MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – Paul Billings is on a mission to make a difference in the lives of youth through a transformative experience — because he believes parents can’t rely solely on the schools to teach kids about Black history and culture.
As a Black man and father of two daughters, Billings said he felt called decades ago to help students learn more about Africa as part of Black history – American history – and understand the legacy predates slavery.
Billings, the founder of Muskegon’s WUVS-FM (103.7 FM) — known locally as “The Beat” — launched his Kids Free Trip to Africa program in 2017. For the past six years, a select group of Muskegon Heights students have been gifted an all-expenses paid trip to Ghana for a cultural immersion experience as a reward for their academic achievements.
This year, 14 teens from Muskegon and Ypsilanti schools will travel to Ghana from June 28-July 4. Over the years, Billings said the program has introduced over 35 students to Africa. They have come from Muskegon as well as Florida, where he is the president and general manager of the Orlando radio station WHPB FM (98.5).
To the Motherland
“I wish we could take everyone,” Billings said. “If I were rich, we’d just book a charter plane. All the kids deserve to go — they all deserve to go to the Motherland. It’s a good feeling to see kids that look like you get an opportunity to experience this and hopefully, they’ll come back and do the same when they become successful.”
He said the trip costs approximately $3,500 per child and is paid for through donations, including to GoFundMe for Muskegon students.
Billings said all students can benefit from learning Black history, but not enough of it gets covered in schools and may not be presented the way parents want.
“They might not teach it with the passion that our kids deserve to hear,” he said. “You look at these kids as your own, and you pour your heart into them as your own. You want them to know they don’t have to walk into a room and feel inferior to anybody. And too often, that could kill your dreams.”
Paul Billings, the founder and general manager of WUVS 103.7 FM “The Beat” in Muskegon, launched the Kids Free Trip to Africa program in 2017. In this 2018 photo, a former Muskegon Heights high school student, Adasha Johnson, is seen giving out gifts to kids in the Abeadez Kyeakor village in Ghana. On June 28, 2024, an expected 14 students from Muskegon and Ypsilanti will travel to Ghana. (Photo provided by Paul Billings)
Billings said he hopes the students come out of the unique experience knowing they come from greatness and that it instills a sense of pride and confidence in them.
The Muskegon and Washtenaw county students will immerse themselves in West Africa’s rich culture and history firsthand, attending traditional ceremonies, visiting historic sites such as “slave castles” like the Coastal Cape Castle, one of the biggest of the former slave castles along the coast of West Africa, and important landmarks like the W.E.B. DuBois Centre for Pan African Culture in Accra, a memorial to the author and activist.
Juneteenth was motivation
Billings said his desire to help students learn more about Black history and culture started a decade ago when he took busloads of Muskegon Heights students for free to theCharles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit and the National Museum of African American History and Culturein Washington, D.C.
At the time, he said his oldest daughter did not know the significance of Juneteenth, which was also a factor in his starting the Kids Free Trip to Africa program. Juneteenth, the newest federal holiday, recognizes June 19 as a day of remembrance for the nation. In 1865, 21/2 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned from Union troops they were free.
“I felt I failed too because I knew history,” said Billings, about his now adult daughter not being aware. “I read a lot of books; I had a lot of history books at the house. I just assumed that at school they were teaching something. As a parent, I know ultimately, it’s my responsibility to ensure my kid is educated.”
Seeking More
Ma’Kayla White, who graduated this spring from Muskegon Heights Public School Academy and is one of four students from the charter school going to Ghana, agrees with Billings the limited information students learn about Black history in the classroom.
She said she only recalls her teachers touching on abolitionist Harriet Tubman and historical figures from the Civil Rights Movement, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks.
White and her brother, Ma’Quel White, Ca’Mya Jackson, and Naeonna Agnew are honor students and going to Ghana for the essays they submitted in a Black History Month Essay Contest based on the book “Systems That Shape(d) Black America: 40 Mini Lessons Outlining Defining Moments from Slavery to Modern Day” by Tracee Bruce.
Bruce, a Muskegon Heights Public Schools Academy graduate, will discuss her book at the Holland Museum on June 19 as part of the city’s Juneteenth celebration.
“They taught us Black history, but they never told us what actually happened,” White told MLive/Muskegon Chronicle during a recent interview with her and Billings at his radio station. “It was never what we went through, so when I read the book, it was eye-opening.”
