Naomi Renee Bradley:
CLASS OF 1977
Jefferson High SchoolClass of 1977
Los angeles, CA
California State University NorthridgeClass of 1991
Northridge, CA
Edison Junior High SchoolClass of 1976
Los angeles, CA
Carver Middle SchoolClass of 1974
Los angeles, CA
Budlong Elementary SchoolClass of 1971
Los angeles, CA
Naomi Renee's Story
Spent too many days smoking marijuana and angel dust behind the band room at Jeff. Most people knew that. What you perhaps didn't know was that at age 16 I gave my heart to Christ and changed my life. You may have seen the life change but didn't know how it came about. I was too shy to tell! But not anymore. I love God even more today and am currently in seminary studying to be a missionary. I will receive an MA in intercultural studies and children at risk from Fuller Seminary in June '09.
Meanwhile, I have been working as editorial manager for a Christian book publisher in Pasadena. I also work as a youth development consultant for World Vision. Volunteer work includes serving as director of my church youth center in Inglewood and as outreach director for the African American Center for World Mission.
Took awhile for me to get to this point due to my past at Jeff. I completely failed my 10th and 11th grades because I was never there. After becoming a Christian, I had a change of heart and started trying to do better. It worked. I aced almost all of my classes in the 12th grade, including night school.
I thank God for our dean of girls Mrs. Gross keeping on me and staying in touch with my mother. I owe her a world of gratitude!! Big thanks also to Voddie Bauchum and Fred Horn, my former youth counselors at the Anti-Self Destruction afterschool program, and to my former church, St. Mary's COGIC in Duarte. God used them all to help change my life.
After barely graduating with a GPA below 2.0, I went on to Cal State Northridge under the EOP program for students who didn't meet regular admissions requirements (thank God we still had affirmative ac...Expand for more
tion). But...I dropped out after two years because it was difficult trying to catch up with all the years I lost ditching my classes (should've taken advantage of EOP tutoring but I was too lazy). I dropped out in '79, got married twice and had two kids.
I returned to school as a single parent and finally finished in 1991 with a BA in journalism and marketing. I was 31 (it's never too late!). With that, I worked as a newspaper reporter for several years with the Wave and Pasadena Star-News and one year with Frontline working on a documentary on the '92 civil unrest in LA. Worked several more years as a magazine editor and publisher of a family entertainment guide.
I guess you can say I've been busy (got 3-4 jobs, mahn) since at the same time I was working as executive director of youth centers in South LA and Moreno Valley/Perris. I worked with my aunt to found the LA center -- Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center -- named in honor of my cousin who was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1989. We co-wrote a book on the center, for those interested in opening one. See the book on Amazon -- "Catch the Vision: The Story of the Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center."
I have much love for my fellow Demos. I didn't realize how much we didn't have compared to some other schools until I went to college and saw how prepared many other kids were and the courses they had available to them in high school. And yet, we persevered and continue to do so, despite the statistics against us.
Shout out to you and your families and to all that you do and are going to do. God bless us all till we meet again.
Naomi Bradley
Thomas Jefferson High School
class of 1977
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