Watts 2 Boston Brings Stories of Hope

On October 8, Julie Mulvey P’17,’21,’26, Founder and President of Watts 2 Boston, introduced two inspirational speakers to the St. Sebastian's community. Watts 2 Boston is a non-profit organization that supports the Los Angeles Police Department by providing resources to underserved youth and victims of crimes. 

Both speakers, who came from a place of despair, gave messages of hope. Meah Watson, 22, told her story about growing up in Watts, CA, a place filled with gang violence, and how she overcame that life and is now pursuing her dreams. Marc Maye, who grew up in Compton, CA, talked about his support system that kept him from living the rough street life and is now a community leader in Watts.

Meah was in-between her freshmen and sophomore years of high school when she first saw a murder. She was shocked and confused with the violence, but the crimes and violence became the new normal for her and she saw how her community accepted it as a part of life. Her dad had told her it had always been that way, even when he was growing up. It had been passed down from one generation to another. At a young age, even though she felt pride in where she grew up, seeing the resilience her community had in looking out for one another, she knew Watts wasn't a place she could live in forever. She wanted to escape the cycle that had trapped so many. She chose the path of hope, a hope that she could build a different life and be an example of what is possible when someone dares to dream beyond the boundaries set by circumstances and to prove that her experience didn't define her. Meah graduated from St. Mary's Academy and is now enrolled at Morgan State University in Maryland majoring in business management with a future career goal of becoming a real estate agent.

Marc is the Executive Director of Project Blue, an organization dedicated to creating safer communities by strengthening relationships between law enforcement and the community through youth programming. Its mission is to also convene partners and resources together that focuses on closing the equity gap in inner city communities. Before starting that organization, Marc was an educator and had Meah as his student in 6th grade. While he worked as a teacher at St. Lawrence of Brindisi School, he mentioned how proud he is of Meah for telling her story and for where she is at now. He told the audience that for people living in the everyday trials and tribulations in Watts, there is hope, and Meah is an example of that hope. He mentioned that he realized that God puts us through and exposes us to things, because God wants us to see our obligations as human beings here on Earth. While growing up, he thought his situation and the things he was going through were the worst anybody could ever go through. It wasn't until he met and started hanging out with his friend, who lived across the street from him, that he realized he didn't have it as hard as thought he did. Marc said he always had a hot meal for dinner, but his friend always made the effort to be around his house in the evening, which meant he'd also eat, because he didn't know when or where his next meal would come from. Marc came to realize he was exposed to this so God could give him the obligation to be there and serve people in need that deserve another chance. He told the audience to think about what they can do to make this world a better place and to help serve others and to be thankful for all that they have.

Thank you to the Mulvey family and Meah and Marc for inspiring our students to make a difference!