My full name is Benjamin Curtis Pickett. I was born and raised in and around Detroit, Michigan. I graduated from Cedarville University in Ohio with a Political Science/History degree. I have always had a passion for politics in some form and one day I do want to pursue political office in a state or local environment to set an example and to strive to keep Christian morals and ethics alive in our government.
Something that had a major impact on my life was when I attended an all-black high school in Dearborn, Michigan called Henry Ford Academy for my entire high school career. Most of the students consisted of kids from relatively impoverished inner city Detroit kids. I am truly convinced that I was able to experience and learn about a culture that is a huge part of America and yet it very much stereotyped and misunderstood. While some of the stereotypes may very well be true, the reasons for them and the reasons that many of the black teenagers in urban environments end up the way they are, is misunderstood. I had some great relationships with kids in my high school, especially through being one of the few and times the only white guy on the basketball team. It gave me a perspective that I truly believe is unique and has had a powerful impact on the way I view the African American culture and urban poverty to some extent.
This view of poverty and black culture was further expanded and deepened through a class at Cedarville University called “Urban Ministry” by a Dr. Cook, who currently is serving as a pastor of some sorts in an urban church in the slums of Chicago. But this class did not only consist of in-class lectures and discussions. What made it truly the most powerful class I have ever taken was that we had an entire weekend where we literally lived as homeless in the ghetto areas of the nearby downtrodden Springfield, Ohio.
I would love to go into much more detail about these events, which you can find some of in my Blogs. Besides that, I would love to be contacted about these perspectives that I hold concerning poverty in America and Black culture.
Where I am going with these events in my life that have shaped my views on poverty and black culture is how I got my desire to travel the world and also to experience true poverty. Poverty that is not making under $30,000 a year, but instead living off of $30 a year. Poverty where you are truly hungry day to day. To break the poverty that we as Americans have portrayed as what poverty around the world is like. I wanted to see the world. To get out of America and see what God was doing in the world. That is where the World Race came into perspective. To travel, experience extreme poverty, and most importantly to share the life changing gospel of Christ. I desire to have this trip completely change who I am, the way I think and to share while on the field and be able to come back to America and further share these experiences with others.
