Atlanta is often referred to as being the home of gay social life in the South. However, gay Black boys still go through a public lynching every day at schools across Georgia. Unfortunately the sexual orientation of Black boys is a still barrier in schools that inflicts a lot of self-esteem and social acceptance issues. Black boys dealing with self…
Author: Jason B. Allen
What Cops Can Learn From Black Male Educators
Black male educators have some tactics to teach cops that would actually build positive relationships between cops and Black boys. Building relationships with Black boys begins with how we engage with them. This Isn’t the Movies A family friend took a substitute job recently in Atlanta and said it reminded him of the movie, “Boyz n the Hood.” He actually…
Schools Need More Black Male Counselors
There are 2% of Black men in the education field; imagine the number of Black male counselors there are in schools. Ken Kemp, Black Male counselor in Atlanta, Georgia, is featured in this post to share the importance of his work as a Black male counselor and the positive impact it has on Black boys. We hope this will encourage…
When Your Former Student Calls You His Superman, You Can Pretty Much Retire Happy
Well, this was cool and unexpected. A mentee of mine read my recent blog post about my former student Maleek, and was actually moved to submit the letter below about the impact I made on him and other students when I worked at their school. I don’t know if what I did was so special, but I think it really…
Kehlan Is My Why! Black Boys Inspire Black Males to Be Teachers
Kehlan was one of 16 energetic boys in my kindergarten class during my first year of teaching. He is now in 5th grade. Wowzers. He randomly decided to stop by the school on his way home today to say hi. He says he remembered that his mom had told him I worked here.
Reaching Maleek Means Advocating for More Black Male Educators
There are only two options for Black boys in schools; graduation or jail stated by a former student of mine, Maleek Thomas in 2008. Georgia schools provide many options for success to students. If you fall into one of the marginalized groups, your options go from many to few. However, this isn’t the case for Black boys. THE UNDERREPRESENTATION OF BLACK…
Male Engagement Impacts Literacy!
Black Male Engagement is critically important in reinforcing literacy skills and it begins with fathers or father figures, grandfathers, uncles, big brothers, etc., reading to Black boys. As a Black Male Educator I know how critically important it is for Black boys to have Black males engaged in their lives. People ask me what works and I tell them, “Male…