NEW ORLEANS — On Saturday, DeWayne Davis walked into the Learning Room at Orleans Parish Justice Center, wearing an orange jumpsuit, holding a work of art in one hand and a notebook full of his dreams in the other.
“I thought I was a nobody because of how I grew up,” Davis said. “But I feel like I accomplished something.”
As the first graduate of the Trinity City Artivist Program, Davis attended bi-weekly art and activism classes.
During the program, he wrote a book about a superhero named Rocky. Using art software, he made him come to life on paper.
“Rocky has schizophrenia just like me. He’s just a superhero with schizophrenia working, fighting crime, and helping people,” Davis said.
Even though the character is fictional, he feels real to Davis. After all, Rocky was inspired by a real superhero.
“My grandpa’s name was Rodney, but they called him Rocking Rocky, and I grew up under him, and I love him so much,” Davis said.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson says the program was designed to create learning opportunities for the youth at the justice center.
“Mr. Davis wants to do more, and we give him a chance to do that,” Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said. “We invest in him and give him hope about what he wants to do in the future.”
For the first time, Davis feels like he has a future.
“I wanted to finish school for my mother and my family because I had a hard time growing up,” Davis said.
One day, he hopes to leave his orange jumpsuit behind and pursue his dream of writing good nonfiction.
“By me going through this art class and going through what I’m going through, it opened up more,” Davis said.
Davis says he’ll spend the time he has left at Orleans Parish Justice Center encouraging other youth to take part in the program.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.