Transcriber:
I had a chance to teach a summer program
a few years back in my hometown
of New Orleans.
I had a group of 32 young men,
age ranging from nine to 14,
all Black boys.
I wanted to set a tone
the first day of class.
I want to compare
and contrast the mindsets
of the contemporary young folk
in contrast to my constituents
and how we grew up and how we aspired.
So I asked them the old cliché question:
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Here were the responses.
Twenty nine said Kevin Durant.
Three said LeBron James.
Now, I had two thoughts.
First was I was flabbergasted
because, obviously,
these young boys don't know basketball.
Because LeBron is the man, if you ask me.
But my second thought was,
the narrative still hasn't changed.
The scope of possibility
is still very limited.
Sports, streets, entertainment.
We don't see ourselves really
outside of those arenas.
Something has to change.
But my mom was an educator.
She laid a very positive foundation
for myself and my sister, Charlene,
in regards to education.
But what she did, most importantly,
was she made me a dreamer.
She opened up that scope of possibilities,
and now I’m the CEO of an organization
that recruits Black male teachers.
Being a teacher is
one of the most impactful ways
you can see your impact as a professional.
Being a Black male teacher
is a game changer.
Being a Black male teacher
is becoming a superhero.
So let's talk about him.
Let's take a look at the landscape
currently in the United States.
Less than three percent
of all teachers are Black men.
For my liberal arts majors
that's three out of 100.
(Laughs)
Now, Black men are in classrooms
as disciplinarians,
as janitors,
as intervention specialists
and definitely as athletic coaches.
In front of the classroom,
leading from an intellectual capacity,
not so much.
But I want to take the first step
and juxtapose it to that of another.
Just one Black male teacher
in third, fourth or fifth grade
for a low-income Black boy
substantially reduces his chances
of dropping out of high school
by almost 40 percent.
Let that sink in.
Just imagine if you had two.
And that's what I do.
Kids are what they see.
They need that affirmation.
So I provide the mirror.
We provide the mirror.
At Brothers Empowered to Teach,
we recruit Black male teachers.
So how do we do what we do?
Attachment.
We offer a three-year undergraduate
fellowship to college-aged Black men.
Our criteria are simple.
You got to have a 2.5,
be enrolled at least half-time in college
and obviously be a Black male.
The first year, the program
is just an observation year,
we like to take a gradual,
slow approach to teaching.
We have an old saying in New Orleans:
“You can’t microwave gumbo.”
You've got to slow-cook it.
And that's the approach
we take with teachers.
Year one is a simple observation,
you may lead homework activities,
recreational activities
for 10 or 12 hours a week.
Year two and three
are your lab development years
where you learn the pedagogy,
classroom management,
shadowing teachers, lesson planning,
things of that nature.
It all culminates
in placement into the classroom.
But the really special sauce
of our program
is our internal, personal
and professional development,
the Cipher series.
The Cipher series is where young men
get a chance to break down and dissect,
sort of recalibrate
their compasses, if you will,
in regards to being a Black man
in this world today,
but also being a Black man in education.
Our topics of discourse
range from masculinity, résumés,
networking, relationships, you name it.
See what we’re trying to do is really push
this envelope in regards to attachment.
We take a holistic approach to education.
We develop good people.
And then in turn
they manifest into great educators,
people over pedigrees,
dispositions over degrees.
I think about our first fellow,
Alex Halstead.
Dillard University attendee,
arbitrary major.
Like a lot of our young Black men,
walking around Dillard’s campus,
not much direction.
Creative writing major,
didn't have a plan,
was told to go to school
like a lot of us was told to go to school
because it's the right thing to say
from your parents.
Alex had no true direction.
Alex came to our program,
we put Alex in front of the kids.
He became a mirror,
but also they became
a mirror for him as well.
See, it’s a double reflection
when Black kids see a Black male
and then a Black male sees a Black kid.
They reflect for themselves,
and that's what we do.
We create the connection to the classroom
for a demographic and a group
that hasn't been represented
as far as education
as long as I can remember.
They were removed from the conversation
from an intellectual standpoint
as students, but also as teachers.
As I think about it, man,
I think three, five, 10 years from now,
if we circle back to the conversation
about what do you want to be,
and I pose that question
again to my young boys,
maybe we can add
a couple of names to those lists.
Maybe we can say Kevin Durant,
LeBron James
and also Mr. Halstead,
and maybe even Mr. Irving.
Yeah. Mr. Irving.
I like the ring of that.
Thank you.