In visit to Detroit, Usher praises Boys & Girls Club after-school programs

Pop star Usher credits a Boys & Girls Clubs' after-school program for helping him discover his musical talent.

On Thursday, the eight-time Grammy award-winning R&B artist visited the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan to meet scores of screaming young fans — and stress the importance of quality after-school programs like the one that changed his life.

"Being part of the after-school programs, like what we're doing here, became motivation for everything that I would do with my life," Usher told the crowd at the club's Dick and Sandy Dauch Campus on Detroit's west side.

In town for two shows in downtown Detroit, Usher took on the role of honorary chair of "Lights on Afterschool," to showcase the importance of after-school programs and the need to expand them to reach more students.

The campaign is a partnership among the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and of Southestern Michigan, the Afterschool Alliance, Usher's New Look program for youths and the Michigan Afterschool Partnership.

More: Usher is joined by surprise guest Big Sean as he kicks off two-night Detroit stand at LCA

The coalition estimates that some 750,000 youths in Michigan — and 25 million across the country — don't have access to high quality after-school programs.

Among the biggest barriers to access are costs, transportation and capacity, said Jodi Grant, executive director of the After School Alliance, a national organization that works with nearly 25,000 after-school programs across the country.

Grant said ample data shows that kids who aren't in after-school programs are more likely to be involved in inappropriate behavior.

"We know crime against and by juveniles spikes in the hours after school," Grant said. "But if kids have a place to go, where they belong, where they feel it matters, a place like (the Boys & Girls Club), where their learning is relevant … they have this sense of a future for themselves, and then ideally a place like this, they actually get a sense of what their future can be, what all these options are, all these different fields and careers."

Usher started his own nonprofit, Usher's New Look, in 1999 and has helped impact the lives of over 60,000 teens across the globe. Shawn Wilson, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan, previously worked with the organization, becoming its first president back in 2005.

Wilson was eager to work with his former boss again.

"At the end of the day, we saw this as an opportunity to talk about the importance of after school, not just here in Detroit or Michigan, but nationwide, understanding that after-school programming has become the place where youths' lives are transformed," Wilson said.

Usher's visit was powerful, Wilson said.

"We're in a moment that we're able to really bring a lot of joy to a lot of people today. … Kids need someone to look up to. They need someone to say, 'Hey, I was just like you, and this is what changed my life.' Kids need that."

The two-day event gave more than 1,500 students from a dozen Detroit schools the opportunity to participate in interactive and hands-on activities in career path possibilities like health care, music, fashion and technology. There were also sporting activities, including flag football, fowling and a built-in skating rink inside of the gym.

Usher's role as honorary chair is a full-circle moment for the R&B star.

"Today is a dream come true for me," Usher said to the crowd. "When I was in Chattanooga, Tennessee — there's a picture here of me when I was a little kid right? So I wanted you guys to see me then, and understand that the dream that you can find, right, the passion that you can find for something that you want to do with your life, I'm kind of the example of it, but to be honest, you are the representation of what it is that I saw back then."

Usher also sent a last message to the students about finding the spark to discover their passions, and how after-school programs are beneficial to that discovery.

"You may not know that you're passionate about music. You may not know that you're passionate about fashion. You may not know that you're passionate about technology. You may not know what it is that you want to do with your life," he said to the crowd. "But it's a beautiful thing to come to the Boys & Girls Club and be influenced in a way that you could create a career, create a business and be a contributor to your community, as well as creative in any industry."

Eric Guzmán covers youth sports culture at the Free Press as a corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support this work at bit.ly/freepRFA.

Contact Eric Guzmán: [email protected]; 313-222-1850. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @EricGuzman90.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Usher visits Detroit Boys & Girls club, praises after-school programs