Black Men Teach Gold Star Gala Celebrates Educators Transforming Twin Cities Classrooms and the Next Generation Joining Them
MSR editor Jasmine McBride reports on Black Men Teach's annual Gold Star Gala held June 20 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis, where CEO Markus Flynn and honored teachers Keon Lewis and Devon Minke spoke about the transformative power of Black male educators and the mission to ensure Black students see themselves represented in the classroom.
On June 20, Black Men Teach gathered educators, fellows, supporters and community members at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis for its annual Gold Star Gala. An evening celebrating the Black male teachers working to transform Twin Cities classrooms and the young men being prepared to join them.
The event raised funds for scholarships, home down payment assistance, student loan forgiveness support and professional development for fellows pursuing careers in education. But beyond the fundraising, the gala was a statement about what is possible when Black men are supported, celebrated and given room to lead.
“There’s no program, policy, or practice more influential to a Black student’s outcome than having a Black teacher,” said Markus Flynn, CEO of Black Men Teach. “Debating the benefit of Black teachers is like debating gravity. There’s no way you cannot.”
Flynn pointed to research showing that Black students with Black teachers are more likely to go to college, less likely to drop out of high school, more likely to be identified for gifted programs and less likely to be suspended or expelled. For Flynn, the mission runs deeper than data. “I want to see Black boys grow into men,” he said. “I want them to have agency. I want to see them be in a position where they can be their whole selves and live full lives.”
Among those celebrated at the gala were Keon Lewis and Devon Minke, both third and second grade teachers respectively at North Park School for Innovation in Minneapolis, who were recognized for their work in the classroom and beyond. The two also document their teaching experiences together on Instagram under @twobrothersteach.
Lewis, who grew up without a single teacher who looked like him, said that absence became his motivation. “I reflected on my K–12 experience and realized I didn’t have teachers that looked like me or reflected me,” he said. “I really wanted to take that step and be the person that I didn’t necessarily have growing up.”
For Lewis, who grew up biracial in a minority community, finding his identity early, alongside peers who shared similar experiences, shaped the educator he became. His hope for the future is straightforward: “I want Black kids, Black teens, young adults to be able to see themselves in education and really see it as something that can be fruitful and a place where they truly belong.”
Minke’s path to the classroom began at home, as the eldest of nine children, and was crystallized during his time as a Freedom School teacher, when he had his own classroom of 10 to 12 students for the first time. “Ever since that day, I’ve known that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” he said.
His grandmother, an immigrant from Sierra Leone who sacrificed everything to come to the United States and pursue an education, remains his north star. “The way that she sacrificed, leaving a country in West Africa to come all the way here at such a young age, pushes me to continue to get my education and pursue my passions,” Minke said.
Emmanuel Williams, a community defense attorney and partner with Black Men Teach through the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools program, said one of the most important things the community can do for Black boys right now is give them permission to feel.
“Black boy joy… joy within our men is so important,” Williams said. “The ability to validate emotions and have an emotional spectrum amongst Black men and boys. It is okay to feel all the ways you feel.”
Williams said emotional intelligence requires spaces of safety from teachers, mentors, fathers and uncles willing to tell a young boy his feelings are valid. He also pushed back on low expectations for Black men in fatherhood and family life. “As a father, I’ll get people that will say, ‘Good job, you changed a diaper.’ Come on. The bar is higher than that. What am I teaching my kid day in, day out? How am I leading my household?”
For Flynn, the proof of the work is visible every time the community shows up. “The fact that all these people came out to celebrate our teachers,” he said, “that’s it.”
For more information on Black Men Teach, visit www.blackmenteach.org/.
Jasmine McBride welcomes reader responses at jmcbride@spokesman-recorder.com.