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Paralyzed at 17, Lorenzo Brown Is Founder of Non-Profit for People With Disabilities

By Je’Don Holloway-Talley For The Birmingham Times At 17 years old, Lorenzo Brown was shot in the neck and paralyzed from his chest down. The first time he opened his eyes after being gunned down, he woke to find that he was permanently paralyzed, on life support, and his chances of making it out of […]
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2 years ago

December 5, 2023

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Lorenzo Brown is executive director of the Is-Able Center in Homewood which is dedicated to empowering, educating, and encouraging the disabled community. (Amar Croskey, For The Birmingham Times)

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By Je’Don Holloway-Talley

For The Birmingham Times

At 17 years old, Lorenzo Brown was shot in the neck and paralyzed from his chest down. The first time he opened his eyes after being gunned down, he woke to find that he was permanently paralyzed, on life support, and his chances of making it out of the hospital alive were slim.
“When I awoke for the first time, the doctor was standing right over me. He looked me in my eyes and asked, ‘Do you know what’s wrong with you?’ … [Then] he said, ‘I’m afraid you’re going to be paralyzed for the rest of your life. You’ll never walk again, talk again. As a matter of fact, you’re going to be a vegetable for the rest of your life.’ … Tears started rolling down my face,” said Brown, who has quadriplegia … a form of paralysis that affects all four limbs, plus the torso.

Quality Of Life

Now age 47, Brown is executive director of the Is-Able Center, which he operates with five payroll employees and three volunteers, who serve as employment specialists, including his wife of 17 years, Amy Brown, and center assistants. The center is dedicated to empowering, educating and encouraging people in the disability community.

“We took the d’s out of disabled, [and] we are The Is-Able Center. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life of individuals with disabilities, their loved ones, and their caregivers. Our aim is to equip them with tools, resources, and information so that they can live more independent lives,” Brown said of the center, which opened in 2017.

The IS-Able Center, located in Homewood at 244 West Valley Ave., Suite 206, operates five days a week and provides job readiness, computer and self-advocacy training, life skills, and depression and grief support groups.

The center also does outreach programming in Birmingham-area high schools, including at Arthur Harold Parker “A.H.” Parker, George W. Carver, and Minor high schools, all part of Birmingham City Schools.

“Our services are specific to those with special needs,” said Brown, adding that the center has served 56 students this year, offering the same programming that’s available at the center in Homewood.

All services provided by The IS-Able Center are free. “That makes a huge impact on the community,” said the director. “For people to be able to have access to services and not have to bear the burden of how they are going to pay for them is huge. … To also be able to come into an atmosphere where they are loved, appreciated, and respected is bigger. We treat them like they’re doing us a service, and we thank them for coming.”

The IS-Able Center also has job placement partnerships with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital Services and Sodexo, a food and facilities management company, with which Brown has had contracts with for years.

In fact, the center has placed hundreds on UAB’s college campus, he said: “So far this year, our employment program has serviced about 68 referrals and about 200 individuals [overall].”

The Marion, Alabama, native never attended high school but earned a General Education Development (GED) diploma in 1998 and then went on to attend UAB, where he studied business finance for two years before leaving in 2000 to pursue his call in the ministry.

In 2002, he began apprenticing under Bishop Steve Franklin of Covenant Heirs International Church in Birmingham and was ordained as a minister in 2004.

On the spiritual side, Brown has authored several books, including “31 Principles for Daily Living: 31-Day Devotional and Journal” and “Moments of Inspiration: 52-Week Devotional and Journal.” He also speaks and works with various organizations, programs, and services to serve people with disabilities.

Brown especially has a heart for those suffering from depression and grief and would often host support group meetings because of what he had been through.

Click to view slideshow.

A Mother’s Love

He remembers a very rough childhood.

“My dad wasn’t part of my life, and my mother was an alcoholic and addicted to crack cocaine,” he said, recalling his years growing up with his two brothers. “There were times we didn’t have running water, working appliances, lights, or heat, which led to me having a pretty hard heart and mentality. I was out in the streets doing a lot of things to survive: [selling drugs, breaking into cars, and stealing from stores]. The streets are [part of] the reason I became a teenage father. … I got involved in a lot of things that a child with a normal upbringing wouldn’t have gotten involved in.”

