One hundred and fifty Bronx-area high school students filed into Monroe College’s Mintz auditorium in Fordham Manor on Wednesday, Feb. 9, for the second annual Bronx event, celebrating the nonprofit, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance (MBK).

 

As “The Champion” played on a loop before the event got underway, on top of each table were small water bottles, snack bars, yellow Monroe College folders, and framed inspirational quotes from notable figures like basketball legend, Michael Jordan, and rapper, songwriter and record producer, Kendrick Lamar. Four TV monitors projected various PowerPoint presentations during the event.

 

Launched in February 2014 by former U.S. President Barack Obama, the MBK Alliance is an initiative that was created to address persistent opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color, to ensure all youth could reach their full potential. An extract from the organization’s website reads, “Our mission is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world.”

 

In welcoming the attendees, Marc Jerome, president of Monroe College, said his hope was that people would leave at the end of the day, saying, “This was an interesting event; I want more.” He then kicked things off, asking one student from each Bronx high school to step up to the microphone and say which high school they attended.

 

Represented on the day were Bronxwood Preparatory Academy in Wakefield, Fordham High School for the Arts in the Bronx Park neighborhood, Harry S. Truman High School in Baychester, and Dreamyard Preparatory High School, Bronx Collegiate Academy, and Bronx High School of Business, all located in Claremont.

 

Students from Bronx Envision Academy and Fannie Lou Hammer Freedom High School, based in the Crotona neighborhood, Bronx International High School in Morrisania, and the High School for Teaching and the Professions and The Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music, both in Kingsbridge Heights, were also represented.

 

After a two-minute, motivational video by author, William King Hollis, Jerome introduced former Bronx assemblyman, Michael Blake, a visiting social justice and civics fellow. Blake was responsible for bringing the MBK initiative to New York, having previously worked for the Obama administration.

 

In another short video shown of the former president speaking at Lehman College during his 2015 visit, Obama is seen giving Blake a shout out and joking that when a president introduces you, you have to stand up. “Mike grew up in difficult circumstances,” Obama said. “Now, he’s in public office, making sure that other young people like him have every chance in the world.”

 

The MBK non-profit works with corporations to fund community programs for young Black and Latino men. “How well we do as a nation depends on whether our young people are succeeding,” Obama said during his visit. “That’s our future workforce.” Addressing the minority youth specifically, he said, “You matter. You matter to us.”

 

Presenting the biographies of the various speakers present at the Monroe College event, Blake said, “We want you to understand who the people are who have your back,” Blake said. “People, nationally, are rocking with you.” Later, sharing what the MBK event means to him, Blake said, “I am you. You are me. I came back home because you matter to me.”

 

For his part, Dr. Lester Young, chancellor of the State education department’s Board of Regents, discussed the importance of history. “History is about life,” Young said. “History is about who we are. History is about how we interact with each other,” he added, before reminding the students to be their brother’s keeper each and every day.

 

Explaining the origins of MBK, Young then said, “It started with the death of Trayvon Martin. MBK was designed to ensure we do something once and for all, so we don’t have any more Trayvon Martins.” Martin was a 17-year-old African American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was fatally shot in Sanford, Florida in 2012 by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic American. Young wrapped up, saying, “My only hope is that when you see me, you see a little bit of yourself.”

 

Niiobli Armah, interim executive director for MBK, delivered his remarks over Zoom, saying New York was one of the best MBK sites and calling it “a light for people all over the country.” Armah spoke about the work MBK was doing. “MBK is really about providing support to people who want to see population level changes for boys and young men of color,” he said. “MBK represents a change in systems. The adults are doing the system change work, helping alleviate the barriers.”

 

His asked the students what was one thing, in their lives, they could do with excellence. He then shared a quote from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well’.”

 

Armah concluded, saying MBK was about making sure the community was doing enough work to tap into their excellence. “What are you going to do with excellence?” he asked. “I would love for you all to meditate on that question.”

 

Later, Blake returned, encouraging the students to think about the four Cs: Culture, Criminal Justice Reform, Celebration, and Community. He asked one person from every table to go to another school’s table. “We want you to understand that you need to rock with each other, even if you aren’t in the same high school,” he said.

