Thursday’s event included workshops, and several speakers including Westchester County Executive George Latimer and actor Mike Epps.
WHITE PLAINS - Educators, politicians and community leaders who addressed a room full of black and Latino youth were defiant when they said they were talking to the next generation of citizens who would redefine what it means to be a young man of color.
The speakers were talking to about 800 students Thursday who attended a first-ever Youth Leadership Summit organized by a coalition of My Brother's Keeper communities from Westchester, Rockland and Dutchess counties.
“We want them to know that there are people out here who really care, that we want to make the investment in them so they will be a successful, contributing person in this society or the community they will eventually reside in,” said André Early, commissioner for the Department of Community Resources in Greenburgh and co-chair of the committee that organized the event.
But the My Brother’s Keeper challenge is steep.
The communities and school districts around the country that have accepted the My Brother’s Keeper challenge — an idea launched in 2014 by former President Barack Obama — are committed to improving the outcomes of black and Latino men. This demographic has historically faced academic challenges, greater likelihood of incarceration and often come from low-income neighborhoods.
State Education Department Commissioner MaryEllen Elia has repeatedly cited My Brother's Keeper as a key to closing the achievement gap that separates students of color from white students, as commonly measured by test scores and graduation rates. The state has invested more than $20 million in My Brother’s Keeper communities, including about a dozen in the Lower Hudson Valley, since 2016.
That money has helped launch programs in individual schools. Many participating students get together after school or on Saturdays with mentors, get extra help with school work, go on field trips, and put together events like the leadership summit. Thursday’s event included workshops focused on time management and mental health, and several speakers included Westchester County Executive George Latimer and actor Mike Epps.
The initiative can take many forms. Julio Veras, a math teacher at the Enrico Fermi School in Yonkers, said their MBK program is trying to help seventh and eighth graders become role models for younger kids in the school.
Asther Fernandez, an eighth grader at Enrico Fermi, said the My Brother’s Keeper community helped him turn around bad habits.
Hanson Drysdale, a 17-year-old senior from Spring Valley High School, said participating in My Brother’s Keeper has made a big difference for him and his peers in East Ramapo.
Westchester: Elmsford, Greenburgh, Mount Pleasant Cottage, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Ossining, Peekskill, White Plains, Yonkers.