Hope for Boys and Young Men of Color

Daryle Unseld
Senior Manager, Community Engagement

As I reflect on my time as a youth growing up in Louisville, I’m thankful that I had many caring adults who encouraged me to dream past high school. I can’t help to think where I would be without that encouragement from those who served as an extension of my parents and grandparents, by pushing me to work hard, study hard and make the most of myself. From all walks of life, this cadre of both formal and informal mentors never gave up on me, and wouldn't allow me to give up on myself.

I can also name countless individuals including relatives and close friends whose dreams have been derailed. The fact remains that in our community, many of our boys and young men of color fall into the category of “at risk." And while we wait for the calvary that’s never coming, the gang and drug culture consistently but negatively demonstrates how effective mentoring partnerships work.

I can speak from personal experience that as a young black male the struggle is real! And because of who you are, and where you come from, often times you are marginalized into insignificance by the mainstream.

There are some harsh realities facing many young people in our community. Particularly, issues that disproportionately affect boys and young men of color:

Girls CAN Be Good At Math - Don't Buy Into the Falsehood

By Janet L. Boyd

My granddaughter, Stella Rose, is a better conversationalist than just about any adult I know. Our discussions range from pop music to yoga to whether boogers would taste salty or sweet. At age 7, she considers herself an expert on many things: the value of pink cowgirl boots, the poems of Roald Dahl, Double Gloucester cheese, building fairy houses at Hogan’s Fountain, music by Loretta Lynn and Nancy Sinatra, purses, the movie Annie, and how to steer Canterbury the horse around a barn cat instead of running right over it.  She can talk a blue streak about any of these topics.

Here’s another thing Stella Rose is an expert at – math! During a recent overnight visit with me, she spent the last few minutes before falling asleep figuring the 12 times table in her head. She can add a column of figures faster than I can. She excels at division in first grade. All on her own, she figured out that the sum of the first two digits of her dad’s phone number equals digits three and four, and the sum of digits five and six equals digit seven.

But, sadly, by the time Stella Rose goes to middle school, she may stop believing in herself as an expert in math.