Black People Politics : Obama launches ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ to help young minority men

jamesfrmphilly

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President Barack Obama will announce a $200 million commitment from nine foundations on Thursday afternoon to bolster the lives of young men and boys of color.

The funding is part of a larger initiative from the White House to bring private businesses, nonprofits and local governments together to intervene in key moments in the lives of young black and Hispanic men to ensure they stay in school and eventually train for and get good jobs.

As Yahoo News first reported, the cause will be a major focus of Obama’s — and the first lady’s — even after he leaves office. "It’s something that's deeply personal to the president and first lady,” said Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president and the Obamas’ closest friend from Chicago. “I’m sure their commitment to this initiative will be a lifelong commitment. This is not something they simply want to do while he’s in office — it will continue.”

The president personally ordered his senior staff to come up with this new “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative in the wake of the shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin two years ago.
Obama — who was criticized by civil rights leaders for avoiding race-based initiatives and conversations while in office — was deeply moved by Martin’s death, and he tasked his staff with creating a holistic, research-based approach to helping young minority boys succeed and avoid violence.

The president will create a new interagency My Brother’s Keeper Task Force headed by Broderick Johnson, the Cabinet secretary and assistant to the president. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Attorney General Eric Holder, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and other senior officials will be personally involved in “My Brother’s Keeper,” according to Jarrett.


http://news.yahoo.com/obama-launches--my-brother-s-keeper--to-help-young-minority-men-025659695.html
 
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WASHINGTON (AP) —President Barack Obama on Thursday launched his “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, urging stronger efforts to create more opportunities for young minority men and to improve conditions that keep them impoverished and imprisoned in disproportionate numbers.

Obama said these young men consistently do worse in society, with odds stacked against them. “By almost every measure the group that’s facing some of the most severe challenges in the 21st century in this country are boys and young men of color,” Obama said, ticking off statistics on fatherhood, literacy, crime and poverty.

“We assume this is an inevitable part of American life instead of the outrage that it is,” Obama said, to applause.

Obama spoke from the White House East Room flanked by teenagers involved in the Becoming a Man program to help at-risk boys in his hometown of Chicago. He said he sees himself in them.
“I made bad choices. I got high, not always thinking about the harm it could do. I didn’t always take school as seriously as I should have. I made excuses. Sometimes I sold myself short,” Obama said.


http://thegrio.com/2014/02/27/president-obama-on-his-youth-i-made-bad-choices-i-got-high/
 
Thanks for bring this up Brother jamesfrmphilly

As Yahoo News first reported, the cause will be a major focus of Obama’s — and the first lady’s — even after he leaves office. "It’s something that's deeply personal to the president and first lady,” said Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president and the Obamas’ closest friend from Chicago. “I’m sure their commitment to this initiative will be a lifelong commitment. This is not something they simply want to do while he’s in office — it will continue.
What started as a second-term presidential bid to confront a vexing social crisis may be turning into a lifelong cause. Senior White House aides confirm to Yahoo News that a major focus of Obama’s post-presidency will be a broad-based, lifelong effort to lift up a demographic that feels perennially written off and left behind
He was criticized by some civil rights leaders for shying away from race-based initiatives and programs during his first term.
So Obama’s high-profile embrace of this cause at this time, in his sixth year in office, raises the question: Why now?
The answer is complicated. For one thing, the president had to deal with an economy in freefall and trying to get health care reform passed in a hugely crowded first term. As the nation’s first African-American president, he also had a fine line to walk: If he avoided confronting racial issues he’d be accused of betraying his roots on behalf of political expediency, but if he confronted them too head-on, he’d be accused of divisiveness.
If you are someone in power or government, have money and influence in and over society and know something is wrong or bad.
And say nothing. Or do nothing."
"You are a Very Bad Person."
Now this is something I am looking forward to. Dedicating his Post Presidential efforts to the plight of the African American provides exactly what the young black men need in America. Thank You OBAMA...:)

http://destee.com/index.php?threads/helping-minority-succeed.79690/
 

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