Today, the White House will launch the "My Brother's Keeper" initiative, in order to empower Black boys and young men of color and to help break down societal barriers to success.
Citing the disproportionate number of Black male and Latino youth who are lagging behind in school, are suspended or expelled, arrested or incarcerated in juvenile centers and victims of murder, President Obama will gather General Colin Powell, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Adam Silver, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Congressman Ruben Hinojosa, Magic Johnson and more in the East Room, to begin building a coalition that will work towards solutions to the challenges facing young men of color.
To support this initiative, the President will also sign a Presidential Memorandum today, establishing the interagency My Brother's Keeper Task Force, which will identify and expand upon ideas across the country that are working for young Black males. The task force will assess federal laws and regulations that impact Black boys and young men, provide an online best practices portal for communities to see which strategies are working, create a website to update the public on the progress of the initiative and make suggestions to the President for continued growth and development for future generations of young Black males.
Read more on this initiative on the White House blog and find out about EBONY Magazine's partnership with the White House on educational excellence for Black youth here.
