The Ripple Effect Tour Aims To Create Waves Of Change
The Ripple Effect Tour Aims To Create Waves Of Change
By Tia Carol Jones
Jahmal Cole founded My Block My Hood My City in 2015, with the mission to empower communities, inspire youth and build a better world one block at a time. The organization’s motto is to take care of people no matter what and Cole sees it as a rapid response organization, shoveling snow in the winter and delivering water and box fans in the summer. The organization is also continuing to work with youth from 15 different high schools and take them on field trips and exposing them to different careers.
Cole is bringing other social impact organization founders together for the Ripple Effect Tour, which will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21st, at the Harold Washington Cultural Center, located at 4701 S. King Drive. The event will feature Jamyle Cannon, Founder and Executive Director of The Bloc; Xavier Ramey, CEO of Justice Informed; Dion Dawson, Founder and Executive Director of Dion’s Chicago Dream; and Christian Perry, Political Director for Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Cole said that small actions can create a movement and he mentioned a quote from Robert F. Kennedy that says, “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
Cole said he chose Cannon, Ramey, Dawson and Perry because they have built their social impact organizations and collectively have raised millions of dollars. He said he was thinking about the Kings of Comedy, with each person being able to share stories of how they created their organizations, but wanted it to be Kings of Community, with each founder sharing how they were able to organize and mobilize in ways that benefit the community.
“All of this is really good for Chicago because it puts pressure on institutions to address issues we really care about,” Cole said. “With the Ripple Effect Tour, we’re trying to encourage people to create a ripple of hope in their own neighborhood.”
Cole said in the same way someone drops a stone in the water, which creates a ripple that spreads, anytime a person does an act of kindness or a moment of leadership, it can grow. He said that there are plans to take the tour to other cities, but wanted to kick it off in Chicago where the social impact organization founders have made the most impact, in their hometown. He said that by the founders sharing their stories, it can build trust and open people up to what is possible.
Cole said as founders of social impact organizations, they have all gone through a lot. He said they all know how to build something and how to keep it going. He said he wants the tour to inspire people to create change in their neighborhoods and to see the impact multiplied.
He said he also wants people to know that their actions do not go unnoticed and that it has the potential to have a widespread transformation. He said that all the founders have created impact in their neighborhoods and while they started out with a simple idea, it wasn’t easy, but in the same way they did, others can, too, with the smallest idea. He said that together, those ripples create a wave of change.
Cole and My Block My Hood My City are also gearing up for the organization’s annual Hoodie Ball, which is set to take place in April. To purchase tickets to the Ripple Effect Tour, visit at www.jahmalcoleenterprises.com/tickets.
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