unMASKing with Male Educators: Creating Emotionally Safe Classrooms & Schools for Male Students

What happens when the protections students depend on begin to disappear in plain sight? In this conversation, Ashanti Branch sits down with education law scholar Preston Cary Green III to explore how his journey shaped his commitment to protecting opportunity, dignity, and rights for all young people. Together, they discuss the masks educators wear, the ongoing fight for student protections, and w...

What if the behaviors schools label as problems are actually signs of untapped brilliance? In this conversation, Ashanti Branch sits down with educator, author, and Think Law founder Colin Seale to explore how his journey from struggling student to gifted learner, math teacher, and law school graduate shaped his mission to make critical thinking accessible to every child. Together, they discuss th...

What happens when your earliest memories teach you lessons about race, identity, and belonging before you even understand what those words mean? In this conversation, Ashanti Branch sits down with educator, author, and education leader Brian Rashad Fuller to explore his journey into education and the story behind Being Black in America’s Schools . Together, they discuss the masks educators wear, t...

What happens when one person sees your potential before you can see it yourself? Ashanti Branch sits down with Hasan Davis, educator, youth advocate, storyteller, and self-described "Hope Dealer," to explore the experiences that shaped his life and his commitment to young people. From childhood trauma and educational barriers to juvenile justice reform and national leadership, Hasan shar...

Content notes: This episode contains discussions of trauma, addiction, mental health, and psychedelic-assisted healing. Steve shares his personal experiences and perspectives. This conversation is not intended as medical, psychological, or professional treatment advice. Listeners seeking support should consult qualified healthcare or mental health professionals. What happens when the masks that he...

What happens when the people everyone relies on for hope, encouragement, and positivity are struggling to carry everyone else's burdens? In this powerful conversation, Ashanti Branch sits down with educator, author, and speaker Chase Mielke to explore the masks educators wear, the emotional labor of teaching, and the importance of creating spaces where both students and adults can be fully hum...

What happens when a certified educator, trauma-informed healing-centered facilitator, and community organizer starts asking deeper questions about masculinity, emotional safety, and the world our boys are growing up in? In this powerful episode of unMASKing with Male Educators , Asahnti sits down with Mexican-American educator, former middle school teacher, community organizer, and Trauma-Informed...

In this episode of unMASKing with Male Educators , Ashanti Branch sits down with Nigel Williams, a longtime friend from Oakland, retired probation professional, high school basketball coach, father, entrepreneur, and founder of Future Rich. Nigel reflects on the masks he wears as a man who leads with heart, hope, and resilience, while carrying the hidden pressure of looking good, seeming like he h...

In this episode of unMASKing with Male Educators , Ashanti Branch sits down with Jay Wamsted, a 20-year educator, father, writer, and author of The Lockdown Artist . Jay reflects on the masks he wears as a teacher, being in control, joyful, hopeful, and steady, while carrying the hidden weight of uncertainty, frustration, and concern about the future of public education. He shares his journey as a...

In this episode of unMASKing with Male Educators , Ashanti Branch sits down with Principal Baruti Kafele , a 40-year educator, author, speaker, and school leader. Principal Kafele reflects on the mask he wore as a principal... “I’m good”, while carrying the hidden pressures of leadership, staff conflict, community expectations, and student needs. He shares how reading Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther...

Ashanti sits down with Clyde Cole, Principal of Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School, to explore identity, leadership, education, and the masks school leaders wear. Clyde reflects on his journey as the child of immigrants, his 35 years in education, and the classroom moment that shaped his calling. He also shares how calm leadership, transparency, and emotionally safe adults can help young men build tr...

Ashanti sits down with Bishop Foreman for an honest and powerful conversation about leadership, education, and the masks we wear. This episode explores what it means to lead while carrying pain, why consistency can become overcommitment, and how childhood experiences often shape the way adults show up as educators, mentors, and leaders. Bishop Foreman also shares why the best teachers do more than...

In this conversation, Ashanti sits down with Alexander Kopelman, founding president and CEO of the Children’s Arts Guild, to explore authenticity, identity, creativity, and what it means to help children thrive as whole human beings. Together, they reflect on the masks adults wear, the stories we carry from childhood, and how our own fears, wounds, and expectations can shape the way we show up for...

