I plan to!

You can hear directly from Tyrek, Charles & Farid at the link above. Click the red "LISTEN" button.

A big thanks to my editors Johanna Zorn and Kalyn Belsha for getting this across the finish line, and to @edwriters.bsky.social for the space to work on this project.

Photo by: Candace Dane Chambers

And how that struggle has made them empathetic guides for younger generations. Educators who are willing to drop everything to hop on the phone with a student and tell them yes, they do belong, and to ask where they need help.

www.wbez.org/education/20...

I will never forget my time listening to the three of them -- Tyrek Gates, Dr. Charles Brown and Dr. Farid Muhammad -- tell stories over tea and hot cocoa. I heard about their constant struggle against the misconception that Black men aren't "college material."

www.wbez.org/education/20...

And are still doing everything they can to help each other and others overcome some of the biggest barriers any students encounter on their path to college graduation.

Throughout 2025, so much of my work has been about loss -- the loss of research funding, scholarships, student visas, the right to criticize Israel's occupation of Palestine. But this story was about three people who didn't have much to start with...

I'm grateful that, weeks in, a new doc at my primary care practice **one who is also a woman of color, and pregnant** finally took me seriously, put me on a hefty dose of antibiotics & brought my lung function back. Because of that I was able to wrap up this project:

www.wbez.org/education/20...

This pregnancy hasn't been the easiest. While federal agents were tearing families apart across the Chicago area, I was in bed for weeks with pneumonia. I felt (still feel?) a lot of guilt that I couldn't help document what was happening to our community. (6/?)

I don't quite know how to answer, other than to share that our oldest son was born just months after my mom died and Trump started his 2016 presidency. His birth, in some ways, kept me afloat. (5/?)

In the midst of all that, my partner and I decided we wanted to grow our family. Our third child is due in March. Friends and coworkers have commented on how crazy we are to want to bring a child into this world. (4/?)

All the while I was struggling but learning with ****so much help from friends and educators who know so much more than me**** about how to better support my son through his autism and ADHD diagnosis. I maybe shouldn't be proud of his answer on this school assignment, but I really am: (3/?)

Then there was the overhaul of our newsroom structure to integrate BEZ with the Sun-Times. My editor, the most down-to-earth, lovely boss and collaborator and audio wizard, was moved to another team. I think 👇 is one of the last stories we worked on together. (2/?)

www.wbez.org/wbez-news/20...

A thousand thanks to Tyrek Gates, Dr. Farid Muhammad & Dr. Charles Brown for being so generous with their time & answering my endless stream of questions. You'll be able to hear directly from them this afternoon on 91.5 FM 📻

#college #chicago @wbez.org @opencampus.org

www.wbez.org/education/20...