A2MEND

African American Male Education Network & Development

Roland Martin Unfiltered Airs A²MEND Interview

In early June, A²MEND was featured on Roland Martin Unfiltered, a daily digital show broadcasted from Washington, D.C. that focuses on issues important to the African American community. Conducted by award-winning journalist Roland Martin, the show interviewed A²MEND Co-Founder Ed Bush about the organization’s efforts to mentor Black men to help them succeed in California’s community college system.

A²MEND Co-Founder Ed Bush shown being interviewed by Roland Martin during his daily digital show.

Roland Martin concluded the A²MEND interview by allowing a group of panelists to ask extemporaneous questions about the mentoring organization. The A²MEND interview was aired during a segment of the show’s weekly Education Matters segment.

To view or share the A²MEND interview, please click here – interview starts at 1:58:30.

A²MEND Purchases Land in Ghana

Over the past decade, A²MEND’s executive board members have accompanied student mentees to various African countries as part of its Africa Study Abroad Program. A²MEND’s leadership has seen first-hand how traveling to African countries have helped give students a greater sense of identity, a vital quality that is inextricably connected to their self-efficacy and wellbeing.

A²MEND leaders shown in Ghana during their African trip last summer through the organization’s Study Abroad Program.

With this impact in mind, A²MEND’s leadership returned to Africa in December 2021 to purchase a parcel of land in Ghana. As part of this land acquisition effort, the organization will plan for the future construction of the A²MEND Racial Trauma and Wellness Retreat Center to provide a healing space where African American students and educators can be themselves and affirm who they are in a safe environment.

To transform this vision into a reality, A²MEND is seeking your support. Please join the organization in this endeavor by adding your name and contact information to the upcoming Capital Campaign for A²MEND’s Racial Trauma and Wellness Retreat Center by visiting here. A²MEND will remain in touch about how you and your network can help the organization materialize this dream on behalf of the futures of young Black men.

African Diaspora Education Summit Sept. 19-24

We are excited to announce an amazing opportunity to join A²MEND board members in traveling abroad to the University of Cape Coast, Ghana to participate in a momentous academic-based All African Diaspora Education Summit from September 19-24, 2022.

This historic summit promises to be a profound professional development opportunity for African American educational professionals to understand both the historic and current educational context that will create the space and freedom to reimagine how we teach and serve Black students. Moreover, this convening will seek to heal, restore and invigorate African Americans who have experienced the weight of working in spaces that have caused harm due to anti-Blackness and racism.

This summit will attract educational practitioners, preeminent scholars and administrators from across the globe. California’s community colleges serve the highest number of Black students in the state. Thus, our voices need to be present and centered in this global conversation.

Attendees will need to secure a tourist visa for this trip, which adds additional timing to the travel process. Your passport must be sent to the Ghanaian Embassy in Washington, D.C. within 7-20 business days, depending on if it is expedited. This means that you will not have access to your passport during this time; so if you have travel plans that will require use of your passport, you should plan accordingly. More travel preparation information can be found here: https://ghanaembassydc.org/visa/

To learn more about this incredible summit, please visit A2MEND.ORG and click on the summit flyer, which will direct you to the summit’s information page.

We hope to see you at this incredible summit!

A²MEND Board & Students Travel to Africa in July

Last summer, A²MEND resumed its Africa Study Abroad Program, where executive board members accommodate a group of student mentees to Africa to visit their ancestral homeland. This July, A²MEND’s leadership plans to escort another group of Leadership Academy students to Kenya as part of this annual cultural excursion. The trip is a life changing experience for the students, as it profoundly connects them to their historical homeland of Africa. To support A²MEND’s Africa Study Abroad Program, please Donate Now.

A²MEND Student Mentee Accepted at Harvard

A²MEND’s leadership congratulates one of their longtime student mentees, Temesghen “Temie” Ghde, for his acceptance to Harvard Kennedy School. Ghde will realize his dream of attending Harvard this fall as part of his post-graduate plans to earn joint degrees in law and public policy. Ghde’s successful educational path is a testament to the mission of A²MEND, which seeks to foster institutional change in California’s community college system by operating a mentoring program for African American male students.

“We at A²MEND are tremendously proud of Temie’s acceptance at Harvard. His acceptance demonstrates to our students that nothing is impossible if you’re committed to academic excellence and hard work,” said Dr. Amanuel Gebru, President of A²MEND. “Temie’s brilliance and tenacity to stay the course as a top performing undergraduate student has enabled him to fulfill his vision of attending Harvard in his quest to work in law and public policy.”

Temesghen Ghde

Ghde first learned about A²MEND while attending a community college in Oakland, where a professor introduced him to the organization’s student mentoring program. He was drawn by the supportive resources and the confidence building methods of the organization. Throughout his undergraduate years, he was matched with Dr. Gebru as his A²MEND mentor, who remained steadfast in encouraging him to press forward with his ambitious educational plans. “The morale boost that A²MEND provides to African American students is amazing,” said Ghde. “No matter how big or small, I appreciated their efforts to give financially through their scholarship contributions.”

Ghde’s road to Harvard wasn’t an easy one. Raised in Eritrea, Africa, Ghde endured hardships early in his life. Following his graduation from high school, Ghde was unable to study his chosen field of law in college because his country’s educational system required him to major in engineering as a result of him testing well in physics and math on his matriculation exam. After studying civil engineering for three years and completing his national service, Ghde eventually moved to the U.S. in his resolve to leave Eritrea to follow his educational goals.

 A year after his arrival in the U.S., Ghde enrolled in Laney College upon settling in Northern California. Determined to succeed against all odds as a new asylee in the U.S., he remained vigilant in his educational pursuits to study law and public policy. During his studies at Laney College, he served as President of the Laney Law Society. Soon after receiving his associate’s degree from Laney College, he attended UC Berkeley, where he graduated with a degree in political science, specializing in comparative politics.

Envisioning to ultimately earn a law degree to one day serve the people of his home country, Ghde applied to leading universities to position him for that endeavor. With an impressive GPA along with his extracurricular accomplishments, including a congressional internship on Capitol Hill and a prestigious study abroad program at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, he applied to Harvard as well as the University of Oxford. Less than three months later, he received the extraordinary news about his acceptance to Harvard.

While Ghde’s sheer intellect and perseverance led him to Harvard, he is grateful to A²MEND for providing him with the mentorship and scholarship funding that helped support him throughout his undergraduate journey.