Written by Megan Lorraine –
Growing up in any urban city, many young people can be faced with a lot of negative influences. Within the pop culture media, there are constant images that depict young African Americans as a rapper, professional sports athlete, or a drug dealer. Out of three of the choices, only one can have a positive influence on young people. However, actually being able to make it in the professional sporting industry is very slim within any community. According to collegeboard.com, “Only one out of every five thousand high school students, playing a major sport, becomes professional”. Therefore, being able to influence our young people in the urban community is a must to help keep them focused to go out and not make a choice than can impact them negatively. This is the vision of Derrell Johnson Koulianas and Desmond Marrow, who are graduates and formers athletes of Iowa and Toledo University. Derrell, Desemond, and friend K.T. Moses took a chant that was echoed while in high school, and turned it into a brand in order to help influence the young people of their community to Make Plays or Die.
The movement of MPOD began in Youngstown, Ohio, at Mooney high school with football players Derrell, Desmond, and K.T. who would say to each other on the football field “Make Plays or Die”. That statement became a saying for the students within the high school on and off the field. As a result, the launch of the Make Plays or Die clothing company was created in July 2011. The buyer for Make Plays or Die apparel fits the sporting culture of the creators. Head of Marketing K.T. Moses states, “Make Plays or Die is a sporting apparel, but also a lifestyle. In order to make things happen in your life, it is important to map out a plan, be active by going out and fulfilling the plan in order to prevent becoming stagnant and killing your dreams”. The mission of Make Plays of Die is to ensure that the young people of Youngstown, Ohio, in particular understand that they don’t have to live a lifestyle of a drug dealer or a thug in the streets harming others and themselves. And, because Derrell, Desmond, and K.T. understand the struggles of staying away from trouble that can be found in the streets of any urban city they understand that failure is not an option. Therefore, the creation of Make Plays or Die, and success of the clothing line, is imperative in order to fulfill their vision of reaching young people across the nation.
The future of MPOD is to hopefully build a partnership with Under Armor. We are in contact with a representative from Under Armor states K.T. The representative is interested in our idea, so we will see what the future holds for that partnership. Until then, if you are interested in contacting or purchasing clothing and other merchandise from Make Plays or Die, you can do so at the website link below.
