Sterling Brown attends discussion with kids, teens on making good choices

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A popular Milwaukee Bucks player met with kids and teenagers Monday night to talk about making good choices.

Sterling Brown sat in on the discussion at Silver Spring Neighborhood Center with community organizers and dozens of young people.

The conversation steered toward some brutally honest topics, including the realities of incarceration and why men disrespect women.

Organizers brought up the concept of “winners’ circles,” the group of people in someone’s life that inspires the person to be their best self.

Brown said for him, it’s his family and teammates.

“You can’t do anything out here by yourself,” he said. “If you want to do great things you have to have people around you who are going to help and who are going to push you.”

Personal stories help messages, like the importance of making good choices, hit home.

“You have to have credible messengers, said Joshua Jenkins, a youth organizer with Safe and Sound Milwaukee. “You have to have people that are believable. You have to have people who actually have stories and that’s very therapeutic.”

Chasity Askew lives near the neighborhood center. She spoke about her brother in prison and the bad decisions he made to get there.

“A lot of our young people look and want to follow the trend, the crowd, what their peers are doing,” Askew said. “Something like this where you see Sterling Brown come in, it just encourages the kids to see there are other opportunities out there.”

The Bucks and their community partners will host two more similar discussions at other Milwaukee community centers.