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

“I just never wanted to be in that bucket with everyone else. I’ve always had this need to differentiate in a way that often has distanced me from people and from groups. I say all that and then there’s times where I’m like, ‘How come I never feel belonging?’ There’s some part of me that’s terrified of belonging, so I separate myself by being worse or better.” - Joe Bernstein Ever Forward Club’s A...

This TOTM Face to Face conversation is between Wenceslao and Angel. Wenceslao is the Ever Forward Club’s new Youth Host! You can get to know more about him in episode 123. Angel is a member of the EFC Social Emotional Leadership Academy. In fact, Angel and Wenceslao recorded a podcast together a year ago. As they share their masks, play our Adventure Card Game, and discuss all things friendship, p...

“The journey I'm on is trying to unpack my story in a way to find out who I am without my trauma. And what does life look like and how is it lived if I stop living through the lens of my trauma and the things that have been challenging for me, and really focus on purpose.” Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Romal Tune. Romal is a father, author, social impact Entrepreneur, and VP of S...

Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Wenceslao S. Wenceslao is a high school student based in San Francisco, CA, and an aspiring musician and car racing aficionado. Wenceslao is also Ever Forward Club’s new Youth Host! Signing up for duties as the new host is a big deal for Wenceslao, someone who struggles with social anxiety. In this conversation, Ashanti and Wenceslao discuss what it...

This December, Ashanti went on his (somewhat) annual trip to Mexico. In this podcast, Ashanti reflects on the trip, spreading the Million Mask Movement, and returning to the Bay Area for a New Year’s Eve celebration filled with juxtapositions… (1:40) Ashanti recaps his trip to Mexico City and explorations with Rohit Tigga and Rodrigo. Then, he looks ahead at what’s in store for the Ever Forward Cl...

“I was 50 years old when my son took his life. At that point in my life, I was in the best shape I’ve ever been. Bench 400 pounds, squat 550, deadlift 550, but I wasn’t strong enough to save a life.” - Phillip Tyler Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Phillip Tyler. Phillip is many things, including an Air Force Veteran, former Corrections Lieutenant, and a former Vice President and Pr...

“Something my mom always says - and she makes it seem so simple - is, ‘If you miss somebody, call them.’ We have no excuse not to communicate with the people that we want to talk to.” - Zeke Crawford Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Zeke Crawford. Zeke is from San Francisco, California, and Zeke and Ashanti first connected when Ashanti held a workshop at Zeke’s Stuart Hall High Scho...

“Painting in a blizzard, painting in gale force winds - those experiences are experiences where I realized we are not separate from ‘it’. It doesn’t matter what label you give to ‘it’ - universe, divine, energy, God, spirit. You give it whatever label you want to give it. What I realize is we’re not separate from it, and the only thing that creates the idea that we could be is our mind.” - Alexand...

“I started to be selfish because I didn’t want to be hurt… Even how someone’s day was… If it didn’t matter to me, then I would not give it attention. This is awful. This is awful… Walls that I put around myself to block myself from being hurt… When you start to do this, you start to be alone.” - André Portela Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by André Portela. 20 years old and from Fort...

“We all create this idea that we’re OTHER, rather than, ‘our experiences may be other, but, actually, our emotions are identical.’” - Gidai Maaza Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Gidai Maaza. Gidai is a son, father, husband, and community member. Having survived the refugee camp experience with his mother by way of Ethiopia in the early 80s, Gidai turned his trauma into awareness an...

“White folks need to realize that something’s been done to us - that we’re raced. Like, we’re not actually white… We were Polish, we were German, we were Irish. We’ve lost that ethnicity we’ve lost that culture, and our legacy is taking it from other folks, right? I still have work to do on exploring my own family… We actually have more ability to research our people and find them, and yet we stil...

“One of my deep beliefs and convictions is that we live in a society where people are hyper-focused on getting their point across and having their point of view heard and seen. And therefore they do not develop the muscle and/or ability to provide people the same space and latitude that they want for themselves. So I’ve taken it upon myself to be someone who stands in that gap, who sits in that ga...

