Tired of a slur used among our friends, we turned ‘Future Kings’ into a philosophy and a program

Every Sunday, Future Kings Mentoring works with our young Black men to ensure they have futures. It all started nearly a decade ago, when Terrell Galloway and I were in 11th grade at Taylor Allderdice High School, and he grew sick of hearing the n-word used as a term of endearment among our friends.

There had to be a more positive word to use. While listening to Kendrick Lamar, Terrell heard him say “negus,” which means Ethiopian king, viewed by some as a root of the n-word. Inspired, he wanted to reclaim it, but “negus” didn’t roll off the tongue. 

“I was sick of hearing the n-word used as the form of endearment and in the term of brotherhood. I thought there’s got to be something better that we can call ourselves.” – Terrell Galloway

Then he thought, “What about king?” But we were juniors in high school, and were not acting like kings. Thus the term “Future King” was born.

Terrell explained “Future King” to me one day in the school cafeteria, and it stuck. We spent time defining what it means to be a Future King. Some of the values included leadership, selflessness, being a provider and protector — and humility. 

Ultimately, we came up with our own creed. Years later, in 2019, those tenets began to gel into a program, and Future Kings Mentoring officially became a nonprofit organization on April 20, 2020. 

Four years later, our journey seems almost miraculous, and the successes of the young men who came through the program are our greatest triumph. But the tragedy of violence still plagues Pittsburgh.

I knew that all too well because my father was murdered when I was 10 years old. 

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