Issues Under Fire: Barack Obama and My Brother's Keeper

Issues Under Fire: Barack Obama and My Brother's Keeper 

Speaking from the heart and from experience about systemic issues plaguing young men of color in the United States, President Obama came to NYC yesterday to promise his life long commitment to making a major difference. At Lehman College in the Bronx, the president announced a new private sector funded addition to his My Brother's Keeper initiative, which is designed to create incentives and opportunities for Black and Latino men living in high risk circumstance. 

"This will remain a mission for me and Michelle not for the rest of my presidency, but for the rest of my life". "I grew up without a dad. I grew up lost sometimes and adrift," he said. Stating the only difference between himself and some of the young men enrolled in these targeted social outreach programs, was that he was lucky to have grown up in a more forgiving environment. 

So far, $80 million has been raised and invested in the My Brother's Keeper Alliance for the purpose of mentoring, improving reading skills and qualifying 50,000 more students of color for secondary education. With partners like Sprint and BET pitching in, President insisted their involvement was not philanthropic. "They're doing this because they know making sure all of our young people have an opportunity to succeed is an economic imperative".   

When the President launched this program in September 2014, he challenged cities, towns, counties and even tribes to set up "MBK" communities. It was a call to action for community leaders to implement a coherent cradle-to-college and career strategy for improving the life outcomes for all young people. 

The six goals of the Challenge are:

• Ensuring all children enter school cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally ready
• Ensuring all children read at grade level by 3rd grade
• Ensuring all youth graduate from high school
• Ensuring all youth complete post-secondary education or training
• Ensuring all youth out of school are employed
• Ensuring all youth remain safe from violent crime

Community leaders can lay the groundwork for an MBK Community in four steps:

1. Accept the President’s Challenge
2. Convene a “Local Action Summit” to build an MBK Community
3. Conduct a policy review and form recommendations for action
4. Launch a plan of action, next steps and a timetable for review 

By the way, click here to see if your community took the challenge.

While this observer agrees wholeheartedly with President Obama's efforts, this challenge, if accepted, it will be an extremely heavy lift, considering America's  dysfunctional social structure. With a persistent racial divide, limited resources and a permanent opposing narrative that'll contest any "costly" social programs for minorities, it will take a lot more than what America is currently made of to envision much progress.

Therefore, for those willing to consider a more radical Plan B just in case My Brother's Keeper hits a speed bump, listen to the back end of today's Podcast Below!