LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A UK graduate spent the last eight years building a healthy outlet for at-risk youths, and now nearly 500 kids are members of the 'The Bloc' in Chicago and have been positively impacted.
Jamyle Cannon, a UK Alum, has gained national attention for helping at-risk youth through boxing in Chicago. He posted a TikTok on July 6, 2023, that gained the attention of thousands across the platform. Now, he promotes his organization, 'The Bloc' to hopefully help others.
Jamyle Cannon grew up in Lexington and, at an early age, faced a list of issues. Such as different teaching methods after switching schools, a shooting that has stayed with him to this day, and anger that seemed to control him.
At the age of nine, Jamyle became enamored with boxing. In college, he joined the University of Kentucky's boxing team, where he would win multiple titles, including the regional championship title in his freshman and sophomore years.
"As a young person, I found myself getting into some fights. I was actually suspended from school. My first week of middle school I was arrested and a court order anger management," explains Cannon. "For a while outside of school, I was looking for a way to let out some aggression. So I got a lot of that out in sports, but it was really boxing that helped me hone in on why I was angry in the first place."
But after a national championship win in 2009 with a torn rotator cuff, he decided to make it his last boxing match. "I had to take a moment to really reflect on what I wanted to do with my life. I didn't know I was going to end up here, but I knew I was going to take whatever gifts that I had to make life better for the ones I cared about."
Stepping away from the boxing ring, Jamyle traded in punches for pencils as he moved into a new career: teaching. He joined "Teach for America" and got his B.S. in Social Work in 2010. From there, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he taught for two years. In 2012, he moved to the west side of Chicago, where he helped jump-start a new school.
"We lost a kid to violence or suicide for every year I was a teacher at that school. And I knew I wanted to engage with people. I started a boxing club in my classroom at DRW College Prep and it grew to what is The Bloc today," recalls Cannon.
The Bloc is a non-profit boxing club on the west side of Chicago. It started with 20 kids, growing in size each year. Now, eight years later, he gives nearly 500 kids a healthy outlet for their emotional release. He says this club has become a healthy outlet for these kids because it lets them release everything they hold in the way they want to.
"It was something they demanded which I think is a really important aspect of The Bloc. Where were not telling kids what they need, we're listening to their needs and what they want and then building around that central need."
Jamyle says this outlet has also saved many student's academic careers. Over the years, he noticed his student's scores increased by 40% and discipline reports plummeted. When he first started, he noticed by the end of the year his student's average GPA grew from 2.4 to 3.18. Many of his alumni are now police officers, getting into top colleges and completing master's degrees.
"We're giving them an outlet for some of the emotions that have been pent up. We're giving them support and they're around other people who love and care about them and have similar stories," Cannon talks about how he cannot relate to them 100%, but he deeply emphasizes because so many elements of their stories are within his own.
Cannon says The Bloc is on track to expand its services to four schools across the west side of Chicago. He hopes one day, Lexington will also open up resources like the ones he did for at-risk youth in Kentucky state.