Muskegon Heights Public School Academy Superintendent Reedell Holmes said the trip to Africa will become a part of these students’ life stories, an experience they will never forget. He said many will be boarding a plane and traveling out of the country for the first time.
Unforgettable
“I am deeply honored and happy the students get the opportunity to take a major trip out of the country to an African nation,” said Holmes, who is Black. “That’s where our roots started, and it just gives kids an opportunity to see the world is bigger than Muskegon and Michigan, period. Paul (Billings) will leave a mark and a legacy here for future young people to grow on and reminisce about.”
This marks the first time Michigan students outside Muskegon will take the trip. A former Ypsilanti resident, Billings is excited about exposing students from the Ypsilanti community to the West Africa.
Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross said 10 students are expected to make the trip from Ypsilanti Community Middle School, the Ypsilanti Community High School, and the Ypsilanti A.C.C.E. Program based on their academic achievement.
Spreading out
Zachery-Ross was the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy superintendent when Billings took students on his inaugural free trip to Africa in 2017. Billings said the trip was supposed to start with one or two kids from the high school, but Zachery-Ross said, “You can do better than that,” and they ended up taking approximately six students.
The Ypsilanti superintendent said Billings asked her to return to the program and help begin spreading the initiative to students throughout Michigan.
“We are going to be able to start this as a tradition here on this side of the state,” said Zachery-Ross, noting all expenses are paid for the Ypsilanti students through Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) funds from the U.S. Department of Education and a grant from the Toyota Driving Possibilities Partnership.
“I’m honored and exhilarated about what’s going to happen as we transform the lives of these individuals. We’re not only giving them this opportunity to travel, we’re teaching them how to navigate as a global citizen.”
Paul Billings, the founder and general manager of WUVS 103.7 FM “The Beat” in Muskegon, launched the Kids Free Trip to Africa program in 2017. Pictured in this 2019 photo are some Muskegon students who traveled to Ghana visiting the Cape Coast Castle, one of the biggest of the slave castles along the coast of West Africa. (Photo provided by Paul Billings)
Ka’Whyii Morris, a graphic designer, graduated from Muskegon Heights Public School Academy and took that first trip to Ghana in 2017. She said it is something she will never forget and it made her feel alive and continues to inspire her today.
“It sparked my calling to help anyone and serve those in need or less fortunate,” said Morris, a graduate of Mount Mary University in Wisconsin. “What Paul is doing is very impactful and I pray that he gets to continue to do this for the next 20 years. All it takes is one person to change someone else’s life.”
Zachery-Ross will be one of four chaperones supporting Billings as students travel around West Africa.
Why Ghana?
Billings has had a relationship with villages in Ghana stemming from charitable work, including delivering clothing, school supplies and educational materials. He said one of the villages the students will visit is Abeadze Kyeako, where Billings said he was honored to be named a developmental chief for helping fund a library for the kids before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The trip is a learning experience, opening students’ minds to new experiences and perspectives, and increasing their cultural understanding. Billings said students will see the gap between the rich and poor in the country.
“I want the kids to experience the best of Africa,” said Billings, who said students need to see not just how the poor live in the country but the upper class. “They’ll be close to the entertainment hub or upscale neighborhoods. It breaks down every image when you think of Africa. It’s just like, ‘Wow, I’m not even seeing this at home.’”
While plenty of time will be devoted to having fun interacting with the residents, sampling the local cuisine and visiting the mall and beaches, Billings wants the students to remember the significance of standing in places such as the slave-trading posts where the enslaved were once shackled and the sacrifices and pain and suffering endured over the years.
“Everywhere I go, I thank my ancestors because I know they took the beating, so I didn’t have to, and that’s the part that’s not taught in school,” he said. “I think hundreds of kids later, we’ve got a lot of success stories out there. We can change our community if one person can reach one kid.”
Paul Billings, the founder and general manager of WUVS 103.7 FM “The Beat” in Muskegon, launched the Kids Free Trip to Africa program in 2017. In this 2018 photo, Muskegon students got to experience a naming ceremony in Accra, the capital and largest city in Ghana. (Photo provided by Paul Billings)
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Publish date : 2024-06-16 12:00:00
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