I’m a graduate of Morningside High School, went on to UCLA as an undergrad and eventually earned a Ph.D.
I know my high school was less than, because when I started meeting classmates at UCLA, I could see and hear firsthand how much better prepared my peers from more affluent areas and school districts were for college.
One of my first goals was to change my high school, to go back, and fix it, or at least make it better. I wanted students growing up in the neighborhood where I grew up to make it to college, and when they did, to feel confident that they were ready to learn, compete and make the most of every opportunity they had.
Based on some of my grad school work, I founded the Black Male Youth Academy to help keep young men focused, and created a curriculum to show them their agency in the education system. That evolved into the Urban Scholars Program – now in over a dozen schools, in two cities and graduating college bound young men every year for the past decade.
In Inglewood, the young men I’ve worked with want to get the most out of their time in school, and over the years they’ve had some questions about the systems they encounter. They wanted to challenge the realities of their schools. But when they asked questions, they got a lot of lip service. The School Board was listening, but not responding. In 2015 (date?) I ran for Inglewood School Board. I wanted to be sure there was someone on the other side of the table who would take the young people seriously, and work with them to make the school system a tool for education and civic and social empowerment.
This year, I’m running for my third term on the Inglewood School Board, having just termed out as President. I’m learning a lot, and working