Name: Camille Thomas
Major: Theatre and Residential College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH)
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Harper Woods, Michigan
Tell me about My Brother’s Keeper? I work with the mentoring program My Brother’s Keeper. It’s a mentoring program between the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH) and Paul Robeson Malcolm X Academy. We mentor the kids — usually kids in 6-10th grade. We do a lot of things related to Detroit. Last year, we talked about performance as protest. Like slam poetry or performance art. This year, we’re talking about changing the perspective of Detroit, or #DetroitMatters, just because Detroit is a city that is forgotten about a lot. I went to high school in Detroit, so I’m kind of passionate about that as well. And changing the perspective of how people see African American children — as far as hoodlums, gangbangers. And as far as they see the city of Detroit — as broken, in-debt, not going anywhere.
How did you get involved in My Brother’s Keeper? I just volunteered. I got an email last year and I was like, “okay, I like mentoring. I’ve had mentors that have impacted me, so why not try and give back.”
What’s your role in this organization? I work as Austin Jackson’s paid research assistant; he’s the coordinator of the program. As his research assistant, I also work as the undergraduate coordinator for the program. Recently, we started a spin-off group called “My Sister’s Keeper,” so me and four other girls work to make sessions for the girls. I work on the social media pages, like Instagram.
How do you feel about what you do? Really encouraging. Sometimes it’s frustrating just because there are so many kids. We’ve gotten a lot more mentors this year, but I feel like we could always use more — especially male mentors to show a positive representation for the boys. So they can see images of men in college that they can aspire to be like. But all in all, I love the program.
What was your experience with your mentor? I was in the Rhonda Walker Foundation growing up — from the 8th grade until senior year of high school. Actually, I had breakfast with my mentor this morning. She had a meeting in East Lansing. She just came up and was like, “hey, do you want to get breakfast?” So she took me to Cracker Barrel.
What have you learned from being a part of this organization? I have learned to break things down for children. You know how you have big, complex ideas like police brutality, systemic racism or feminism? So I’ve just learned how to talk about it with kids and have gotten a better understanding of it myself.
What would you like to do after graduation with RCAH and Theatre? My main goal is to move. I’m thinking Chicago after I graduate and do acting as my full-time career, but I also really love RCAH because I’m into social justice and social change. So I would love to do theatre for social change. One of my end goals is to open my own mentoring program.