DarkStar Spouts Off

"Omar": I Had No Idea

I'm going to let this one speak for itself.

 

 

Donnie Andrews' life is one that David Simon and Ed Burns would have had to invent if he hadn't already lived it.

"I am the real Omar," Andrews tells me by way of introduction, referring to how he was the inspiration for the ruthless yet moral stickup man in the Simon and Burns HBO series "The Wire."

Omar Little didn't make it through "The Wire's" five-season arc. He was shot to death in the final season — as was a member of his crew, Donnie, who was played by Andrews himself in a bit part.

In real life, Andrews managed to survive the kind of street justice so accurately depicted in "The Wire." At 57, he seems grateful to be alive, speaking repeatedly about "blessings" on Thursday evening to a group gathered at the University of Maryland Law School to launch and raise funds for his new nonprofit organization targeting urban youth.

The law school is just a half-mile away but worlds apart from Lexington Terrace, the since-demolished public housing complex where he was a part of a notoriously violent drug trade. To a crowd that included Burns, former congressman Kweisi Mfume, Maryland Law Dean Phoebe Haddon and Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree, Andrews spoke of his hopes for the group Why Murder?

The name stems from 1986, when Andrews, then a drug dealer and stickup artist, was paid by a drug lord to kill a rival. Just before Andrews fired the fatal shot, the victim looked him in the eye and said, "Why?"

"To this day, I'm still trying to find that answer," he said.

Wow.

Black Business Growth Snippets

From the Census on Black Growth, a few snippets.

While the results are not yet in on how well they are doing, the creation of Black-owned businesses surged upward on the eve of the economic recession. According to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2002 to 2007, the number of these firms increased by 60.5 percent to 1.9 million, tripling the national growth rate of 18 percent.

According to the Census Bureau’s “Survey of Business Owners: Black-Owned Businesses: 2007,” the receipts produced by Black businesses also increased 55.1 percent to $137.5 billion. The survey, conducted by the Census every five years, provides in-depth information about Black firms’ sales, receipts, paid employees and payroll.

“Black-owned businesses continued to be one of the fastest growing segments of our economy, showing rapid growth in both the number of businesses and total sales during this time period,” Census Bureau Deputy Director Thomas Mesenbourg said in a statement.

...

According to the report, New York holds the top spot for African-American firms, with nearly 204,032 Black-owned businesses. The state also accounted for 10.6 percent of all Black-owned businesses in the nation.

...

Black businesses accounted for 34.6 percent of all businesses in Baltimore City in 2007, while in Washington D.C., they accounted for 28.2 percent of all businesses that same year.

The report also found that nearly four in 10 Black-owned businesses in the U.S. in 2007 were in the healthcare and social assistance; repair and maintenance and laundry services fields.

The last paragraph I quoted and emphasised was for my use later on.

Blacks And Adoptions

Some adoption statistics:

Typically, African-American families have more opportunities for domestic adoptions, experts say.

Black families take in more than 800,000 children in informal adoption arrangements of extended family members, according to the National Association of Black Social Workers.

Black families also have more opportunities to adopt an African-American child in the United States "because the African-American birth mother will place with an African-American couple," Osborne said.

The myth that black families do not adopt has been shattered by research of experts such as Dr. Robert Hill, sociologist and author of "The Strengths of Black Families," which shows that African-American families adopt at a rate three to four times that of any other ethnic group.

In Colorado, African-Americans adopt at about three times the rate of whites and Latinos, and six times the rate of Asians, according to the 2006-08 American Community Survey three-year estimates.

I just wanted to get this information out there.

Hat tip: Black Informant

Raw: Young Brother Response

This is a "raw" response to this post. Real life calls and I don't know when I can get back around to this, so I'll put it out there and let the chip fall where they may.

Points to hit:

Organization racial uplift fails because such organizations don't scale and they are too abstract to be practical.

• Programs targeted towards education are too abstract?
• Helping people in prison turn their lives around too abstract?
• Teaching young men to be good fathers, too abstract?

