Black History Today: Najee Ladd-Ali, dynamic community leader and spiritual explorer
/Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond and recognizes the people among us who are boldly shaping the future.
“For the growing good of the world is dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life.”
By Marcus Harden
A lot of people have a lot to say about the notion of continuous improvement — commitments to growth, stacking days, and being better than the day you were before. But these are mantras many preach and few practice.
It’s hard. Life throws everything at you in such a way that we confuse safety with stillness and complacency with comfort, even though we all know there is no growth in comfort.
Najee Ladd-Ali is one of the few among us who truly lives a life of consistent wonder, of dynamic yet intentional exploration and lifelong learning. And of course, his commitment to better himself isn’t just to be better himself, but to better himself for the betterment of others.
The Ladd name is a bit of a legacy in the Northwest, carrying great expectation while also giving freedom to blaze a trail in a way that’s authentic to who you are and who you are becoming.
Najee embodies this fully.
Maybe you’ve interacted with him as “Mr. Ladd” in the education spaces he’s served, where he’s typically spending time with those who hadn’t been seen as worthy or had been given up on. Part of his magic as a teacher and being vulnerable to share with his students that he’s still learning and giving them permission to learn with him and yet do the same.
Or maybe you know him as “Coach Ladd,” exploring the boundaries of intellectual, physical and business discipline as the owner, creator and curator of Fly Above Athletics in Skyway, Wash. (in the GLORIOUS Souf End), where he specializes not just in building the body but in building community, from ages 9 to 99.
Or maybe you know him through his spiritual nature, through his disciplined devotion. He has an infectious way of bringing peace to others, and an ability to move through space and convey every movement in motion in a way that seems connected to the things beyond this existence.
Any man who in one moment can be found squatting and shoulder pressing a 100lb kettle ball and the next moment leading fellow active fathers in dynamic stretches for the Daddy Stroller Social Club, is a man who has his feet on the ground but his heart in every space.
Not all who wander are lost, and not all leadership is from the front. Every now and then there are sages who sit at the center of community and become our compass and guides because they exude the joy and wisdom we week. Their leadership whispers, and in this gentleness we are led by invitation and example. We are given the safety and freedom to lean in, and the courage to reach for more. Najee’s example asks us to join him in flying to the beat of our own wings, high above what others believe is possible, and this is why he is indeed Black History Today!
Original artwork created by Devin Chicras for the South Seattle Emerald.
