OBLIGATION TO GIVE EVERY CHILD
THE SAME CHANGE IN THIS COUNTRY.
>> PRESIDENT OBAMA LAUNCHED MY
BROTHER’S KEEPER IN AN EFFORT TO
BRIDGE THE PERSISTENT
OPPORTUNITY GAPS FOR YOUNG MEN
OF COLOR.
MANUFACTURE THAN
MORE THAN SIX YEARS LATER, IT’S
STILL GOING STRONG, PROVING TO
BE A LASTING LEGACY.
AND JOINING ME NOW IS PEOPLE WHO
PARTICIPATED IN PRESIDENT
OBAMA’S PROGRAM.
JEROME HAWKINS AND A HOWARD
UNIVERSITY UNDER GRAD, CHRISTIAN
R. JOHNSON, A REMEMBER OF THE
CLASS OF 2024 AT HOWARD
UNIVERSITY AND DR. EDWIN
CASSATA, HEAD OF YONKERS PUBLIC
SCHOOL IN NEW YORK.
WELCOME, ALL.
CHRISTIAN, I WANT TO START WITH
YOU, AND ASK, WHAT DOES MY
BROTHER’S KEEPER MEAN TO YOU?
>> IT SIMPLY MEANS JUST HAVING
THAT BROTHERHOOD, THE FAMILY
ASPECT REALLY MY HIGH SCHOOL WAS
A PART OF YOUR INITIATIVE AND WE
WERE ALL BROTHERS IN THAT
COMMUNITY.
LIKE, THE TEACHERS IN MY SCHOOL
WERE MY PLAY AUNTS AND MY PLAY
AUN KLS.
AND MY BROTHER’S KEEPER IS
CREATIVE VILLAGE OUT OF MY
VILLAGE OF MY HOME.
I LOVE THAT.
>> JEROME, YOU HAVE THE SAME
EXPERIENCE?
>> ABSOLUTELY.
AND JUST WHAT CHRISTIAN SAID.
MY NEIGHBOR’S CHILD IS MY CHILD.
YOUR BROTHER IS MY BROTHER.
YOUR SISTER IS MY SISTER.
AND YOU KNOW, JUST LOOKING AFTER
ONE ANOTHER, WHAT I HAVE, YOU
HAVE.
AND JUST SHARING THE RESOURCES.
YOU DON’T HAVE -- MENTORSHIP
DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LATERAL.
KIT BE HORIZONTAL.
>> AND HAS IT AFFECTED THE
STUDENT BODY IN YONKERS?
WHAT HAS IT MEANT TO THE
STUDENTS THERE?
>> THANK YOU.
MY BROTHER’S KEEPER IS A
MOVEMENT.
IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY TO TRULY
AFFECT THE LIVE EXPERIENCES OF
THE STUDENTS THAT HAVE BEEN LEFT
BEHIND.
AND I HAVE OFTEN SAID THAT’S ON
BEHALF OF THE STUDENTS THAT HAVE
BEEN LEFT BEHIND IN AMERICA.
PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS SET THE
CONDITIONS FOR US TO CREATE THE
INITIATIVES ON BEHALF OF THE
YOUNG PEOPLE TO SUPPORT THEM, TO
SCARE FOR THEM AND TO GIVE THEM A PLACE OUR SOCIETY.
A PLACE OUR SOCIETY.
>> PRESIDENT OBAMA, HAVE THEY
MET THE EKXPECTATIONS UTD EXPECT
FOR MY BROTHER’S KEEP CENTER.
>> THEY EXCEEDED THEM.
THESE TWO YOUNG GUY, WHEN I MET
THEM, THEY WERE NOT FANCY AND
LOOKING
LOOKING SHARP.
BUT THEY’RE AN EXAMPLE OF THE
INCREDIBLE TALENT THAT IS OUT
THERE.
YOU KNOW, IN THIS FIRST VOLUME
OF A PROMISED LAND, I DON’T
RIGHT ABOUT TRAYVON MARTIN THAT
COMES LATER IN THE PRESIDENCY.
THAT WILL P IN VOLUME TWO.
BUT HE HAD CONTINUALLY SEEN NOT
JUST THE TRAGEDY OF YOUNG BLACK
MEN BEING IMPACTED BY RACIAL
BIAS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE
SYSTEM OR TRAYVON MARTIN, A
VIGILANTE WHO DECIDED THAT
TRAYVON WAS SUSPICIOUS BUT WHAT
IT UNVEILED WAS THE DEGREE TO
WHICH ATTITUDES TOWARDS BLACK
BOYS, HISPANIC BOY, BOYS OF
COLOR, BOYS ON NATIVE AMERICAN
RESERVATIONS, THE FEAR OF THEM,
THE STEREO TYPING, THE DISMISSAL
OF THEM, THE PIPELINING OF THEM
NOT IN THE COLLEGE, BUT SO OFTEN
IN THE PRISON WAS HAVING AN
ADVERSE EFFECT AND WE HAD TO GO
BEYOND GOVERNMENT TO DEAL WITH
IT.
SO WHAT WE DID, MARSHALL
PARTNERSHIPS IN A PLACE LIKE
YONKERS WITH SCHOOL DISTRICTS
AND BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITY
ORGANIZATIONS AND GROUPS, TRYING
TO FIND MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS,
VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAMS,
SOME CASES, REENTRY PROGRAMS FOR
THOSE WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH THE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.
PROCESSES TO ENCOURAGE YOUNG
PEOPLE TO SET THEIR SIGHTS
HIGHER, AND YOU HAVE, AS THE
SUPERINTENDENT SAID, A MOVEMENT
WHERE IT’S FALLEN SHORT JUST THE NEED ALWAYS EXCEEDS THE NUMBER
NEED ALWAYS EXCEEDS THE NUMBER
OF PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE THERE’S
STILL HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF
YOUNG BOYS AND MEN THAT WOULD
BENEFIT FROM A MENTOR, WHO WOULD
BENEFIT FROM THE KIND OF HELPING
HAND THAT I THINK ALL OF US NEED
SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY FOR US
TO RISE AND I’M AN EXAMPLE OF
THAT.
AS SOMEBODY WHO GREW UP IN A