Motivating Our Future Summit Tour: It’s Time to Make It Make Sense

There are countless ways to describe Cornelius “Neal” McDonald. The founder of Stay SOLID. An advocate for youth mental health and gun violence prevention. A staunch mentor and supporter of young people across the DMV area. A master of conflict resolution. An incredible father, brother, and friend.

For Justin Murray, Neal was a powerhouse. “I never saw not just a Black man, but a young Black man, take the initiative to change so many young people’s lives,” Murray said.

The two met at a barbershop thanks to overlapping haircut appointments: Neal would get there at 2 p.m., Justin would arrive at 2:30. Justin, 10 years Neal’s junior, was just leaving college. Both men were grieving the recent death of a mutual friend. “I was one of those kids that he used to preach to: ‘You need to do something else, do this, do that,’” Justin said. “That’s how he became a mentor to me.”

As was the case with many of the youth Neal mentored, Neal saw himself in Justin. He knew the pain he’d worked through, the mistakes he’d made along the way. And he poured his heart and soul into trying to reach young men to prevent them from learning those lessons the same way he had.

A decade after they first met in that barbershop, Justin and Neal connected on business. Neal wanted to bring a conflict resolution and life skills tour to schools in the DMV area. Justin, who worked in the entertainment industry and was now the Students Demand Action Youth Black Engagement Liaison, had the funding; Neal and his organization Stay SOLID had the vision. 

The two organizations brought the Motivating Our Future Summit Tour to five high schools in Prince George’s County, Maryland, during Fall 2024. The tour’s message centered on:

• Conflict resolution 
• Accountability 
• Building positive relationships 
• Achieving goals

Part of that work, Justin explained, was ensuring that the messengers on the tour were people students would find engaging and relatable. Neal and Justin brought in panels of influencers, doctors, and lawyers to speak on the tour, all of whom were Black and from the same area—and even neighborhoods—as the students they were talking to. 

Neal and Justin also brought in young rappers from the DMV area to give concerts on the tour with messages about putting the guns down. Quinn Cook, a two-time NBA champion, also spoke on one of the stops.

(Left to right) Quinn Cook, Neal McDonald, and Justin Murray pose for a photo after a stop on the Motivating Our Future tour; (Far right) A DJ from the DMV area plays a concert during a stop on the Summit Tour.

The Motivating Our Future tour incorporated music, interactive games, panels, and audience participation. Over the course of two hours, students could earn gift card prizes, receive Students Demand Action merch, and have fun in a light-hearted environment while listening to serious messages about staying out of trouble.

(Left) Students line up on stage to play a game during the Motivating Our Future Summit Tour. (Right) Neal McDonald speaks to students during a Summit Tour stop.

Neal and Justin could relate to the pressures that many students were under at school, at home, and in the streets in their communities. And they told over 500 students throughout the tour that they were there to show students that it was never too late to make different choices. 

“Live how you want, but when you’re ready to take the next step—when you’re ready to turn your life around—you have me and Neal as your witnesses that it can be done,” Justin shared, reflecting on what he and Neal shared with students on the five tour stops. “Me and Neal’s paths may not work for you, but we’re here to tell you to stay in school. Grade school, first through twelfth grade, nine times out of ten, it’s about the simple structures of life we obtained. Can you get up at 7 a.m. and function, no matter what you did the night before? Can you sit, get instructions, and retain information?”

And then, in the middle of a tour focused on violence prevention and conflict de-escalation, Neal was senselessly shot and killed on November 30, 2024. He had been doing one of the things he did best: Trying to de-escalate a fight that started while watching a football game at a bar. Tempers boiled over. Neal left the bar. But hours later, he and the person who had started the fight ran into each other again outside a restaurant. The man had a gun. And he ended Neal’s life by the same violence Neal worked every day to end.

“Neal is dead because of a Dallas Cowboys and Commanders game,” Justin said. “Ignorance and alcohol got my friend killed.”

The tours stopped—abruptly, tragically, senselessly. Neal’s killing has left a gaping hole in the lives of family, friends, loved ones, and the violence prevention community in D.C.

In the wake of Neal’s death, Justin didn’t know where to direct his sadness and anger. He had lost four of his closest friends, including Neal, during 2024, along with the grandfather who helped raise Justin. He needed a way to process his grief. As Neal always said, it was “time to make it make sense.”

So in partnership with Paper Planes, that’s exactly what Justin did. He worked with Andrea Azalia, a Students Demand Action Associate Director, and Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, to plan an event, design a shirt, host, and recruit for a pop-up in Neal’s honor. On June 27, Justin launched the limited edition “Time to Make It Make Sense” tee at a Paper Planes pop-up event in New York City. The event ran from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. They sold out of shirts by 5:15. 

For Justin, one of the most meaningful moments from the event was seeing Neal’s mother at the pop-up. Neal had first started Stay SOLID in honor of his brother, who was killed by gun violence. Now, his mother had two sons stolen by the same senseless violence. She thanked Justin, and everyone else in the room, for the work they were doing to honor her sons.

The “Time Make It Make Sense” launch also gave Justin a chance to share more with attendees about the cultural relevance of memorial t-shirts. A student from Staten Island asked: Why is this a big deal? Justin shared about the long legacy of people in Black and brown communities wearing memorial or “RIP” t-shirts to honor loved ones who have been killed, particularly those who have died by violence. The shirts, which often have an image of the person who died, as well as a quote or phrase to honor their life, are a way to keep the person present and visible.

The t-shirt launch was a labor of love that reminded Justin, and the approximately 100 people in attendance, of the power of community presence. People came from across New York City, but also from across the country, to honor Neal’s legacy and to support Justin’s work. Friends came from Pennsylvania, Florida, and Georgia. One kid, who heard about the event on social media 48 hours before it started, asked his dad and two friends to come with him to the event. He cut and braided his hair to match Justin’s, jumped in the car, and drove from Detroit, Michigan, to NYC to be at the pop-up.

“That shirt was closure for me,” Justin said. Designing the shirt and planning the event helped give Justin the peace, clarity, and understanding he needed to grieve a person he didn’t get to say goodbye to. Now, he wants to see the next generation of young Black kids empowered with the same skills that Neal instilled in Justin. Justin is hoping to find a way to continue the Motivating Our Future Summit Tour to share the messages about setting goals, working hard in school, and reducing conflict during a time when students need to hear that more than ever.

“I can’t replace Neal, and I’m not trying to replace Neal,” Justin said. “Neal was my friend, my brother, my mentor—and I’m hoping I can just finish out strong for him.”