{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://saaacam.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/9882j69t0r/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Mateen Diop Interview"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/571/original/full-color_2x.png?1735841768","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["The African American Network TV (TAAN TV)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eSchool administrator Mateen Diop discusses his childhood and career in the San Antonio Independent School District. He elaborates on some of his personal and professional experiences, the challenges and rewards of an inner-city school, and what it means to be a Black man in America. He closes out the interview with his hopes for the future. \u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eAll materials are for noncommercial educational or research uses only. Please contact SAAACAM for any questions regarding usage rights.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["created"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Interview"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["MP4"]}},{"label":{"en":["Keyword"]},"value":{"en":["Principal, School Administrator, Education, San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD), Race, Inner-City Schools, Sam Houston High School, 300 Voices in 300 Days"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject"]},"value":{"en":["School Administration (topical term)","Public Education (topical term)","Principal (topical term)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English (primary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Access Ss"]},"value":{"en":["access_public"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eSchool administrator Mateen Diop discusses his childhood and career in the San Antonio Independent School District. He elaborates on some of his personal and professional experiences, the challenges and rewards of an inner-city school, and what it means to be a Black man in America. He closes out the interview with his hopes for the future. \u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eAll materials are for noncommercial educational or research uses only. 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You’re tuned into another episode of 300 Voices in 300 Days. We’re here with one of our voices, his name is Mateen Diop. And I'm not gonna tell you too much about him. I’m gonna let him introduce his self, but I promise you, this is going to be an interview to remember. [gesturing to Mateen Diop] Mateen.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  0:21  \r\nThank you. Thank you, Tyrone. Again, my name is Mateen Diop, native San Antonian, and thank you for watching TAAN TV. I'm a native- again, native San Antonian, native on the East Side of San Antonio. I'm currently serving as a principal of Sam Houston High School, the pride of the East Side. We’re called Hurricane Nation now. I've been around long enough to know before we became Hurricanes we were Cherokees. I've been around. So I'm a graduate of Highland High School. Again, native of the East Side of San Antonio and all the San Antonio schools, San Antonio School District, you know, public schools: P.F. Stewart Elementary, Jeff Davis, Poe, graduated from Highlands High School.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  0:53  \r\nExcellent. So-so we definitely want to- we’re going to connect the dots when it comes to- this the tricentennial, the 300 year anniversary for the city of San Antonio, and our goal here is to highlight the African American contributions over those 300 years and how we can help sustain those contributions into more and more efforts in the next, coming tri- tricentennial. With that being said, let's talk about your- your immediate resume. So over the last twenty years, give our viewers a quick little glimpse on what you've been accomplishing, whether it be here locally, you know, nationally, but just- just as you in your professional life.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  1:32  \r\nRight, thank you. I- and I, again, I've been in education now for twenty years, I started- I joined the military, the Air Force, twenty-five years ago. I was one of those kids out in the street, nowhere to go, nowhere to live, homeless, living in cars and all that. And really, God just steered me into- into the way of the military. I was able to join the military, and- and through that- through my time in the military, I was able to finish my high school- my college degree and I was able to come back to San Antonio and become a teacher. So as I ascended through the ranks of teaching and coaching–I met you when I was coaching–teaching and coaching, assistant principal and principal and director. And I've been an executive director of campus administration, I've been an executive director of technology and integration, and now the principal of Sam Houston High School. I have written two books. I have one book called Inner City Public Schools Still Work: How one Principal’s life is living proof. And that really chronicled my time as a- as an elementary principal, I was a principal at Herman Hirsch Elementary. And I just saw a need for- for our boys and girls– my second book was on single-gender schools–and I just saw the immediate need of, “How can this work if we separate boys and girls in the classroom, and really teach to their strengths and teach to their styles?” And that's what I was able to do. And I learned that by being in the military. When you join the military, as soon as you get- we called it the ‘Blue Goose,’ as soon as you get off that blue