His Story: Shifting Narratives for Boys and Men of Color

What are the dominant narratives about Boys and Young Men of Color in Newark? As MBKNewark looks to call attention to the need to invest in boys and young men of color, the team is beginning to reflect more deeply on how we frame the challenge and opportunity. The Executives’ Alliance for Boys and Men of Color (EA) recently released a comprehensive toolkit for those interested in transforming the harmful and negative perceptions of young men of color. This toolkit provides an overview of why investing in narrative change work is critical and why promoting assets over deficits is key to inspiring a movement we can all believe in and achieve. Without "shifting the narrative" we will find ourselves promoting views that cause young men of color to see themselves through a lens that limits their opportunity, rather than acknowledging the role that structural racism and implicit bias plays in shaping their lives. Over the next few months, MBKNewark will be looking at dominant narratives for young men of color in Newark and what narrative change work would like for our city. The report was created by the Executives’ Alliance for Boys and Men of Color is a network of more than 40 national, regional and community foundations committed to removing structural and systemic barriers so that boys and men of color can realize their full potential.

MBKNewark Receives $50,000 Grant to Boost College Completion For Young Men Of Color

Improving Post-Secondary Outcomes Young Men of Color Together with the Newark City of Learning Collaborative (NCLC) and Essex County College (ECC), My Brother's Keeper Newark (MBKNewark) will join a cohort of cities from across the country, including Los Angles, Oakland, Buffalo and Detroit. Each city is charged with developing strategies to improve postsecondary success for young men of color. NCLC recently released a report entitled   Post-Secondary Outcomes of Newark High School Graduates , which found that more Newark high school graduates are enrolling in college. The report found that college-going rates have increased by 30% in the last five years and most students are attending ECC. MBKNewark will lead this planning process and work closely with NCLC to collect data from local higher education partners and help ECC develop a targeted initiative to improve completion rates for its male students.

MBKNewark hosts first Partner Showcase to shine a light on efforts happening across the city to improve outcomes for Boys and Young Men of Color

MBKNewark's First Moving the Needle Partner Showcase On October 25, MBKNewark successfully launched our first series of Moving the Needle Partner Showcases , which are designed to raise awareness of the work happening in Newark to improve outcomes for boys and young men of color. For our first showcase, we featured MindRight , a nonprofit providing on-demand coaching using an innovative text-based mentoring platform to help teens deal with stress and trauma. MindRight has been involved in MBKNewark’s collaborative action planning as a partner on its mentoring and living wage jobs Moving the Needle Partner Showcases will be organized by MBKNewark every other month and will target key stakeholders that can advance the mission of the featured partner.  Be on the lookout for the next event and follow our page on Eventbrite for future events.

MindRight Co-founder Ashley Edwards shares the research behind their work and impact of their pilot in Newark

Over 30 participants in attendance, including funders, youth development organizations and policy leaders throughout the City

Dr. Mendoza, MindRight's Director of Student Support, interviews former student participant

Highlights of MBKNewark in the Community

MBKNewark Supports Boys to Leaders Foundation's Efforts to Expand Reach to Latino Young Men of Color in Newark MBKNewark is partnering with the Boys to Leaders Foundation to increase our efforts to reach more Latino youth in Newark. MBK Newark sponsored and participated in the 6th Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference , which had over 150 men in attendance at Rutgers University Newark. This year's theme was centered around this message to young men: "Be who you are destined to be, not who they want you to be." Boys to Leaders Foundation trains young men on how to lead and succeed in their endeavors by providing educational workshops and connecting them with powerful and prominent community leaders who offer hope, inspiration, and guidance. In addition, they aim to address and possibly offer solutions to ongoing and emerging cultural issues that are impacting the young men in our communities. To learn more bout Boys to Leaders Foundation, visit boystoleadersfoundation.org .

SheWins! and MBKNewark Recruits 200 Students Participate in Screening of "The Hate You Love To Give" and Youth Book Club SheWins and MBK Newark organized over 200 Newark youth to attend a special screening of The Hate U Give. Following the movie, youth engage in a dialogue about how the film resonated with them and the importance of youth advocacy. SheWIns! mission is to create a pipeline of college, career, and community-ready young women leaders from the city of Newark. To learn more bout SheWins! visit shewins.org .

Imani Moody, Chief Financial Officer of The National "I Have a Dream Foundation" on Why the Work of MBK is Important

WHY THE WORK OF MBK IS IMPORTANT TO MR. IMANI MOODY? Mr. Imani Moody, Chief Financial Officer at The National "I Have A Dream" Foundation and an active member of our Community Advisory Board, was interviewed on Saturday, October 27, 2018 at the Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church during the historic 94% rally organized by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Click here to listen to the interview.

MBKNewark's Keeping the Promise Action Plan

MBKNewark was started by Mayor Ras J. Baraka in 2015 with support from the Prudential Foundation, in response to then President Barack Obama's national call to action following the tragic murder of Trayvon Martin. Since that time, MBK Newark has worked with partners on the ground to bring attention to challenges faced by boys and young men of color. For the next three years, MBKNewark will collaborate with organizations to address persistent opportunity gaps through policy advocacy, scaling best practices and investing in innovative youth programs with a focus on: Mentoring, Reducing Violence & Second Chances and Living Wage Jobs. Click here for your copy of the MBKNewark Keeping the Promise Action Plan .

We want to hear from you! Contact us.  My Brother's Keeper Newark info@mbknewark.org | mbknewark.org 973-624-9400 Ext 34

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