A Brotherhood of Educators Grows in the City of Brotherly Love

In Philadelphia, Black male educators are vastly underrepresented in the city’s schools. Two friends are working to build a teaching corps that better reflects the population it serves.

As the saying goes, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” Exposure—to subject matter, to role models, to experiences—can make all the difference in shaping what the future can hold.

When students see themselves reflected in their educators, it changes lives.

Growing up in Syracuse, New York, a black male teacher changed the trajectory of my life, challenging me to be the best version of myself and spurring a lifelong interest in building stronger, more equitable education systems.

For students of color, the research is clear. Greater diversity at the head of the classroom yields higher expectations, lower discipline referral rates and better academic results.

But in my adopted home of Philadelphia, only 4% of teachers are black men in a school district with a student body that is 50% black and 27% black male.

This reality inspired my best friend Rashiid Coleman and me to launch the Black Male Educators Convening (BMEC) in 2015 with a local group of educators.

It was born of a need to cultivate the next generation of black male educators, but also out of a brotherhood bond to reimagine the space differently for all students—especially for black boys and young men, like us.