Slate Daily Feed How To! | Raise a Boy
Oct 7, 2025
Ashanti Branch, founder of the Ever Forward Club, is an expert in mentoring boys and young men on identity and emotions. He shares insights on how to guide young boys away from toxic masculinity towards kindness and openness. Ashanti discusses the concept of the 'mask' young men wear, which conceals their true feelings. He emphasizes the importance of curiosity in conversations with boys, encourages exploring their interests for resilience, and introduces modern rites of passage to mark growth. His advice helps parents foster emotional health in their sons.
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Tear Behind Sunglasses
- Ashanti describes a college student who hid tears behind sunglasses and felt he had to be a new person at college.
- Ashanti reassured him to let the emotion flow and told him he was safe to show it.
Lunch Trade That Launched His Program
- Ashanti recounts struggling as a new teacher when smart students failed algebra due to internal issues.
- He offered to buy lunch weekly so students would teach him how to be a better teacher, sparking Ever Forward Club.
Mask Exercise Builds Self-Awareness
- The mask exercise helps boys name visible traits and hidden feelings on paper to build self-awareness.
- Writing anonymously gives them language and safety to reflect without immediate pressure to speak aloud.