Member of Run DMC hands out books, spreads positive message at Louisville elementary school

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The vibe at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary in west Louisville was a bit more upbeat Thursday.

Zariah Points and her classmates had heard who would be walking their way, but when he showed up, some of them got a lot more out his presence than expected.

"It was like a bit of a surprise," said Zariah a student at MLK Elementary. "It blew my mind."

It was a little difficult to tell with his mask on and his signature black hat off, but Darryl McDaniels from Run DMC was the special visitor.

These days, McDaniels has dropped the mic — for a little while at least — and has taken to the keyboard. His flow going from the screens of MTV to the pages of his very own kid's book, "Darryl's Dream."

run dmc 3 — Run DMC's Darryl McDaniels was a special visitor at Louisville's King Elementary on Thursday. He talked to students and donated copies of his chilcren's book, "Darryl's Dream." March 3, 2022.

"All of that 'King of Rock,' Walk this Way, my Adidas stuff, that Darryl with Run and Jam Master Jay (rest in peace) was just the set up for what I was meant to do," McDaniels said.

His book tells the story of his time in elementary school.

"People bullied him because he couldn't see," Zariah said.

"People asked me why I wear those glasses, and I said, 'So I can see,'" McDaniels told the Louisville students.

The point of the book is to show how he overcame it to be successful on about every big stage that exists.

"I'm telling the kids, 'Yo, what's up? I'm Darryl. I grew up and did a lot of cool stuff with Run DMC,'" he said. "You start to see attitudes about education and positivity change."

The message of creativity, confidence and finding a voice landed for the group of young and impressionable kids.

run dmc 2 — Run DMC's Darryl McDaniels was a special visitor at Louisville's King Elementary on Thursday. He talked to students and donated copies of his chilcren's book, "Darryl's Dream." March 3, 2022.

"I want to be a nurse, so he really made me follow my dreams," Zariah said.

Any parent or teacher knows that can be, in the words of Run DMC, "tricky, tricky, tricky."

McDaniels is in Louisville for an appearance at Leadership Louisville Center’s Best of Leadership Summit, which is donating $2,000 in books to the school.