Geoffrey Canada talks life and ambition

Famed author and educator Geoffrey Canada visited Central High School on Feb. 8 to tell students about his life’s journey and to encourage them to be curious in the pursuit of their own.

“Go and open up and explore different places,” said Canada, a Valley Stream resident. “If you keep looking, you’ll find something you really like.”

Canada wrote two acclaimed books: “Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun” in 1995, which he talked about during a visit to Central High last year, and “Reaching Up for Manhood,” which published in 1998. Both focused on poverty and violence. He was also the subject of the 2008 book, “Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America.”

He created the Harlem Children’s Zone Project, a network of programs that seeks to give children in impoverished areas the support necessary to realize their dreams and avoid the pitfalls of their neighborhoods. The organization assists more than 13,000 students in Harlem and serves as a model for similar initiatives around the world. Canada is chairman of the Children’s Defense Fund’s board of directors and has been included in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Canada told the students at Central High that it is okay to be unsure about their futures, and that colleges’ liberal arts programs are intended to help them uncover their talents and passions. He stressed the value of graduate school and said that sub-par grades during a tough undergraduate freshman year don’t mean a student can’t go on to attend an Ivy League school, as long as they work hard and earn high grades as seniors.

The event was part of the school’s recognition of Black History Month.

“He had a very powerful message for students: do what inspires you, do what you love and be prepared,” said Frank Chiachiere, president of the Valley Stream Central High School District Board of Education.

“It hit home,” said trustee Anthony Iadevaio. “He’s giving these kids inspiration: take something you believe in and go with it.”