Mountain Movers: Q&A with Rod Lee
Elevating those in our community who moved mountains in their lives so they can help others move mountains in theirs
Rod Lee recently was presented with Wheeling’s Martin Luther King Award, honoring his work in promoting peace and racial equity in our community.
Q: Talk a little bit about yourself and the work you do—what are some things that have inspired you or motivated you to get to where you are today?
A: What inspires me? I like working with young people. I enjoy watching young people develop and grow—setting goals and achieving them.
Q: You spent 13 years as a counselor in the field of addictions, working at a variety of agencies. Addiction and recovery are a major focus of the work we do through the Mother Jones Center for Resilient Community. As someone who has worked in the field, can you talk about what that work was like and how it inspired you? Specifically, the ways people in recovery can use fitness to their advantage. Is this something you have experience with?
A: With any kind of addiction, a lot of times it comes from people being in bad situations and they turn to drugs or alcohol because of that. [Recovery] is about finding more positive things to do with your time—filling that void from not being around the same people and doing the same things. And going to the gym is a win-win. You get to exercise and work off some of those anxieties and stresses that you have, and you’re getting in shape. And exercise can be addicting too. I see it all the time. Exercise is addicting. I think it’s great when people are able to use fitness as a way to grow.
Q: Tell the story behind the Nelson Jordan Center… Is it true the gym was started at a time when cities were still segregated? What does this mean for what the Center represents still today?
A: The Nelson Jordan Center was founded in 1950. The land was donated by a Black family to the City of Wheeling to be a recreation center for—at the time, the term was “colored people.” Over the years, it has evolved. Our primary focus has always been athletics and sports, but over the years we’ve gotten into social and educational programs, too, to help our kids. Every place doesn’t have the right fit for every kid, and I realized that when some kids wouldn’t go to certain after school programs. So, about 15 years ago, I partnered with Macedonia Baptist Church, and we did some afterschool work. Unfortunately, right before COVID, we discontinued that. We served our purpose, and if our time comes again, we’ve got a model to look at, to see what we can do and be able to jump right back in. Yes, it started during segregation as the “colored” recreation center. Today, most of our participants from the community are Black, but I would say we’re about 60/40 now. When I was a kid, it was probably 90/10—Black versus white.
Q: What is the significance of the Center being the only one that is owned by the City? How important do you think this is, and why?
A: The city has bought in to providing us this facility, obviously, because it’s been here now for 70-some years. So, they’re doing their part contributing something to our community. They’ve held up their end of the bargain. Of course, our building is aged and needs a lot of work, but, regardless, they’ve maintained this facility for us, for the use of this community. They’ve held up their end of the agreement. So, I respect what they’ve done. We obviously can always do more. I like the fact that they don’t dodge any controversial issues with us. They’ve actually supported probably 90 percent of all the things I’ve wanted to do—I’ve had their blessing.
Q: Talk about your community work with organizations like Men of Change and the Elks Lodge.
A: I got involved with the Elks Lodge because they are a fraternal organization that made a lot of positive contributions to the community. People don’t know because the Elks Lodge doesn’t toot its own horn, doesn’t promote all the things it does. It works in the shadows unless the people it helps want to tell their stories—but if they don’t tell it, then, you know, the Elks Lodge just keeps going. That attracted me to them—the fact that I witnessed them handing kids scholarships and throwing Christmas parties and Easter egg hunts and various other things in the community [without promoting themselves]. The Elks were the first to do the original Back to School Day [event] here in East Wheeling. The American Legion eventually jumped onboard and the Elks stepped aside and said, ‘You guys can handle this—and here’s the blueprint.’ So, those things really attracted me to the Elks... Men of Change—well, there were, and still are, some major issues in our society. And I got a call from a few guys who basically said, ‘We want to get out in our community and start doing some more positive things. Are you interested?’ We want men to step up and be men—to be a man in your community who steps up and leads. For so long, we’ve lacked strong, Black male leadership. Men of Change has come in and offered an array of different seminars: banking, financing, personal growth. Last year, we did a series where we picked different topics. So, we would have people come in and talk about banking: officers from the bank, finance officers, the vice president. And we talked about banking and savings and opening a savings account. We did one of these on taxes. We worked on life skills. It’s just trying to help people. So, it’s an active group making an effort to make change and make a positive impact in the community instead of waiting until something bad happens and thinking, ‘Man, someone should’ve done this or that.’ We’re being proactive instead of reactive. That’s what I enjoy about Men of Change.
Q: Through our work, we are interested in uplifting Black voices and leaders in our community, and we recognize you as one of those leaders… What would you like to say to the community about the importance of Black History Month and what it means for the Black community?
A: Get a book. Go to the library. Learn. Read. Get as much information as you can find—even information about yourself. Because knowledge itself is the root of how you grow. If you don’t know who you are, then you don’t know what you can become. So, you have to start with yourself. And then, on Black History Month: it’s a highlighter. This month can be every day. Every day in your life can be a day when you pick up a book and learn something. Learn something about inventors. Learn something about lawyers. Learn about different things that you can become. Too many times we only think about athletics—but it’s much easier for me to tell a kid, “You have a much greater chance of becoming a doctor or a lawyer and being highly successful than you have of playing professional baseball, professional football, professional basketball. Those are one in a million.” A great percentage of kids who we work with and who we encounter have a real chance of becoming a doctor or becoming a lawyer. So, I encourage you: Start to seek knowledge for yourself—and carry on. Never stop learning.
Q: There is a common misconception that race-related issues no longer exist—or maybe never existed—in small rural communities like ours, or that such issues are mostly a problem of the past. We know this isn’t true and we’re working to combat it. What would you say to people who may still believe in such misconceptions?
A: Well, I don’t want to call anyone ignorant, but if you don’t already know, it’s because you don’t involve yourself. If you don’t involve yourself with poor people, with people of color—if you live in that secluded subculture that doesn’t interact with these other cultures—then you just don’t understand. So, in that world and for those people, it’s real that it doesn’t exist for them because they don’t have those encounters. They don’t have those relationships. So, I don’t denounce anyone for having that thought because they don’t see it. But people who interact with poor people, people of color, people with disabilities—they fully understand that while we’ve made some progress, we’ve still got a ways to go. There is still real prejudice and real discrimination happening in this world. And it’s unfortunate, but it’s real.