Today, young men of color are often viewed through a lens in which we seem to only be able to do what they tell us we can do.
Society encourages us to be a basketball, football player, or any athlete for that matter. It displays the rapper in society as one of the only positions that we should have and are good at being.
Understand, I don’t think it’s a problem to be any of these professions. However, I do think there is a problem when society tells us that we can’t do or aspire to be more than these. In a sense, I personally feel like they show us that being a lawyer, doctor, cop, social worker, firefighter, and so many other wonderful professions is not something that we should aspire to be. In finding a way to change the way young men of color are seen in society and the way they see themselves, I decided to create an event to do so.
(Click to read about the event)
Two of my very good friends, Leonard and Joe have birthdays in January. We usually do a joint celebration each year, where we go and hang out somewhere with the rest of our friends. It has always been great way for us also to celebrate our birthdays and talk about fulfilling our dreams, such as my dream of being a social worker, Joe’s dream of working in the hospital, and Leonard’s dream of working within the court systems. However, we’re going to do something different for our upcoming birthdays.
Since we are getting older and are trying to make a difference in society, we want to use our celebrations to give back. We will have an event in which we will raise funds for The Chad School Foundation, which is an organization that pushes educational advocacy to help black and brown children get the best education possible to assist them in to getting in to college. We will also use the event as a way to showcase the Black and Brown men in our country in a positive light than what has been displayed by the media in recent times.
Ultimately, we are using this event as a platform to inspire, encourage, and support young men of color to achieve a brighter future. With this event, we believe we can not only inspire the young Black and Brown men of our generation, but we can also inspire males and females of all ethnicities to be more than what society perceives them to be.
We want to let our young black men in society know that it’s just as cool to be in the professions we are in as it is any other profession. We also want to let them know that they can be whatever it is they want to be without putting any limitations on it based upon society’s label!
I believe our young men of color today feel hopeless as if they have to do what society tells them to do.
It’s almost as if they’re scared due to all of the recent police incidents where young men’s lives have been taken. They don’t want to do the wrong thing or go against what they’re being told to do, nervous of their lives being snatched away from them, so they are either succumbing to society or being an outlaw which ultimately is pushing them quicker to the grave or jail.
Everyone can create a platform to do whatever it is they want. We are using ours to give back and to show the young black successful man in a positive light. We want to encourage the ones who are chasing their dreams that they can be whatever it is they want to be, and accomplish anything they want to do, despite society’s obstacles that are placed on them in route to success.
Our event is all about inspiring, encouraging, and supporting our young Black and Brown men on their way to a successful, prosperous career and life. Who knows, creating these types of events could be a way to continue inspiring young men of color. We may do more around the country in the future. Hope you can show your support.
Interesting in attending the event? You can purchase tickets here.
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