PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Brent Johnstone and Akeiff Staples’ friendship goes back 25 years. They met while they were both on the Temple University football team.
“We were looking at creating a football/ tutoring mentoring program, but it really didn’t transpire into anything,” Staples recalled.
They went on with their lives, both creating fatherhood initiatives. “So it was a suggestion of one of our constituents. He said you guys probably should talk, you should reconnect and there might be some possibilities there. So, that’s what we did.”
Together, they founded FathersRead365, an early-intervention program that encourages daily reading to children to develop literacy from birth. Staples said it's important that children see men of color leading in literacy.
“We’re not ‘educators,’” he explained. “We don’t teach reading, but the more that we can show up and be present and they see two Black African American men in their space, the possibilities can be endless.”
FathersRead365 has distributed more than 100,000 books to kids so they can start their own personal home libraries.
Going to schools and reading to kids is simply a passion for Johnstone and Staples.
“Sometimes I even get emotional just thinking about what we do,” Staples said. “But we wouldn’t have it any other way. … We’re trying to prevent them from entering into a life that there may be no coming back from.”
During Black History Month, KYW Newsradio’s GameChangers honors 10 individuals or organizations that have made a significant, positive impact in communities of color in the greater Philadelphia region. KYW community affairs reporter Racquel Williams will host an evening honoring this year’s awardees on Feb. 22. View the 2023 honorees here.