For many youths, having a parent who has been incarcerated for 15 years, being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and growing up in a single-parent household with two other siblings could be a barrier to success.
This is not the case for Tiger Weaver, a senior at East Allegheny High School.
Tiger is not his nickname. It is his given name—and his achievements, goals and aspirations are just as unique. The tenacity with which he takes on his challenges in some ways mimics the fearless nature of a tiger.
He dismisses the ADD label, saying, “It is other people who say I have ADD, but I don’t claim anything like that.”
Tiger and his brothers reside in North Versailles with their mom, Marisa White, who said her son is “a great student with no discipline problems.” She added that he has an easy demeanor, and possesses an aura of self confidence and maturity that belies his 17 years. He is an outstanding artist but also has another talent—advocacy.
As a member of the Amachi Teen Leadership Program, Tiger has served as an Amachi Ambassador since he was 14 years old. He was a youth presenter at the 2015 Association of Black Foundation Executives Conference in Napa, Calif., and was most recently listed in the “Future Leader Spotlight” in the inaugural edition of “Who’s Who in Black Pittsburgh.”
At the ABFE Conference, he spoke before African American philanthropists about some of the issues bearing down on the families and children with an incarcerated parent. ABFE was interested in supporting organizations that work with those youths.
Tiger, who is fully aware of these issues because of his own situation, was on a panel with Kayla Bowyer, coordinator of the Amachi Youth Ambassador Program, and Melanie Brown, formerly with the Heinz Endowments. Bowyer spoke about how Amachi’s program supports youth and Brown explained why the Heinz Endowments is investing in this organization. Tiger’s task was to tie the two together by explaining the positive impact Amachi has had in his life.
“The youth leadership engagement training at Amachi is not the typical leadership development like that surrounding career, training, and or higher education,” Bowyer explained. “It is more about youth organizing around social justice issues, civic engagement and building youth power.
“Tiger was one of the first students I recruited to be an ambassador; I was most impressed with his willingness to try something new, and his ability to articulate about it. Additionally, he and his mother readily show their appreciation of the opportunities he has through the program. I am really looking forward to seeing him advance in his life and the great things he is going to do.”
ABFE members were greatly impacted by his presentation, as well as his concern for other young people like himself. Tiger was also impressive this past March when he spoke in Harrisburg before the state House of Representatives Human Service Committee with the goal of pointing out to legislators the importance of revisiting the policies around prison sentences, Bowyer said.
Tiger’s father has been incarcerated since he was 2 years old. With his father facing another 18 years in prison, Tiger felt especially qualified to speak to the profound devastation that kind of time has on a family unit. He also conveyed that, as a country, we have issues that cannot be resolved by putting large numbers of people in prison for lengthy sentences like Tiger’s own father is serving.
The teen has never looked at his situation as something to be bitter about.
“My mother worked double duty to make sure my two brothers and I did not feel shorted,” Tiger said. “Between her and my grandfather, who was an amazing role model, it makes it easy for me to do what I do for others who aren’t so fortunate.”
The U.S. Department of Justice reports that children of incarcerated parents are most at risk for future delinquency and have a 50 to 70 percent chance of following their parents’ footsteps and ending up behind bars, according to the Amachi Pittsburgh website.
Tiger clearly will not be in this statistic. He is on his way to college in 2016 and interested in Grove City College, the University of Pittsburgh and Louisiana State University. He aspires to become a businessman who makes the kind of income that will give him the freedom to use his time helping others.
***
Each month in the New Pittsburgh Courier, McAuley Ministries will sponsor an article highlighting the positive contributions of an African American youth—male or female. We welcome community members to suggest a young person to feature in this monthly column.
Criteria include:
• Youth and young adults, ages 12-23
• Documented evidence of leadership or achievement in community service/volunteerism; leadership or achievement in their classroom/school; creativity as an artist, musician, dancer or filmmaker; success as an entrepreneur; leadership in advocating for social justice and equity; and/or achievement in corporate or nonprofit arenas
• A resident of Allegheny County.
Readers who would like to suggest a youth for this feature should email GenNext@pmhs.org.
Like us at https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Pittsburgh-Courier/143866755628836?ref=hl
Follow @NewPghCourier on Twitter https://twitter.com/NewPghCourier
Download our mobile app at https://www.appshopper.com/news/new-pittsburgh-courier
About Post Author