“It’s like having orange street cones there. You see ‘em. You know they’re there, but you can blow past them and it’s not going to stop you. That was my story ten years ago... I had to say it’s not about some external circumstance. It’s about what am I choosing.” - Jim Young, on chasing self-worth through work Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Jim Young. In addition to being a wildfl...

“I think that - something I think we should just say and admit in life - is that the large majority of your day you can’t expect to be experiencing happiness. Happiness has to be something that’s abnormal otherwise it wouldn’t be real… I have a very busy schedule, and I feel like I’m always trying to get something . I’m kind of always trying to be happy - and you should always try to be happy - bu...

“I’ve been seeking truth in life more and more. For such a long time, I felt like my truth wasn’t accepted in spaces or whenever I even tried to speak truth that was denied, in a sense. And for me, it has been a liberation of really being able to just live in truth and honesty - of what really matters to me and my own feelings and internal life.” - Marcelo Peterlini Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Bra...

E111. Call Me Man - with Man Le, Husband, Father, Nurse, & EFC Alumnus “If I walk into a room, they’re gonna feel it. They’re gonna feel my positivity. I’m trying to smile as much as possible, especially with the job that I’m doing. I got to be able to - regardless of what the situation is - show a smile, be positive. You run into some tough situations with the job I’m in. So, I just got to do...

“I find that when I was a kid I wasn’t validated a lot, and I wanted that. I used to internalize that… So I always felt like not having that in my formative years - that validation, that love, that security -  it affects me now. So for me, going through therapy and going all the way back… those formative years are really important. The picture, the self-perception, you have as a kid, a lot of...

“The hardest day - the one that comes to mind - is moving from Oakland to San Luis Obispo. ‘Cause that hurt. A lot. ‘Cause I was leaving my home, I was leaving the home that I knew… It was a new place… And it was new people and I was leaving everyone that I knew and really loved, like you and Ishmael and Gabriel and… I was leaving you. And that really hurt.” - Eli This TOTM Face to Face conversati...

“The great positive stuff comes to you, and it’s like a nice little charm you can put in your pocket. But, when somebody comes down on you, it’s like a boulder that just sits on your shoulder. And it’s like, why’d I let that be the thing? Why can’t that be the charm where I’m like, ‘Alright yeah it’s there, but I got all this positivity. And I’m going to surround myself in that .’” - Marcus L. Str...

“I need to take a look at myself in the mirror, and accept exactly who I am right now, on the journey of being who I really want to be.” In the coastal forests of Oregon, there is a mirror hammered onto what remains of an old tree. Framing the mirror are the bones of a bull that has long passed. And, in this special episode of Taking Off The Mask, Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch shares what he...

“Compassionate living should be the focus of our existence - or our existential life. Because, of all the things we are able to be, one thing that will stand us out, when we leave the world, is the feeling we left behind in the hearts of other people, and that feeling originates from a heart that is very compassionate. And that’s what drives me every day - to bring these feelings out and give it t...

“Something one of my friends said about me is that, ‘Julian doesn’t have secrets - he just has things he ain’t said yet.’” - Julian A. This TOTM Face to Face conversation is between Mohandas and Julian. Mohandas is the Ever Forward Club’s Youth Host, whom you can get to know more about in episode 83. Julian is Mohandas’s friend since childhood, currently a 12th grader based in Oakland, CA, and an...

“I wear my emotions on my sleeve, positive dude overall… But I just got numb. There was so much stress and it was the first time I was just numb. I wouldn’t call it depression because I was still motivated, but it was like if I get emotional, if I’m not stoic, I’m just going to go a little bit crazier than I want, or down a path I don’t want to.” - Scott Messier Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch...

“We’re trying to make being a teacher sexy again. You know, I can’t even say ‘again’ because I don’t know if it was ever sexy. But we got to make it sexy.” - Jason Muhammad Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Brother Jason Muhammad. Jason teaches middle school in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. And the fact that Jason isn’t fixated on labels and boundaries means that he doesn’t think of himse...

“I lost my brother last year… The thing that has driven me for so long - I was raised without anything - I would be damned if I wasn’t going to be successful… My brother never really had that same thing. He was successful, but he was gentle, and he was just sweet, and he was always late for everything, and all kinds of things. We had totally different character sets… And now I’m questioning all th...