bus, the men go this way and the women go that way, and you don't see each other for six weeks. And, you know, that kind of did something to us, or our minds, and made us really just focus on our training. And I said, “What if we did that at schools?” And so that's what I was able to do when I did it at Herman Hirsch Elementary, and we started the Young Women's Leadership Academy–not very many folks real- realize that that came from my research, the Young Women's Leadership Academy. But really near and dear to me, is the Young Men's Leadership Academy, which is now housed at Whe- Wheatley Middle School, which used to be a W.W. White Elementary, one of the highest performing schools in the district. Not just academics, but the soft skills, like the culture of the school and- and the- and now the athletics of the school doing really, really well, the attendance. So that is the- for me, the shining moment, the thing I'm most proud of right now is the Young Men's Leadership Academy, what we were able to- able to do with those boys and still doing with those young men over there. And now, just- I was thinking about this the other day, those young men are now at Wheatley Middle School, in which- we only go up to eighth grade, but they feed into Sam Houston High School, which I am that- which I, uh- principal of now. And right across the street at Davis Middle School, a new principal over there, Mr. Ray, we all have this triangle going. We really are surrounding our young people w- with just the best education, the best educators, and just leadership, just is monumental right now.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  4:04  \r\nSo let's-  let's look at it. I’m also a product of SAISD, graduated from Sam Houston in 1998. And these are just rough numbers. I believe, from the time I was probably in elementary all the way to high school, San- San Antonio Independent School District had about 55,000 students. And that was from 1985, maybe ‘84, to 1998. Now in 2017, and SAISD has about–\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  4:34  \r\n52-53,000 students.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  4:36  \r\nAbout the same amount of students. While Judson has grown– Independent School District– Northeast Independent School District has grown– Northside Independent School District has grown. Bringing in innovative research, innovative programming, how can you see- and we're not saying that- that we need more students–‘cause it's always gonna be quality over quantity–but at the end of the day, the numbers do tell the story. How can we get to the point to where, number one, we're stable, but then we can grow, and- and we can be to a point to where we are looked at as the premier school district in the premier communities in our city?\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  5:21  \r\nYeah. You know, back in the day when I was in- in high school here in San Antonio ISD, we had 97,000 students. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  5:27\r\nReally?\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  5:27\r\nOh, yeah, we had- San Antonio ISD was the largest school district in the city. Northside and Northeast are now number one and number two, they have twice as many students a- as we do. And in all fairness, a lot of our parents were educated– like yourself, you were educated, went off and got your degree, and your income allowed you to live where you wanted to live, you know? So- and our parents, back when I was growing up, our parents didn't have much of a choice. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  5:48\r\nThey didn’t have– yeah.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  5:49\r\nYou had to live in Willow Wood or Huntleigh Park and all that stuff, no matter how much money you made. That's where you had to live. Well now, when your parents were able to send Tyrone off to college and he did his thing, you make enough money to go- I could go live wherever I wanna live. And that's really what happened to our dis- it's still a low income school district. So it's all dictated by how much money you have. So we still have the low income problems that we have in trying to educate students that come from poverty. But as far as the economic opportunities for parents, they just have been able to go out to Northside and Northeast and Judson, and I’m- I really can't fault them for that. You know, I'm one and you're one who- I'm able to live wherever I want, but I choose to live here in this neighborhood. My daughter still goes to school in this neighborhood. So that's just me. And so I can't really fault a parent who says, “You know what, I want to go out to Northside, they have the big schools out there.” Cool, go where you go, but my mission, my- my charge, for me, is to be right here and give these children that are coming up behind me–you came up behind me–is to give them the opportunities that we were afforded, and stretch their mind to know that you can go wherever you want to go, do whatever you want to do, but there's nothing- and that's why I wrote that book: our inner city schools, they still work. I'm living proof, you're living proof. And we just have to surround them with committing, caring adults to let them know that. It's a numbers game, our- our kids- our families come and go, they're- they’re migrant, they come and go. But we have- when they're here, we have to just surround them with those committing, caring adults. And that's what we're doing, and that’s what we continue to do throughout inner city schools, not only in San Antonio, but throughout the country we're doing it.