Ties That Bind teaches life lessons to Albany area boys

Alan Mauldin, The Albany Herald, Ga.
·2 min read

Jun. 14—ALBANY — Each year the Ties That Bind brings dozens of elementary- and middle school-age boys together for an event that culminates in a tie-tying lesson. But the gathering is not just about learning to make a knot; it's more about the bonds forged.

On Tuesday, 50 young men took part in the 2022 program held for the first time at Albany State University and attended by a wide cross-section of the population of Albany leaders and professionals. They shared a lunch and heard motivational messages from speakers.

"The reflection of loving and caring is the message we want to give to our young black males," event organizer Darryl Sabbs, the community benefits director at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, said. "That we love them and we support their dreams and aspirations, because we know there is excellence in their life.

"That's what we tell them over and over, that they have dreams and they can reach them."

Many boys in the community do not have positive role models and are bombarded with negativity, Sabbs said.

"There's so much noise about violence; there's so much noise about shootings; there's so much noise about bad behavior that we lose sight of the goodness in this community," Sabbs said. "This goodness should be shared with each other. Young boys need to see this early in life. If all they see is violence, if all they see is hate, if all they see is competitive bullying ... We've got to show our children and our men that there's a way of loving and cooperating and caring.

"There's nothing wrong at all with saying the word 'love.' It's not a non-masculine word because a lot of these boys never hear 'I love you.'"

During the program, Albany State football coach Gabe Giardina told the group that early during his tenure in Albany he was stumped when someone asked how leadership is defined for the team. The team later came up with the definition that leadership is a positive, inspirational, investing individual.

"My dad taught me to tie a tie," Giardina said. "I think today we understand a dad can take many forms. It can be a grandfather, it can be a teacher, it can be a coach or a minister. There's a lot of lessons my dad and my coaches taught me."