Teaching in Ghana Led Jasmine Brooks Back to Detroit Students

“I wanted to come back to the city that raised me.” Jasmine Brooks’ commitment to Detroit students is rooted in a life shaped by family, faith, education, dance, and service. Raised near Aretha Franklin’s childhood home, nurtured at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, educated at Renaissance High School, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State, Jasmine traces how Detroit institutions and Black community traditions prepared her to pour into another generation. As a child, Jasmine was introduced to dance and taught by legends like Penny Godboldo (RIP) and Gina Ellis. That foundation in creativity—and in learning how to find her place and space on stage, in rhythm—helped prepare her to navigate the many paths toward success. Today, her connection with the students of Graduate313 brings that journey full circle. “It’s an opportunity to learn even more about myself and what my future self is looking to get into,” she says of what young people should experience through Graduate313. Her vision reaches beyond college admission toward “their upward mobility for life.” Listen for a Detroit story about what happens when the people who were poured into decide to become somebody else’s bridge.

Detroit is Different is a podcast hosted by Khary Frazier covering people adding to the culture of an American Classic city. Visit www.detroitisdifferent.com to hear, see and experience more of what makes Detroit different.

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