By Elijah Baker

It was nearly 100 degrees in Selma, as sunlight flooded the Wallace Community College campus like an overexposed photo. Four male students worked, intently focused on what was in front of them as industrial fans hummed from the back of the masonry lab, working to keep the air at a reasonable temperature. But these four students didn’t seem to mind the warmth.

Fan blades continually swooshed, and hand tools softly scraped as they spread mortar across gray cinder blocks and red bricks, making the quietest background noise. They had been at it for a little while, yet the sweat hadn’t caught up, as the young men twisted their bodies left and right, back and forth. Over and over, and over again.

“I’ve always wanted to build my own house,” said Jarius Sanders.

While scrolling through social media one night, Sanders saw a custom-made fireplace that caught his attention. He liked how it looked, the detail – everything.

“I thought about it. I could do this,” he said. “I came into the shop one day and told my instructor. I laid the foundation. Then he told me, just build it up from there.”

This kind of project required time and patience. In class, the students used a practice mortar mixture that imitates the consistency of professional mortar so it can be reused during training.
With it, he was crafting his best work.

“I feel like people may not see it as a relevant art today,” said Sanders.

Some of the world’s greatest wonders have withstood the test of time, from the Egyptian pyramids to the Great Wall of China. This kind of brickwork has never lost its appeal because much of its beauty can only be completed by hand. Craftsmen have proven its resistance to fire, earthquakes, and even sound.

Instructor Tommie Flennory didn’t just teach his students their trade, he showed them the value of building things, and people, that endure.

“I tell them all the time, respect is everything,” said Flennory. “Respect is more than money to me.”

Flennory once hired a 22-year-old Wallace Selma student to work for his masonry company. Think of it like an informal apprenticeship. Three days into the job, Flennory got a call from one of his site supervisors. The student had told the supervisor, “You ain’t my boss.”

Later, Flennory drove to the job site and told the student, “This is my supervisor. This is the guy that’s running my job when I’m not here.”

The student replied, “Every time I’ve worked, it’s been at the funeral home with my father. I never had to listen to anyone else but him.”

That moment stuck with Flennory. It reminded him that his students don’t always come into the program knowing what work culture looks like. They don’t always know what to do, not until they bumped into a wall. And that’s when the learning starts.

“I’d rather me do something right and make less money than me do something wrong and
make no money at all,” said Xavier Garner, a student in the same class as Jarius. “The crazy part is that I don’t even like laying bricks. I like laying blocks,” he added.

Garner sometimes struggled with smoothing the spaces between his bricks. “I push the brick down a little too much or make it a little too big,” he said.

While the fans continued to stir the warm air, Garner kept doing what he’s been doing all class period. Scooping mortar, bending over to check that each row is level, and every so often, stepping back to admire his own artistry. Garner was still learning the finishing touches to make his brickwork even stronger. And with every stack he layered, he discovered that what he shaping most was himself.

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