Pass the Mic with Anthony Stone

(Above) Anthony is always cracking jokes around 421 Fallsway, where he also volunteers to help other clients navigate their care. 

When I was young I had very bad bronchitis. My foster mother used to rock me in her arms, I was wheezing so bad. I grew out of it once I got older, thankfully, and she started putting me in a lotta things. Baseball, Cub Scouts, summer camp.

I was maybe five when me and my sister were put in the foster home. I’m not afraid to talk about it; I used to be. My natural mother couldn’t take care of us after a nervous breakdown.

But my foster mother—I call her my mother, really—she kept me busy.

One thing you couldn’t stop me from doing was running. Up and down the street, all over the gym. One day in junior high, a teacher stopped me in the hall and asked, “What are you doing with all this running around?” And that’s when they came up with the idea of me doing track.

Man, I loved track. The 4x100, 4x200—the relay, sprint medley. I walked around my high school with the Letterman jacket on. I wanted to be an Olympian.

I was acting up too much, though, playing around because I wanted to play follow the leader. I had to repeat a grade. My foster mother sat me down, said, “You know, if you want to run track next year, you’re gonna have to wise up.”

I said, “Shoot...” I got it together and I graduated.

When I was 18, I moved back in with my birth mother. I did a few years at Coppin State, too, studying physical education. I started volunteering at the Sandtown Winchester Community Center. At first I was there doing computer classes, but I noticed all these kids hanging around with nothing to do!

So I told them, “You know…I used to run track at Frederick Douglass High School.” And that’s how I started coaching these kids.

I spent 20 years doing that, off and on. And I’ve seen some of these children now that they’re grown. The other day I was up at the market and one of them said, “Isn’t this Mr. Stone? I was on your track team!” She had her own little girl with her.

Right now, I’m temping at a hotel in the city. I’ve always liked hospitality. I like to interact with people. I was taught, you’re there to assist people; whatever they need, you have to attend to people.

I spend a lot of time going to church or bible study. It’s hard sometimes to be nice to people. I been through a lot; sometimes people get one over on you. But you have to reach your hands out. If you have something to give—you give it. If you don’t, well, you pray about it.

What I used to tell the kids is: it’s about focus. F-o-c-u-s. Don’t get in trouble. Stay on the right track. And give the rest to God.

“Pass the Mic” is a storytelling space featuring the voices and stories of people with a lived experience of homelessness.

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