17Jul2019
18Jul2019

From 1pm until 7pm

At THE WESTIN HOUSTON, MEMORIAL CITY

945 Gessner Road, Houston, Texas, 77024

free (you must RSVP to attend info@besomeone.org)

The event is FREE and Open to The Public. You must RSVP to attend info@besomeone.org  Hudson has been invited to present his message of personal responsibility and empowerment. He will be giving complimentary chess lessons daily from 1 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. and, using his life-sized chess board, he will take on any and all challengers who wish to test their skills against the chess champion.

Hudson's mission at BeSomeone.org has always been about children, and his focus is no different. He plans to address attendees — magnates from the black business community — on the importance of investing in young people to guarantee their personal economic success as well as the nation's. Preparing the next generation  to make every move their best move has always been the hallmark of Hudson's passionate charity work at Be Someone, Inc.

"We are losing too many of our youth to a culture of 'follow,' instead of lead. As a result, at-risk youth tend to walk with chumps instead of discovering the champ they have inside," Hudson said.  He teaches young people to be societal givers not takers.

Growing up as an inner-city youth in Birmingham, AL, Hudson gained an inside perspective on the population he seeks to uplift. Having walked his own youthful path of personal destruction which included petty crime, gangs and drugs, he was nearly driven to ruin. A chance encounter with a compassionate teacher changed everything for him. His path changed when he began to be mentored  by Mr. James Edge who was a compassionate teacher who taught Hudson the fundamentals of the game of chess. In so doing, he was able to rearrange his life goals and achieve success.

Stepping up and out of the inner city, Hudson seriously studied the game and became the first African American to win the Birmingham chess championship. He later went on to serve in the U.S. Air Force as well as an Alabama State Trooper. Upon hearing of a tragic and senseless robbery perpetrated by black youth in New York City, Hudson decided to help — as he himself had once been helped — and founded a non-profit organization.

"In 2001, I founded Be Someone Inc., to use the game of chess as a way to teach young people how to tap the often unrealized potential they hold inside," Hudson said.  He began teaching inner-city at-risk youth critical foundational principles such as personal accountability, thinking ahead and out-thinking opponents.  Seventeen years later, Hudson and his organization have touched more than 65,000 young people through his chess boards. Using a language and style that resonates with young people, he teaches, "Brains Before Bullets," and "Heads Up, Pants Up, Grades Up, Never Give Up!"

We are willing to bring our life-sized chess board to your studios for an interview.

About Be Someone Inc.

Be Someone Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that uses numerous tools, including chess, to promote self-esteem, responsibility and analytical thinking among children in underserved communities. Founder Orrin C. Hudson is a former small-time gang member, state trooper, Air Force veteran and world-renowned chess champion. Leveraging his own fascinating and varied life experiences, Hudson steers the organization to effect positive change in largely at-risk youth populations. Learn more about how kids can be helped, one move at a time, at: http://www.besomeone.org/