Tea Talks With Tomeka

Anthony Barrows grew up in the projects in Boston. He entered the foster care system at 14 years old. He talks about the challenges that most teenagers have as they enter foster care in addition to his journey from group homes to getting placed in a predominantly white neighborhood.  “Graffiti art saved my life,” said Anthony, although in the state of Massachusetts Graffiti is a felony. Yes, Anthony had been arrested several times but Anthony said being “Lucky” is the theme of his life. Although not having the best grades, Anthony graduated from high school. He didn’t have a plan so he decided to get a job but his foster mother and social worker intervened and made him go apply to the local college. Luckily, he got in. After completing college, Anthony felt led to get a job as a social worker. He wanted to help kids that was much like him when he was younger. Over the years he’s worked to continue to advocate for foster youth. He later applied to get another Master’s Degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Go