It was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said, “Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” 

Mr. Marlin Mogusu is a true testament to the creative, dedicated minority, who has shared his identity with the world and in two continents.

Mr. Mogusu, though born in Kenya, has spent the majority of his life in America. Mr. Mogusu, Carmel’s calculus and physics teacher, has a profound perspective of what it means to be a part of Black History Month as an African American, as well as being one of the only minority teachers in the high school this year. His perspective was uniquely formed by his African roots, after having lived in the continent for seventeen years. 

“Because I was [of] African descent and being in Africa, under the British… I never had any notion of any racial stuff. I didn’t look at somebody and then had this idea whether they’re good or bad based on the color of their skin,” he stated. 

His Kenyan foundation included being immersed in the English language, as Kenya was colonized by the British in the early 1900s; this resulted in the school systems, in both Kenya and England, aligning. 

Mr. Mogusu states, “So from Kindergarten I learned English. Now, I didn’t speak often, because I didn’t get to use it as much, because most of them there spoke Swahili.” 

He proceeded:

“They actually speak Swahili in the school the same way that we teach Spanish here because that is the unifying language because it’s 42 tribes all together. So not all tribes speak English, because not all of them are educated.” 

In 1986, Mr. Mogusu’s mother gained an opportunity from the Lord to further her education in America. Seven years later–following in the footsteps of his mother–he too came to the United States in 1993.

After having gone through a transition from continent to continent, he formed a new perspective on Black History Month and how it ties into the history of the United States.

“It should not just be Black History Month, because I feel like it’s just the history of the United States– so history covers the good and the bad…and the ugly,” Mr. Mogosu said.

He continued.

“So when I hear about Black History Month, it’s almost like you just carved it out into one section…. But I feel like it should be integrated all together. Introduce history, because it’s the history of the United States. The history of black people, and then they have a month. It’s like everybody together.”

Despite his knowledge of history,  about his perception of history, he has an affinity for science and math: at CCS, he is the calculus and physics teacher. Not only is he known as a brilliant S.T.E.M. teacher, but he is also helping to pave the way for even more minority inclusion within CCS. 

Though Mr. Mogusu has felt prejudice and discrimination in the past, his welcome to Carmel has been met with great reverence and appreciation from his students. 

“I’ve been very welcomed and extremely comfortable. I feel pretty respected by the students. I’ve never felt anything from them that has to do with prejudice or where skin color is a problem to teach–like zero, none of it. And for the most of the part in all of the places that I’ve taught, I have not felt that from the students,” Mr. Mogusu said. 

There have been other high schools similar to Carmel’s that Mr. Mogusu has taught at–similar in the fact that he was the only minority on faculty.

“At the first school that I taught at, I was at for eight years, and is actually where I was the only African American–I was the only black teacher–like here…. And then the second school I went to, same thing, same {in that} it’s a private school but it’s a different school. But the same concept, the same situation.” 

He has experience being involved in schools with similar demographics to that of Carmel’s–and within the Carmel hallways as well as classrooms, he is respected for not only his intelligence, but also the wonderful mindset that he carries with him always.