Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond and recognizes the people among us who are boldly shaping the future.

By Marcus Harden

I believe greatly in hard work – in a work ethic that turns the good to great, the great to greater and greater into the greatest. But as hard work paves the way to accomplishment, that foundation of effort and sacrifice can become hidden, masked by the grace and skill that come along with a hard-earned talent.

Of course, every now and then we come across people who seem to transcend this idea. Their skills seem too wide-ranging to have been born from hard work, and their list of accomplishments seems too long for a mere mortal. Everything they do seems to come effortlessly. In sports, they’re often referred to as gifted, or as naturals, and as we know, the truly gifted naturals take that effortless talent, blend it with work ethic and produce a profound impact on the world.

Meet Rashiid Coleman. If success is a consistent compilation of notable achievements, then it’s hard to read a list of the benchmarks in his life and see him as anything but incredibly successful.

• Award-winning education

• Co-founder of Black male educational organization

• Renowned photographer

• Edu-tainment event-planner, executive producer and director

• Co-founder of a second Black male educational organization (incubation)

• Curator of Somebody’s Son LLC and Podcast

If I told you the majority of this was done before Rashiid had turned 30, you’d ask, “When did this person ever sleep?” Yet to know “Shiid” is to truly know that when talent is given to those with deep passion and pure hearts, anything is possible.

Rashiid’s origins fuel his drive and make him who he is. A proud native of Philadelphia, the ethos of the city lives in his soul. And as a proud and reflective brother and son, Rashiid brings the familial essence to all he does and most importantly to who he is. This inescapable connection to home and family is at the core of the Shiid brand.

As an educator, Rashiid became a beacon for all students, but he has especially been a light in a sometimes very dark room for Black and brown males who so desperately need to see someone they could imagine themselves becoming. Based on his own many experiences as “the only lonely,” Rashiid partnered with a best friend turned brother, Vince Cobb, to create the BMEC Fellowship, a space for Black males to not only convene but to grow their practice. Shiid & Vince, never being ones to not value the culture, helped turn education for Black males into something that not only felt doable, but relevant and for the culture.

Through some pivots, Rashiid’s talents shifted gears as he went beyond just recognizing the need for more Black men in the classroom. This is where Summerhouse Institute was born, and where Rashiid began cultivating the next generation of Black male educators in earnest.

In circling back to the idea of success as a consistent compilation of notable achievements, Summer House Institute has produced a national network and convening of thousands of Black Male Educators, creating space for both professional learning and for social-emotional healing. The institute has also produced more than 45 alumni of its Black Male Educator Incubator program, feeding like a pipeline into our nation’s schools.

Rashiid’s impact on the profession is undeniable. One could argue that his gifts as a visionary leader who can execute are his most natural, but those thoughts would be challenged once you see him do the thing he is truly most gifted at…being a father. To meet Rashiid, to spend more than a few seconds with him, you know without a shadow of a doubt that his “why” is embedded in his family (with that Philly love for his brothers and friends finishing a close third) – and more specifically, his children.

Rashiid uses his gift for photography, along with the gift of emotional vulnerability, to document the good and the challenges of being a Black male father. And it is truly inspiring. The adoration he has for his children – for who they are now as well as who they are becoming – is a window into what true unconditional love looks like. It could be a master’s course for parenting in the 21st century.

While many could list Rashiid’s achievements and know he has found success, Rashiid would tell you none of it matters if his children and family don’t experience it as well. His talents become true gifts because of his commitment to bringing out the best out in others. Because of his ability to lead by vision and not by sight, to shine a light in dark spaces, and to embrace his vulnerability as a Black male in a world that still asks for that part of us to shrink, Rashiid Coleman is indeed Black History Today!