I am always heartbroken when I watch the news and hear about another young black men being killed. I am usually outraged for the time being, say a quick prayer and then go on about my day. I know I have to do more.
The solutions usually center on the mentoring of our black boys, which is awesome and greatly needed. It is my prayer that the mentoring, in addition to focusing on manhood, also highlights education. We need to get our young black men off the streets and get them back in the classrooms and eventually into the lecture halls. Education changes lives.
If you haven’t already, check out this video of a few black men at UCLA who are simply fed up. “UCLA has less than 50 Black males in the entire freshmen class, and the graduation rate is only 74% (lowest amongst high-ranking institutions). This needs to change. Support this petition if you think universities need more effective diversity initiatives! Let’s start with UCLA, and set the bar for the rest of the country!”
In addition to the schools needing more diversity initiatives, we also need to step it up in our communities to motivate our children. We need to stress education by giving them examples of the opportunities that open up with a strong education under their belt and by Introducing them to new career opportunities. We all have a significant role to play and it’s time to step up.
Please share your thoughts.
Audria says
Wow this message needs to be heard on so many different levels I have a son that will one day go to college and i pray it won’t just be because whatever University he decides to attend just wants him to increase their stats on a football Field but to give him a fair chance academically like Everyone else even though he’s a darker color on the palette
Sallie says
WOW. We must move to action, they wont level the playing field for us so we do it ourselves.
April says
Although I really appreciate the message, as a Black Alum of UCLA, after affirmative action fell, the sheer number of APPLICANTS dropped. We have not only produce strong candidates, we have to encourage them to apply for an institution like UCLA. I don’t know what the numbers of APPLICANTS v Admissions is, but what if they let in 50% of applicants? What if it was twice the percentage of any other race? That would be a more telling message to me. I know that when I was there, the admissions officers desperately looked for qualified candidates to the program. But we don’t want that 74% graduation rate to drop just so that we get more numbers in.
angelia says
I am deeply sadden about we to start our kids young
Derek Finley says
I thought this was an well done video; it is so inportant that we get as many people as possible to see it an spread the word!!
Lady Mahogany says
Wow, Very Powerful. Please time line 2:40 – 2:50 who is Professor Sander?
We must continue to encourage our young males.
Lady Mahogany says
Please read – Professor Richard Sander, UCLA https://dailybruin.com/2012/10/23/findings-by-law-professor-suggest-that-ucla-admissions-may-be-violating-prop-209/
Lady Mahogany says
UCLA Law Professor Proposes to Bump Black Law Students down into Less Selective Law Schools
https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4133592?uid=3739840&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102983267007
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