A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises them
And a child cannot afford to be fooled
James Baldwin

So when I answered the calling as Mr. DeVaul
I was all-in
Brought in my almond-skinned melanin blend

One of my first lessons
Know thyself and 
Embrace your complexion

It remains true that
Love doesn’t have a specific hue

But the current administration is axing 
Critical Race Theory from schools

Actively dismantling the institution 
Of education

So with no context of the shoe on the other foot
Can’t fathom feet with no shoes

Asserting blackness in white-dominated spaces
Gets misconstrued 
As reverse racism

There’s a fine line between
Being the face of detention
And the pipeline to wasting away in prison

So as I address the class front and center
I’m reminded of Mr. Timmer
A white man tasked with teaching Black literature to

“n-word”

“Say it!” I dared

He couldn’t, scared

“It’s in the text, read it!”

He wouldn’t
Censored

“See, this what I mean!”

At the age of 16
Rather risk it 
Than have my history retwisted 
And distributed by a pale skin

A little over 20% of all teachers are male
And less than 2% of all teachers are black males
Sin

So who’s supposed to shoulder the fail?
Who’s supposed to show the young black kid
With no positive role models how to set sail?

When the system hasn’t equipped them with the right ship
I use my experiences as a vehicle

My background
Music to be grooved with 

The trap sound ain’t too far removed
From the tunes
I grew with

Y’all got G Herbo and Durkio
We had Crucial Conflict and Newsense

So when I stand in front of the class
And my students say, “Mr. DeVaul, you the coolest!”

I know embedded in the lesson plans 
Is the way I stand
My shoes, fit
Ankh necklace
Fly AF, check it

My luggage carried with me on the plane

My language even code-switched is the same 
It still reaches deeper
Hits both heart and home 

Studies found that black students 
Being assigned a black teacher
Increased scores in math and reading

While also 
Decreasing chronic absenteeism 
Higher engagement
Better relations
A beautiful portrait painted of achievement

Across the board
Black men
We can’t ignore 
The attack on the cord to ancestor lore

Children cannot afford to be fooled

One of my students stared at me in confusion
When he saw my collegiate hoodie
Couldn’t believe it

I said “You sound like the white kids on campus!”
He replied quick “I’m sorry,
I just never knew anybody that went Stanford!”

Representation matters 
Gained a reputation for being pan-African 

Children cannot afford 
To be fooled

Black men know 
You are needed 
In the schools