the Jordan Brand.

After presenting their designs, each student chose their favorite sketch and submitted it before the workshop judges. The goal was to compare the design styles, provide feedback to the designers, and to highlight those soles that were original, creative, marketable, and functional.

Two Future Sole Design Workshop Participants
(Sheuntae Morisette and Jacquelyn Armstrong)

THE SOUL OF THE FUTURE SOLE DESIGN COMPETITION
In high school, I never had an opportunity to share my art with designers like D'Wayne or to hear inspiring advice from professional athletes like Lawrence Jackson. The Future Sole Design Workshops are an example of how the sport-for-good movement builds our future by investing in our future leaders. Big props to D'Wayne and Lawrence 'cause they're the kind of professionals our communities need.

D'Wayne's simple message is equally as impressive as his actions are: Someone has to design our future footwear. And that someone can be you. He did it. You can do it. Enter the Future Sole Design Competition and let your sole shine!

PROPS!
Speaking of shining. Inglewood has some stars, buoy! I was wrapping up outside the school when these real cool students introduced their fancy footwork to me. Nothing shines like real soul and these ladies weren't afraid to show it. I'm putting together a short video and you just might see them practicing their moves!

Kasie Davis and Nakeva Smith

Inglewood High School is obviously building stars that excel and who aren't afraid to express themselves. It was wonderful to see. Big Props to all Inglewood High's fascinating students, both past and present!


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May Day in Los Angeles 2009

So I'm checking out Facebook and I still see in my highlight section photos from May Day and Mother's Day. Even though the days have come and gone, I can't stop thinking about workers, moms, and working moms. Something I've learned from my mom and the countless mothers I've worked alongside with in various low-wage jobs (and I've learned a lot from them) is that we have rights as workers. And it's our prerogative as human beings to demand those rights if we're not getting them.

Front of the the MIWON May Day march, 2009

I'm a product of a single working mother who, not surprisingly, was also a product of a single working mother (my nana). Poverty is a battle all its own and it leaves scars that affect generations to come. So I march in honor of my mother and my family's hard work--for my grandma who waited tables to make ends meet, for my mother's long early bus rides to work to provide food for me and my brother. I march for workers; FOR PEOPLE, regardless of their immigration status, who are thrown to the margins and forgotten, those caught in the vicious cycle of poverty, racism, and unjust laws.

Just one of the many demands being made at the march