Featured photo-Photo Credit: Rynelle Walker (Studio 18)
Written by Tanya Terry
Eighteen-year-old Kameron Motley was born and raised in Flint and graduated in 2022 from Carman-Ainsworth High School. He is in his fifth year as a University of Michigan-Flint dual enrollment student and will attend Morehouse College this fall. Growing up in Flint he saw a lot and chose to focus on the beauty of the city.
“Up and down north Saginaw Street, there’s beauty and murals, and growing up there and that being the staple of who you are, I try not to focus on the negative but turn it into something positive,” Motley said.
Motley said growing up in north Flint helped build his character.
“Growing up and seeing an environment such as abandoned homes up and down your street and liquor bottles all in the street-and then going to the other side of town to a friend’s house and seeing the exact opposite can pull a toll on your mental,” Motley stated.
According to Motley, this has made him tougher and “ready for the world.”
“It all started with the change I wanted to see in my community,” Motley explained. “Therefore, I started reaching within myself. Writing poetry and hip-hop came out of that. I know hip-hop has a very strong grip on the youth right now.”
Motley feels a lot of things youth hear on the radio are very negative.
“You don’t know the impact of those words. You just think it sounds good.”
Instead, Motley enjoys creating positive lyrics. He is proud to be a young person who can create lyrics without cursing or mentioning guns.
“I represent as a young Black king.”
Motley is a co-founder of the Flint Renaissance Era. In the fall of last year, the Flint Renaissance Era put on an open mic series at Comma Bookstore & Social Hub.
“We want young people to come and be able to socialize in a positive environment.”
On Second Street, in front of the Comma Bookstore, there is a mural titled Fearless which features a lion. It has purple, red and black graphics. Last year, Motley was presented an opportunity to represent the class of 2022 at Carman-Ainsworth.
“My teacher at the time, Carrie Mattern, presented us the opportunity to look at those murals and create emotion out of them and create poetry.”
Motley’s work is titled “What’s Fear.” He has performed the poem at multiple churches.
He also won an NAACP ACT-SO gold scholarship with the NAACP Flint branch. Through it, Motley was able to represent Flint at a national level at the NAACP convention in New Jersey. There, he met other young people from around the world. Some of them he continues to network with.
“All of that came out of the ‘What’s Fear’ poem.”
Motley read a letter at the National Clean Water Collective’s 2nd Annual Changemaker’s Holiday Banquet November 30. He wrote the letter to the City of Flint about the research he did within the community while going in homes testing water and bringing results back to the community.
Motley is continuing to work on his poetry. He is planning an event to be held at the Flint Public Library showcasing the talent of area youth, and he is focusing on getting more scholarships as he prepares to head to Morehouse College. He is deciding between sociology, public health or business administration for his major. He is a youth member at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, where he has been doing speeches and performing in plays since about age 7. He accredits his church with him becoming the person he is today, along with NAACP Flint branch’s ACT-SO administrator, Ella Green-Moten and the rest of NAACP Flint branch.