The first is that I come from Los Angeles, a big city where people with big mouths try to make big organizations. I haven't seen it work much better than a good church, and well that's already done. In a smaller city, I think there might be a more pressing need and a greater commitment to make strong love out of weak links.

• Obama made a mistake spouting off on Gates with a situation you don't know and you do the same about areas that aren't LA?
• Or maybe it's the organizations which you have come in contact with.

Secondly, the objective progress of black Americans means that on average the organizational ability latent on the black communities is greater than it was when I was a young black man. So the chances of an honest effort ending up okeydoke is smaller today than it was 20, 30 years ago.

• Huh?

If you are middle class, the chances that you are going to lift poor people into the middle class are slim. Especially in times like this when times are hard and messianic politicians are taxing you back down into the ditch.  If you're rich, the chances are better. What I'm saying is that if you've got a 50k job, it's likely that the time you spend trying to get somebody with a 20k job into a 35k job might often come at the expense of you getting a 75k job. So volunteer your time very carefully, because it's the man with the 150k job who has the time to recognize the ways and means of the rich that paves the greater path. And if you don't believe that, then why aren't you moving to Cuba, comrade? But then again, that's just all about money.

• Many of the "racial uplift" groups aren't about lifting the poor to middle class but giving people the tools to make better decisions and/or helping people improve the stock in their lives. After that the goal is the improved decisions improve their lives.
• Isn't the goal of job training providing a person the opportunity to learn a new skill which will allow them to feed themselves and their families? What's wrong with that?
• Parental training. If you see some of the poor excuse for parenting that is happening now, and realize that poor parenting may lead to societal dysfunctional people, what's the beef?
• Educational tutoring
• So what if a person making 50K "prevents" themselves from making 75K with their efforts? The people doing the work are making a decision and it's not yours or anyone else business to tell them their decision is wrong because it may retard their economic progress.
• A false decision is laid out here

The people this hurts the most are those who have not experienced the ways and means of power, because they see the game but they can't tell where the game ends and the realness begins. I think that especially counts for young black men who are not in close proximity to the ways and means of social power in the mainstream. When the mainstream carries power over you and your boss is gaming rather than authentically civil, then you will instinctively reject. You'd be right, but you sacrifice your own promotion. People who come up like that carry the dual consciousness, it destroys confidence in self and society.

• Civility is taught and if the parents aren't teaching, because the bonds have been broken in some manner, who the hell are you to deride the efforts to mend some bonds?

So my advice to everyone is the same. Read Carter and know that civil people with integrity are out there, dispersed and often unavailable, trying to express something better than a game face and working with integrity to earn the trust they deserve. That's the civilized world I'm living in, person to person in America, because I don't have time for anything else.

• Fine, your choice, no time, cool. But who the hell are you to deride those who take the time to make the choice?
• Following your comments, AUTENTIC GOD FEARING pastors, men and women of God who preach, teach, and spread the Word of Jesus Christ, would not do so, or at least that's what I get from your hackery.

Maybe he's thinking things through and putting thoughts out as they become "solidified" or so he thinks, initially. Or maybe he is, as has been written, a "conservative" and is approaching things from that perspective instead of "organically" where your beliefs come from your core and then you identify an ideology into which you "neatly fit."

Black In America, 2, Part 1

Straight up.
Black strength.

Anyone who has a problem with THIS one, is disturbed.

[ UPDATED ]

It seems as though people are having a problem with The Tuxedo Ball that was shown on the show.

I don't bring up slavery in my comments about Blacks because I know we are strong and have overcome a lot including slavery and Jim Crow. What I liked about the show was that it DEMONSTRATED that progress as well as people reaching back to bring others along. A legacy of slavery and Jim Crow is that many Blacks, ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM, think that Blacks are defined by the Black underclass.

To those Blacks who think that way, you are mentally brain damaged.

National OK Program

National O.K. Program

The O.K. Program is a mentor program, which fosters partnerships between police agencies, schools, students, community members, and the business and faith community to provide positive guidance and support to African American males 12-18 years old.