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  7:15  \r\nThat- that model is- hopefully we have some educators that are tuned in, we have some leaders, some decision makers that are tuned in, that- that are listening. And–shameless plug– go che- go get that book as well, ‘cause inner city schools still do work.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  7:29\r\n[laughs] Thank you.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  7:30\r\nBut with that being said, we're going to take off the- the SAISD hat, we're going to take off the- we- we’re gonna to stay professional, but we’re going to move away from- from that piece of it. And, you know, I- I’ve followed you for a while. And, you know, there are some people that say they, you know, love being Black [to the camera] and this the African American network, in case anybody didn’t know. This is the African American network, so we gonna be African Americans right now. [To Mateen Diop] But talk about being Black, and- and talk about being a Black educator, a Black leader of spirituality, a Black father, a Black leader. Tal- talk about being Black. I- I know you’re- bruh, talk about being Black. And it- it, whether it’s, you know, it can be black in your skin or Black in America. Talk about being Black.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  8:20  \r\nAnd we know, and you know as well as I do, being- being a Black male in America comes with its own struggles. Our mindset is different. We have to teach our young men things that other races don't have to teach them. We have to teach them, “This is how you talk to the police, that's how you talk to the adults, this is how you dress, this is how–.” It's like, we have to teach them those things just because we understand, coming from just the color of our skin, we're going to be treated a different way. One of the things that I was able to write about is when I was a young man, twelve years old, my family situation being what it was, I had to move out to Alamo Heights for a while. And I went to Alamo Heights in the ‘70s, and all that that implies. So I was out at Alamo Heights, man, and I was being called nigger, I was being spit on–this was by the teachers. Niggers and spit on, fighting, I was doing all that in Alamo Heights. I ran away from home. I said, “I can't stay here.” I have to leave, then come back to the East Side where I felt safe. [laughs] I didn’t even feel safe in Alamo Heights, and what- there was only three Black kids there. And it was just such a toxic environment. And so ra- and twelve years old, I didn’t even know what racism meant. I left Jeff Davis Middle School–which is now Henry Carroll–I left Jeff Davis, went over Alamo Heights. The very first thing I noticed was, “Wow, this is a- they have cold milk.” That was one of the first things I noticed, that their milk was cold. So being a young, Black male, I really had to grow up fast, I really had to learn how to take care of myself fast, and that's what you have to learn as- being Black in America. You can't just- if I have a bachelor's degree and you have a bachelor's degree and you're- and you're not Black, chances are the opportunities gonna go to you. So we have to teach our young men you ca- you got to be better than. You can't just be avera- [imitating a student] “Well I’mma just get my degree and move–.” No, you have to have two degrees, or you have to have a way of thinking that outsmarts everybody else. Don't get me- I love being Black. I would never be anybody than who- what I am. I’ll take it to the- I just love being me, and what our young people should realize is that society really tries to co-opt our culture, our music, our language, and our way of style, our sense of dress, talk, mannerisms, everything. The world wants to be us, but a lot of times, we try to shy away from being Black men. But being Black in America has its challenges–  [transition] – [B]rothers that are getting shot by police and all of that kind of stuff, just for walking down the street. I mean, just imagine the mentality that we have to teach our young men to have just to get up and walk down the street. And when they come into the schools, we have to teach our teachers that these young men come from a different mindset. And the only way they know how to- the only way we can teach them how to- how to survive in this world is to understand their mindset. You and I were born with it, but teachers that come from outside the society, they don't understand- they don't even know how to teach them that. But that's why we have to do it. And I know we got off education, but that's why we have to really convince these young brothers that are at Howard and FAMU and all these HBCUs, come back to–\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  10:52\r\nCome back.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  10:52\r\n–to your neighborhoods and teach, man.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  10:53\r\nCome back. Come back.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  10:54\r\nWe need you to teach. [Imitating] “Well I’mma go down to be a- corporate America–” That's gonna be there. Come and give back because somebody got you there. So being Black in America has its challenges, but we can overcome them and my- my spiritual preference– I mean, I- I'm a member of the Nation of Islam, I grew up in a Ba- in the Methodist Church, so my spirituality is everything God. You can call me what you want to call me. I believe in us. Malcolm X said, “They don’t hang you because you’re a Protestant or a Muslim or a Ca- they hang you ‘cause you’re Black.” And so that's what we have in common as Black men, and that's my spirituality. Bob Marley said, “Love is my religion.” And- and that's me, love is my religion. We love each other, we can't go wrong. