"Being a young man of color in this nation, you’re often exposed to the negative sides of the environments and the families and the things…that you come from, things that you are born into, things that you…might not have power or choice over…I believe it’s very important as a black male teacher to show the other side of…that story...to show the brilliance and the power that being a young black male, a young brown male…that it’s just innate in you.”