The primary goal of the program is to reduce the high rates of incarceration and homicide of young African American males by guiding them away from prison and towards college, military service, vocational training, and a life of responsible citizenship.

Under the guidance of an African American police officer, the program organizes responsible African American adult males to serve as positive role models and mentors for their younger counterparts. The adults in the program are called TEAMMATES, because the O.K. Program is based on a team-mentoring concept. Each teammate is importance to the team’s success. This concept provides the organizational structure necessary to allow teammates an opportunity to address specific issues, as identified in the program goals, which contribute to the high rates of incarceration and homicide of African American males.

School administrators and teachers play a critical role in the O.K. Program. Together, administrators and teachers provide a level of support to O.K. Program coordinators and students that are necessary for the program to be successful. This support encourages O.K. Students to excel and achieve a high level of academic excellence. Students in the program receive awards for their efforts, achievements and successes. Also, an incremental reward system is an important component for the O.K. Program.

Every Saturday, KIC’IT (Kids Interacting Communicating Immix Teammates) Sessions brings together O.K. Program coordinators and teammates to tutor and share life experiences with young African American males. During KIC’IT Session, students learn that they are responsible for their future. They also learn that they must always strive for excellence, compete for the best grades, be respectful, seek to make positive contributions to their families and communities, and are taught how to interact with police when contacted by an officer.

National O.K. Program

The O.K. Program is a mentor program, which fosters partnerships between police agencies, schools, students, community members, and the business and faith community to provide positive guidance and support to African American males 12-18 years old.

The primary goal of the program is to reduce the high rates of incarceration and homicide of young African American males by guiding them away from prison and towards college, military service, vocational training, and a life of responsible citizenship.

Under the guidance of an African American police officer, the program organizes responsible African American adult males to serve as positive role models and mentors for their younger counterparts. The adults in the program are called TEAMMATES, because the O.K. Program is based on a team-mentoring concept. Each teammate is importance to the team’s success. This concept provides the organizational structure necessary to allow teammates an opportunity to address specific issues, as identified in the program goals, which contribute to the high rates of incarceration and homicide of African American males.

School administrators and teachers play a critical role in the O.K. Program. Together, administrators and teachers provide a level of support to O.K. Program coordinators and students that are necessary for the program to be successful. This support encourages O.K. Students to excel and achieve a high level of academic excellence. Students in the program receive awards for their efforts, achievements and successes. Also, an incremental reward system is an important component for the O.K. Program.

Every Saturday, KIC’IT (Kids Interacting Communicating Immix Teammates) Sessions brings together O.K. Program coordinators and teammates to tutor and share life experiences with young African American males. During KIC’IT Session, students learn that they are responsible for their future. They also learn that they must always strive for excellence, compete for the best grades, be respectful, seek to make positive contributions to their families and communities, and are taught how to interact with police when contacted by an officer.

Black Star Project Joins Open Society Institute’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement

Black Star Project Joins Open Society Institute’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement

The Black Star Project will receive $50,000 from the Open Society Institute to support the Million Father March and a school-based program that engages Black men as mentors and tutors in the Chicago Public School System. The grant was awarded through OSI’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement, a three-year grantmaking initiative to address, and help reverse, the ways in which African-American boys and men are stigmatized, criminalized, and excluded from the U.S. economic and political mainstream.

Even as Americans elected their first Black president, the end of 2008 saw an onslaught of dire reports on the educational, social and economic outcomes for Black males in America. Sky-high dropout rates for high-school students, an out-of-control murder rate for 14- to 17-year olds and a 72 percent unemployment rate for high-school dropouts paint a bleak forecast for young Black men.

The Black Star Project has joined with the Open Society Institute’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement to address these issues. With the support of the Campaign, Black Star will expand its successful Million Father March and also launch an initiative that uses school-based strategies to recruit Black male tutors and mentors. Research by the National Fatherhood Initiative shows that children, male and female, perform better in school, at home and in life when their father takes an active and positive role in their lives. Additionally, Black male tutors and mentors provide measurable guidance for Black boys and young Black males in America.

More at the link provided.

