Tag Archives: Sakinah Ahmed

Where Play Meets Purpose: The Fan Favorite Club’s Community Impact

By Sakinah Ahmed

Every week, young athletes in the Trenton area learn more than jump shots and defense strategies at the Fan Favorite Club. They build their confidence and character through the innovative youth basketball program and a community that believes in their potential.

Founded in 2013 by professional basketball player and entrepreneur La’Keisha Sutton, the program has grown from humble beginnings to an organized operation in Hamilton. The organization now works with a core team including Director of Operations Romone Dunnagan and Coach Jeff Allen.

In an interview with The Streetlight, Allen said that the Fan Favorite Club worked out of public parks and gyms for the first few years. In 2019, they opened up their facility in Hamilton. Allen first learned about the program when Sutton came to speak at his high school. He said his biggest inspiration is the children who come and play from the Trenton area.

“Growing up I didn’t have any resources like this, so for me, it’s to give the kids a mentor to look up to,” Allen said. 

Having gone through the school system in the Trenton area, Allen’s experiences have led him to become a role model who strives to support the youth.

“At the end of the day, I get to work with my friends every day and we get to do what we love. We get to teach our life lessons through basketball,” said Dunnagan.

The club’s offerings extend far beyond basketball. While weekly classes run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they have open gym on Saturdays. Throughout the day on Saturday, the club offers games for the youth such as chess, checkers, video games and other board games. They also host parties in the gym and holiday clinics for kids to play when they are off from school.

Dunnagan says they want to “be able to give back to them [the Trenton community] because somebody gave back to us.”

“So many gave back to us, and being there for the community and the surrounding communities is really important to them,” he said.

For clients interested in other activities, Simone Bryant, who goes by Monie B, offers music video classes that teach media production and photography. The club also has internship programs for youth to develop their skills in areas like coaching and secretarial work. 

For Dunnagan, the biggest challenge when working with youth is teaching the value of persistence. He says he aims to “get the youth to understand there’s a process. There’s a journey to all this. If you want to be as successful as you say you want to be, you cannot skip steps. You’re go- ing to have to go through something in order for it to mean it, just so it can mean a little more.”

Since its founding, the club has helped place over 20 students in college who have gone through its programs at different levels.

When these students come back during the summer, Dunnagan said “there’s so much energy in the building and it’s just flying around the room.”

Looking ahead, the Fan Favorite Club’s board aims to implement a summer camp program and expand its reach.

“We just want the good news of what we’ve been doing to be put out there,” Dunnagan said. “Hopefully the sponsorships come in.”

For Dunnagan, the club’s success story offers a broader lesson. 

“Anything is possible. You find a group of people that have the same vision as you and … you can move mountains,” he said. “We survived the highs and the lows of the business in general and we’ve made it out on the other side.”

Te Veo: Tamara Torres’ Journey of Art and Activism

By Sakinah Ahmed

Tamara Torres, a Puerto Rican artist based in Trenton, depicts powerful and vivid scenes with varied mediums. To her, art is a form of activism and the pathway to change. Through her art, she brings awareness to issues that women of color face, specifically in the Trenton area.

In a new exhibition titled “Te Veo,” Torres explores various themes through 18 different pieces, including landscape paintings, conceptual sculptures, and collages. This solo exhibition was presented in La Galerie Adrienne in Trenton between Sept. 21, 2024 and Nov. 1, 2024. When describing her creative process, Torres said that she always starts with a blank canvas. She embraces spontaneity by not planning out what she is going to create.

“My paintings take about four to six hours, and my collages take around one to two hours to put together,” Torres said.

She prefers creating art in a more hectic environment with music and television shows playing in the background. “My brain works better when there’s a lot going on. When things get silent, I start to overthink,” Torres explained.

Torres’ art holds common motifs varying from her different mediums. One such motif is the “Shadow People.” To her, they represent constant survival. They are the people that she has known over her lifetime that did not make it. She described herself as “stepping on their shoulders.” She says, “They are spiritual guides so that I always remember where I came from.” Another common motif is the “Blind Eyes.” She said they symbolize how “people are aware but not aware. People don’t want to take action.” She continued to say that they are not pretty eyes, just as society is embarrassing and sad.

The highlight of the exhibition is an intricate piece titled “Te Veo.” Over the last year, Torres went through some big changes. She had just finished writing the play “Tres Her- manas,” which highlighted Afro-Caribbean themes through musical elements. During this time, she fell into a depression and felt inclined to stop creating art altogether. A friend of hers reached out and insisted that she paint a piece for a window display called “Windows of Understanding.”

 

To get back into the creative mindset, Torres collaborated on a separate piece, “The Awakening,” with the painter and muralist Louie Blaka. During the creation process, they only stopped painting to refill their brushes, and they remained silent. After the collaboration, Torres said she was reminded of why she is an artist. “When it’s [the art] in the future, and you’re [the artist] not there, it will be seen,” Torres said. She painted “Te Veo” right after this col- laboration.

When presenting her art in exhibitions, Torres aims for viewers to connect deeply with her art and experi- enc her pieces as she views them. “My goal is that people who look at my art stand in front of my pieces for more than five seconds,” she said. Every time a viewer looks at Torres’ art, they can take away something new, such is the nature of abstract art. Torres takes inspiration from poets, musicians and writers. Whenever she travels, she always visits book- stores to discover new authors.

 Some of the musicians she takes inspiration from are Queen Latifah, Nina Simone, Kendrick Lamar, and even varying classical musicians. Regarding artists, Torres said that “one of the greatest blessings is knowing artists. Anyone reading this article should find artist friends to bring joy and light into their lives.” Out of all of the many paintings she’s created, Torres said that “Te Veo” is her favorite. She is also very passionate about “Blind Eyes” and “La Luz.” 

When asked if she believes her art has the power to drive social change, Torres said she hopes it drives individual change, which is the first step to making a positive impact. 

Torres is determined to tell her truth and to inspire others to reveal theirs. Reflecting on her art, She gave the example of a glass of water with pepper floating at the top. With each added drop of water, the pepper changes and disperses.  Her message to every reader is that “you can’t change the whole world… you can get overwhelmed. … If you concentrate on your own drop to make the pepper change, then that is well enough.”

As an artist, Torres believes she must open doors for others and inspire artists wherever she presents her work. When she first started painting, she created art for the main purpose of financial stability. Now she said she paints for herself and does not concern herself with the opinions of others. She understands that her art may not be for everyone, but she said, “There’s someone, somewhere, that my art is gonna move.”  

Looking ahead, Torres hopes to one day exhibit a piece in the Museum of Modern Art of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. She has also always wanted to exhibit in Egypt.  

Between intervals of laughter, Torres remarked, “Even if my kids put up one of my paintings in the bathroom of the MOMA, it’ll still count to me. And I’ll know I’ve made it.”