Geoffrey Canada Closing Keynote Address - William Julius Wilson Institute Power of Place 2022

Geoffrey Canada​, President of Harlem Children’s Zone and Founder of William Julius Wilson Institute,​ gives the closing keynote address at Power of Place: A Gathering of Leaders 2022 hosted by William Julius Wilson Institute at Harlem Children's Zone.

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Geoffrey Canada is a man of vision and love. He did start a small army of love that keeps on growing generation after generation. Geoff became the Education Director at Rheedlen in Harlem in 1982. I was a very young volunteer on the weekends there. Geoff was so kind, positive and always welcomed me with a smile. He thanked me every Saturday for coming. He saw how Nate and Alton (ages 6 and 8) bonded to me. They adopted me. Geoff trusted me and let me take the boys outside of Rheedlen. I took the boys all around Manhattan, Rockefeller Center, the Village, the Central Park Zoo, pet stores, and much more. The boys had never left Harlem. The first time we got on the subway train, Alton got so scared he threw himself on the floor of the train and cried and cried and rolled about. I picked him up and cuddled him. I told him not to be afraid, that we were safe, and that we were on an adventure. I tickled him and kissed him and smiled in his face until he smiled back and it became an adventure that was no longer scary. One Saturday in a pet store Nate and Alt asked if they could have a goldfish. I didn't have enough money so we walked up to a cash machine. I had been trying for months to get the boys interested in learning their alphabet and start to learn to read. They weren't interested. Truth is, they did not understand why this would be important. But when they saw CASH come out of that machine - OH WOW - they wanted to know how to do that! That was it! The turning point. The moment that they wanted to LEARN to READ! We spent TIME at that Cash Machine in Harlem having their first focused reading lesson. That was just the beginning. My experiences and memories of Geoff Canada and the children of Rheedlen have guided me over the decades. They have continued to influence my work and service every day. I became a doctor of global public health, paying attention to the "social determinants of health" here in the US and around the world. Geoff Canada is correct, he had no idea how much the ripples of HIS every day work has crossed the country and indeed the world. Geoff's cool kind loving committed hopeful unbiased "being" had enormous influence on me as young woman in my early 20s. Geoff has given so much for his people, his neighborhood and the world I met him in1982 - founding the Harlem's Children's Zone and WJWI. He is a hero and mentor without even knowing it. God bless you Geoff!!! And thank you so much for being you. Your small army of love will grow and grow and grow long after we are gone. Peace and thanks, Nile Regina El Wardani, MPH, PhD