Black Parents Group Aims To Fight School Stereotype

Black Parents Group Aims To Fight School Stereotype

Nathan Stephens had heard just enough of generalizations about black parents - talk that they don’t care about their kids and claims that they don’t attend school functions.

It was time to form the Black Parents Association of Columbia Public Schools to empower and inform black parents, Stephens said. An organization that has been talked about for decades is finally having its first meeting at 7 p.m. tomorrow at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.

"What really brought it to a head on a personal level was when I felt like black parents had been attacked in the local media," said Stephens, who has children at Parkade Elementary School and Hickman High School. "That’s the term I use - ‘attacked.’ "

Stephens said he was referring to recent news stories and online forums in which school officials and others talked about black parents not being sufficiently involved in the lives of their children. He said black parents are active, but their participation just might be not visible.

Other parents ask Stephens questions in church or at the store, he said, and he knows black parents care about their children’s education. "How dare someone say black parents aren’t involved," he said.

Among its goals, the new group will work with black parents, answering any questions or just support them in general. The association also wants to increase the visible participation of black parents, which could include having some parents fill in for others who might be working during back-to-school functions or parent-teacher conferences, Stephens said.

More at the link.

Meredith Clark: Saving a life is harder than writing about it

Read this.

Meredith Clark: Saving a life is harder than writing about it

I wish The Fray would go away.

But they won't. It's corny and unfair. And I'm disturbed and angry that my mind illustrates a serious, open-ended question through a rock band's hit song, aptly titled "How to Save a Life."

But it does.

Last month, a talented black teenager whom I work with made a plea that has haunted me largely because he doesn't know the depth of what his words mean, and I do.

"Ms. Clark," he said, "I need something to do."

Read the rest at the link provided.

FedEx African-American Network launches new mentoring program

FedEx African-American Network Launches New Mentoring Program

“Every child is entitled to an education that prepares them to compete in a global economy,” said Supt. Kriner Cash.

About 200 FedEx employees recently attended a kickoff luncheon to celebrate a local mentoring initiative sponsored by the FedEx African-American Network. The African-American Network will coordinate the program through Memphis Cares, a part of the National Cares Mentoring Movement that encourages able adults to mentor at-risk youth via a trusted mentoring organization.

The luncheon highlight was the keynote message by Dr. Kriner Cash, superintendent of Memphis City Schools. Dr. Cash told the FedEx group that he would like to see all segments of the community come together to uplift the city’s children and give them new hope for the future. “Every child is entitled to an education that prepares them to compete in a global economy,” he said.    

Through Memphis Cares, the African-American Network will work with five well-established area agencies to sponsor one-on-one as well as group relationship-building opportunities for Memphis-area youth. The participating agencies are the U.S. Dream Academy, Streets Ministries, Memphis City Schools – CONNECT; Exchange Club Family Center, and Kappa Alpha Psi - Memphis Alumni Chapter’s Kappa Days of Caring. Each agency has subject-matter-experts, screening processes and training materials already in place

Community Organize THIS!

Black Self Help Information

Doing The Thang

CBM Partners with school system to help black boys

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - Some Albany men want to make sure students get on the right track at an early age.

 Concerned Black Men of Albany is partnering with the Dougherty County school system to mentor and encourage African American boys in Kindergarten through third grade at Magnolia and Alice Coachman Elementary schools.

Alice Coachman principal Pat Victor compares the men's support to a tomato plant being supported by a garden stake. 

"If you stake them, your tomatoes will grow up to be fine tomatoes and not fall on the ground. So this is the intent, to make sure those young men get the support they need to be fine productive citizens," says Victor.

100 Black Men award $61K in scholarships

The 100 Black Men of Bradley County take a holistic approach to "breaking the cycle ... reaching out ... reaching back" in their efforts to improve the quality of young people's lives. The mentors focused Saturday morning on rewarding youths who have chosen to pursue education.

Scholarship checks averaging $1,800 were presented to 19 college students and scholarship accounts of about $1,550 each were opened in the names of 11 middle and high school students. The total amount of scholarships in 2008 equaled $61,000.

