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Since the inception of Urban Specialists, a nonprofit created to eradicate violence in urban communities and revive urban culture, bishop and Antong have been relentlessly creating initiatives aimed to bridge and heal the divide in marginalized communities starting with OGU Movement, Heal America, and the newly formed Bishop Omar School of Entrepreneurship.

Can you tell everyone, who is Antong Lucky?

Antong Lucky is a father, a spiritual man, an entrepreneur, a redemption activist, and an author that believes in helping someone else unlock their potential to be great. I have a strong constitution that says, “Each one teaches one until we are all taught.” I am the President & CEO of an amazing organization, The Urban Specialists.

 You have launched several foundations to better communities and change the status quo. Why do you feel these foundations are necessary?

I believe that there are certain pillars needed to ensure the success of communities, foundations being one of the most essential because they ensure that the needs of the community are not only identified, but properly resourced in order to meet the needs. More specifically, foundations have an opportunity to be genuinely connected to the bottom-up solutions and leaders who provide them, thereby changing the status quo with real-time and real-life outcomes that transform communities.

 Can you explain, what is the Urban Specialists and what led you to launch the foundation?

 The Urban Specialist organization was launched by my brother, the late, great, and iconic Bishop Omar Jahwar, in the year 2000. He and I many days chiseling away at ideas centered around how do we change the trajectory of young people in urban communities. We intuitively knew most young people were filled with creativity, goodness, and a desire to be phenomenal; but there were many factors at play that caused them to be robbed of the ability to be creative and thrust them into survival mode before their full potential could materialize.

Driven by his passion to interrupt this vicious cycle and my purpose born out of the first-hand experience that I thankfully survived, we wanted to create transformative change, so we started Urban Specialists to address those ills and needs with the initial focus on addressing the violence in communities.

You also have other projects, OGU Movement, Heal America, and the newly formed Bishop Omar School of Entrepreneurship, can you briefly tell us about them and their missions?

After many years of working inside of communities, we came to learn that there were consistent factors that were essential to solving in order to sustain change such as addressing gaps in educational and economic opportunities and providing mentorship to vulnerable youth. As such, the vision and development of these subsequent programs transpired.

Realizing that we could significantly increase our reach and impact by utilizing individuals who had lived experience, such as myself, we launched OGU which stands for Original Guides United. This particular program was designed to take all the OGs in neighborhoods and show them how when their character changes then their characteristics have a market advantage. We teach them how to use their influence for good. We believe as we found out early on that if you engage those individuals closest to the teens to change for the better it could have a ripple effect on the communities they serve. Visit ogumovement.org.

Recently, the Urban Specialists added teaching entrepreneurship to our capabilities and arsenal of tools that we provide for urban communities. The Bishop Omar School of Entrepreneurship (BOSOE) was named after our late founder. This school is designed to take the ideas of potential entrepreneurs in our community from the ideation stage to actual business viability through a 12-week course, followed by a 90-day business accelerator program. Upon graduation, we plan to provide both seed and social capital into these businesses. It’s our belief that if you create strong entrepreneurs then they will hire in proximity, with the first hires being inside of their immediate circles. That, in turn, helps resuscitate a dying community and disrupt trends of generational poverty. More information can be found at www.bosoe.org. 

On a higher level, our Heal America movement is about fighting racial injustice with weapons we know can win, the weapons of Love, Justice, Courage, and Redemption. It was started as a multi-city tour where crucial conversations were held in order to address issues that typically polarize communities. Again, understanding the power of utilizing changemakers and thought leaders, it has grown into a movement, with the aim of providing tools and networks for more people to effect change and advance solutions in their communities. To learn more about Heal America, visit www.healamericamovement.org

What advice would you give to teens and young adults that are looking to make a change in their personal lives and communities, but not sure how to go about it?

 To the teen reading this article I’d like to offer this advice. Helping others helps You. When you truly care about the welfare of others and activate to help others it is when you unlock the treasures of the world created just for you. Be a servant because it’s the true key to success. I made many mistakes along the way, but I never gave up. I continued helping people.

 What would you like our viewers to gain from this interview? 

For nearly 25 years, I have had to blessed opportunity to live out a life of transformation, leading transformative change, and having the opportunity to partner with others, who like myself, personify that change is possible and redemption is real. I would like for that message to be amplified and to resonate with those who need to hear it and those who may need to be reminded of it. The ultimate gain that I hope viewers gain from this interview and hopefully them reading my new book, A Redemptive Path Forward, is an inspiration to believe and therefore do. That will look different for each viewer, but ultimately everyone can glean from this book and understand the power of redemptive activism. The book can be preordered on Amazon. I thank you in advance and believe you will thank me later.

 How can people connect with you?

Follow me at @AntongSpeaks on all social media platforms