Boxing Out Negativity began in 2009 with a pair of boxing gloves in the trunk of founder and head coach Derek Brown’s car. Brown started teaching youth in his community to box, without much thought for the future.
However, after community members began noticing Brown’s dedication and donating supplies to the cause, the program grew to include 80 children, and now has more than 300 children on the waitlist.
“I just decided to start teaching them how to box, not even planning on creating Boxing Out Negativity,” Brown said. “At the time, I was broke, homeless. I had nothing. I couldn’t even get those youth water and it was hot. The community came together.”
Boxing Out Negativity was created to empower at-risk youth to see the best in themselves. With three separate components, including youth boxing, street outreach and community anti-violence events, the program envisions a world in which every child has the necessary support.
The boxing program employs a “sneak discipline,” according to head administrative volunteer Julie Globokar, which encourages children to practice healthy habits, including eating, sleeping and conditioning well, to be successful in the ring.
“They want to fight, they want to learn,” Brown said. “Just like in the boxing ring, you have to make the same split-second decision that you make in life. We teach them to box their way through life.”
Boxing Out Negativity also works to mentor individuals through their outreach program, in which they visit local schools, as well as the Cook County Jail.
During these visits, Brown is reminded of what he would have needed as a child, and works to fulfill that role for the students that he works with.
“I like to look at it like I get a chance to go back and cover my lifeline,” Brown said. “All that Derek Brown needed at a tender age of eight when he got off the porch, Boxing Out Negativity is that and some.”
The program’s community anti-violence events serve to foster community connections and create positive memories for the community’s youth.
Before Brown began his work, he said, the block was considered a “hot block,” but now, there is a strong sense of community.
“The most peaceful events that we have in the community creates memories for a child. Instead of ‘I remember when my homie got shot right here,’ they can say, ‘I remember they used to ride the bikes through here,’” Brown said. “We are the beacon of home to a lot of families in this community.”
Throughout his work, Brown maintains motivation by drawing his own personal memories of childhood. He said he remembers times when he was hungry as a child and says that his “job is to prevent [the children] from going through that hell.”
Globokar says that this ability sets Brown apart and allows him to better connect with the children that he works with.
“He genuinely sees himself in everybody that he interacts with. There’s no separation,” Globokar said. “When he’s working with a kid, he is seeing himself in that kid and I think that’s part of what keeps them going.”
Since 2009, Boxing Out Negativity has developed in many ways. What began as boxing lessons from Brown with the gloves he kept in his car has transformed into a program with a facility, a staff and many volunteers.
Having witnessed children grow up in the program, Globokar says that Boxing Out Negativity has become more of a family than a program. Despite the success of Boxing Out Negativity so far, Brown says that the team is far from done.
“We’ve come a long way,” Brown said. “As I’m looking at the future right now, we have a long way to go.”