BR: As a writer for HipHopSince1987.com, I often write about artists, musicians and those in the music industry. Why do you think I chose you as my subject for this interview?
HJ: I asked myself the same question a few times. I first thought it was my swag, then I said “that can’t be it” then I thought that everyone that you have interviewed in the music industry or related has been touched by an educator.
BR: Sounds like you read my mind! Your swag is right! (LAUGHS). I’m sure they have all been touched by a teacher but most of them have never had a black male teacher as their classroom role model.
HJ: Unfortunately, you are right. 80% of America’s teachers white female & black male teachers make up less than 1% of the teaching population. So there is a slim chance that most of the artists you’ve interviewed were taught by a black male teacher. When I heard the same stats 10 years ago, it motivated me to become a teacher and join the Call Me MISTER Teacher Leadership program at Claflin University in South Carolina.
BR: I am very familiar with the Call Me MISTER program because you tweet about it often, sharing the works you’re doing at Cheyney University and abroad but could you tell our readers what the program is about.
HJ: I do tweet a lot, don’t I? Twitter can be addictive sometimes but MISTER is an acronym for Mentors Instructing Students Through Effective Role Modeling. The program was started in 2000 in South Carolina for HBCU’s there and expanded nationally in 2005.
Call Me MISTER is a teacher leadership development program that has an emphasis on servant leadership through mentoring. It has two components; a scholarship (which varies at each school) and a teacher leadership curriculum and framework. MISTER is housed in the School of Education at each respective university and scaffolds the Teacher Education Program to enhance what is being taught.
MISTER recruits, retains, trains and graduates men of color who are highly qualified with the mentality and tools needed to impact communities through the classroom. We are currently in about 7 states and over 25 institutions of higher learning across the nation.
BR: The program sounds like it is addressing the dire statistics you shared with me earlier. Come to think of it, I only had 1 black male teacher. Dealing with musicians and artists, the conversation of what is going on with today’s schools and kids, particularly in Philadelphia, is a constant topic. What do you think is the reason kids are really going HAM in school?
HJ: Ha, this is the first time that I get to use the word HAM, shout out to Jay-Z and Kanye, Watch The Throne! You asked me the same question Tavis Smiley asked me last week. Sadly enough he didn’t use the word HAM but he did want to know what’s going on in Philadelphia with the flash mob, truancy and student performance. Kids today are screaming for attention. A good friend and fellow servant leader, Greg “Just Greg” Corbin said that “flash mobs are the loudest cries for attention a child in Philly will ever make”. I agree with Greg because kids that participate in flash mobs are in some type of way glorified and given the same attention as ESPN top ten plays, or BET’s “Freestyle Friday” competition. The media takes 10-25 seconds of violent activity and presses the repeat button until the viewers are tired of hearing about: INSTANT CELEBRITY and ATTENION!
Children in Philadelphia are like any other child in America. If they are given the attention they need in the school, home or community, they result to other methods of expression in order to garner that attention. In some cities, kids graffiti walls, play malicious pranks, tip cows, burn abandoned cars, engage in underage drinking and the list goes on. Philadelphia received national attention but similar acts are going on every day.
The responsibility does not fall on the child but on the parent, school and community. The same energy and emotion that kids pour into malicious acts can be put into positive and constructive ways of expression. But, when kids do re-direct their energy into positive activities, they aren’t celebrated and lifted up like their counterparts that do just the opposite. There is something seriously insane about that. Something has to be done about it.
BR: That is insane. I’ve never looked at it like that. So, what can my readers do about the problem? They aren’t teachers but are on the ground and in tune with the younger generation.
HJ: I am so glad you asked that question. The lists of the things they can do are endless. As a fan and product of the hip hop culture, I have a love/hate relationship with it. One of the most influential genres of music seems to impart the least academic influence to a culture that they have the most influence over. Just imagine if there were more references on “going to school”, “giving back”, “reading”, painting”, “studying” etc. Obviously, the artist that we admire engages in the aforementioned but don’t speak about it often if at all. You’d be surprised to know that many of them are avid readers, self taught, high school and college graduates. Just imagine if they all shared that? What influence that would have.
Specifically to your readers who are of a younger demographic; if they took a few hours a month to hold workshops or composing songs, producing beats, designing clothes, writing plays, painting, dancing and even the art of “free-styling” they could impact a child positively for the rest of their life. Granted, the child might not walk away from the workshops ready to make it “BIG” in the industry but they will walk away with a mentor, new friends and an experience they will never forget. It’s those experiences that gave them an opportunity to channel their energy into something constructive and begin to positively shape a child’s future.
BR: Soooo Mr. Jean, what are your plans to address the issues of the lack of black male teachers and truant youth in Philadelphia?
HJ: I want to say real quick, thank you for giving me a few minutes to share with you and your readers. I really feel they can be a part of the change that we have been waiting for. Now, what was your question? Oh, what are my plans to address the black male teacher shortage and help the youth of Philadelphia?
I am currently working with the Call Me MISTER program at Cheyney University where we have given new scholarships for more black males who plan to teach. I also am consulting on a few projects that deal with teacher leadership development across the country.
In Philadelphia, I was recently appointed as Executive Director of the Saving Our Boys program. Saving Our Boys is an organization founded by Ms. Michele Lawrence, who resides in Philadelphia, to address the issue of low achievement rates of boys of color. We recently completed our first leadership development institute for high school boys of color and are preparing to expand programming into the school year.
I currently mentor young professionals, college students and the youth that I come across in my travels. People rarely understand the reciprocity of mentorship.
BR: What is the reciprocity of mentorship?
HJ: Simply, it’s the idea that if I am mentoring someone, I have to hold myself accountable to the words I impart with my actions and also have to continue to raise the bar of excellence. I can’t have my mentees running circles around me? (LAUGHS). But seriously, it is important to continue to strive for greatness and excellence!
BR: Well, thank you for taking a few minutes to chat with us and keep us posted on upcoming projects that we can share with our readers.
HJ: Will do and continue holding it down for the women of Hip Hop! Strive to be the “perfect verse over a tight beat”!
Tune in to PRI Radio on September 13th to hear Tavis Smiley speak with Howard on his new project “Saving Our Boys”.
Follow him at @Howard_J or visit his website www.HowardRJean.com
-Brittany Renáe
@_Brittany_Renae
© 2011, @BWyche. All rights reserved.
