Lifting Up Our Boys and Young Men of Color

Almighty Ra kicked things off with spoken word, closing with: “I got something to say…” His words set the tone for the discussion that followed—and echoed what we are hearing with growing urgency from Baltimore’s young people. A plea to listen, hear and make space at the table. A plea reinforced by the town hall’s hosts and panelists. Asked to share what young Black men need to succeed, they said:

Kevon Thomas got put out of school his freshman year. He lived with his mother and little sister, and squeegeed to put money in his pocket. Then in August 2019 he got shot. A guy tried to rob him. They tussled. And Kevon was shot in his back. After he recovered, he became one of the first participants in the city’s Squeegee Alternative Plan and re-engaged in school. In June 2020, Kevon’s principal from Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy West delivered his diploma to his house in a drive-by graduation ceremony with blue and yellow balloons, family and friends.

Since graduating, Kevon has accessed a range of city resources that have put him on a path toward steady employment, and he is now in a career mentoring program with the Department of Public Works (DPW) and training for a position in the water industry.

“I’ve come a long way,” Kevon, now 20, says.

Kevon is one of more than 100 youth who have participated to date in the YH20 Career Mentoring Program, a partnership between the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, DPW and the Chesapeake Water Environment Association. Launched in 2015 to prepare unemployed or underemployed youth ages 18-24 for full-time jobs in the water industry, YH2O is a six-month program that includes basic job readiness training, career exploration and a paid summer internship. Kevon is halfway through the program.

“So far I’ve learned the different jobs within the water industry and ways to manage my emotions in the workspace,” he says. “In a professional setting I have to put [my] pride to the side so that [I] can learn and take in what someone is teaching me.”

Kevon is consistently showing up to classes on time, fully engaged and consistently placed in leadership roles by his program supervisor. And he just started his internship in the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“This is a great career opportunity right out of high school,” Kevon says. “You get to learn new things and meet new people. I love being a part of the program because now I don’t have to be out in the streets or getting in trouble.”

Rites of Passage Summer Leadership Program

A partnership with the Mayor's Office of Children & Family Success, African-American Male Engagement, Coppin State University & Youthworks

Last month, Mayor Brandon M. Scott joined other mayors in a national My Brother’s Keeper Alliance forum to highlight the work of a newly invigorated My Brothers’ Keeper-Baltimore, the local affiliate for the alliance, and to discuss why it is vital that cities and their mayors commit to driving outcomes for boys and young men of color.

President Barack Obama’s administration launched the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative in 2014 to eradicate disparities confronting boys and young men of color. In 2016 Baltimore became an MBK site and in 2019 the Mayor’s Office of Children & Family Success became the sponsoring city agency for the MBK-Baltimore work. The agency’s leadership of the Baltimore Children’s Cabinet aligns with the MBK-Baltimore mission, and over the last year it partnered across Baltimore’s business, education, nonprofit and youth development sectors to help build an MBK-Baltimore Board of Directors to lead the work of connecting Baltimore’s Black boys and young men to the resources and opportunities to thrive. The new Board has adopted a four-point plan:

• drive narrative change
• advance juvenile justice reform
• expand workforce development and mentorship opportunities
• grow community-based organizations led by the young men of color

Read more about MBK-Baltimore and how its work aligns to the Children’s Cabinet priorities.

In late May, Mayor Scott held his first mayoral youth summit to hear directly from youth about what they need from the city and its leaders to succeed. The focus of the summit was on how youth are experiencing violence and how, together, we can make Baltimore a safer, better city for our young people. The youth summit—designed and led by youth—included two small, in-person dialogues and a large virtual conversation for youth ages 16-24, with a focus on boys and young men of color, those closest to harm. More than 300 youth attended the three events, leading courageous conversations and informing our work on their behalf.

Follow us @bmorechildren and @gothedistancebmore for excerpts from these conversations over the coming months—we are committed to keeping what we heard on our and the public’s radar. And view the video message from participating youth to Mayor Scott below.