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  11:29  \r\nCan’t go wrong. I hope you're still listening. Let's get into the history. So obviously, you grew up here, you grew up on the East Side. What African American, what Blacks, male or females, can you remember in the community coming up that you could point to and lean- lean on and say “Man, you know, when I was coming up, such and such owned the corner store, or such and such had the beauty salon, or- whatever the situation was, let's highlight some of those people real quick, that you could just- real, real quick come to- come to your mind and say, “Wow.” And I- I’ll share one.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  12:01\r\nGo ahead.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  12:01\r\nFor me, Mr. Fisher had a little truck. And he- well he wasn’t an ice cream man, but he had a little truck, little- I don’t know if it was a station wagon or what. But every day he’d come to the East Side Boys and Girls Club, pull that truck up, and- and we knew we could count on Mr. Fisher for some snacks. And- and back then, you know, I didn't know what entrepreneurship was and all that. But I know Mr. Fisher, for us, was a pillar in the community for young people because he provided a service that we looked forward to. And we knew we had to be good, we knew we had to be respectful, and we knew if we did everything we could, that we were supposed to do, somebody was going to throw us a couple of nickels, a dollar or something, and we can go sit there and- and fellowship with Mr. Fisher. But go ahead, I–\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  12:47\r\nNo, that’s alright. [laughs]\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  12:48\r\n–I- I thought about that right there. There’s a whole lot more, but I thought about that right now. Go ahead.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  12:52  \r\nNo, I- you know, it's funny–and I’m- I'm gonna get chastised for saying this Tyrone, but mine was Melvin the Mac. Melvin the Mac was a pimp on the East Side. He had the nicest car, he had the nicest clothes, but as young- as young cats we grew up on the- on the block, we looked up to him because he did exactly what you just said. He would drive through the block, we playing ball at Dafoste, we playing over at Lincoln Park, he would drive through there and give us nickels and pennies and buy us some soda and buy us little cotton candy. This was a pimp in the community. Him, Melvin the Mac, and Cesmo, and you probably don’t remember none of them names. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  13:24\r\nI’ve heard Melvin the Mac–\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  13:25\r\nReally?\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  13:25\r\n–I don’t remember Cesmo.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  13:26\r\nCesmo was on Kape Radio, K-A-P-E, which is 1480. He was the voice of 1480 Radio. He was- he would get on and- his- the way his energy and he was just so enthusiastic, we would mimic him–when I went to Davis [Middle School]–we would mock and mimic him when we were at school trying to sound like him. We would try to dress like Melvin the Mac. We didn't even know what a pimp did. We just knew that Melvin the Mac took care of us. He came- he did the exact same thing you said. He had the nicest car and he’d come- we looked up to him. And I- I hope nobody don’t beat me up for this but–\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  13:53\r\nAin’t nobody gonna beat you up.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  13:54\r\n–he- he was a hero to us, man. Melvin the Mac. [laughs]\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  13:58  \r\nAnd that's- and that’s how it goes. And I think, again, for African Americans, for Black people in general, we see goodness in everything. Whether it’s the pimp, whether it's the prostitute, whether it's the hustler, the drug dealer, or it's just, you know, the bus driver or, you know, the custodian. We gon’ find good in whoever. ‘Cause at the end of the day, we gon’ all see them at the same place, whether it’s the grocery store, the church, uh, you know, down at the park. They all doing the same thing, you know? So- so we can appreciate that. Any- any other figures?\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  14:27\r\nAw man, you know–\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  14:28\r\nYou know, school teachers, principals? [laughs]\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  14:31  \r\n[laughs] You know, I’ll tell you man, uh–\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  14:32\r\nPolice officers? [laughs]\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  14:33\r\nAnita O’Neal, she's now the principal over at Bowden Elementary. She’s the reason I got into administration.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  14:38\r\nC- coach O- coach O’Neal, I had him at- at Gates [Elementary School].\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  14:42\r\nThat’s him. That’s my frat brother. And his wife, Ms. O’Neal, she saw me at a meeting one day and I was just walking in, I was a teache- I was an instructional guide, at the time. She saw me, she said, “You have your master's degree?” I said, “Yes ma'am.” She didn't even know that Bruce and I, her husband, we were roommates in college. She didn't even know that.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  14:56\r\nReally?