The community leaders have awarded more than $250,000 during the program's 12-year-existence.

100 Black Men of Baton Rouge Partners with Edison Learning

Baton Rouge, LA – 100 Black Men of Baton Rouge and EdisonLearning, the leading education company partnering with public schools in the United States, will welcome students for the first day of classes at the new Capitol High Academy for Boys and Girls on Thursday, August 7.  Capitol High Academy is located at 1000 N. 23rd Street in Baton Rouge.  Dawn Green is the school’s new principal.

“One of the greatest things you can ever do in life is to help someone else achieve their goals and dreams,” said John F. Smith, vice president of programs for the 100 Black Men. “Our collaboration with EdisonLearning, and with the support of parents, we will create a solid foundation for the future of our children’s education here at Capitol High Academy, and help them to fulfill their dreams.”

Boy Scouts And The NAACP

Boy Scouts And The NAACP

The NAACP said it is concerned that far too many black school-aged boys are spending their days on the streets, and they said that puts them in harm's way, as well as makes them targets for gangs and violence.

The group has turned to the Boys Scouts to try and reach them. At Boy Scouts headquarters, the two groups agreed it's a timely and worthy mission.

"These young people up here cumulatively have provided locally more than 1,000 hours of community service," said Ethan Draddy of the BSA.

"This program is to be a model, and today marks the launching of that flagship, which is committed to drawing our young men away from gangs on the street," said Gerald Stansbury, president of the Maryland chapter of the NAACP.

The project, called the First Class Camp, became official with a memorandum of understanding. Former Boy Scout Rep. Elijah Cummings was one of those who signed it.

Violence Prevention Program

Carnell Cooper, MD

The Violence Prevention Program is determined to reduce the frequency & the severity of recidivism for violent injury and criminal activity among persons living in and around Baltimore City. Committed to Dr. King’s vision of ‘The Beloved Community,’ our services focus on the enhancement of personal strengths, conflict resolution & the development of community relationships.

The VPP includes the Violence Intervention Project (VIP), the PHAT Project, an After-school initiative and donor-specific research projects.

http://www.umm.edu/shocktrauma/vip.htm
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-adamscolumn112106,0,1969532.column

BlackFatherhood.com

BlackFatherhood.com

BlackFatherhood.com is an interactive web resource featuring, news, information, and links for Black Fathers and their families.

Our goal is to help Black Fathers embrace all aspects of parenting and to promote viable solutions in areas of concern for fathers today; marriage, divorce, family court, healthy communication and relationships for families.

Become a part of the BlackFatherhood.com community today!

The Fifth Ward Enrichment Program Incorporated

The Fifth Ward Enrichment Program, Incorporated

The Fifth Ward Enrichment Program Incorporated (FWEP) is a youth leadership and development program for at-risk males, ages 12 - 19, located in one of Houston 's most economically depressed neighborhoods.

Founded in 1984, FWEP offers to 250 inner-city African American and Latino youth more than 20 support services that deter chemical dependency, teen pregnancy, school delinquency and dropouts, while promoting self-discipline, personal accountability, and self-esteem. These services are provided year-round through the School-based Projects, and the Teen Enterprise Center (TEC).

The School-based Project is the core program and truly defines the holistic approach to youth development that FWEP embraces. This project is housed in five schools in the Houston Independent School District 's (HISD) Northeast District and provides site coordinators who monitor school activities, interact with teachers and administrators, and coordinate daily, after-school activities. The site coordinators are responsible for the delivery of the life skills curriculum, home visits, and individual and group counseling sessions. The site coordinator is recognized by the school's youth as their mentor "on campus".

Future Black Men of America, Inc

Future Black Men Of America

In 2002 Future Black Men of America, Inc. (FBMA) was born in the mind of its founder Antoine Medley.
"The young black boys of today need the help of black men in society. It is up to us and no one else." -Antoine Medley

The organization was formally organized and incorporated as a non-profit organization in February of 2004 in the state of North Carolina. The organization also received its 501(c)3 Tax Exemption Status from the IRS in 2004.

