BLACK TO OUR ROOTS: “Rearing Our Own To Succeed, While Raising Our Own To Serve.” Proverbs 22:6

BLACK TO OUR ROOTS: “Rearing Our Own To Succeed, While Raising Our Own To Serve.” Proverbs 22:6

Christian Education in the Inner-City Black Community

By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.

Principal, New Mount Rose Christian Academy

Zelle: newmtrosembc@gmail.com

A Legacy Begins: New Mount Rose Christian Academy. Proverbs 22:6.

On Sunday, June 22, 2025, something sacred was rekindled in Fort Worth, Texas. Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr. stood before the congregation of New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church and boldly proclaimed the birth of New Mount Rose Christian Academy—a school that would do more than educate; it would transform, restore, and return us back to the biblical and cultural blueprint our ancestors once followed.

Inspired by the enduring vision of the late Pastor Milford Kelly, this new institution marks a generational turning point—a return to the spiritual soil where Black excellence once bloomed. Our mandate is taken directly from Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

But this isn’t just about academic rigor. It’s about reclaiming a legacy of faith, formation, family, and farming—a way of life our forebears knew well.

The Meaning of “Rearing Our Own to Succeed”

There’s a reason we say “rearing” and not just “raising.”

As the old saying goes: “You raise corn, but you rear children.”

At New Mount Rose Christian Academy, this is more than a metaphor—it’s a model.

We are committed to rearing children with dignity, discipline, and divine direction. And just as we rear children with care, we also raise corn—with purpose.

That’s why our model blends biblical discipleship with agricultural stewardship. Students will work the earth, plant gardens, and harvest crops. Not only to learn science, but to learn sufficiency. Not only to read the Word, but to live by the land.

This dual calling—to rear children and raise crops—is our way of making sure students become fruitful in the field and faithful in the Kingdom.

Crisis in Culture. Clarity in Christ.

Across America’s inner cities, especially in historically Black communities, we face an urgent crisis. The fabric of faith and family is being torn by:

• Educational neglect

• Cultural confusion

• Economic abandonment

• Spiritual voids

The solution is not a new theory. It is an ancient truth:

Jesus Christ is still the answer.

And Christian education is still the way.

We don’t need schools that simply tolerate God—we need schools that are built on God.

We don’t need students who are just college-ready—we need children who are Kingdom-ready.

New Mount Rose Christian Academy exists to be that beacon of clarity, conviction, and Christlike courage.

Rosenwald’s Blueprint: “They Wanted Better for Their Children”

To understand where we’re going, we must honor where we’ve been.

The Rosenwald Schools: A Legacy of Hope

In the early 1900s, Black communities across the Jim Crow South were locked out of decent education. Their children were taught in shacks, with scarce books, and under the weight of systemic injustice.

But two men—Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald—decided to rewrite the narrative.

The Partnership That Changed Everything:

• Booker T. Washington, founder of Tuskegee Institute, understood that education was the path to Black empowerment.

• Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish philanthropist and president of Sears, Roebuck and Co., shared Washington’s vision.

• Together, they built nearly 5,000 schools across 15 Southern states—known as the Rosenwald Schools.

Their Impact:

• These schools were community-built, church-led, and excellence-focused.

• They empowered generations of Black leaders, many of whom went on to shape the Civil Rights Movement.

• They reminded us that when the Church and community unite, the children flourish.

At New Mount Rose Christian Academy, we are not just inspired by this legacy—we are reviving it.

We are the Rosenwalds of today, not with hammers and nails alone, but with Bibles and blueprints.

Our Model: Lifelong Learning, Righteous Living

Curriculum Distinctives:

At New Mount Rose, the Holy Bible is not an elective—it is the foundation of our philosophy.

We aren’t forming graduates.

We are forming disciples—ready to lead in life, work, worship, and witness.

Our core pillars:

• Biblical Literacy – Teaching students to read, interpret, and apply the Word.

• Servant Leadership – Cultivating humility, excellence, and community impact.

• Academic Excellence – Delivering high standards across STEM, reading, writing, and critical thinking.

• Agricultural Stewardship – Using hands-on farming to teach sustainability, science, and self-reliance.

• Cultural Heritage – Teaching Black history through a redemptive and biblical lens.

• Intergenerational Learning – Providing educational pathways for youth, parents, and elders alike.

Leadership: Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr. – A Servant Scholar

Biography:

• Senior Pastor, New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church, Fort Worth, TX

• President, Ministers Justice Coalition of Texas

• Founder, Texas Preparatory School—one of Texas’s first African American-led charter schools

• Education Board Member, Region XIII Education Service Center, Austin, TX

• Advocate, Texas Education Agency

• National Strategist, Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO)

• Civil Rights Organizer, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Pastor Tatum’s life’s work has been grounded in one unwavering belief:

Every child deserves a Christ-centered education and a chance to lead.

Now, through New Mount Rose Christian Academy, that belief is being built into a biblical blueprint for generations to come.

Join the Movement: The Steering Committee

This is a calling, not a campaign.

God is gathering a remnant of educators, intercessors, business leaders, activists, and builders to lay the foundation of New Mount Rose Christian Academy.

Do you feel called to be part of something eternal?

• 817-966-7625

• kptatum1@gmail.com

• www.newmountrose.com

Conclusion: A School. A Garden. A Kingdom Vision.

New Mount Rose Christian Academy is not just about books.

It’s about roots.

It’s not just about lessons.

It’s about legacy.

We are rearing our own to succeed—because Christ is our foundation.

We are raising our own to serve—because service is our fruit.

We are the spiritual successors of the Rosenwald Schools.

We are the modern-day caretakers of a divine legacy.

We are returning Black to Our Roots—to build what God has already blessed.

Let us train up a generation who will sow in the Spirit, reap in righteousness, and rise in the power of Christ.

To God Be the Glory—For the Generations Yet to Come.