Ep. 22 Arshay Cooper: From the Noisy Streets to Peace on the Water
As a young man growing up on the West Side of Chicago, Arshay Cooper struggled to find a place devoid of gangs, drugs and the sound of sirens. Little did Arshay know a rowing and entrepreneurship program would flip his script. Now, the award-winning author of “A Most Beautiful Thing” and the focal point of a documentary with the same title now streaming on Peacock, Arshay recounts his experience as a member of the first all-black high school rowing team. Flip Your Script host Kristi Piehl and Arshay discuss his mission to create opportunities and increase accessibility to things like rowing. Their conversation covers everything from learning how to become a team, even if it is with rival gang members, to finding peace and belonging in the most unlikely of places.
RESOURCES:
Follow Arshay on Twitter and Instagram
Visit Arshay’s website: arshaycooper.com
Watch “A Most Beautiful Thing” documentary on NBC’s Peacock
Get your copy of “A Most Beautiful Thing” here
Learn more about the A Most Beautiful Thing Inclusion Fund here
Check out Arshay’s recommended reading & viewing:
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
“Cracking the Code” documentary
CLOSING QUOTE
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil but by those who watch and do nothing.”