FBMA, truly believes that young black boys need to be exposed to positive African American male role models, and positive experiences. The organization believes that black boys need to know that with hard work, sacrifice, and faith they can achieve anything. FBMA provides a variety of programs to positively alter the futures of our African American boys. Currently there are many organizations that provide similar programs but no one organization can reach all of the young males in need and for this reason FBMA was born.

The National Organization organizes and provides college tours, community activities, and mentoring for our young black men. The current education gap between young African American boys and other races is quickly widening therefore all of the FBMA programs are all geared towards closing that gap. The National Organization is currently accepting applications for the creation of new chapters around the United States. Currently there are chapters pending in Washington, DC and Atlanta, GA.

The organization is only as strong as its members. Members are needed to provide and plan our programs. African American men are needed.
"We are inevitably our brothers' keepers because we are our brothers' brother. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Daddy's Promise

Daddy's Promise

Award-winning broadcast journalist, Ed Gordon created Daddy’s Promise, an initiative designed to focus the attention of the African-American community on the positive relationship that can and should exist between fathers and daughters.

Through a national campaign and a series of community engagements, including a father and daughter dance that will take place during Father's Day weekend 2009, the initiative will encourage fathers to be actively involved in their daughter's lives. The movement gives this relationship a voice and creates a nationwide conversation with African-American families, ultimately celebrating fathers and father figures.

Center For Urban Families

Center For Urban Families

CFUF was founded in 1999 by Joseph T. Jones, Jr. in order to provide parenting and workforce development services to low-income fathers. In 1993, while working as a Baltimore Health Department social worker, Jones recognized that there were few resources available for fathers. This lack of resources inspired him to create the Men’s Services program under the auspices of the Baltimore Health Department’s Healthy Start program. Jones saw that the participating fathers were committed, but lacked the skills to provide for their children. Men’s Services helped the fathers to reconnect with their families, find employment, resolve child support issues, overcome addiction, and learn parenting skills. Beginning in 1998, Healthy Start introduced a three-week job training program, STRIVE Baltimore, which provided an innovative employment strategy for the hard-to-employ fathers enrolled in Men’s Services. Former City Health Commissioner Dr. Peter Bielenson and the Board of Directors of Baltimore City Healthy Start encouraged Jones’ interest in offering intensive services for fathers and supported his plan to form a new nonprofit organization for this purpose.

Our first initiatives, the Men’s Services Responsible Fatherhood program (now the Baltimore Responsible Fatherhood Project) and the STRIVE Baltimore Employment Training program, met with success. In 2005, CFUF established the Baltimore Building Strong Families program, a national initiative designed to assist couples with children between the ages of 0-3 months in developing the communication, conflict resolution, parenting, and life management skills necessary to develop and maintain healthy relationships.

In 2006, CFUF began to provide training and technical assistance to community and faith-based organizations across the nation. Through a series of seminars, CFUF teaches organizations how to best implement healthy relationships and marriage programs using CFUF’s Exploring Relationships and Marriage with Fragile Families (ERM) curriculum.

Opening Eyes, Minds

Opening Eyes, Minds

The trip to Connecticut was part of a program called "Mentoring Male Teens in the Hood," an effort to expose young Baltimore-area men to male role models and new experiences while helping them connect with their peers. Although it has been around for 12 years and served more than 8,000 boys, it exists solely because its organizer, Cameron Miles, is willing to beg for donations and go into his own pocket to help finance excursions.

He also seems to know all the right people. At the group's monthly meetings at Coppin State University, Miles presents a parade of important guests: Judge Robert M. Bell, chief of the Maryland Court of Appeals; television reporter Barry Simms; Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy. Miles bumped into city Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III at a restaurant a few months ago and invited him to the April meeting.

"Frankly, I was blown away," Bealefeld said, "not just by his commitment, but by the manner in which he engaged the young men and by the substance of his message."

More at the link provided.

