Discover Black Heritage: Kevin Manns - service, leadership & integrity

Kevin Manns is a person of integrity, honor and devotion. As a retired Navy command master chief with a distinguished career spanning more than three decades, his life has been dedicated to service and leadership. He came from the big state of Texas to our little island, but didn’t allow the change in scale to alter the impact he’s made in the lives of countless people. 

He told KUAM News, “Anywhere I can try to influence young minds and just give them a little bit of me from what I’ve learned through my experiences in the military, that’s what I try to do. Also being here on the island of Guam, in The Talented Tenth, we try to reach out to everybody, not just people inside the fence line.”

He makes positive, lasting contributions locally as a member of the Freemasons, in The Talented Tenth, through ministry, and as a naval science instructor for Guam High’s Junior ROTC program. It’s breaking through to young minds, he says, that can be a daunting by endlessly rewarding challenge.

“With young folks, we have to take our patience,” he suggested. “Because we were all young at one time, too. We were all maybe stubborn or headstrong, but through communication and through tough love, we can break down those walls and we can help them break down those walls and help them look at different points of view.”

Kevin’s been an islander now for nearly a decade, having made Guam his home. And like the other incredible people we’ve met in this series, he puts a premium on our shared values of hospitality and how we draw on the strength of those who came before us and the responsibilities they’ve handed down, and the unbreakable bond of community.

“As black history teaches us, in the black community there’s nothing bigger than family.  And on Guam, there’s nothing bigger than family,” he noted about our shared values. “So what a great landing spot for myself to be embraced by the familiar culture and such a warm and inviting people that’s here on Guam. And the parallels are similar - we like to have outings with family, everyone is invited. We love to eat, enjoy music and have a good time - and love each other. And everybody is included.”

He also comments on roadblocks that persist and what work still needs to be done, saying, “Just education. And just knowledge.” 

“The continued battle is to make sure we’re putting out the right information. And making sure everyone understands that it’s not so much what you hear, but what you see and what you see people do. So when you see somebody pick up their fellow man or pick up another man, and then you hear somebody say ‘This group doesn’t like the other group’, but you see the difference, that’s what we have to continue to do - to put out the right word and the right information.”

As a leader of men, the master chief sees the true message of Black History Month as the unity of all people. “Black History Month has built the foundation, the building blocks, for everybody to be able to look and do what’s right when it comes to people. Everybody - all people. And enjoying the diversity from one culture to the next,” he said. “No one is better than the next, but we all can learn a wealth of knowledge if we open up our minds and our hearts to the opportunity.”

Finally, Kevin states in a succinct but definitive manner what it means to him to carry himself as a black American - for the community, on Guam, and in the world.

“Pride. Resilience. And family. That’s it.”

Discover Black Heritage is a special series for Black History Month profiling the stories of incredible people who make Guam their home as we share our cultures together in positive ways.