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.