By Aaron Allen
The Seattle Medium
As the bell rings to signal the end of another school day, Khalil Shabazz, a senior point guard at Rainier Beach High School, confidently walks towards the school’s library with a strong sense of purpose. It’s three fifteen and Shabazz, who has been up since seven, begins the second leg of his daily grind – studying.
For two hours, he focuses on the task at hand – studying honors math, literature and Spanish. At 5:30, he makes his way to the gym for basketball practice – a task that he takes as seriously as he does his academics. It’s the final leg of a twelve-hour day and Shabazz works, or as his mother, Tia Shabazz, refers to as “grinding”, to successfully balance academics and athletics.
Shabazz, an honors student who earned a 3.8 GPA last quarter, recently scored 47 points in a game against O’Dea and is the team’s second leading scorer. However, Shabazz knows that his success on the court is only half the battle.
“School is always a first priority, and me being a student athlete, the word student comes first,” says Khalil. “That’s just one of my main focuses is school, making sure everything’s good, before I play basketball or anything else.”
Khalil’s journey, like many others, is surrounded by adversities — the street life, police brutality, incarceration and countless other distractions that could curb the success of young Black males. Khalil has a good relationship with his coaches, but finds most of his inspiration, particularly during rough times, in his mother and older brother.
“I have coaches that I’m close with that I’ll ask advice and stuff, but, I have my mom with me, my older brother,” says Khalil. “I learned a lot from my older brother because he’s the oldest so he made the first mistakes, and I had to piggyback off that and learn from it.”
The key to success in the Shabazz family is rooted in a strong work ethic, and applying it to all that they do. According to Tia Shabazz, the philosophy in her household is that education is the key to getting a head start and nothing comes free. When it comes to inspiration and strength the family turns to prayer.
“I keep it one hundred with my boys cause the world is real, life is real,” says Shabazz. “It’s not a cake walk, you gotta grind for every bit that you want.”
“If you wanna be successful, you gotta go get it, nobody is giving you anything for free,” she continued. “Failure is not an option in this house.”
Tia’s never giving in or up attitude and applying her beliefs through prayer, aid her in molding and protecting her children.
“Because I have Black boys and they’re [other Black boys] being murdered in the street, I do a lot of praying,” states Shabazz, as she reflects on the realities that young Black men face in today’s society.
As a mother, Shabazz personifies motherhood and humanity. She has raised and nurtured two sons. She dedicates herself to education, continuously learning and trying to better her position in life.
She has degree in human services and is working towards a second degree in Sociology at Central Washington University, with the hopes of a Masters in the future, all the while juggling two careers. Setting an example is the only teaching method she knows.
“Sometimes I don’t want to study, or go to work, but if I stop, what am I showing them, what do I tell them?” says Shabazz. “You got to finish it out, you gotta ride it out.”
Khalil along with his mother and older brother push each other to be the best they can be. There have been mistakes, followed by opportunities to learn from them, but the Shabazz family rely on and trust one another as families do.
According to Khalil, it is important for him to maintain a focus and desire to redefine the stereotypes of young Black men and to achieve his goals.
According to Rainier Beach basketball assistant coach Robert Delgardo, Khalil manages to balance things very well and has “no problem in the classroom.”
“His mind is made up about succeeding,” says Delgardo. “He possesses a realistic understanding on where he wants to go, what it takes and how to get there.”
Achievement is not easy. There is a commitment there that is necessary. Some people can make achievement look easy, while some seem to find it to be a never-ending illusion. With the strong influence of his mother by his side, Khalil Shabazz knows working hard every day will get him a little bit closer to his goals in life.
“[For] the African American, it’s already hard,” says Khalil. “We’re already set up not to succeed. So, if you really, really, really want to succeed and not end up in jail or on the streets, then you’ve got to stay focused at all times.”
For Khalil, in his moment, it shows in his example, maintaining the rigors of academics and athletics. The long hours, the sacrifices, the ups, the downs, but you persevere. You stay committed and push through it. That is called achievement.
“[You’ve got to] push through even when it gets hard,” says Shabazz. “Just keep pushing at all times.”
