As Told To Philip Lewis

DeMario Brown is a high school senior with dreams of creating his own sports agency to represent athletes fairly and keep their best interests in mind. Thinking of others comes as second nature, and helping children in need is another way he hopes to build a better future.

I was born and raised in Detroit, and I’ve heard all of the negative stereotypes surrounding Michigan’s largest city.

People in Detroit, we’re fighters. I don’t know how to explain it. I know there is a reputation of people in Detroit, but it’s not all bad. We’re definitely just fighters trying to make it out and create better for everybody else. That’s what I believe I’m born to do.

I want to pursue entrepreneurship. My dream is to create a sports agency company to represent athletes, like Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports Group. Playing basketball, I’ve always enjoyed sports. I believe athletes aren’t always represented fairly. It feels like agents just want the money and don’t have their athletes’ best interests at heart.

Being an athlete, especially during the age of COVID, is stressful. It can be challenging to prepare for games when your season could be canceled at any moment because of the pandemic. But it’s definitely a good experience to be able to play with teammates and build bonds with other students. The relationships I have with some of my teammates, I’ll have forever.

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I also want to become a social worker to help children who are less fortunate find better living conditions. Thinking of others and accepting their identities comes as second nature to me.

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Gen Z accepts people as who they are because your sexual orientation or how you identify doesn’t matter. It’s more about what you bring to the table. We don’t care about anything else. Past generations have often viewed it like it’s always been right and wrong, but like now we don’t care.

But I am still very aware of how I’m perceived as a Black male in America — and I’m still learning how to acknowledge it. People are aware, like cautious, no matter where I am. There’s always that stigma, but I mean it depends on how you embrace it or not embrace it, and how you react to it.

I just feel like politicians all have their own agendas, so no matter how good that person is, they’re never gonna be able to read all the criteria and do what they need to do for everybody.

There are clear differences between how my generation approaches issues of mental health and wellness compared to my parents’ generation. It’s clear that progress has been made.

I feel like our parents and the past generations have always said to just suck it up and do whatever you have to do. Our generation is starting to realize that there are reasons why people act the way they act and you need to talk about some stuff to be OK.