“Today Show” highlights Brothers Empowered to Teach during Teacher Appreciation Week

“Today Show” highlights Brothers Empowered to Teach during Teacher Appreciation Week

“Today” co-host Craig Melvin shed light on the organization's mission to help Black men become teachers

NEW ORLEANS (May 16, 2023)– Brothers Empowered to Teach was featured on the Today Show on May 9 to spotlight the organization’s initiative to address the lack of Black male teachers in America. The organization believes increasing the number of Black men in the classroom can have a positive impact on student outcomes and create a more equitable education system. 

According to a report by the National Center for Education Statistics, only 1.3% of the nation's nearly 5 million public school teachers are Black men. Brothers Empowered to Teach aims to change this statistic by creating a pipeline of Black male educators who can come back to their communities to teach, mentor, and provide leadership.

During the interview, Brothers Empowered to Teach Founder Larry Irvin became emotional while talking about his late mother. She was his first teacher who he said taught him to be the change you want to see. However, it took some time for the lesson to sink in for Irvin. 

After following a destructive path, Irvin began to turn things around and started his work in education as a coach at his high school. Then later he transitioned to the classroom after a nudge from a colleague. Years later in 2014, Irvin founded Brothers Empowered to Teach while trying to learn why there are so few Black male teachers.    

Irvin and fellow, Jerome Perkins, both expressed how they were called to the classroom and what it means to be a leader while speaking with Today co-host Craig Melvin. “Kids are what they see. I can go right outside my door and see a drug dealer,” says Irvin. “Education, being a teacher, and leading from a classroom, that’s a different conversation.” Perkins shares the same sentiment saying, “It’s what you perceive and what you see every day. If I see more people like me every day that’s what I’m stuck to.” With those things in mind, both stepped up in an effort to address the lack of diversity in the teaching profession.

Perkins is just one of the more than 170 fellows across New Orleans and Baton Rouge who have completed the program. According to Brothers Empowered to Teach, 75% of fellows have remained teachers for three or more years after graduating.  

For more information about "Brothers Empowered to Teach" and their mission, visit their website at https://www.be2t.org/.

https://www.today.com/video/-brothers-empowered-to-teach-helps-black-men-become-teachers-173676101829