In this thoughtful and timely conversation, Ashanti sits down with educator, facilitator, and author Jason Biehl to explore masculinity, whiteness, emotional honesty, and what it means to nurture healthy belonging for boys and men. Together, they reflect on the fears, grief, and uncertainty many young people are carrying right now, and why adults must be willing to face discomfort, tell the truth,...

What does it cost to always be seen as the strong one? In this conversation, Curtis Valentine, founder of Real Men Teach and founder in residence with the American Institute for Boys and Men, joins Ashanti to talk about what it takes to recruit, support, and retain men of color in education. They explore the stereotype that men of color should always be the strong ones, how Real Men Teach grew fro...

What if the way through stress isn’t to push harder, but to learn how to come back to yourself? In this conversation, Shalin Desai, engineer, Art of Living Foundation leader, and breathwork teacher, shares how being introduced to these practices at 16 changed the direction of his life. Ashanti and Shalin talk about the masks men wear, the fear of failure, the calm we can carry behind the mask, and...

Welcome to UnMASKing with Male Educators. In this episode, Ashanti shares a deeply personal update on his health and wellness journey, reflecting on what it has meant to continue detoxing, stay committed to a plant-based lifestyle, and push through both physical and emotional barriers along the way. But this conversation goes beyond the scale. Ashanti connects his fight for health to the realities...

One social worker. One campus. A hundred invisible fires. In this conversation, Justin Martinez , a Bay Area high school school social worker , assistant baseball coach , and facilitator of a young men’s group called “Are You Man Enough?” , breaks down what it really takes to support students with high needs without losing yourself in the process . Justin shares how his own story (foster care, dom...

Three Black male educators. Three generations of impact. One powerful through-line: belief . In this conversation, Jacob (Cory Gold), Dr. Willie Williams, and Reginald Williams unpack what it means to teach while carrying a mask, showing strength, joy, fairness, and love… while holding grief, pressure, mental health, and the realities of being a young Black man in a profession where you’re often t...

This episode is a masterclass in what it really costs to be a Black man in education and what it takes to build something better. Sharif El-Mekki (Center for Black Educator Development) breaks down the “trifecta” that grinds educators down, why many recruitment efforts are ill-informed and unserious , and how a student-led rallying cry became a national pipeline movement: #WeNeedBlackTeachers . Li...

This is the story of two educators who never planned to become educators , and ended up building an edtech nonprofit that’s served 50+ schools in Puerto Rico. Robby Cobbs and Kyle Sumrow break down the “international teaching cheat code,” the masks they wear as leaders, and how they turned frustration into a system that helps schools build real tech plans (not PDFs that die in a Google Drive). Lis...

In this episode, Ashanti Branch shares what he’s been witnessing in schools and in the broader social climate surrounding ICE, Alex Pretti, and how it shows up in students’ bodies, behavior, and sense of safety. He opens with a lunch conversation with a group of young men who name the pressures they feel: expectations, relationships, emotions, and not always having someone they trust when they’re...

What happens when “being professional” quietly turns into “being unseen”? In this episode of unMASKing with Male Educators, Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Black Studies scholar, writer, and professor at Duke University, joins Ashanti for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about masks we wear in education, what students have lost (and gained) in the post-pandemic classroom, and why freedom with language...

What if the breakthrough for Black boys and men in education isn’t more pressure… but more belonging? In this episode of unMASKing with Male Educators, Dr. Calvin J. Hadley, Assistant Provost for Academic Engagement and Student Partnerships at Howard University, joins Ashanti for a real conversation about what’s happening to Black male enrollment, why emotional safety has to come before performanc...

What if the leadership move you need most right now isn’t to push harder… but to pause? In this episode of unMASKing with Male Educators , Ayodele Harrison, educator, facilitator, and founder of Black Male Educators Talk (BMEsTalk) joins host Ashanti Branch for a real, layered conversation about the masks Black men learn to wear in schools, in leadership, and in life. Ayodele shares how BMEsTalk i...