Why I Teach: To Make Black Boy Success Not the Exception But the Expectation

Growing up in East New York, when I was still surrounded by the innocence of youth, I had no idea how many odds were systemically stacked against me. My parents were uneducated immigrants from Costa Rica and Cuba. We were poor, didn’t speak English, and lived in one of Brooklyn’s more historically violent neighborhoods. The fact that I sit here today, educated and employed in a career of my choice comfortably typing this piece on a MacBook in my lower crime rate Louisville, Kentucky, neighborhood is nothing short of a miracle. However, it should not be the exception for those like me — it should be the expectation. Why I teach, is to MAKE it THE expectation that all children can overcome barriers and have equitable access to an education or gainful employment.