New Initiative Sets Out To Increase Black Male Teachers Across The Country

Dayshon Smith is part of a nationwide initiative set to put more Black male teachers in the education system.

He’s part of the Leading Men Fellows because he realized early on that he didn’t have a Black male teacher until he was in eighth grade, according to Scripps.

“I instantly thought, ‘When did I have a Black male teacher?’ And I didn’t have one until literally I was all the way in eighth grade, and he was the only one I had,” Smith said.

Studies nationwide measured the impact of having a teacher of the same race, and results have varied, except in one key: the impact is almost always stronger on students of color.

To help keep this positive trend going, Smith is a part of Leading Men Fellows, which The Literacy Lab runs. He is one of 18 participants in Atlanta out of 100 nationwide. These folks spent three weeks in training before starting 10 months in the same classroom, working five hours a day for $17 per hour. But they are eligible for thousands of dollars in college scholarships.

“You know, I think about stereotypes that I hear about young men, young people in general, young Black men, right? And if we were to say, 'We got 20 Black men in the room, what’s going on?' How many people are going to say they’re being trained to be educators?”

Smith said joining the program has had an impact on his life.

“Joining this literacy program, the Leading Man Fellows, it saved my life. I was on the edge of, you know, I wanted to commit suicide before I moved here because I felt like when I was waking up, I didn’t have a purpose or anything, or I felt like I wasn’t worth anything to no one. I used to cry most every night trying to figure out like, ’Why am I here?’ I feel like I didn’t have a reason to be here. So I just wanted to do it. I wanted to just escape life."

“Waking up, knowing them, going to see someone smile and feel that love and their embrace, they gave me a reason to wake up.”