Interview with Brandon M. Frame, the Black Man Who Can

There are those who complain about not having black leaders and then there are those who are too busy leading to humor the idea of complaining. Brandon M. Frame falls into the latter category. The 22-year-old Morehouse graduate with a degree in Business and Marketing went from working at Aetna to creating his own mentoring program called the Morehouse Marketing Association. Quickly he realized he had the teaching bug and continued on his quest to help guide young, black males to success as a teacher at The Fessenden School in West Newton, Massachusetts.

Even with his new website TheBlackManCan.org honoring productive African-American men and women leaders, that's not enough. The Hartford, CT native is aiming for more. But how much can one man do? With Brandon, it's not a matter of what he "can" do, it's just focusing on getting it done.

Shamontiel: You have a business and marketing degree. What made you choose teaching?

Brandon Frame: When I was in Atlanta I started a mentoring program. And while I was there, I was working with kids developing programs in the curriculum for what I wanted the young males in my program to learn. I realized that was my passion. My passion was in youth development, education and working with the youth. I enjoyed my internships with the companies that I worked at, but when I woke up in the morning, I looked forward to working with the kids, not sitting at a desk.

S: Is it safe to say that that's what you want to do long term, work as a mentor or teacher?

BF: Yes. My ultimate goal is to start my own school.

S: An all-boy school or a school for both?

BF: Yes, an all-boy school preferably starting from seventh grade.

S: We know you went to Morehouse, and that's an all-men's college. Now you're teaching at an all-boy's school. Why all boys?

BF: I think there's something to be said for a school that focuses on a certain population, and that population being boys to focus on the best possible way they can be successful.

S: Why not girls? Girls need to be successful, too.

BF: Yeah definitely. I'm a big supporter of single-sex education for both boys and girls, but me being a male, I just have more of a focus on boys.

S: What makes you prefer an all-boy school as opposed to a co-ed school? Do you feel like they study better in all-male schools?

BF: It erases a gender bias. When you look in co-ed schools, boys tend to sometimes not want to do music, not want to do art, not want to do writing, anything that's kind of associated with being a girl. When you're in an all-male setting, all gender biases go out the window because everybody is doing the same thing. So boys that like to sing, they're going to get up there and sing. If boys want to act, they're going to get up there and act. Having females in the classroom provides distractions from boys. You want to walk and act a certain way. You want to dress a certain way. In the summertime, girls sometimes like to wear skirts. That's distracting. When it's all boys, that goes right out the window.

S: Are you speaking from personal experience because Spelman was down the street?

BF: I'm speaking from personal experience and research that I've read. (Laughs) In college I performed much better than I did in high school.

S: Why do you think it's so important to be a Morehouse man?

BF: I guess you could call it important.Being a Morehouse man, when you get to the school, there are certain qualities and characteristics that are embedded in you that make you the individual that you are-the legacy, you learn about the alumni, the shoulders that you stand upon. It makes you want to strive for something greater than yourself, and it also gives you reason to provide from a social conscience.

S: Who are your top three mentors?

BF: My philosophy is to have mentors in all different areas for anything that you want to do. I have lots of mentors.

Terrell Hill, who is the principal of High School Inc. in Hartford, Connecticut, is a mentor for everything. When I was in high school, he took me under his wing when I didn't even realize what he was doing. He was somebody that in my mind I was like, "This guy's getting on my nerves. He's always saying something to me." Unbeknownst to me, what he was telling me and the books he had me read got me to where I am now.

Kevin Booker, who is the leader of the Office of Student Life at Morehouse College, is a mentor from a career standpoint and for
Pierre Monet, who is a lawyer in the Boston area, is another guy that I can just reach upon when I'm having issues or I have ideas.

They're all in different professions so they're trained to think a certain way based off some of the things that they do. I can bounce off an idea to all three, and they're all going to give me different responses because of the way that they think.

I have a fourth one. The last one would be Floyd Green III. He's the head of communications for Aetna, which is where I worked for three months prior to teaching. In terms of careers and the things that I want to do with my life, he's definitely the guy that I always talk to.

S: You have a website called TheBlackManCan.org. When did this site start?

BF: Yes, I launched it in April of this year.

S: What made you want to start this site?

BF: From going to school, working with youth, I wanted to provide a site that would provide a positive contradiction to the prevailing black male image of today, having a focus on the positive black male. I do features from black men across the country who are doing positive things in the community. I have a page called The Village, which highlights different programs across the country that are doing positive things in the community. I also talk about myself. I come around and do workshops and talk about different topics. That promotes "the black man can." We look at popular media today, and you would think that "the black man can't."

S: Do you think that's fair to say with our president being a black man or you still feel like the label is there?

BF: The label is still there. Barack Obama does prove that "the black man can," but the label is still there. Even when you watch TV, sometimes the media tries to portray him as "he talks white, he's light-skinned." I've heard young, black males say, "Barack Obama's not like me. He acts white." They don't want him to seem like he's actually that black.

S: What do you say?

BF: I think he's a black man. He is who he is. He's not trying to act for anybody. He's Barack Obama.

S: To be featured on your site, people can send suggestions and you let them know?

BF: Yes. As long as you're doing something positive and making some positive contribution to society, I want to come find you and showcase what you're doing to the world. If you know somebody who is an exquisite woman or in the league of extraordinary black men, then you submit their name, your name and why you're submitting this person to theblackmancan@gmail.com. Sometimes I find people via Twitter or Facebook or just surfing the web.

S: What's your ultimate goal with the website?

BF: My ultimate goal is to create a non-profit or even a for-profit, a business in different cities, doing workshops and summits for young, black males. Or, pull different people that I feature and have them come and do some of their workshops and bring some of their work to young, black males across the country. I want to own property and maybe just put it under my company and call it The Black Man Can LLC.

S: On Twitter, you tweet about traveling to different places. Is this for fun or is this about TheBlackManCan?

BF: It's a little bit of both. I'll be taking an East coast trip in August, and I will be stopping at different places to see friends but also to talk to different youth groups. I'm still putting everything together, but I'll go from Boston to Atlanta definitely. I might even make it to Jacksonville.

S: You're 22. You're an educator. You have TheBlackManCan. You clearly have your head on straight. You're doing effective networking. My last question is what do you want your legacy to be?

BF: A man who was a visionary leader, a change agent and somebody who was socially conscious and always looking to help somebody out with their goals.