Who was Steven Phillip Odom (January 26, 1994 - October 4, 2007)
Born to Ronald, Sr. and Kim Odom, Steven was the youngest of 5 and loved family, community, faith and basketball. He had such a passion for these things it caused him to write poems and essays in his 8th grade Peace Journal. He was a student at the James P. Timilty school and a drummer for his family’s church.
At the age of 13 he realized the depth of who he was and declared in his I Am poem that he is basketball, drums and a person, do I look like a basketball or a drum? If you guessed no, you're wrong, so athletic, so talented and joyful that’s who I Am.
At the age of 13 he was sensitive to his surroundings and concerned about violence, not just in the community but in the world and tragically at the age of 13, gun violence robbed Steven of living his dreams. Steven’s Peace poem is the legacy of his voice and our family will be forever grateful that the drumbeat of Steven’s heart was for Peace.