The night he was shot, Brown recalled walking out from between two trailers and bumping into a guy whose hat had fallen off.

“I bent down to pick it up, and the guy started mouthing off at me,” Brown said. “At that time, I was a hotheaded 17-year-old, and I thought it was a big deal when somebody would mouth off at me. … We got into an argument, and I left with the guy’s hat. An hour-and-a-half later, he and another guy came back and did a drive-by shooting. The bullet went in through the front of my neck, [struck] my spinal cord, and instantly paralyzed me.”

Brown was taken to a hospital in serious condition, and his mother, who was inebriated that night, was told by a doctor that she should pull the plug.

“She was drunk and high on crack, and she told the doctor, ‘I don’t care how he has to live. I’m not pulling the plug on my son’s life.’ So, I thank God for a mother’s love,” Brown said. “A mother’s love is so strong that even crack cocaine and alcohol can’t overpower it.”

Living conditions at Brown’s home were still dire when he returned. “I came home to the same situation—no running water, no working appliances, no heat. We only had electricity, so my mother put a single-eye hot plate up in my bedroom and a blanket under the door, [and that] served as my heater.

“We cooked on [the hot plate], we sterilized my catheters on it. My brothers would carry buckets of water from the next-door neighbor’s house and [use that hot plate to] heat it. My 12-year-old brother was my primary caregiver.”

Brown said his mother has been clean since April 2004, and she is part of his life. She comes to his home every day to help him get ready for the day.

Recovery

A year after becoming paralyzed, Brown’s family’s inability to care for him led him to a nursing home in his rural hometown of Marion.

“I stayed in two different nursing homes for a total of two years, three months, and five days. The whole time I was there, I never got one visit from a family member. I was totally abandoned,” said Brown, who made a note of when he went into the nursing home (March 16, 1995) and his last day there (June 22, 1997)—a Sunday, he recalled.

“I literally thought I would die there,” he added. “At 19 years old, I thought I would live out my life alone in a home.”

That was until a visiting nursing instructor called and asked Brown, “If you ever had the chance to change your life, what would you do with it?”

“Then she asked me what I was going to do about getting out of there,” Brown said. “That thought had never crossed my mind.”

After he left the home, a series of interventions, media attention, and speaking engagements led to Brown getting aid from the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation (ADR), which helped him with a move to a transitional living facility in Birmingham in 1997. There he met his best friend—the late David Bailey, who died of health complications in October 2010—and they conceived the idea of the IS-Able organization out of desperation and despair.

“We were literally about to kill ourselves when we came up with the idea,” Brown said. “[Bailey had quadriplegia] and was paralyzed just like me. He had been paralyzed for almost 30 years, and he knew a lot. We became best friends, and we were both struggling with depression. One day, [he and I] started discussing ways that [someone with quadriplegia] could commit suicide.

“We said, ‘We’ll blow our brains out,’ but neither one of us could pick up the gun and pull the trigger. We said, ‘Well, we’re going to cut our wrists,’ but we couldn’t pick up the razor blade. So, we said, ‘We’ll take a bottle of pills,’ but we couldn’t take the top off the bottle. Then we said, ‘We’re going to jump off a building,’ but then we said, ‘How are we going to get to the top of the building? And even if we do, ‘How are we going to get over the edge?”’

Eventually, they came up with an idea that they thought would work, Brown said.

“We used to sit around a pool at an apartment complex next door to the facility we were in. … We could roll our wheelchairs into the deep end of that swimming pool and drown ourselves. All we needed was for our caregivers to buckle our seatbelts in our chairs so we could sink to the bottom. We put our plan together. We woke up the next day, met up outside, and were on our way to go drown ourselves.”

Moments before following through, Brown recalled Bailey speaking up.

“He turned to me and asked, ‘Why hasn’t anybody ever told us about different programs and services [that could help us] before we even got to this point?’ I said, ‘Man, I don’t know, but we need to do something about it. We need to call the president, the governor, or the mayor. … We need to tell somebody.’ Right then, a lightbulb went off in my head. I turned to [Bailey] and said, ‘Let’s start some type of nonprofit organization.’

“As soon as a purpose was discovered, the desire to live was restored,” said Brown.

“Full Circle”

The very same day, Brown and Bailey set out for the Homewood Library to begin their research. “We were in our wheelchairs and didn’t have any idea where the library was,” Brown said. “We traveled about four miles by wheelchair.”

Later that night, Brown had an epiphany: “The Lord told me, ‘You’re taking the d’s out of disabled. The name of your organization is The IS-Able [Foundation],” Brown recalled.

The next morning, he shared the epiphany with Bailey, and their organization was formed in 1998.

“At that time, we primarily provided information and referrals,” Brown said. “We would go and see people in the hospital when they were first injured and share information about how they could get medical equipment, wheelchair ramps, home health services, and financial assistance for things they may need.”

The Is-Able Center has come a long way. Nearly 20 years after the ADR moved Brown to Birmingham and helped him get his own apartment and a vehicle, he could operate himself, the IS-Able nonprofit formed a partnership with Alabama Department of Rehabilitation (ADR) in 2017.

“It came full circle,” said Brown. “Who does The IS-Able Center have a contract with? The ADR. I went from being a client to being one of their service providers.”

In October, Brown spoke before the National Coalition of State Rehabilitation Councils and the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation as the keynote speaker for the progression of the quality of life for people in the disability community.

“A Blessing”

Future plans for the IS-Able organization include opening a transitional living facility similar to the one that changed Brown’s life.

“That facility was a game-changer in my life,” he said. “With a transitional living facility, we would bring in people who are injured, train them, and give them the same services offered at our center.”

“People in other states or rural communities would live at the facility for 30 to 90 days, and we’d provide them with those services, as well as physical therapy and occupational therapy to equip them to live an independent life,” said Brown, adding that strategic plans are underway to open the transitional living facility, which he hopes to open in two years.

Brown, a father of four—daughter, Marilyn, 29; twin sons, Isaac and Isaiah, 13; and his youngest son, Jeremiah, 6—looks back on his life before he found resources and says the memories have not faded.

He considers being shot “a blessing.”

“If someone can say that being shot and becoming paralyzed is a blessing, that goes to show you they had a pretty rough life before that,” said Brown. “This led to me having a better life and becoming a better man. When I look in the mirror now, I like the man that I see. This was a blessing in disguise.

He added, “If I had to go back and live my journey all over again, even becoming paralyzed, if it’s going to lead to being the man I am today and living the purpose I live now, I’d do it all over again.”

The IS-Able Center is located at 244 West Valley Ave., Suite 206, Homewood, AL 35209. To learn more about the center, call 205-777-4017; email isablecenter@gmail.com; or visit http://www.isable.org, Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/isablecenter), or Instagram (@isablecenter).

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

The post Paralyzed at 17, Lorenzo Brown Is Founder of Non-Profit for People With Disabilities first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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COMMENTARY: The National Protest Must Be Accompanied with Our Votes

Just as Trump is gathering election data like having the FBI take all the election data in Georgia from the 2020 election, so must we organize in preparation for the coming primary season to have the right people on ballots in each Republican district, so that we can regain control of the House of Representatives and by doing so, restore the separation of powers and balance that our democracy is being deprived of.

Published

3 days ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper. File photo..

By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper

As thousands of Americans march every week in cities across this great nation, it must be remembered that the protest without the vote is of no concern to Donald Trump and his administration.

In every city, there is a personal connection to the U.S. Congress. In too many cases, the member of Congress representing the people of that city and the congressional district in which it sits, is a Republican. It is the Republicans who are giving silent support to the destructive actions of those persons like the U.S. Attorney General, the Director of Homeland Security, and the National Intelligence Director, who are carrying out the revenge campaign of the President rather than upholding the oath of office each of them took “to Defend The Constitution of the United States.”

In California, the primary comes in June 2026. The congressional races must be a priority just as much as the local election of people has been so important in keeping ICE from acquiring facilities to build more prisons around the country.

“We the People” are winning this battle, even though it might not look like it. Each of us must get involved now, right where we are.

In this Black History month, it is important to remember that all we have accomplished in this nation has been “in spite of” and not “because of.” Frederick Douglas said, “Power concedes nothing without a struggle.”

Today, the struggle is to maintain our very institutions and history. Our strength in this struggle rests in our “collectiveness.” Our newspapers and journalists are at the greatest risk. We must not personally add to the attack by ignoring those who have been our very foundation, our Black press.

Are you spending your dollars this Black History Month with those who salute and honor contributions by supporting those who tell our stories? Remember that silence is the same as consent and support for the opposition. Where do you stand and where will your dollars go?

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Why Black Parents Should Consider Montessori

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — I have found that there are some educational approaches that consistently provide a safer, more enriching, and more affirmative environment for Black children. The Montessori method, developed by Italian physician Maria Montessori and introduced to the U.S. in the early 20th century, is one such approach.

Published

5 days ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

By Laura Turner-Essel, PhD

As a mother of four children, I’ve done A LOT of school shopping. I don’t mean the autumn ritual of purchasing school supplies. I mean shopping for schools – pouring over promotional materials, combing through websites, asking friends and community members for referrals to their favorite schools, attending open houses and orientations, comparing curriculums and educational philosophies, meeting teachers and principals, and students who all claim that their school is the best.

But keep in mind – I’m not just a mom of four children. I’m a mom of four Black children, and I’m also a psychologist who is very interested in protecting my little ones from the traumatic experience that school can too often become.

For Black children in the United States, school can sometimes feel more like a prison than an educational institution. Research shows that Black students experience school as more hostile and demoralizing than other students do, that they are disciplined more frequently and more harshly for typical childhood offenses (such as running in the halls or chewing gum in class), that they are often labeled as deviant or viewed as deficient more quickly than other children, that teachers have lower academic expectations of Black students (which, in turn, lowers those students’ expectations of themselves), and that Black parents feel less respected and less engaged by their children’s teachers and school administrators. Perhaps these are some of the underlying reasons that Black students tend to underperform in most schools across the country.

The truth is that schools are more than academic institutions. They are places where children go to gain a sense of who they are, how they relate to others, and where they fit into the world. The best schools are places that answer these questions positively – ‘you are a valuable human being, you are a person who will grow up to contribute great things to your community, and you belong here, with us, exploring the world and learning how to use your gifts.’ Unfortunately, Black children looking for answers to these universal questions of childhood will often hit a brick wall once they walk into the classroom. If the curriculum does not reflect their cultural experiences, the teachers don’t appear to value them, and they spend most of their time being shamed into compliance rather than guided towards their highest potential, well…what can we really expect? How are they supposed to master basic academic skills if their spirits have been crushed?

Here’s the good news. In my years of school shopping, and in the research of Black education specialists such as Jawanza Kunjufu and Amos Wilson, I have found that there are some educational approaches that consistently provide a safer, more enriching, and more affirmative environment for Black children. The Montessori method, developed by Italian physician Maria Montessori and introduced to the U.S. in the early 20th century, is one such approach.

The key feature of Montessori schooling is that children decide (for the most part) what they want to do each day. Led by their own interests and skill levels, children in a Montessori classroom move around freely and work independently or with others on tasks of their own

choosing. The classroom is intentionally stocked with materials tailored to the developmental needs of children, including the need to learn through different senses (sight, touch/texture, movement, etc.). The teacher in a Montessori classroom is less like a boss and more like a caring guide who works with each child individually, demonstrating various activities and then giving them space to try it on their own. The idea is that over time, students learn to master even the toughest tasks and concepts, and they feel an intense sense of pride and accomplishment because they did it by themselves, without pressure or pushing.

