By J.H. “Inspire” Tucker, Purpose Development Professor
In November 2023, something happened in Baltimore City that I will never forget — not because it was inspiring, but because it revealed a painful truth about our community, our leadership, and ourselves.
Our school had just been recognized for having the best attendance in the entire district. The Mayor, city officials, and Baltimore City Schools leadership came into our building with cameras, smiles, speeches, and applause. They congratulated us, praised our staff, and told our students how proud they were of their commitment to showing up.
For a moment, it felt like victory.
It felt like validation.
It felt like the city finally saw us.
And then, just days later —
we were told the school would be closing.
The same school they honored.
The same children they celebrated.
The same staff they congratulated.
The same community they smiled at.
I cannot describe the disrespect of that moment.
The embarrassment.
The anger.
The confusion.
The betrayal.
How do you stand in front of a school celebrating “success” while quietly preparing paperwork to shut it down?
It Wasn’t Just the System — It Was Us Too
People will read this and immediately blame the system — and yes, Baltimore City Schools has its share of failures, inconsistencies, and contradictions.
But that’s not the whole story.
The school’s closure was attributed to low enrollment numbers, and while that’s an administrative decision, it also reflects something deeper:
We lacked belief from the inside.
We lacked support from our own community.
We lacked unity around a vision that belonged to our boys.**
Baltimore is quick to point fingers —
at the Mayor,
at the school board,
at administrators,
at politics,
at history,
at trauma.
But too often, we ignore the mirror.
We are blinded by what others do to us
while refusing to see
what we are doing to ourselves.
We don’t rally behind our own schools.
We don’t show up consistently.
We don’t protect our institutions until it’s too late.
We don’t build together — not at the scale required.
A school cannot survive if the community it serves does not stand with it.
The Part No One Wants to Admit
The painful truth is this:
**A school can have great attendance, great staff, and great children…
but without community belief, it cannot survive.**
We must take responsibility for that.
Not shame — responsibility.
Not blame — accountability.
Because if we do not take ownership of our future, we will continue to lose schools, lose programs, and lose opportunities meant for our youth.
Why This Still Matters Today
I write this not out of bitterness, but out of urgency.
What happened in November 2023 is not just history — it is a warning.
If we continue to:
- undervalue our boys
- overlook our educators
- ignore our schools
- depend on outside validation
- wait for someone else to solve our problems
We will keep repeating the same painful cycle.
We need belief, unity, and purpose now more than ever.
Not just in systems —
but in ourselves.
A Message to Parents, Educators, and the Community
If we truly want better outcomes for our boys, our families, and our city, we must:
✔ Show up
✔ Stand together
✔ Support our institutions
✔ Fight for our schools
✔ Build programs our youth can depend on
✔ Partner with mentors, educators, and leaders who pour into our children
This is WHY I created JustINSPIRE Mentoring LLC.
This is WHY the 6 Circles to Purpose™ framework exists.
This is WHY purpose development is not optional — it is survival.
Our boys deserve more than recognition ceremonies.
They deserve belief.
They deserve consistency.
They deserve protection.
They deserve a community that stands for them.
We Cannot Change What Happened — But We Can Change What Happens Next
Baltimore cannot afford to keep losing schools.
Our youth cannot afford another year of neglect, confusion, or instability.
And we — as a community — cannot continue pointing outward while ignoring what we can control.
Let’s learn from November 2023.
Let’s stop waiting for outside solutions.
Let’s build something our children can trust.
Let’s become the community our boys need us to be.
If you want to be part of this shift, if you want stronger mentorship for your son, your school, or your program — book a call with me.
Together, we can build the support system our boys deserve.
