Pubdate: Sat, 20 Oct 2001
Source: Ledger-Enquirer (GA)
Copyright: 2001 Ledger-Enquirer
Contact:  http://www.l-e-o.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/237
Author: Mark Rice, Staff Writer

STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN 'STOP THE VIOLENCE  DRUGS DAY'

Joining The Fight

With each word of wisdom Lonise Bias spoke Friday at Blackmon Road
Middle School, she showed her sons didn't die in vain.

"They are two seeds that have gone into the ground to bring forth
life," she said.

Bias was the featured speaker during the school's inaugural "Stop the
Violence & Drugs Day." Blackmon counselors George Downey and Delilah
Hardin organized the event in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks
on America, school shootings and other tragedies across the nation.

Bias' personal yet public story is living testimony of the dangers of
violence and drugs - and how to find the strength to not just survive
but to thrive.

"Don't you know that hardship builds character?" she asked the more
than 800 students and faculty assembled in the school gym.

One of her sons, Len Bias, was an All-American basketball player at
the University of Maryland. He became a millionaire after signing a
pro contract with the Boston Celtics in 1986. But two days later, he
became another drug-related fatality after overdosing on cocaine.

Another four years, and another son senselessly lost. Jay Bias was
murdered in a drive-by shooting at a shopping mall.

So she didn't plan on traveling the world as a motivational speaker.
Rather, her sons' deaths stirred her soul.

"I found treasures and gifts I didn't know I had," Bias said. "Now I'm
25 times greater a woman than I was."

Bias realized she could spread an important message:

"The greatest love of all is to love yourself," she said. "You are
unique. No one else in the universe has your fingerprints. Our society
teaches us that you have to look a certain way and do certain things,
but you still go home dejected and lonely because you're doing things
you don't want to do.

"Why? Because you are more concerned about what other people think of
you than yourself. But those people are just as imperfect as you are."

Bias implored the students to pay attention to barriers in life.
Listen to good barriers, she said, such as parents and teachers and
police officers, who say "choose life" and can guide youth to
prosperity. Ignore bad barriers, she said, such as drugs and violence.

"You will sit at the throne of your emotions," Bias said. "Each of you
has the tools within you to stir up a way to change your life and
community. You have a part to play, but you can't use other people as
excuses to fail."

While thousands of people offered Bias comfort after Len's death, she
still yearned for a hug from her deceased mother.

"None of your parents want to go through what I've been through," she
said. "It is so painful when the natural order of death has been
reversed. So when you think your parents are getting on your nerves
and getting into your business, remember they are just trying to stir
up the tools inside you to learn to love yourself."

Nathan Young, an Atlanta singer-songwriter, performed "Stop the
Violence & Drugs," a song inspired by the murder of one of his friends
during a carjacking in Los Angeles. Young gave the Blackmon students
and faculty the "Stop the Violence & Drugs" T-shirts they wore to the
assembly.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake