Cecil Bailey: A Mission to Mentor Young Black Boys and Young Men

By Fern Gillespie
When Cecil Bailey was 16, he became a mentor to other Black youths. He was a high school student in Far Rockaway and got involved with an after-school program teaching kids from middle school to high school how to play basketball.

He still is a mentor to youth. At Brooklyn’s Eagle Academy in Ocean Hill, he’s a One-to-One Paraprofessional on the scholar support staff, where he advises students. Brooklyn’s Eagle Academy is an award-winning school that educates young Black men from 6th grade to 12th grade to be critical thinkers and active citizens for lifelong success.

Black mentorship is part of Bailey’s family’s mission. Although he grew up in Queens, Bailey was born in Brooklyn and was mentored in community service by family members who were community activists. His grandfather renowned union leader Rabbi William Tate, who served on the Board of Directors of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and chair of One Hundred Black Men of Brooklyn.

His mother, healthcare advocate Divinah “Dee” Bailey, is the founder of Watchful Eye, and also New York State Affiliate Director of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDs and the Executive Director of the New York City Black Leadership Commission on AIDS.

Currently, Bailey is majoring in child psychology at Medgar Evers College. Our Time Press recently spoke with him about mentoring 12-year-old boys to 18-year-old young Black men at Brooklyn’s Eagle Academy.

OTP: A recent study reported that only 26 percent of students at HBCUs were Black men. How do you tell these young Black men it important for them to look at going to college?
CB: At Eagle Academy, we have a 97 percent to 98 percent graduation rate. Usually about 92 percent of our students go to college.

So, we really pushed for our young men to further their education. We tell young men it’s important for them to get into college and stay in college because it will open up doors and take them places that they probably wouldn’t get to. It will give you a different perspective on life because when you do go to college, depending on where you go, you’re meeting different people from all walks of life. That gives you a different perspective.”

OTP: What advice do you give to teenage students about preparing for college?
CB: For my high school kids, I give a short college preparation speech based on what they’re doing in high school or what colleges look at. They pretty much know you’re just getting in in the ninth grade, and they know you’re leaving in the 12th grade. But the 10th and 11th years, while you’re in high school, that’s what colleges look at.

Your grades and how you are when you’re studying. What’s your work ethic looking like? That’s where you stack up those accolades. I tell them all the time that’s where it really counts. It’s not just when you first get there and when you’re trying to leave school. You have to put the work in all the way through. So somebody sees it.”

OTP: What is the unique process for the sixth graders when they begin at Eagle Academy?
CB: When our kids first come in, we do something called Bridge Week. That’s the last two weeks of this summer, just before they come into the school. So that they know what’s expected of them when they come into this building. We have this tie ceremony that takes place, and we teach all the young men how to tie a tie. Because we wear uniforms in school. You have some moms who don’t know how to tie a tie for their son.

We are trying to interact with our boys and make sure that they’re just prepared for what’s coming. A tie is important. It’s professionalism basically. Keeping your uniform tight and sturdy. That tie is a symbol of you’re here now. That you made it. The Tie Ceremony is not at the beginning of the year. They have to earn that tie after a few months of being in the 6th grade.”

OTP: What impact has working with the young Black men and boys at Eagle Academy had on you?
CB: At Eagle Academy, a lot of the young boys come from broken homes. It’s just them and their mom. So, parents love that there are men in the building that the boys could actually look up to and learn something from. My Eagle career has really opened me up to some different ideas.

Seeing these young men in a different light and understanding where they come from. The things that they have to deal with as young Black men and how much it affects them. You can always help somehow. I have a student who graduated during the pandemic. I still talk with him once or twice a week just to check in with him and make sure he’s doing well. That’s basically what the Eagle family is. We take care of our guys.