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by Ron Walker
Executive Director, COSEBOC
June 15, 2017

As another Father’s Day draws near, I wonder why we forget to sing praises to our fathers more often. I am guilty of this. From day to day, I am more apt to raise a tribute to my mother—who definitely deserves every praise given. However, too frequently and unintentionally I minimize the tremendous person that my dad, Solomon Walker, was and the enormous impact that he made on my growth and development as a boy, young man, and man.

The words that I will now share are in honor of my father....

Where are the Fictive Kin? A Legion of Caring, Supportive Adults

by Ron Walker

I can recall growing up and hearing the voice of Miss Mary correcting misbehaving children who lived on our block. I vividly remember my own encounter with Miss Mary. One day a group of my friends and I were having fun throwing a baseball around. My throw went awry and landed hard on Miss Mary’s porch. We are scattered without any interest in retrieving the ball.

Later on that day, there was a knock on our door. It was Miss Mary with a ball in her hand. She spoke with a distinct clarity to my mother who answered the door. Her message was definitely...

COSEBOC Announces 'Jacqueline L. Carter Memorial Education Fund' In Honor Of Late Champion for Diversity in Children's Books As Part of 10th Anniversary Gathering in NYC

National Advocates for Boys of Color Set to Gather from May 18-21;
Media Highlights & Interview/Feature Opportunities Touted

[May 11, 2016] The Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC) has announced a memorial fund, established by the family of the late Jackie Carter, a prominent, Black publishing executive who was known especially for her efforts to promote ethnic diversity in children's books. Ms...

COSEBOC 444 Sankofa Passages Program

by Kamau Ptah

In the fall of 2010, a call to manhood was pronounced by the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC) to establish an in-school rite of passage program for the School District of Philadelphia. Approximately 100 men from the city of “Brotherly Love” responded to the summon and 10 were selected to pioneer this innovative approach to create transformative systems and practices that would address the cultural, identity and manhood crisis that impedes the holistic development of boys and young men...

Do Something!

by Ron Walker

As a boy, young man and man, I have been blessed with innumerable influential, active, and positive people in my life. The most influential by far were my parents, Delores and Solomon Walker. They encouraged, advised and disciplined me when necessary. Both parents reminded me that having an education qualified me to " do something" in the service of others.

I only applied to one college. That college was the historic HBCU, Lincoln University, located in Oxford, Pennsylvania. Little did I know that this...

Young, Gifted, Black and Worried

by Ron Walker

In the Bible, Job was known for his perseverance while under extreme duress. He once said, "The churning inside me never stops, days of suffering confront me". As I fast forward to today, I often think about the constant churning that is omnipresent in the lives of black men and boys. There is a constant churning within caused by endless stress that confronts us.

I once had a robust conversation with a white male counterpart comparing and...

COSEBOC Passages

by Kamau Ptah

It is with great excitement that we launch this new blog through the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC) centered on one of the most ancient transformative learning systems known as rite of passage. Our focus will be to present conceptual frameworks from this indigenous transformational method and explore effective practices that can be integrated into 21st Century schools, educational institutions, organizations and homes that are interested in creating the optimal educational and...

Education Excellence for African Americans?

By David Johns and Dr. Marcus Hunter

The new movie Dope stars Shameik Moore as a young brilliant Black Los Angeles high school student who gets entangled in a haphazard scheme to sell drugs. Playing on the stereotype of young Black men as “dope dealers,” the film illustrates a host of obstacles faced by Black youth when pursuing educational excellence and sometimes to survive. Is the film mere Hollywood hyperbole?

Truth is, it’s not.

In the United States, Black students encounter a series of educational detours that compromise academic success.

...

Dear Mama: Honoring Mother's Day

by Ron Walker
May, 2015

Delores Gwendolyn Walker, if she were alive today, would be in the vanguard. Without a shadow of a doubt, she would champion the movement to Save our Sons. As this Mother's Day approaches it gives me cause to pause and reflect upon the role that mothers have historically played in the lives of black and brown boys and young men. Think about the recent act of love publicly displayed by Toya Graham, the Baltimore mother who raced into harms way to save her son from himself.

Think about the regal grace and air of forgiveness extended by Sabrina...

Gone in the Blink of an Eye

by Ron Walker
April, 2015

In 1.84 seconds, a black pre-teen by the name of Tamir Rice lost his life in a Cleveland Park. As a lifelong educator, I often think about what it was like to educate 5th and 6th grade students. They came in a variety of shapes and sizes as they were making their transition towards adolescence and becoming a teen. Some were playful, some were studious and most were beginning to form a perspective on the world and life. And I think about my own growing up as a 12 year old boy in the city of Philly. I smile with fond memories when I think about the...

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