Black Self Help Information

The Baltimore Algebra Project

The Baltmore Algebra Project

Ralikh and his colleagues stay involved because beyond tutoring math – as the name implies – the goal of the Baltimore Algebra Project is empowering city students who may not have otherwise been given a chance. The organization has a dual focus: increasing math literacy and advocating for student rights in the city of Baltimore. Wrapped up in a peer-to-peer tutoring program is an organization fighting daily to raise the socioeconomic status of youth in Baltimore.

Doing so starts by practicing what they preach. First, the Baltimore Algebra Project is youth-run. One hundred percent of its leadership are young people; the oldest, like Ralikh, are in college. While the non-profit has a Board of Directors with adults, the Baltimore Algebra Project – indeed, the national Algebra Project model, founded in the 1980s by civil rights activist and math educator Robert Moses – has functioned with adults working in an advisory capacity.

As the old piece of economic wisdom goes, there’s no better social program for the jobless than simply having a job. This logic applies to young people in Baltimore just as much, if not more, to any other distinct demographic group – according to the Urban Alliance, only 24 percent of youth maintain employment in Baltimore City and most of their jobs are in food service, retail, and administrative fields. Ninety percent of the Baltimore Algebra Project budget goes to paying young people to teach other young people critical math skills.

More at the link provided.

 

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) has announced a new merger with Opportunity Funding Corporation (OFC)

WASHINGTON, DC – The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) has announced a new merger with Opportunity Funding Corporation (OFC), which will allow the organization to lead the HBCU community in innovation and entrepreneurship by developing the next generation of African-American entrepreneurs for the 21st century.

For the past 26 years, TMCF has focused its efforts on preparing leaders of tomorrow by placing recent graduates of the country’s HBCUs in good jobs with some of the world’s largest and most well-known employers. By combining resources with OFC, students at TMCF’s member-schools will now have access to opportunities that they will not get from other organizations.

“Entrepreneurs are key to the American enterprise and TMCF will now ensure the HBCU community does its part to guarantee that there is a talented and diverse pipeline of future entrepreneurs,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., TMCF President and CEO. “The announcement of the TMCF-OFC merger is a very special moment for TMCF because it represents a natural evolution of our business model from that of a purely scholarship granting organization to a business-creating and job-producing one.”

The Opportunity Funding Corporation is a first-of-its-kind entrepreneurial concept aimed at creating successful black-owned businesses to spur economic development in black communities across the country. Since its inception, OFC has played a significant role in incubating companies by serving as the financing vehicle for hundreds of minority entrepreneurs, like BET Founder Bob Johnson and Radio One Founder Cathy Hughes, who have successfully launched nationwide minority business enterprises.

Chisolm: 'Host' of Black mentors serving youths

Chisolm: 'Host' of Black mentors serving youths

I am in full support of ensuring that we have enough male mentors to do as stated in Aug. 1 Savannah Morning News editorial “Save the males.”

But what I am disturbed about is the notion that there are no Black men pulling their weight in this community. Just because they have not signed up for duty in particular organizations doesn’t mean that contributions are not being made by conscious, concerned and committed Black men.

As a single father of two, I raised my daughter (now 25) on my own and helped to raise my son (almost 27) to successful adulthood. I am not alone.

I have mentored young men in my church; one successfully completed the Youth Challenge Program. I am about to add two more to my list.

The point being is that there is a host of Black men in this community who function as role models, as fathers, as surrogate fathers, as mentors and as support systems. They invest their time, talents and treasures into the lives of young people other than their own.

Just because all of them have not availed themselves in community-based programs doesn’t mean they are not contributing in meaningful ways. Why not interview them and let’s hear their story.

More at the link provided.