Linked by DNA, Jamil Jackson has six siblings, but DNA doesn\u2019t tell the full story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If one were to ask countless young men in North Minneapolis who Jackson is to them, several will reply, \u201cThat\u2019s my big brother.\u201d For Jackson, the young men he mentors as a community expert classroom coach through Minneapolis Public School\u2019s (MPS) Office of Black Male Student Achievement, or his C.E.O. (Change Equals Opportunity) program or through his Run and Shoot Elite Basketball League, are more than kids in the neighborhood. They are his family. As Jackson sees it, they are younger versions of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI love these kids. I know what many of them are dealing with. I know where they come from,\u201d said Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, Jackson knows firsthand the struggles many of the young men in North Minneapolis are facing and he serves as a living example that a temporary condition does not have to lead to a permanent designation. Jackson\u2019s story is a testament to the endurance of the human spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI grew up with no parents,\u201d said Jackson. \u201cMy parents were drug addicted and from the time I was 14 I lived in the house with my five brothers and one sister and I had to take care of them. So when I see these kids, I was them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jackson said he had to provide for his siblings and at the same time motivate them to stay in school and to do household chores. He said that experience prepared him for his work with area youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had to create structure for them (his siblings), and that transferred to the young men out here,\u201d said Jackson, who also sits on the boards of Farview Area Community Council and TakeAction Minnesota. \u201cSo when I\u2019m talking to these young men I\u2019m not talking down to them, I\u2019m talking and walking with<\/em> them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than athletics, Jackson\u2019s C.E.O and Run and Shoot programs are about mind and body transformation. In order to play basketball, participants must show weekly grade sheets. \u201cIt\u2019s about accountability,\u201d said Jackson. And beyond the games, Jackson organizes cultural enrichment outings such as trips to visit historically Black colleges and universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t care about wins and losses; I care about experiences and exposure,\u201d said Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So far Jackson seems to be racking up win after win in the eyes of his students and collogues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe\u2019s always finding new and innovative ways to get our students engaged. He\u2019s our best teacher,\u201d said Michael Walker, director of MPS\u2019 Office of Black Male Student Achievement. \u201cKids assess if you\u2019re genuine or not and they know he\u2019s authentic. It comes from being a child who grew up in this community. He wants to see success in all of them (his students).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Jackson, he is just doing what he has always done \u2026 look out for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is my passion; this is my destiny,\u201d said Jackson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Linked by DNA, Jamil Jackson has six siblings, but DNA doesn\u2019t tell the full story. If one were to ask countless young men in North Minneapolis who Jackson is to them, several will reply, \u201cThat\u2019s my big brother.\u201d For Jackson, the young men he mentors as a community expert classroom coach through Minneapolis Public School\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2699,38,2700],"class_list":["post-4310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-jamil-jackson","tag-minneapolis","tag-minneapolis-public-schools-mps","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Insight-News-Website-Images-7-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4310"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4312,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4310\/revisions\/4312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}