Meet NENA's new community organizer

Nokomis East Neighborhood Association is proud to announce we have a new community organizer. If you see Adrian Floury running around town, make sure to say ‘Hello!’
Adrian is from Minden, La. He is the eldest of five siblings; his parents are A’Dovian Johnson and Adrian Flournoy. Growing up in Louisiana, he enjoyed being outside with friends riding bikes and going on four wheelers with his cousins. He also would go to his uncle’s farm and ride horses with his cousins. During his high school years he played two sports – football and basketball . He was a 3-year letterman in football. Outside of organized sports, he was in a high school fraternity called Epsilon Rho Kudos. They did many philanthropy events, such as a sickle cell drive and giving toiletry items to the elderly.
Adrian has always been interested in politics. Majoring in political science with a minor in history, he took on working at Nokomis East Neighborhood Association as a logical next step in his career. He noted that many politicians skip the grassroots steps when going into politics. “I kind of want to go through all the steps and processes, because if you go through all of them you understand the world around you. A lot of politicians are disconnected from the people they represent,” he said, stating that his biggest interest in politics is how politicians represent their constituents.
When I asked him what triggered his interest in politics, he said, “There aren’t a lot of people who look like me in these positions. And all I could think is: ‘Why not?’ It was always ‘why not for me.'” When I asked him if he had any heroes, his first answer was John Lewis, who also started his career as a community organizer. He also listed Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and any person who is trying to “forward the mission for equal opportunities for minorities."
"I look at it like a baton. The last generation tries to put things to the next generation,” he said thoughtfully, mulling over the fact that 50 years ago, when his older family members were his age, they were living in the best situation that had ever existed for African Americans in the U.S. Today, he is currently living in the best situation for African Americans in the U.S. “We just want to continue that trend,” he said, marking that politics is one avenue to fast-track equal rights.
Adrian is not one to back down from a challenge. He recently came back to the United States from working for a year in Humacao, Puerto Rico. He described teaching high school in a monastery with a rigorous schedule which included waking up at 5:30 a.m. to pray before mass at 6:30 a.m. followed by high school courses, afternoon prayer, sports, and nightly prayer. “I like putting myself in hard situations. I feel like you learn a lot about yourself when your back is against the wall…I just wanted to do something hard and feel good about it afterwards.”
He described being on the island during hurricane season, where the power would go out for hours at a time. His twin-sized bed wasn’t long enough to accommodate him, so his feet would hang off at night. Sometimes, it would be so hot, he preferred to sleep outside where there was a breeze. Even though it was a hard year, he had several take-aways from the island. “Animals and humans were in such better harmony than it is in the cities.” He described the different animals there – there’s a small, loud frog called a 'coqui’ frog that would say "coquii" every night all night. He would go "waterfall hunting" on the weekends, and find himself climbing tall mountains with hardly any trails in search of the views.
After his year-long contract, Adrian decided he wanted to work in his own community, where he could build long-term relationships and help people who are nearest to him. He is most excited about going out and meeting our community and helping in any way he can.