It's been quite a week for the head bro in charge.
11-year old Sidney Keys, founder of the Books 'N Bros Book Club, often wears a shirt or hoodie that says 'Head Bro in Charge'. The Hazelwood, MO youngster still can't believe the bi-coastal praise he received this week, first from talk show host Steve Harvey, then CNN.
“It's all just happening so fast,” said Keys. “We just had our one year anniversary and now I'm being interviewed by a whole lot of different networks and I'm getting awards and being on talk shows.”
The week started with Sidney's appearance on the Steve Harvey Show in Los Angeles. After presenting book club t-shirts to Harvey and his wife that read 'Cool Bros Read', Harvey had a surprise for Keys: a taped shout-out from the queen of book clubs, Oprah Winfrey.
“You're proving everybody wrong,” said Oprah in the videotaped statement. “A lot of people think that young black boys don't read but you obviously know differently, and so you obviously know it's a great way of connecting, and learning, and expanding. You get to see the whole world through a book.”
The week was about to get even better.
“After the Steve Harvey Show we went home to St. Louis for one day and then we flew out to New York because I was being awarded as a CNN Young Wonder at the CNN Heroes ceremony,” said Keys.
CNN Heroes, hosted by Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa honored Keys for his year old book club, which has grown from seven members to more than a hundred. A little over a year ago, Sidney's mother took him to Eye See Me Bookstore in University City, which features books about African-Americans. Reading about characters who looked like him inspired him to create a book club for young black boys 7 to 13 years old.
“I like seeing the happy faces on my members, thinking that I've started something that's actually making an impact on their lives and they're having fun while they're doing it,” said Keys.
Behind every Head Bro in Charge is a great mother, or as Sidney calls his mom, 'the boss of the boss'.
“We never imagined having our own book club,” said Winnie Caldwell. “I simply surprised Sidney with a visit to EYE SEE ME. He picked up a book and on the book cover was a boy who looked just like him. I did a Facebook live video of him just simply reading, just a black boy reading a book that he could relate to and it went viral. It got over 65,000 views and we're like 'why is this such a big deal?'”
Sidney gives credit to his mom for all the work she does as well as keeping him humble.
“I try to stay humble and grounded. My mom helps a lot with that,” said Keys. “She does all the behind the scenes, she sets up interviews, she sets up everything that I do. She's kind of like my manager and I wouldn't be able to do this without her.”
For more information about Books 'N Bros, www.booksnbros.com.
