STLife

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museum to Davis and a community center
with multidimensional education programs
for children.
“What helped to make Miles, Miles?
This little town, East St. Louis, and his
family,” says Lauren A. Parks, HOME’s
president and co-founder. “We like to
share that with our students. It’s very
empowering for them when they hear
the stories.”
With backgrounds in education, Parks
and Jas Gary Pearson, HOME’s cofounder
and its vice president of urban
planning, are using Davis’ reputation as
an inventive renaissance man to encourage
students to tap into their own talents
through music and the arts.
None of this would be possible without
Parks and Pearson saving the home from
neglect. In 2010, Parks—whose family has
deep ties with Davis’—had heard that the
property was available. Vernon Davis was
the last family member to live there, and
over the years the house became shuttered,
had suffe ed a fi e, and ended up
in considerable disrepair.
With no one left to care for the property,
the remaining Davis family had
hoped to donate it to a nonprofit orgaazz
music plays softly
inside a small house at
North 17th Street and Kansas
Avenue in East St. Louis. The
tune— rich, intimate, and led by
the sound of a muted trumpet—fl ats
throughout the rooms, infusing the
house with the instantly identifiable work
of legendary musician Miles Davis. This is
where Davis spent much of his childhood
and learned to play the trumpet, after
all. Before Davis moved to New York City
and became a jazz giant, his talent and
temperament were shaped and nurtured
right here in East St. Louis.
Now the house is the locus of a new
mission—one that helps memorialize
Davis’ beginnings while jumpstarting
dreams for a new generation. It’s the
jazz master’s childhood home, but it is
also HOME, which stands for House of
Miles East St. Louis and serves as both a
THE GOAL IS TO BE
A CATALYST FOR
A NEIGHBORHOOD
RENAISSANCE AND
COMMUNITY PRIDE.
nization. Parks and Pearson, who had
been friends for decades, formed one
and took possession in 2011. The duo
began fundraising and organizing volunteers
to renovate the house, with support
coming from both the community
and local businesses.
But this is just phase one for the Davis
home and for the community, Parks and
Pearson say. They plan to add a deck and
performance space outside and develop
a multipurpose community building on
their additional property across the
street. Parks, who lives nearby, says the
goal is to be a catalyst for a neighborhood
renaissance and community pride.
She cites Davis, Olympian Jackie Joyner-
Kersee, and renowned dancer Katherine
Dunham as examples of the talented
people who have lived in East St. Louis,
and she wants those legends to inspire
students today.
“Don’t let people put you in a box.
Don’t let people define you,” Parks says.
“Miles was the epitome of that.”
Learn more about people who
are moving the St. Louis region forward
at theSTL.com.
Photography by Michael Thomas
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