Black Self Help Information

Future Black Men of America, Inc

Future Black Men of America, Inc

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.

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.

Man Down 2008 Conference

Man Down 2008 Conference

"This is not just a church thing. It's a movement," said Pastor James Jamison of Hope Baptist Church for All Nations of the first Man Down 2008 Conference this week at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, 3701 Princess Place Drive.

The idea for the conference was a way for the African American community to reclaim its young men from street violence and drug use.

With 300 men attending each nights services at 7 pm., its organizers are counting its success. "These are men who are coming from the streets, from halfway houses as well as churches," Pastor Jamison said. "They are men who believe that the time has come to elevate our African American young brothers."

More at the link provided.

SOM students mentor Detroit schoolchildren

SOM students mentor Detroit schoolchildren

Wayne State University School of Medicine students have banded together to launch a cultural and academic academy for middle and high school students of Detroit.   

The Promoting Uplift to Lives of Success and Empowerment (PULSE) Enrichment Academy meets two Saturdays of each month from August to April, bringing Detroit students onto the School of Medicine campus to be taught a variety of cultural and academic subjects by SOM medical students.

The academy, the brainchild of second-year medical students Letacia Sims, Cecelia Calhoun and Dakisha Felder, was established with a Widening the Pipeline Program grant from the School of Medicine’s chapter of the American Medical Student Association. Many of the students volunteering as teachers and tutors are members of the Wayne State University School of Medicine chapter of the Black Medical Association/Student National Medical Association. Ms.Sims, Ms. Calhoun and Ms. Felder are community service chairpersons for the SNMA.   

“We saw a need for this type of programming,” said Ms. Sims, a native of Georgia who wants to practice pediatric medicine. “Kids need to expand their horizons in academics and culture. SOM students need volunteer hours, and the children of Detroit need the help, so it’s mutually beneficial. We get to give back to the community.”

More at the link provided.

Urban League of Greater Kansas City offers training to the Kansas Black Chamber of Commerce

Urban League of Greater Kansas City offers training to the Kansas Black Chamber of Commerce

In an agreement reached this week, the Urban League of Greater Kansas City will offer its extensive entrepreneurial training to the membership of the Kansas Black Chamber of Commerce. The Urban League's Entrepreneur Center is an initiative of the organization's Destination Wealth Creation program. The Entrepreneur Center enables minority entrepreneurs to take advantage of new business opportunities and qualify for financing that will lead to progressive business growth.

The Entrepreneur Center employs top-notch business professionals with proven track records in their field to train, coach and mentor prospective small businesses, micro-businesses and budding cottage industries. Entrepreneurs who qualify for the program will receive one-on-one business coaching, regular group training services, and workshops that teach basic business concepts and address the real-life issues that participants encounter as non-traditional business start-ups. This comprehensive program will increase the entrepreneurs' ability to operate businesses that are profitable, self-sustaining and better able to withstand market fluctuations.

More at the link provided.

Mentoring Program Gives Students Wisdom, Awards

Mentoring Program Gives Students Wisdom, Awards

DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO – In Bob Countryman's days, mentoring was a trickle-down affair – brother to brother.

That's all his family could manage for its 13 children when mentoring programs were practically nonexistent, said Countryman, 70, of San Diego.

Today, he is a driving force behind organized mentoring for young African-Americans.

Countryman, a retired Drug Enforcement Administration forensic chemist, served as master of ceremonies for the Links Inc. San Diego chapter's black male high school seniors achievement awards ceremony. It was held at the downtown Marriott Hotel & Marina yesterday.

Nineteen students were honored at the ceremony attended by roughly 400 people.

Links is a national nonprofit organization of black  women, with some chapters overseas.

More at the link provided.

Project Ready changing attitudes, 1 by 1

Project Ready changing attitudes, 1 by 1

For young black men, dodging gangs, drugs and negative peers and trying to avoid becoming a victim of crime is as much a part of their academic success as hitting the books.

"You've always got to watch your back when you're walking. You never know; maybe those two dudes, or three dudes, you just passed might come back. Like they've seen something they like (such as a clothing item or gold chain) and try to take it," said Marcus Bowens, 17.

Disturbed by the unyielding pattern of high youth violence rates and low graduation rates, the Urban League of Rochester has launched "Project Ready," a program to provide academic mentoring and training in life skills for young black men.

The development program meets twice a week to provide tutoring, train participants on test-taking and public speaking and raise cultural awareness.

More at the link provided.

Washington County Woman Seeks To Inspire Youths Of Color

Washington County Woman Seeks To Inspire Youths Of Color

As a department assistant in the radiology department at Washington County Hospital, Fara Thompson knows a lot about career opportunities in the medical field. She shares her knowledge and contacts as the Medical Cluster leader for the Hagerstown YMCA's Black Achievers program.

 

Black Achievers is a youth mentoring program for ages 12 to 18. Its goal is to expose participants to a variety of opportunities in the community, from career and business options to college tours to community service, Thompson said.

 

"We want to get them out into the community and try to help people, to get them to love who they are, to be proud of being a Black Achiever," Thompson said.

More at the link provided.

Club steers black boys, men to college

Club steers black boys, men to college

DAYTONA BEACH -- Hosea Crooms Jr. stands when he speaks. He looks his audience in the eye.

He delivers words with the passion of a preacher and the confidence of a lawyer, the latter of which he indeed wants to be -- after a successful football career. The Atlantic High School sophomore talks of going to Florida A&M University or Harvard.

"When I started here in sixth grade, I was rough around the edges, kind of like sandpaper," Crooms said, wearing a blue pinstripe suit, vest and tie on a recent Saturday morning.

Now the 16-year-old quarterback of the champion Brain Bowl team is a rising star who's recruiting other boys to join him at Bethune-Cookman University's Black Male College Explorers Program.

There, boys in sixth through 12th grades meet in a classroom on campus, analyze the news, get tutored on their schoolwork and learn to play the Royal Game -- chess. In addition to meeting on Saturdays during the school year, the program also has a summer component, where students like Hosea get an opportunity to focus on academics and learn more about colleges and universities.

Mentoring programs such as Explorers are a major part of efforts to steer more black men to college. Institutions such as Bethune-Cookman have long sought more male students. B-CU and other schools, including Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, are rolling out programs designed to help black men in higher education succeed.

Rest at the link provided.

Gilmer begins mentoring group for students

Gilmer begins mentoring group for students

GILMER — Sometimes a young man needs know someone is watching when he ponders whether to pick up his homework or watch TV.

That's the premise of a new mentoring program that pairs black male students at Gilmer's Bruce Middle School with mentors they met Sunday night.

"Graduation seems a long way off — it's not," Bruce Middle School Principal Greg Watson told the 16 or so young students who met with about 20 volunteer mentors in the school's cafeteria Sunday.

"It's important to start planning right now. ... You're going to make mistakes along the way, but we're going to try to give you a support network."

The mentoring program for young black men formed about two weeks ago. Sunday was the first meeting between the mentors and students. The mentors also are black.

James E. Venters of McNeese and St. Claire Streets Church of Christ in Gilmer said each volunteer will be paired with a student. The mentor will make regular stops at the campus to check the student's progress, but Venters said off-campus activities also will be part of the curriculum.