Rhythm of the Chain
Rhythm of the Chain: Young Writers Explore Teamwork was written by the students of Ánimo Inglewood Charter High School with an introduction by Phil Jackson
INTRODUCTION - THE STRENGTH OF THE PACK
PHIL JACKSON
It seems that there are always going to be caretakers of our youth. I’m one who has lived with a certain type of young man for the past thirty-seven years—professional basketball players. It has been my practice to give books to my players and make them read in front of the team to see how their reading skills have developed. The responsibility to have a continuing education for these men, caught in the world of the ever-young warrior ath- lete, has been part of my job because there is a time when they will have to enter the “real” world. While many of the athletes I have coached have been proficient readers and writers, some have had to struggle to comprehend the written word and have had little ability to write.
It was my chance opportunity to have Jim Hester as my teammate in college. Jim was struggling academically when he arrived at school from Davenport, Iowa. I became his friend and study-mate during that arduous first year of college, a year in which he became ineligible to play sports (so much for my skill as a tutor). He then had another year of ineligibility and lost his basketball scholarship, but he kept trying. Jim started making the grades and he got a football scholarship. He graduated from college and later became an NFL player, but perhaps his biggest accomplishment was when he got elected to the Board of Education in his hometown. Jim wanted the children in his community to get this important message: Don’t miss out on the opportunities that education can bring.
As a sophomore in high school I had the good fortune to have Miss Turner as my English teacher. She saw that I had a great deal of passion about literature; she also saw that even though my writing had imagina- tion, it didn’t meet the standards necessary to effectively communicate what I wanted it to. Miss Turner was willing to work with me and use my love of the written word to help me become a better writer—and even though I have grave doubts about my ability to write, somehow in the past thirty years I have had five books published that proclaim me author or co-author. It is because of my desire to write well and my continuing love of the written word that my friend and former wife, June Jackson, got me interested in 826 Valencia. It was her love of editing and her passion for educating children that led to her volunteering as a tutor at 826 Valencia in San Francisco, an organization established by Dave Eggers.
For the past three years, June has been telling me about the great things that 826 Valencia is doing for inner-city kids in San Francisco, and I was glad that she’d found an outlet for her skills as nurturer and tutor. On a visit to San Francisco over Christmas this past year, June and I and two of our children went down to the storefront on Valencia to meet Dave; we spent the morning talking about the process of getting kids excited about writing. Dave asked me to assist in the opening of a similar space in L.A. called 826LA, as well as a joint venture he envisions undertaking with a school called Ánimo Inglewood. He explained to me how a book that reflects a unifying idea or topic can be written and published by students, and he asked if I might be interested in assisting with such a project for the Ánimo school.
I knew it was something I’d like to do, but what could I give these students that they could write about? I thought about the idea of teamwork, how to work as a group. I wondered how students at a school without a great emphasis on sports, but rather on academics, would react to writing about a topic that’s so identified with athletics, but we decided that “teamwork” would be the book’s topic.
Now this is the Law of the Jungle-
as old and as blue as the sky.
And the Wolf that keeps it shall prosper,
but the Wolf that breaks it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk,
the Law runneth forward and back,
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf,
and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
—Rudyard Kipling
This is the excerpted poem that I gave the student editors of this book in late March, a few months after the project named Team Jackson was initiated at Ánimo Inglewood. I left for a trip to Australia, New Zealand, and the South Sea Islands, and when I came back the students were in their second and third rewrites, with the help of their tutors.
Perhaps I should have given the student writers this Kipling poem from The Jungle Book before the project got going—that might have given these pieces a few boundaries—but these are the stories that the students wanted and needed to tell. “Team Jackson” was just the catchword for the project: the project is about teams, teams that are families, teams that are groups of people, and teams that have bonded with these students and influenced their lives.
“There is a destiny that makes us brothers, no man goes his way alone. What I put into the life of others, will return unto its own.” This anonymous rhyme is another poetic piece that I have given to the teams that I’ve coached over the past eighteen years. In reflecting upon this “des- tiny that makes us brothers,” I believe that Ánimo Inglewood’s writers have found what I really wanted them to explore. What is the fiber of our society that bonds us together? We live in a large metropolitan area that challenges us daily to find a thread of common material that can allow us to live together in peace. Inside these pages you will find stories that declare that bond—even through the horror of drive-by shootings, the heartache of debilitating disease, the tribal/cultural instincts to trust only “our” kind, and the cry for respect in a world of anonymity. These stories accurately reflect life in this incredibly diverse city. We seek peace and understanding as people living in a larger world as well, and that is the essence of these writings.
I want to thank the incredible teachers from Ánimo Inglewood, Annette Gonzalez, Allen Monroe II, and Melinda Viren, who have encouraged and labored with these writers; Ánimo’s principal, Cristina de Jesus, and its founder, Steve Barr; and the parents who have sacrificed so that these young people can have the opportunity for an education that challenges and encourages them to be special. Thanks also to Pilar Perez, to the 826LA tutors, and to the editorial board who have given their time and expertise to making this book happen for the students.
Phil Jackson played professional basketball for fourteen years with the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets. He was a member of the Knicks’ two championship teams. In 1982, after a year in business, Jackson began coaching and returned to the NBA as a coach in 1987. His NBA coaching career has been highlighted by nine championships; three with the LA Lakers and six with the Chicago Bulls. He is the father of five children. He has authored five books, including Sacred Hoop and The Last Season.