 

Young returned to the stage to discuss culture, describing it as a way to build community and understand community wealth. “When you are walking down the street and someone looks at you, what do you think they see?” he asked. After a few students shared their answers, Young said he saw the next Barack Obama and the next Jay Z.

 

He went on to say that community started with a word that begins with a big “R” and that if students could guess the word, they would be on their way to building culture and community. The word was relationships. He then wrapped up, explaining there were three important words that were needed to build relationships: confidence, trust, and respect.

Jerome returned to the stage for a discussion on criminal justice reform. Holding up a photo of [Trayvon] Martin, he asked the students who he was, and why he was important. Explaining that MBK started after Zimmerman was acquitted, he then played another video about the war on drugs, narrated by Jay Z, which explained how Black users of crack cocaine were and are arrested at much higher rates than White users of powdered cocaine.

 

He then asked the students what Jay Z’s main message was. After a couple of students answered, he showed a slide containing nine criminal justice trivia questions, including some related to bail reform. “The bottom line is too many people of color who were arrested for minor crimes, because bail was so high, were being locked up in jail,” Jerome said. “And so, bail reform lowered that and now people are not locked up so fast. Now, in New York, bail is much, much lower or there is no bail for many crimes.”

 

The topic of bail reform is a contentious one, particularly when it comes to violent crime. According to the Bronx District Attorney’s office, bail reform laws were tweaked in July 2021 to allow the prosecution to now ask for bail in bail ineligible cases when the defendant is a repeat offender.

 

Blake, who cosponsored, among other bills, The Andrew Kearse Act, an important State law which provides protections for those in custody in the case of a medical emergency, and which followed the death in custody of Andrew Kearse, later gave a brief presentation on gun violence. He wrapped up by sharing the acronym C.A.L.M. “Composed,” Blake said. “Aware. Listen. Make the call.”

 

Later, George Patterson, senior director at the New York City Department of Education (DOE), focused his talk on celebration. Asked how many people had heard of Carter G. Woodson, two students raised their hands. “This one of the most historic Black men in history, and you guys have never heard of him,” Patterson said. “That has got to be the school’s fault.”

 

Referring to Black History Month, he said, “It gives every American the chance to recognize and celebrate Black accomplishments.” Saying it all started with Woodson, Patterson went on to explain that in 1926, Woodson launched Negro History Week, the precursor to Black History Month, because he wanted school goers to know about the accomplishments of Black people.

 

In 1976, former U.S. President Gerald Ford declared February Black History Month, “urging Americans to seize the opportunity to honor the too often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor, throughout our history.” Patterson concluded, “The rest is history,” adding, “What will your legacy be?”

 

The final speaker was Dr. Anael Alston, assistant commissioner of the State education department’s Office of Access, Equity and Community Engagement, who also spoke about community. Sharing a personal story about his oldest brother, Alston said, “Who you associate with matters.” He added, “The streets are real; it’s not a game.”

 

He then introduced the concept of the four Bs: Body, Being, Balanced, and Business. He asked the students if their lives were ideal, what they would want through the lens of the four Bs. Alston concluded, saying, “If you are willing [to] take on the battle, you got a shot at success.” He added, “Be prepared to fight for the life you want.”

 

Carlos Ortega, a 26-year-old man from The Bronx who graduated from Monroe College in 2016, was then invited to join Blake and Jerome on the stage and briefly shared his life story.

 

Jerome later announced that on Feb. 22 at 5 p.m., along with Blake and Joy Tolliver, he (Jerome) would teach a free social justice course that would provide three college credits to go toward any college. He then played a final short video from NYC Schools Chancellor David C. Banks. The event concluded with remarks from Blake, saying, “We are proud of you. Look around! This is your MBK community.” In closing, he asked everyone in attendance to stand up and repeat the mantra, “I am a King!”

 

Jeremy Flete, a high school student at Fanny Lou Hammer Freedom High School, said the event was a really good experience. “They said some meaningful things that will stick with me,” he said. “It was worth my time definitely.”

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.