GIVING STUDENTS OF COLOR A BOOST
School district official fosters leadership, aims to improve graduation rates
Each week, this series will introduce you to an exceptional American who unites, rather than divides, our communities. To read more about the American profiled here and more average Americans doing exceptional things, visit onenation.usatoday.com.
What does it mean to you to be an American?
For me, as an African-American male, it means I have an obligation to do my best every day, to acknowledge the freedoms that I currently have, and to honor the people that came before me in the best way that I can, considering the tumultuous journey they had to go through for me to get here.
What moment motivated you to launch this effort?
I think one of the most challenging moments of my life was when I didn’t graduate from high school and all my friends did. I was sitting up in the balcony watching them graduate, and I was bawling like a little baby, because I knew I should have done that. ... I think that started me on this trajectory, but ultimately what really lit a fire in me was seeing black men in America be stereotyped and marginalized and be put in a box ... and knowing that it’s not that cut-and-dried. I don’t want to see young people like me not be successful just because of the color of their skin.
What gives you hope, or what concerns you?
The same thing — seeing people change and seeing people not change. You know, we all have biases, but (what gives me hope is) really being pleasantly surprised by having really pleasant conversations with people who you’ve already stereotyped and thought that they were going to show up one way but didn’t. But on the flip side, it’s the same thing, ( being concerned with) somebody who you don’t expect to act like that kind of shows a bad side of themselves.
What do you hope to accomplish through your efforts?
That I look back one day and say that I made a difference. ... It’s the idea that you can see the fruits of your labor, that you did this for a reason, and you can see that you made a difference.