The purpose of this blueprint is to provide fundamental
tactics and techniques for young adults in need of
guidance to survive in an urban environment. This
information may also serve as a refresher for the more
experienced urban dwellers. More importantly, this blueprint
was inspired by my children, Sadaija and Maceo Chestnut, and
all my former students and athletes who attended West Creek
High School in Tennessee. My life mission is to empower youth,
and what better way to do that than by providing a blueprint
so that they can better prepare themselves for life outside the
classroom and off the playing field?
As you migrate through the survival notes, you will
notice that I follow a pattern. I’m offering a piece of advice,
followed by an experience or incident to support that advice.
Also included are music titles that were either playing in the
background or inspired me as I wrote Coach Chestnut’s Urban
Survivor Notes. Music feeds and motivates me, and I hope it
does the same for you.
This manuscript does not pose all the questions one might
ask, nor does it provide all the answers, but it sets the foundation.
This work is listed as volume one, which alludes to more to
follow, such as workshops, life coaching services, and speaking
engagements. As mentioned before, empowering youth is
my lifelong mission, and I’m committed to it. Furthermore, I
know this work will last long after I’m gone. It’s my legacy; the dash between the day I was born and the day I die. This book
documents the many times that I have fallen and gotten back up
even more determined.
I believe this work will also serve as evidence that the
time my parents and all those who invested in me was not
wasted. In many ways, I’m carrying the torch once held by my
grandmother, Emma Jane Savage, who fostered hundreds of
children in the city of Buffalo, NY. My mother, Shirley D. Webb-
Hall, and godmother, Gertie Graham, were life-long social
workers and consumer advocates. This work also challenges
my own children to take the baton - to not just exist, but to be
present and give back to society no matter how unfair it may
be at times. This work challenges every student and athlete I’ve
ever coached to go get their future and also be humble and give
back to the community that served them as well!
