Blog | A Titus Man

Back to School Distinguished Gentlemen Project

Published August 11, 2014

Trying Something New

As our youth heads back to school we wanted to encourage our young men to become productive members of society through our professional development and grooming project. We strive to mold them to become modern day renaissance men; youth males knowledgeable about various facets of culture and instilled with a sense of diplomacy to be able to adapt to different environments. Our Distinguished Gentlemen Program provides our youth with lessons in etiquette, professional attire, grooming and personal hygiene, community service, and career development.

Your Hair

Before you consider exactly how you want your hair to be cut or styled, it’s extremely important to take into consideration your hairline, which is the shape of the hair growth around the top of the forehead.

As you mature you may notice a receding hairline, which is thinning of the hair at the temples and around the hairline at the front.

Aside from your hairline, you may also have some individual hair growth patterns like a whorl, cowlick or even a double crown to take into consideration – all of these can have a huge influence on the type of haircut that will suit you.

Although many readers will may be struggling with hair loss or these specific type of growth patterns, it’s impossible to provide you with a one-size-fits-all advice. Without a professional barber seeing your hair and taking into consideration its direction, type and thickness, along with other factors such as your lifestyle or ‘look’, there isn’t one cut or general recommendation that can be offered to deal with your individual needs.

The solution, as always is to consult a trusted or recommended stylist, whose job is to help tailor your hairstyle to your unique requirements. If your current stylist isn’t providing this service each and every time you go into the salon, it’s time to get a new one.

Success Through Black Male Leadership

Published July 3, 2014

Empowering Young Black Males

To excel in school, black male students need role models and dreams. Of all the challenges we face in education today, I can think of none greater than the challenge of motivating, educating, and empowering black male learners.

The fact that this group of students is in crisis is evident on multiple levels, starting with graduation rates. According to the Schott Foundation (2008), the U.S. high school graduation rate for black males is just 47 percent, compared with 57 percent for Latino males and 75 percent for white males. Alarming as this figure is, the situation becomes even more shocking in large urban school districts, such as New York City, Detroit, and Miami, where the graduation rate for black males ranges from 20 to 30 percent.

The crisis doesn’t begin when students drop out of school. In far too many cases, it begins before they even enter school. As they move through the grades, black male students as a group have low achievement levels, excessively high suspension and expulsion rates, and a disproportionate number of special education referrals (Kunjufu, 2005). In many of our urban middle and high schools, countless numbers of black male students are entering secondary school reading one to three years below grade level.

These school-related gaps culminate in black male adults who “are more chronically unemployed and underemployed, are less healthy and have access to fewer health care resources, die much younger, and are many times more likely to be sent to jail for periods significantly longer than males of other racial/ethnic groups.” Of course, many black male students do well in school and go on to live successful lives. Millions of black males have achieved great things—and that includes those who grew up in high-poverty and high-crime communities. But we can’t ignore the statistics that tell us that our education system is failing far too many of our young black males.

The Role Model Crisis

As an advocate for youth males, I have frequent opportunities to talk with educators at all levels. A staggering number of elementary school teachers tell me they have run out of ideas on how to keep their black male students focused and inspired. Many teachers actually break down in tears during this conversation. They desperately want to help their black male students succeed, but they feel overwhelmed by the challenge.

What can we do?

As I examined this problem and searched for strategies that schools could implement, one thing struck me in particular—the reality that approximately 50 percent of black children in the United States live in households without a father figure present (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). I began to ask myself, Who is going to provide our black male students with the proper male guidance, direction, leadership, and structure that they desperately need? I wanted my black male students to see adult males who were striving to fulfill their own potential and who were also committed to the growth and development of the younger generation. I felt that if many of these students had men in their lives whom they could relate to and identify with, they would look at their education differently and the probability for their success would increase exponentially. This is why we partnered with our local schools, community leaders, commissioners, businesses etc. to give our youth alternatives to the streets, drugs and gangs. It is so important that our 501c3 not for profit organization “A Titus Man, Inc.” receive the help, support of our community, donors and volunteers so that we can continue our guidance for youth males that are underprivileged and in need of our programs. We look forward to continuing our efforts in providing them with an opportunity (our motto) “A Pathway to a Successful Life.”

A Titus Man

“Growing men of Character.”

Let’s Hear It For The Boy

Published May 24, 2014

Kingsley Iyawe is one special young man he is the first male valedictorian in Carver’s School of Technology history. With a 3.96 GPA and an 1870 out of 2400 on the SAT, he is smart. “When he took the test the first time, he had over 1700 on his first SAT. Iyawe was only short a perfect score in mathematics by 20 points,” said Doanes. Iyawe applied to 40 colleges and universities and was offered scholarships worth a staggering $2.5 million, including the prestigious Gates Millennium Scholarship.

The road to the top of his class was not easy. It required hard work, dedication and the will to overcome one of the biggest hurdles a young man could ever face. “The toughest time was when I lost my mom to cancer. That was in my 9th grade year right around the end of that and throughout. She was diagnosed around December 2010, so I had to go to school December to May thinking about that,” Iyawe said. Despite the pain and confusion Iyawe pushed on.

“I had to realize that at some point you had to keep going. You have to cope with the loss of your mother and you have to keep going on because the world is not going to stop,” said Iyawe. “I am also most thankful for my father who always believed in my ability to conquer any challenge and he taught me to deal with adversity with dignity and integrity.”

Iyawe shared his talents and academic prowess with others, as a sophomore tutoring upperclassman in Spanish and teaching a SAT prep course. “He walked around the first part of the year with a SAT book, ACT study book. You don’t see that in high school you know? Students that do that are looked down upon as nerds or whatever, but Iyawe, he really didn’t care,” said Rosie Onwuneme, a teacher at Carver.

Iyawe told his peers the secret to his success is no secret at all. “If you just work hard, if you just study, if you put the time in you can achieve the same score.” Saturday afternoon Iyawe will walk across the Civic Center stage, give his valedictorian speech and receive his diploma. “My mom will be looking down on me. That is going to be chills. I will just have chills on my face,” Iyawe said. He will be attending Morehouse College in June majoring in mathematics.