\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  14:56\r\nYeah, at Huston-Tillotson. And she said, “Do you have a master’s degree?” I said, “Yes, ma'am.” She said, “Do you have your certification for administration?” I said, “Yes, ma'am.” She said, “I want you to be my assistant principal.” That's how I got to W.W. White [Elementary School]. She saw me in the meeting and she said, “I needed a black man over there.” That’s what she told me, “I needed a black man. Do you have your credentials?” That's another thing about being Black, we have to be prepared. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  15:14\r\nYou have to be prepared.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  15:15\r\nAll the time, right? I can come up to you and go, “Tyrone, man, you doing a great job can you–?” [as a hypothetical Tyrone] “Well, you know, I’m trying to finish my–.” The- the conversation ends. I just happened to have everything she needed that she was able to bring me in, and that's how I got into administration. So Anita O’Neal, she's always a- a hero to me. She's getting ready to retire pretty soon, I know. [to the camera] Putting it out there, Ms. O’Neal. But that- she's one of my she-roes in- in this world, especially in this city.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  15:36  \r\nYeah, Ms. O’Neal is a good one. Coach O’Neal was my coach over at- at King, when I was at King. And then I- I was at Sam [Houston High School] for a- I don't even know if you know that, but I was at Sam for a year. \r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  15:45\r\nI read about you.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  15:47  \r\nWell, I was a- a student, but I taught at Sam, but I didn't know that\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  15:50\r\nI thought you were Davis, but okay. I didn’t know you was at Sam.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  15:52  \r\nI was at Davis for four years and Sam for one year.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  15:53\r\nOkay, I didn’t know that. Okay.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  15:55\r\nWe were over there with coach Tatum, his last year. And- so I coached with coach O. So it was a- it was a- a wonderful thing to be able to coach with someone who mentored you growing up. But, yeah, I love Ms.- I love the O’Neals. Buster, their son, I saw him a couple- a couple of months ago down in Austin doing big things. But- and this is what this is all about. The conversation we're having right now, to some it may be, you know, random, but it's not. Because the contributions that these people have are the same contributions that someone has had in your life, and no one has highlighted them for these things. Quickly. So, you know, we interview people all the time. We talk to people in studio, off set and all that. And questions we ask are like, you know, when you think about San Antonio, what are the first things that come to mind? First thing they say: Alamo, the Riverwalk, the Spurs, the Alamodome, the Tower of Americas. But nobody's talking about G.J. Sutton, nobody's talking about S.H. James. Nobody's talking about Donald McClure, nobody's talking about all these people who’ve contributed to our community. You know, they’re not talking about, uh- Reverend, um- from Mt. Zion First Baptist–\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  17:12\r\nCarl Black.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  17:13\r\nReverend Carl Black. You know, they're not talking about those people because we're not talking about them.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  17:18\r\nWe're not talking about ‘em. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  17:18\r\nWe're not talking about ‘em. And so one of the things that we really, really want to accomplish is that throughout these 300 conversations that- I mean, it doesn't have to be a G.J. Sutton, it doesn't have to be Reverend S.H. James, doesn't have to be a Joe Webb, it doesn't have to be any of those things we know. But some things that we don't know. We- I don't know if you're familiar with- not Earl Campbell, the- the yellow- “the Tyler Rose,” but SAISD’s Earl Campbell. We interviewed him, you know, a couple of weeks ago. And I didn't know his story. And this man is ninety-two years old, has a wealth of history, but is still walking around here doing it. Our young people need to know that.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  17:56  \r\nThey need to know that.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  17:57  \r\nWhen I was growing up at Gates Elementary, they was telling us we wasn't gonna make it to eighteen. We was gonna be a dropout, a fiend, the- the young lady's gonna be pregnant, we gonna be on drugs, we gonna get killed or be in prison. Nobody was talking about, you gonna be the principal, or the executive director of this, or the leader of that. So- so- and you know- you know what, guys, I- I rarely speak, but this is my time–\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  18:27\r\n[laughs] That’s alright.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  18:28\r\n–to hear my voice–\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  18:29\r\nThat’s okay. That's alright.–\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  18:29\r\n–So Voice A [gesturing to Mateen Diop] and Voice B [gesturing to self]. Voice A and Voice B.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  18:31\r\nThat’s okay. That’s okay.