Denise Jackson: Madison Schools' Success

Denise Jackson may be on the road to fame, but there is another important story about this potential American Idol.  She represents thousands of youngsters who entered the Madison Public Schools in the past twenty years after a less that promising future in another city.

Denise's story is not finished, but we hope the best for her and her contemporaries.  Here are the salient points form the Wisconsin State Journal story on Sunday. Denise's road to 'Idol'

Last month, Madison teen Denise Jackson sweetly confided to one of the largest audiences in reality television history - 37.4 million viewers - that "I was born as a crack baby, as they would call them. A crack baby...."

...But those odds? Nothing. Not compared to her life, which, at times, has been harrowing. A brutal Chicago ghetto. Drug-addicted mother. Poverty. No father.

Hard-knock Chicago life

...With a mother who was largely absent and a father who vanished before her birth, Denise grew up thinking at times that her eldest sister, Nicole, was her mom.

"I think I've seen things that you shouldn't see when you're a little girl," says Denise, who moved to Madison with her grandmother at age 9. "My sisters were in high school when I was younger, so they'd be out. My mom would say, 'I'm going out, I'll be right back.' She would be gone forever, like forever...

..."She's a remarkably smart girl," says Beth Steffen, an English teacher at La Follette High School who's taught Denise for 2 years and calls her "an innate critical thinker, extremely perceptive and wise."...

...And while she is "one of the sweetest young ladies you would ever, ever meet," says Hanah Jon Taylor, a jazz musician and director of the Madison Center for Creative and Cultural Arts (MCCCA), Denise also has a voice that "has a maturity that exceeds her years.

Now, Denise lives with her grandmother, mother, younger sister and various visiting relatives in a modest brick four-plex off Rimrock Road.

"Living in a household of five women - ugh," shudders Denise, who rolls her eyes in typical teen frustration when she describes sharing a room with sister Cierra, 14.

Denise's mother, Charmaine Brown, delivered her first baby girl at age 13. Four more daughters followed.

"When Denise was born, I was heavily into drugs," Brown explains. "I want everyone to know that I love all my daughters with all my heart. And if I could take back the things that hurt them during my drug addiction, I would, in a heartbeat."

White, Denise's grandmother, recalls: "When (Denise) was born, her mother was on cocaine. They weren't going to let her come home (with her mother). I had to go to the hospital and get her. I said (she is) not going to foster care. I will take her home."

"She's doing good now" and helps care for White's own elderly mother and ailing sister in Madison, says White...

..."It's not like I got on TV and lied," she says. "If it's the truth, it's the truth. I have nothing to be ashamed of. When I was interviewed, they asked me to tell something about myself, and I thought, what's so special about my life?" she says. "A lot of kids (born to mothers on drugs) have got defects or something's wrong and they have to suffer. I just thank God I came out with a gift...

Absent father

The man legally listed as Denise's father was killed by gunshots when she was 2. Today her family believes that Denise's actual biological father was another man, a father she has never met.

"My sisters, my (family friends) knew him. But I don't know him," says Denise, looking down. "I would love to. My grandma says he's a sweetheart.

"People want to know their biological father, get to know them. And sometimes, you know, you look at other kids - they have their moms and dads and stuff. It kind of (hurts) that all my older (siblings) know my father, but not me. Because they're old enough to remember. And I probably wasn't even born. He probably doesn't even know he has a daughter that's 16."

Move to Madison

Until she moved to Madison in 1999, Denise had never met a white or Asian person. "The part of (Chicago) I lived in, we never saw these people," she says. "You heard all these stupid things about white people, like white people are mean, they're racist.

"When I came to Madison, I found the sweetest people you would ever meet." Still, she was terrified when she learned her fifth-grade teacher would be a white woman; she'd never had a white teacher. Today she speaks affectionately of how that teacher tried to get her interested in piano lessons. "She would take me out for ice cream," says Denise.

When Denise's grandmother recalls the support that Denise's singing has received from her schools, "I start getting teary-eyed," she says. "The teachers at Sennett (Middle School) and her teachers at La Follette, and the principals, have been so beautiful."

Denise says she has to finish school, or "my grandma would kill me. She wouldn't let me drop out. I wouldn't even drop out on my own," says Denise. "You know how hard it is to get a job with a high school diploma? Some people can't even get a job with a college degree."

This does not happen without tax dollars.  Not every youngster gains the fame but if they gain an education, a foundation for tomorrow; it is a great investment for all of us. And it is more than the public schools.  It is the supportive programs that include the Madison Center for Creative and Cultural Arts, the housing agencies, the family enhancement programs, and the  substance abuse counseling for those who need it. Imagine what could be done with sufficient funds.  All of our kids could be idols.

Comments

[Tim Morrissey]

Well said, Paul. Truly a success story. Think how many more we could create.

[Big Ant 23]

denise is a fraud...Sob story. tryin convince us in madison that we needed to get her to hollywood by buying her plane tickets.Fox provided all accomidations.Thats why she got edited out of the idol weeks..lol