The junior class at St. Augustine High School snuggled into their seats at the legendary Dooky Chase restaurant in New Orleans. This was a special occasion. The students dined on the exquisite servings of Creole Chef Leah Chase, while Dr. Calvin Mackie, one of the nation’s leading STEM educators, told the room full of young Black males the importance of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills, and what STEM could mean for their future.
His remarks struck a chord with Jahmeer Cade, a 17-year-old student who already had his eye on working in STEM. After Dr. Mackie’s lecture at the luncheon, Jahmeer went up and introduced himself. He already knew of Dr. Mackie’s work. The former Tulane University engineering professor had founded the popular non-profit STEM NOLA and had initiated STEM education programs “in the hood” at churches, schools and community centers around New Orleans. Further, Jahmeer had a personal connection: Dr. Mackie’s sister, Nellie, had been his manager when he worked at a local grocery store.
“He took a picture of us and sent it to his sister and he told me about a STEM camp they were hosting during the Christmas break,” Jahmeer recalls. “He gave me his card, his number, his email, and all that stuff. And, he told me to come out and see if I enjoy it.”
That day in December 2019 was instrumental in Jahmeer’s future. But it was just one of the experiences that have put Jahmeer on a path toward success.
Unlike so many other bright, young Black & Brown children – “the Lost Einsteins” as Dr. Mackie calls them – Jahmeer has a support group led by his mother. With her strong leadership, he engaged in afterschool and summer programs that kept him focused on academic and career goals, keeping him away from life on the tough streets that devastate so many of our young. Here we present Jahmeer’s story, from his perspective, his authentic narrative. He explains how things came together for him. And how STEM NOLA played an important role.
A few weeks after meeting Dr. Mackie, Jahmeer attended the STEM NOLA camp, but was immediately concerned and disappointed. “I was excited about the STEM camp but when I got there, I was the oldest person there,” he says. “Everyone else was really young. Like maybe 9, 10, 11, 12. I was the oldest one and I looked at my mom and I was like, ‘Mom, am I in the right place?’ She encouraged me to stay and see what developed. She was like, you know, ‘let’s give it a shot for a day.’”
Well, Jahmeer was glad he did. Recognizing the age difference between Jahmeer and the other campers, the instructors, who were college students and STEM professionals, invited Jahmeer to hang out with them. “I stayed the whole day and made a lot of friends. They were real, real welcoming, you know, they showed me a lot just on the first day. We started coding and stuff like that and designing and all this stuff. Basically, I got to work with the employees. I wasn’t even around the little kids. They showed me a lot. They taught me a lot. It was a really, really cool experience. After that I told my mom, ‘I think I want to stay.’ ‘’
By the end of the week, Jahmeer had designed and constructed his own video game. It was so impressive that Dr. Mackie asked if he would like to go on a local TV news show and demonstrate it. “I was a little nervous and it was live, too,” Jahmeer says. “Dr. Mackie encouraged me that I was going to do fine. He said to basically be yourself.”
The next day, the employees were all proud of him. He enjoyed his STEM NOLA experience, and wanted more! On the last day of the camp, Jahmeer asked if he could work with them during their summer camps coming up in June. “We don’t usually hire minors, we usually take college students,” he was told. But the camp leader said an exception could be made if Jahmeer got all A’s on his report cards. “That’s no problem,” Jahmeer responds. Sure enough, he produced all A’s, and was hired. Because of the Covid outbreak, STEM NOLA did not hold in-person camps the summer of 2020, but Jahmeer worked with the instructors on virtual camps.
Today, Jahmeer is a freshman at Southern University and A&M College, where he is studying to be a mechanical engineer. That’s been his dream since attending a camp in the fourth and fifth grade. “I was just so interested in Newton’s laws and, you know, acceleration philosophy and all that stuff. I liked to build things and figure out why does this thing move or why did this happen. I liked the problem-solving aspect of it. And so, because of that, I told my mom that I wanted to be an engineer. I started getting really interested in NASA and spaceships and rockets. What really started it was my mom bringing me to those camps, and then my passion for it just grew.”
Jahmeer is hooked on STEM NOLA. He returned to work there in the summer of 2021, saying, “they welcomed me with open arms.”
After he graduates from college, Jahmeer wants to work for NASA. “I’ve always been real interested in that. I’ve always wanted to be a part of it. The environment, the challenges, seeing how things work. And I want to help other kids learn about STEM.”
Moreover, Jahmeer fully understands why he has achieved so much when so many others Black and Brown kids like him, never come close to achieving their goals.
“Yes, sir. My mom,” he says. “I would say she’s the main reason for a lot of my successes, especially academically. I’ve been on the Honor Roll literally since kindergarten. I graduated number three in my class. My GPA was 4.30.
“She’s always been there to help me with my work. Always pushing me to excel. She always told me I had to put my grades first. I enjoyed playing sports when I was growing up, but she always instilled in me the importance of having education and the challenges that I would face in life being an African American male. She said that children always want to try to go to the NBA or the NFL. But that I could get injured or not be good enough and all those dreams would be taken away. She said: ‘They can’t take your brain away. You know, they can’t take away your knowledge.’”
Despite not living with his father, Oscar Cade Jr., Jahmeer said he has also been a constant presence throughout his life. Jahmeer looks up to him for overcoming a tough, poverty-stricken neighborhood and helping teach his son the rights and wrongs. “My dad helped me with my success,” Jahmeer says.
His mother, Jamila Martin, had worked in the court system with child protective services before becoming a teacher 15 years ago. “I have seen all of it,” Ms. Martin says. “One thing that I promised myself and my child was that I was going to make sure that he had every opportunity to succeed and not to be in the system. I was tired of hearing young Black kids labeled as they are an issue or they can’t learn. I always tell him nobody’s good at everything, but everybody’s good at something. So, let’s find your something. He was always math and science minded. I decided to hone in on that and put him in camps early on.”
Since he was a small child, she says, “I always felt, and others around us, always felt that he’s just going to do something great. I remember when he was about eight or nine, you know, and he told me, ‘Mom, I just have this feeling. I’m going to be something really, really big one day.’ That’s always been his mindset. Of course, there have been times, you know, being a teenager when he’s had to come back to that mindset, because, you know they start to doubt themselves or peer pressure or, they start dealing with everyday life issues. Then I have to remind him of what he had said about himself and what’s been instilled in him and give him some positive affirmations and just help him to remember who he is.”
Still, she acknowledges, “Oh, I’ve always been very hard on him and people used to give me a hard time for that. But I always told him from a young age, you have so many strikes against you. You have to work harder. You’re a young Black male in America, so you can’t act the same way as if you’re White. I did. I’m brutally honest. You can’t act the same way as other kids and then expect the same things to happen. That’s just not how this world works.
“And so, I have been hard on him. But I also love him. It’s a balance, you know, but I’m very honest with him about how the world works, but you have the chance to not fall into those stereotypes. You have been given the opportunities to be great. There’s lots of successful African American males in this world. You have to decide which path you want to choose. You can go down the road that others have gone or do you want to go down the road less traveled? So that’s kind of how I’ve played it with him.”