CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Life is kind of like a game of chess.
“The lesson is make good moves," Orrin “Checkmate” Hudson, a former state trooper and Air Force veteran, said. "If you make good moves you make good results.”
Hudson is the Founder and CEO of Be Someone, a nonprofit based out of Stone Mountain, Georgia. Be Someone works around the country to help kids in underserved communities get and stay on the right path, away from a life of violence and crime.
“You can make one move in life and not recover. You pull a gun on someone, you can’t recover from that,” Hudson said. “So, you have to think things through. Is this true? Is this honest or is this the best move I can make?”
He is doing it all with a board game, building confidence, self-esteem, problem-solving skills and discipline.
Hudson's passion to help comes from the setbacks he has personally experienced. With the right support and a board game of chess, he learned to make every move matter.
“It’s about what can I do to change a mindset, the skillset, the toolset,” Hudson said. “Giving kids the tools they need so they can outthink the competition and finish on top.”
Hudson knows firsthand the power of having the right support and mentors around.
“I didn’t know any better. I was a gang member in my teens, following the followers. My teacher said I’m going to teach you how to think for yourself,” Hudson said. “I’m going to teach you how to make good decisions.”
Hudson is spreading his method, as CMPD is working to combat a crime trend in Charlotte following a series of deadly shootings in a span of 48 hours. The agency is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
It’s a trend Hudson said he wants to see turn around.
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For Hudson, it’s about meeting kids where they are and connecting them with the resources they need and building them up.
“I tell them, 'I’m you. I was just like you and making bad choices. I was doing things that were crazy,'” Hudson said. “And a teacher taught me how to think for myself and make sure what I do is a product of my own conclusion."
Hudson said it's important to help young people find a purpose so they can use their most powerful weapons, their minds, and grow to be positive members of society.
“The key is involvement,” Hudson said. “Coming up with positive programs and teaching children that there is a better way.”
To curb this rise in gun violence, he said communities need all hands on deck: the parents, the kids, the police, businesses, and essentially the community as a whole working together. Young people need support, love and someone to pour into them, setting them up for a checkmate in life.
Hudson will be in Charlotte through the weekend at the Power Networking Conference at the Charlotte Convention Center.
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