“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. Strother

Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Marcus L. Strother. As President and CEO of Mentor California, Marcus is filled with decades of experience in the field of education and buoyed by his life as a father, husband, and community advocate. In this conversation, Marcus and Ashanti really hit the ground running; Ashanti even forgets to let Marcus introduce himself for the first twenty minutes of the conversation! Forgetfulness aside, we are excited for you to get to know Marcus and gain an appreciation for his dedication and thoughtful perspective on himself and the world around him.

(2:10) Ashanti’s introduction.

(4:20) Marcus shares that his car had gotten broken into recently. Then, he and Ashanti break down the language and intention behind a simple question, “How are you doing?”

(17:20) Ashanti and Marcus discuss the art and complexity of mentoring. Then they discuss how we can shift the roles, structures, and attitudes surrounding mentoring and teaching in our community.

(30:00) Marcus finally gets to introduce himself. He shares information about his work with Mentor California

(36:25) Ashanti and Marcus make their masks together and discuss how students may struggle with the mask activity.

(47:40) Marcus shares the front of his mask - father (figure), style, love - and shares how his students once saved his job.

(51:40) Ashanti shares the front of his mask - serious, dedicated, busy - and reflects on why one of the first things he shares with people is that he is “busy.”

(55:25) Ashanti shares the back of his mask - shame, doubt, what’s blocking my writing? Then, he looks back on his childhood and how he experienced internalized racism.

(59:40) Marcus shares the back of his mask - not enough, dad, tired - and ruminates on why negative criticism affects him much more than praise.

(1:08:05) Ashanti shares a recent experience with a mentee and how he chose “winning” over “supporting.”

(1:12:00) Marcus shares how you can get in touch with him.

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Connect with Marcus L. Strother:

Website: mentorcaliforniayouth.org

Instagram: instagram.com/marcuslstrother

Twitter: twitter.com/MarcusLStrother

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Create your own mask anonymously at millionmask.org

If you are interested in being on the Face to Face podcast, email us at [email protected]

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: instagram.com/branchspeaks

Facebook: facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter: twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch

Website: branchspeaks.com

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Send in a voice message:

anchor.fm/branch-speaks/message