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  18:33\r\nBut yeah, we- we want to highlight those people who aren't highlighted, but we know without them, it wouldn't be 300 years in San Antonio. And, you know, we can go as far back as we want to, but today, there are some things- there are some people doing some great things. So with that being said, you work with young people in your professional capacity, in your social capacity, with your fraternity, in your spiritual capacity with the Nation [of Islam], here locally. And- and over the past twenty years, I know you've come across this, some- some young people–male or female–like, “Wow, they're going to be special.” Drop those three names, whether it was twenty years ago, ten years ago, or last week, that you identified some gems that were going to just represent this community well.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  19:22  \r\nWell, honestly, Tyrone Darden is one of them. And I don't know if you realize this [inaudible]–\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  19:25\r\nI’m Tyrone Darden, but– [laughs]\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  19:26\r\nYeah. Yeah, I- he’s Tyrone Darden. What you may not know–and you may know, I don't know–but Tyrone was one of the first recipients of the David Robinson scholarship and he- he will probably never tell you this, but I’ll tell you. He was one- and I read about him when I was already an assistant principal. You received the scholarship. You- you received- you were in the, what, fifth grade when David Robinson came in and said, “Y'all go off to college, we gon’ give you a scholarship.” Cut fade, Tyrone went off to college, got a scholarship. Something in him said, “The rest of ‘em didn’t go, that money has to be there. And Tyrone said, “Can I get my master’s degree?” And yeah, go- the money’s there. Amd he went back and got his master’s degree. You went back and got your master's degree. So when I read that story, I'm like, “Who is this brother?” And lo and behold, I ended up coaching- I was an assistant principal when you were a coach, and that's when I first saw you. And I looked, and I said, “Oh, that’s that brother that got the so and so.” And I'm just watching you. I've been watching you ever since. So your ascendancy, your [imitating Tyrone Darden] “I'm running for political office, and I'm running for this, and doing for that.” I always knew that the ISD was- was not big enough for you. I always knew that your mind was- ‘cause your mind was stretched. If you can think as a young man, “There got to be some money for me to where I can go to school, and I ain’t gotta pay for it. For you to think that, I knew that, “Okay, this brother.” So you- you're just starting. This is just a little bit of what you gon’ do. So Tyrone Darden is my one, two and three, to be honest with you. I mean, you really have, you know–\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  20:40\r\nWell, I appreciate that.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  20:41\r\n–when we get to school, I really want you to come and- and share some of that with our students because that really is huge to me. I mean, I'm telling you, I read that and I was like, “Man, who is this young brother who- who did that?” And you really just busted the doors open and did a lot of things. So I really would highlight you with that question.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  20:54  \r\nAnd- and I appreciate that. And, you know, we don't do that a lot for each other. You know, we'll talk about, you know, the guy in Georgia, or the guy in Atlan- Florida, or even the guy in Dallas and Houston. We don’t talk about the guy that we share a zip code with. And so yeah, I- I definitely can appreciate that, and I've been following you too. And, you know, I- we talked about politics, we talked about school and all that. And… like you said, it don’t matter what we call god, you know, we are out here doing our best for each other. But I knew you were going to be in a position to help our people. Whether it was in a political position, whether it was a professional position within our district that we’ve grown to love, or just in the community–starting your own thing, or whatever it might be. But I- I knew that. I'm glad you said, you know, people from FAMU, people from Howard, or wherever you are, come back and give back. I think one- one- a position you're in right now that is great: there's a lot of former graduates from Sam Houston High School that want to come back. That are back.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  22:04\r\nThat are back.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  22:04\r\nThat are back. I know several were at, um… the school off of Willow Wood–\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  22:10  \r\nW.W. White?\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  22:11\r\nIn Willow Wood.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  22:12\r\nOh, in Willow Wood. Where’s Willow Wood? Oh, over at Ca- Cameron [Elementary School].\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  22:14  \r\nCameron. I know several of them over at C- over at Cameron, or were at Cameron, several at Davis. And you even got, you know, Marsh Lusain [?] … um, uh- you know, you got a co- I’m not gon’ name all because somebody gon’ get mad.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  22:27\r\nCoach Coleman, there’s a bunch of ‘em.