ATHENS, Ala. — East Limestone High School welcomed back one of their very own as a part of Black History Month. Chauncy Glover is an Emmy award winning journalist who is back home to speak to students at his alma mater while emphazing the importance of his village.
"This is my village. Athens is my village," Glover shares. Athens is the reason I went off and have made some good decisions and got educated and I've been able to do some great things.
Our villages help shape our future, and for Glover, no matter where that village was, he kept dreaming bigger. " I grew up in Cotton Patch trailer park right there on Highway 72, and i did not let that determine. I showed up," Glover shares. "I had great teachers, I had great Sunday school teachers. I had a great family and great people in the community that nurtured me, that mentored me, that helped me, that sent me to college. and that's what I sincerely want them to see."
Glover is a three-time Emmy Award winning journalist who started his TV career two days after graduating college at WTVM News Leader 9 in Columbus, Georgia. As his career progressed, his mission towards giving back to those from where he came from became greater.
"I really wanted the students here today to know that it doesn't matter where you come from, it doesn't matter if it's a small town, you can still go off and do big things and have big dreams," Glover shares. "Representation matters and I want them to see me a young man who walked these same halls, who went to this same school and let them know you can go off, and as a matter of fact, I want them to go off and do even better than what I'm doing now."
Earlier in his career, Glover was sent on breaking news to a school where two students had been shot by a coach after they tried to rob him. One suspect was found wounded and rushed to the hospital, but the second one was nowhere in sight, until Chauncy stumbled upon the young man lying in the street. He had been shot in the chest and was clinging to life. After witnessing the teenager die on the streets of Detroit, he went back to Martin Luther King Jr. Sr. High School and created a mentorship program for young men. "The Chauncy Glover Project". He saw the importance in instilling practical in young men in the community.
"It's a part of the reason why I take my job so serious, because I know that there are those little black boys out there who are like me when I remember when I saw a black man on tv and I said, he looks just like me, I can go and do that," Glover shares.
While Glover dropped many gems today, his best advice, always stay F.L.Y. "Always stay F. L.Y... First Love Yourself, Glover shares. "We know life is tough. Life is tough, and it can be hard out there, but you got to love yourself. You have to love yourself no matter where you are, no matter who you're around, always stay fly."
This Saturday, Glover will be speaking at the Beasley Center where our Jasamine Byrd will be MC.