City's Men Heed A Call To Action

City's Men Heed 'A Call to Action'

Fathers, sons, community activists, job seekers and thousands of others filed into the Baltimore Convention Center for the "A Call to Action" meeting, a mobilization effort organizers say was designed to rebuild and restore positive black men in the community.

The assembly, which its leaders said they hoped would galvanize 5,000 men at the convention center but appeared to have fallen short, was modeled after a similar effort in Philadelphia. In October, groups of men from across Pennsylvania showed up for more than two hours into an auditorium at Temple University for 10,000 Men Philly, a street-level mobilization.

Similar to Baltimore, Philadelphia's homicide number swells well into the hundreds, and the city's leaders are searching for ways to curb the violence.

More at the link provided.

Making Their Moves

Making Their Moves

But the euphoria was short-lived. Community activist William Shelton, who paid for the suits, heard his name over the loudspeaker. Eight Kenneth Cole watches were missing. Security cameras showed that some of his charges had stolen them -- a dispiriting reminder that while Shelton can take young men out of the Toga, wrenching the Toga out of them is far more difficult.

"You disrespected everything we are trying to do," Shelton scolded them a few days later in his office at Brookland Manor, where he is community relations coordinator. "At what point do you make a decision to do something positive with your life? You say you want jobs, but how can I send you out to jobs if I can't trust you? This is your life. You have to get rid of this get-over mentality."

It is a message preached daily by crusaders in the city's toughest neighborhoods: If you don't make better choices, you'll end up dead or behind bars. The message is sometimes heeded, sometimes ignored. But at community centers, schools and street corners across the city, mentors like Shelton are betting that individualized attention can make a big difference.

Most of the programs are aimed at disaffected young black men who are most likely to drop out of school, be unemployed or go to jail. They are either volunteer-supported or receive funding from city agencies, including schools, employment services and recreation, and juvenile justice. Many are tiny, draw from a single neighborhood and act as surrogate parents.

More at the link provided.

Black men answer leaders' call to action

Black men answer leaders' call to action

Inspired by a mobilization effort in Philadelphia, leaders of Baltimore's African-American community vowed Wednesday to recruit at least 5,000 black men to bring positive change to their communities.

The goal is to reduce the city's rates of violence, high school dropouts and absentee fathers. More than 50 men representing churches, educational institutions and civic groups gathered at Calverton Elementary/Middle School in West Baltimore to announce the initiative.

The group will meet on Father's Day, June 15, at the Baltimore Convention Center, where there will be opportunities for men to sign up as volunteers with more than 100 community organizations. Several service providers will be on hand to offer men whatever assistance they need to be productive residents, be it job training or substance abuse withdrawal. Plans for follow-up meetings are in the works to maintain the momentum generated in the next few weeks.

The initiative is modeled after 10,000 Men Philly, an assembly held in October. Former state Sen. Larry Young is credited with the idea of replicating the Philadelphia program in Baltimore. Organizers said they are trying to recruit 5,000 men because Baltimore is about half the size of Philadelphia.

Hat tip: Black Informant

200+ Men

Hampton Roads Committee of 200+ Men

As one of the premier African-American men’s groups in Virginia the organization works to promote Community Betterment throughout the Hampton Roads region.  The group serves the eight cities of Hampton Roads, namely Chesapeake, Hampton, Isle of Wight County, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach.

The 200+ Men works to become catalysts for positive change in the region and as such works both alone and in tandem with other community organizations on a variety of projects that have goals and objectives similar to those of the 200+ Men.

Check them out.

Group's Found Has A Mission to Mentor Young, Black Men

Group's Found Has A Mission to Mentor Young, Black Men

Raleigh, N.C. — Antoine Medley says he's following a call to save young people. Young, black men especially.

The people who are the target of his message might not like everything he has to say, but he's saying it anyway.

From 9 to 5, Medley is a computer guy. He's the one you call when something goes wrong.

He's also a family guy who has made the tough choice to give up family time to create something he believes in – Future Black Men of America Inc.

“Our young boys are really going through some things now by not having direction,” Medley says. That is what led him to decide he must be a leader, must try to shape and change those young men.

More at the link provided.