Telling The Stories of Our YouthKimyette Finley
Cleveland Life CLEVELAND — Here’s a novel way to deal with a problem, write a book about it. While working as a prevention counselor for the East Cleveland Neighborhood Center Several years ago, Keesha McMillian discovered she needed to find a way to deal with social issues such as gang violence, teenage pregnancy and self-esteem.
Simply preaching, she knew, wouldn’t be effective. Her solution — confronting an issue by involving as many people as possible in writing a book about that issue. “We needed children to see themselves in vivid pictures. I recognized for adolescents, you needed to incorporate pictures and action to bring things to life,” said McMiIIian, of
South Euclid. “We dealt with gun control, alcohol and drugs, gangs and sexuality.” The resulting effort is five books McMillian self-published. The first book "Who Am I" was published in 1992. McMillian and her staff from the East Cleveland Neighborhood Center used area kids for pictures and as part of the stories, and the staff even wrote some of the short stories and took photographs for the books. The
stories are written in the language of today’s youth. At the end of each short, story the reader is encouraged to answer questions and tell a little about their own Iives, making it an interactive activity. McMillian also uses the principals of Kwanzaa in the books. McMillian, who earned her master’s degree in community agency counseling
from Cleveland from State University, hadn't planned to become an author. But after working with youth and their families, she decided another way was necessary to tackle some of the issues they confronted on a daily basis. “I want people not to look at these as individual issues, but as a family” she said. “I write out of a need to serve the community and get the messages across. “The children and the parents need
to be on the same wavelength.” McMillian now works as a counselor for the Center for Families and Children in Cleveland Heights, and she uses her five hooks as tools. Another hook “Survival” discusses the impact an unplanned pregnancy has on the life of a teenage girl, while another story shows how a young boy copes with the separation of
his parents. McMillan’s favorite work is her latest book, "God’s Greatest Treasure” which tells the story of a special little girl who discovers God's gift of love. For now, McMiIIian will keep her day job, but she wants to author more books in the future. “When you see that you’ve made a difference in the life of a family, that’s the
reward. When you1ve been a tool in that, that’s an awesome feeling.” The author estimates she spent between $4,000-5,0000 to self-publish the books. For information on where the books are carried, or to order books directly, call (216) 321-1539. Top of Page | 