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden 22:28\r\nSomebody gon’ get mad–Coach Coleman–if I leave your name off, you know. I said Marsh Lusain ‘cause it’s the first name that popped in my head. But I ain’t gon’ say no more names. But you- you have- I think what made us so successful, coming up at Gates and King and Sam throughout that drive-by capital of the world era, the gangbanging era, the crack e- epidemic era, because the people who in those- who were in those positions of power–whether it was principal, assistant principal or the teachers, or even the custodians or lunch people–they looked like us, they loved us, they sacrificed. I mean, no one would ever tell me that Mama Mo at- at King Middle School wasn't the best cook–\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  23:10\r\nThat’s right. [laughs]\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  23:11\r\n–in the world. I mean, Mama Mo did it. Nobody wasn’t gon’ tell me that Mr. McClure wasn’t the best principal ever, that Mr. Patterson wasn’t the best counselor that, um- even though I would stay out of ISS–but coach Green, wasn’t the best person? I mean, you go through all these people, Mr. Haywood, you go through all these people, Mister, you know, Mr. Nance and Miss Williams. And those people looked like us, they cared about us. And I think you got a foundation for that, now, in the new, you know, the new venture that you’re taking on at Sam Houston. So what's next? Tell us, what’s next. Tell us what history that you're going to be making, what your goals are, and how you're gonna see it through?\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  23:53  \r\nYou know, I know this may- this may sound like a lofty goal, but honestly, I want each- our- we have 367 incoming freshmen, this year. Four years from now, I want all 367 of ‘em to walk across the stage together. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  24:06\r\nTogether.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  24:07\r\nAll 367. Not just with a high school diploma. I want the opportunities to get a high school diploma and a two year associate's degree, at the same time. So now you will have to go back and figure it out like Tyrone had to figure out, “How can I go back and get my ma–?” Two years is already paid for, for you. It's absolutely free. 367 will enter on August the fourteenth. Come June fourteenth, four years from now, 367, or more, should walk across the stage. I really don't want to lose any child, not one. I know it's lofty. And [imitating a detractor] “Yeah, you know, you gon’ lose somebody.” Get it, but I don't want to lose anybody. So my goal is that 367 come in, and 367 come out. That really is my goal. A lot of little goals along the way and, you know, ma- math assessments and all this stuff that we just normally do in school. But the overall arching goal for me is to have every single child that walks through the doors of Sam Houston High School, every single one, walk out the same way with either- with that high school diploma and then some–we call it “foundations diploma.” That's my goal.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  25:03  \r\nI think that- I don’t think that’s a lofty goal. Because like you said, other places, that's the standard.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  25:08  \r\nThat's the standard. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  25:10\r\nThat's the standard. \r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  25:10\r\nThat's the standard.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  25:11  \r\nSo- so I- I want to do whatever I can help support that. Because, I mean, I'm a- well I'm a- I’m a Sam Houston graduate. I was fi’n to say I’m a Cherokee.\r\n\r\n\r\n[Mutual laughter]\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  25:20  \r\nIt’s okay. It’s- it’s part of the history. It’s part of the history. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  25:24\r\nBut I love the Hurricanes, too. I love the Hurricanes, too. So, I mean, anything- anything else you want to- you dropped so many gems on our audience. Anything else you want to give ‘em before we go?\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  25:34  \r\nWell, you know, thank- thank you for having me- was it- the TAAN network. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  25:37\r\nAfrican American network.\r\n\r\n\r\nMateen Diop  25:38\r\nAfrican American Network. Well just first, thank you for having me here. And than- thank you for what you do, again. And really just- just understand that here in San Antonio ISD in the- at the high school level, we really need everybody's support. It really is a community effort. I know the African proverb, it takes a village and all that, that really is true. Now, when you see our students walking around school, walking around the neighborhood, or the community, stop and ask them- don't ask them, “What's- how did you like school today?” That's a yes or no answer. “What did you learn today in school? What did you learn in math? What can you tell me?” Stop and talk to ‘em and be friendly with ‘em, because they- they need love, just like you and I. So it's a community effort, it's gonna take all of us to come together and rally around our children. And that's what we can do to make this thing work.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  26:19  \r\nWell, you’ve heard it here first, the African American Network. Our community is transitioning, but transitioning to a positive place. Hopefully you can get there with us ‘cause it does take a village. It takes a community, it takes everybody together to get us whe- where we need to be. You've heard one voice, One Voice [gesturing to Mateen Diop], One Voice B [gesturing to self] of 300. Hopefully you continue to tune in. But again, this is Tyrone Darden for the African American Network. Thank you.\r\n\r\n\r\nTranscribed by https://otter.ai","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://saaacam.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2808/collection_resources/127839/file/239698#t=0.0,1604.43617"}]}]}]}