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Hitting the right note | How a Memphian is connecting students to their futures through music

Erskin Mitchell grew up poor, by his own admission, in Greenwood, Mississippi. What he found fortune in was his trumpet.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Erskin Mitchell grew up in Greenwood, Mississippi. “We were borderline poor,” said Mitchell. What he found fortune in was his trumpet.

“This is near and dear to my heart. This is the instrument that my mother purchased,” said Mitchell. “I watched her walk downtown every week and pay $10 or $15 on this instrument…While she was still paying for it, our house caught on fire. I was going to go in and get the trumpet, but the fire department said get out of here. God allowed them to throw this instrument out of the window.”

Since then, Mitchell has hung onto that trumpet. “I never change it because I want to remind myself of where I came from,” said Mitchell.

He is valuing his past to propel his future. Mitchell was able to attend college on a full ride scholarship. “You know that the instrument that my mom purchased for me kept me out of trouble in a lot of ways,” said Mitchell.

He is now playing it forward. Mitchell started Successful, Inc. in 2018. It is a nonprofit organization giving students free instruments. “Kids are in need of these expensive instruments. The parents can’t afford these instruments, so it affects us socially, economically, morally, spiritually,” said Mitchell.

He has been able to provide more than 100 instruments to students with the help of community donations. “With the violence going on in the streets, you really want to think about ways of giving our youth productive outlets,” said Mitchell. “Music takes you to a place where you can only think about in your mind. Therefore, a calm mind promotes a better overall person.”

That is what he is hoping for the students who receive the group’s instruments. “I miss my mom, but I tell you what…She’s living on through Successful, Inc,” said Mitchell. His mother is the conductor of the key of chance that leads a concerto of change. The motto for Successful, Inc. is “Using instruments as instruments for success.”

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