“Like that old commercial, life comes at you fast. It comes at you fast in different ways that you don’t expect, so be flexible. The blizzard of ’93, no one saw that coming. We got a little bit more than what we expected. At that time, I was living in Southside in an apartment. We got snowed in for the weekend, so we had to be flexible and work together, the tenants in the building. That was one of those instances that came out of nowhere and we just had to make it happen. That taught me a lesson: stay kind of prepared.” – Jerome Muhammad of Birmingham.

Jerome Muhammad said two decades of karate have taught him focus. (Tamika Moore / People of Alabama)

Muhammad was out enjoying the weather and walking to warm up before practicing karate at home. He has practiced at Calligan’s School of Karate in Ensley for over two decades.

“It gives you discipline to be able to stick through it through the hard parts. It teaches you to keep going, no matter how hard it gets. Stay with the system, trust the process. I’ve been in martial arts for 20 years. It has impacted my life to learn to stay focused. If you have the habit, the focus is going to be there.”

These are the faces and stories of people from all walks of life who call Alabama home. People of Alabama is a Red Clay Media and Alabama NewsCenter partnership.