Tilting his hat slightly to the side and surveying the crowd before taking over the mic, Solomon Miles, a seasoned front man for multiple bands, looks at home. With a gaggle of musicians warming up behind him, the crowd -- eager to hear his first tune -- adds to his vibe.
The audience seems to sense something’s happening -- is this the next musical success story to sprout from the Old Dominion?
Miles, and his various band mates, have heard the reviews and know that their soulful sounds have been compared to everyone from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Credence Clearwater Revival to Eric Clapton and the Beatles.
But off the stage Miles appears to be gearing up for another ride -- an advocacy movement to change attitudes and actions. The popular lead singer, who has performed since the age of five, is seeking a change in state policy, business practices, and civic activities to make all aspects of community life inclusive and welcoming to people with disabilities.
“There has never been any question over if I could do something -- it was just how,” explains Miles, who was born with Cerebral Palsy and was not expected to live more than half a decade.
At an early age Miles began advocating for his peers with disabilities, and he quickly tapped into his musical talents and infectious personality to educate his friends without disabilities. “I told them that many people with disabilities are cooler than they’d ever be, and that its differences that make people cool.”
Today his disability is not a focus, as fans seek Miles out for his jazz, rock, R&B, and country music. “It’s a mechanism that I use to show people that we all have talents,” says Miles. He chuckles, and then adds, “It has gotten me a lot of friends, and a few dates.”
As Miles began to emerge as a budding star on the stage during the evening hours, his day time pursuits began receiving equal billing. Initially working for the Center for Independent Living, he began working with students with disabilities on self advocacy skills. Developing a reputation for leadership, Miles took on roles with AmeriCorps as a Youth Employment
Specialist where he was responsible for not only teaching 18 to 22 year olds job skills, but helping them land quality jobs in the community.
“One of my most memorable experiences was a student that went through my trainings several times. I went with him to interview at Target, he was so nervous and I needed to calm him down. I saw him years later and he gave me a huge hug and thanked me, telling me that he was still working there, and was out of his Mom’s house, and…that he was a manager.”
While Miles quickly racked up credentials, he began to take on new challenges, such as his current role as an Information and Training Specialist for the Center for Self-Advocacy Leadership at the Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Now 27, Miles is equally known for his advocacy initiatives as he is for his stage presence. Driven by what he sees as Virginia’s unique opportunity to reform its historical focus on large, state institutions, Miles is leading a movement towards transition to a true community-based system of support for citizens with disabilities. The “future” is community employment and living, he says, and the future is now. The time for Virginia to act is now.
“And I’m just getting started,” he smiles.