I think that this aspect of the Montessori method is good for all kids. Do you remember the feeling of having your creativity or motivation crushed by being told exactly what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and why? The truth is that when presented with a new challenge and then given space, children actually accomplish a lot! They are born with a natural desire to learn. It is that spirit of curiosity, sense of wonder, and excitement to explore that Montessori helps to keep alive in a child. But that’s not the only reason that I think Black parents need to consider Montessori.

Fostering a love of learning is great. But more importantly, I think that Montessori students excel at learning to love. It begins with Montessori’s acknowledgement that all children are precious because childhood is a precious time. In many school systems, Black children are treated like miniature adults (at best) or miniature criminals (at worst), and are subjected to stressful situations that no kids are equipped to handle – expectations to be still and silent for long periods, competitive and high-stakes testing, and punitive classroom discipline. It’s easy to get the sense that rather than being prepared for college or careers, our children are being prepared to fail. Couple this with the aforementioned bias against Black children that seems to run rampant within the U.S. school system, and you end up with children who feel burned out and bitter about school by the time they hit 3rd grade.

In my experience, Montessori does a better job of protecting the space that is childhood – and all the joy of discovery and learning that should come along with that. Without the requirement that students “sit down and shut up,” behavioral issues in Montessori classrooms tend to be non-existent (or at least, the Montessori method doesn’t harp on them; children are gently redirected rather than shamed in front of the class). Montessori students don’t learn for the sake of tests; they demonstrate what they’ve learned by sharing with their teacher or classmates how they solve real-world problems using the skills they’ve gained through reading, math, or science activities. And by allowing children a choice of what to focus on throughout the day, Montessori teachers demonstrate that they honor and trust children’s natural intelligence. The individualized, careful attention they provide indicates to children that they are each seen, heard, and valued for who they are, and who they might become. Now that’s love (and good education).

As a parent, I’ve come to realize that many schools offer high-quality academics. Montessori is no different. Students in Montessori schools gain exposure to advanced concepts and the materials to work with these concepts hands-on. Across the nation, Montessori schools emphasize early literacy development, an especially important indicator of life success for young Black boys and men. Montessori students are provided with the opportunity to be

successful every day, and the chance to develop a sense of competence and self-worth based on completing tasks at their own pace.

But I have also learned that the important questions to ask when school shopping are often not about academics at all. I now ask, ‘Will my children be treated kindly? Will they be listened to? Protected from bias and bullying? Will they feel safe? Will this precious time in their lives be honored as a space for growth, development, awe, and excitement? Will they get to see people like them included in the curriculum? Will they be seen as valuable even if they don’t always ‘measure up’ to other kids on a task? Will they get extra support if they need it? Will the school include me in major decisions? Will the school leaders help to make sure that my children reach their fullest potential? Will the teacher care about my children almost as much as I do?’

Consistently, it’s been the Montessori schools that have answered with a loud, resounding ‘Yes!’ That is why my children ended up in Montessori schools, and I couldn’t be happier with that decision. If you’re a parent like me, shopping for schools with the same questions in mind, I’d urge you to consider Montessori education as a viable option for your precious little ones. Today more than ever, getting it right for our children is priceless.

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LIVE from the NMA Convention Raheem DeVaughn Says The Time Is Now: Let’s End HIV in Our Communities #2

Set against the backdrop of the NMA conference, Executive Officers from the National Medical Association, Grammy Award Winning Artist and Advocate Raheem DeVaughn, and Gilead Sciences experts, are holding today an important conversation on HIV prevention and health equity. Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event […]

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1 week ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event is designed to uplift voices, explore barriers to access, and increase awareness and key updates about PrEP, a proven prevention method that remains underutilized among Black women. This timely gathering will feature voices from across health, media, and advocacy as we break stigma and center equity in HIV prevention.

Additional stats and information to know:

● Black women continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, with Black women representing more than 50% of new HIV diagnoses among women in the U.S. in 2022, despite comprising just 13% of women in the U.S.

● Women made up only 8% of PrEP users despite representing 19% of all new HIV diagnoses in 2022.

● Gilead Sciences is increasing awareness and addressing stigma by encouraging regular HIV testing and having judgment-free conversations with your healthcare provider about prevention options, including oral PrEP and long-acting injectable PrEP options.