Street Soldiers Radio: Men, Masculinity and Emotional Masks

Street Soldiers Radio

Street Soldiers Radio is joined by guests Ashanti Branch, Johnathan Pugh Jr. and Wenceslao Soto with a discussion about men, masculinity and the emotional masks.

The Ever Forward Club was founded by Ashanti Branch in 2004 at San Lorenzo High School. While teaching mathematics, Branch observed the young men of color in his classes moving backward academically. After inviting a group of these students to have lunch with him once a week to teach him to be a better teacher, these young men began to reveal that being smart was perceived as being “uncool,” and that challenges in their personal life kept them from making school a priority.

Branch decided to serve these young men as a mentor, and launched the first Ever Forward Club as a support program where at-risk young men could gather over lunch in a mentor-led safe environment, process emotions, and sustain each other through their struggles.