As Shakita Johnson prepares for her youngest daughter, Jazmyne Coleman, to graduate from Lift For Life Academy in the coming weeks, she found herself thinking about her own graduation.
It’s been 20 years since she walked across the stage as part of the Parkway West Class of 1998. When she did, Johnson was pregnant with her third child.
At 16, She had given birth to twin daughters Ke-La and Ka-La Harris at 24 weeks. Johnson spent months in the NICU at Cardinal Glennon Hospital with her girls. How she managed to triumph over the everyday struggles that come with teen motherhood twofold, let alone twin preemies, and complete her secondary education along with her classmates is hard to fathom. But she did exactly that. A year after giving birth to her son Karlos Coleman, she found herself pregnant with Jazmyne. Before she turned 20, she was a mother of four.
“When I got pregnant with my fourth child, I couldn’t even get it into my system to tell anyone that I was pregnant because I didn’t want to keep hearing the same thing that I had heard previously,” Johnson said. “You know, the ‘What are you going to do now?’ ‘You messed your life up. You’re not going to be anything, and your kids won’t be anything.’”
But Johnson had a different life in mind for herself and her children. And, when Jazmyne heads off to Tennessee State University this fall, the life Johnson envisioned and subsequently worked for on behalf of her children will be manifested. Jazmyne will join the twins and her older brother as college students at four-year college and universities. Ke-La at Southeast Missouri State University, Ka-La at Illinois College and Karlos at University of Missouri-St. Louis.
It was Johnson’s own college experience that planted the seed for the harvest she is now enjoying through her children’s academic and personal achievements. Sidetracked by parenting four young children, she was several years older than her classmates when she enrolled as a freshman at St. Louis Community College – Forest Park.
“I was sitting in that room with these kids – they were basically high school kids – and starting over. As I was sitting there, I was like, ‘This won’t be my kids,’” Johnson said. “But I’m going to get this degree and show everybody that I can do it – and that they [her children] can do it.”
She went on to earn her associates and pursued a career in early childhood education and currently works at the Normandy Early Childhood Center.
“Don’t let being a young parent stop you from doing what you want to do. It might not happen when you thought it was going to happen, but you can make it happen,” Johnson said. “Get yourself a goal list and stick to it. Check off those accomplishments [for yourself and your children].”
She relied on “her village” of family and friends for help and dove into creating the special bond she still shares with her children.
“I was a strong advocate for my kids and whatever they wanted to try, I was all for it,” Johnson said. “I told them everything, so they wouldn’t have to go into the streets [and learn the hard way].”
Her journey was by no means easy, but Johnson relied on her faith as well as her determination.
“There were so many nights that I stayed up crying because I couldn’t afford to get them something that they wanted – or because I didn’t have the money for them to go on a trip,” Johnson said. “But God made a way for me to give them everything that they needed. My kids made me feel like I was the best mother no matter what. If you have your hope and you have your faith it will all come together.”
Her faith was most tested by the health challenges faced by her daughter Ke-La. Severe asthma, allergies and acid reflux meant that she was in the hospital every year of her life through adolescence. Each stay could range from one to three weeks.
“No matter how big they get, they are still your baby,” Johnson said. “And whenever the hospital staff and doctors would come in and say ‘well, we’re going to have to keep her,’ my heart would just sink– no matter how many times it would happen.”
Ke-La missed schoolwork. She was separated from her siblings and Johnson had to divide her time between her household and the hospital. Because of her daughter’s health, Johnson could not work full-time. And she had to work jobs that would understand that she had a sick child and she might have to miss a week at a time and pack up and head to the hospital at any given moment.
Add that with challenge of being strong for three other children at home as a single parent.
They were all very supportive. If Ke-La was in the hospital, her brother and sisters wanted to be there with her. They would come home from school and head straight to the hospital. And would often talk to her during the night on the telephone.
As Ke-La enters adulthood, she still faces health challenges – though they are to the point where she can manage them on her own. Still, when she decided to transfer from Illinois College to SEMO without her sister, Johnson and Ka-La had concerns because she had always had a family member within an arm’s reach.
“Ke-La said, ‘Ma, I’ve got this,” Johnson said. “And we said, ‘okay.’”
When Jazmyne heads to Tennessee, Johnson will be an empty nester. She admitted she’s not sure she’ll know what to do with herself because her entire life since she was 16 has revolved around motherhood. One thing she’s sure of is that she will volunteer her time to Cardinal Glennon because of the excellent care they provided to her infant daughters and Ke-La during her youth.
She’s also planning a photo shoot featuring all five of them in cap and gowns. She hopes that through her story other young parents will see what’s possible.
“Don’t give up. Never say ‘I can’t.’ Never say ‘I won’t,” Johnson said. “Keep your head up. There is light at the end of the tunnel – and your hard work will pay off.”
