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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...

The Current Civil Rights Challenge in Our Nation’s Schools

March 21, 2014: Today, the United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights released its civil rights data analysis from the 2011-2012 school year. This is the first comprehensive look at civil rights data from every public school in the nation in nearly 15 years. The data set, which includes reporting from all of the nation’s 97,000 school districts, shows that tremendous disparities still exist for children of color in many areas - ...

Boys and Young Men of Color are Natural Resources Too

by Ron Walker
March 18, 2014

For many people who do business of one sort another, frequent travel across this great nation may be routine. Recently, I made the cross country trek from Boston, Massachusetts to Sacramento, California. Though of late I have been traveling frequently, I don’t often make the trek from coast to coast and sea to shining sea. On this trip I paused from my pile of papers and emails to pause to take in the breathtaking view of the Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountains. The majesty of the view from 30, 000 feet was awesome. To see miles and miles of snowcapped...

Ron Walker Radio Interview

In the spirit of promoting positive stories and projects of black men and boys and lifting up successes to a national audience, the Rory T. Edwards Show on WXPR blog talk radio, is hosting a month long series of key techniques with some of the country's most knowledgeable experts on Black men and boys development. Its purpose is to develop a national strategy that will provide communal leaders with the opportunity to join a movement of equivalent leaders to receive vital information, capacity-building support, be connected and showcased to funders, and...

What if My Trayvon Came Home? Protest without Protection, Affection, and Correction is Miseducation

By Howard Stevenson
Professor, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education

Let’s say your Black son comes home one night, scared, out of breath from running. He tells you that some guy with a gun chased him and shot at him, and his girlfriend heard the whole thing on the phone. He stammers that all he was doing was going to the store for a bag of Skittles and iced tea.

Now you have to muster the courage to respond. What do you say? How can you protect him? What can you do to make sure that he comes home safe tomorrow...

132,000 Black Men and Boys Are Too Precious to Lose

By Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt Bryant
COSEBOC Policy/Advocacy Coordinator

The gun violence issue most keenly affects black men in America. While black males are 6 percent of the United States population, they constitute 48 percent of the homicide victims who die by firearms in our nation. On average, about 4,900 black males are killed with guns every single year. Between 2000 and 2010, 53,850 black males died by firearms in America. Between now and 2025, if we don’t act,...

Seeing potential and talent where others see misbehavior and disrespect

by Ron Walker, COSEBOC Executive Director
March 7, 2013

During a recent site visit to our Mississippi Leadership Academy, I had the good fortune of meeting 5 year Kaiden Johnson in Biloxi, Mississippi. He is a student at the Early Learning Center directed by Mrs. Eula Crowell, a dedicated champion for poor and underserved families and their children. On a financial shoestring, Mrs. Crowell and her able staff produce young scholars between the ages of 4 and 5 who leave her center ready, willing and able to read. In fact she...

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