Mayor Kathy Sheehan and other stakeholders launched the City of Albany’s “My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper” (MBSK) at City Hall, an initiative that will focus on improving opportunities of young men and women of color in Albany and reducing the levels of violence that far too many of them experience.
A year ago, President Obama announced the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative, a program the he said was designed to “help every boy and young man of color who is willing to do the hard work to get ahead.” The president invited communities across the country to join the effort. The City of Albany accepted the President's challenge, and has made great strides.
Albany's program is set up to avail teens of color with employment opportunities, ensuring they'll have a better future. The target objective is to lessen incidents of violence in the community.
Mayor Kathy Sheehan says, despite fiscal challenges faced by the city, the program will have an overseer: "I made it a mandate that we find the funds so that we can have a person who is helping to guide us and lead us and manage us through this effort, because not withstanding the great intentions of the people in this room and all of those who stood up, y'all have day jobs. You all have other things that you're working on. And so how can we make sure that we're keeping that work on track? We have to be willing to fund that resource and to say 'it matters.' And so we've done that, and we're so thrilled to have Pedro, who is here, who is helping to lead this effort, and I think that that is the message that we also need to send. That this is a commitment that we are going to figure out how we can deliver on, because these young people matter."
Sheehan there referring to Pedro Perez, the Executive Director of Albany’s My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper. "There's an African proverb that has been used many many times, but it is not untrue. It remains true. In some circles it is called 'collective impact,' we know it as 'it takes a village to raise our children.' All of us together must pool our resources, must unite and sing from the same hymnbook. And my job is to help us come together and sing a glorious song so that we can redirect the pipeline from failure and incarceration to success and prosperity.
City School District of Albany Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard says "the education of black and brown youth is the linchpin to the continued leadership of the United States in this global economy." "It's taken a year of incredible work by dedicated people in order to create a framework for us to come together in order to change student's lives, children's lives. Of course I had to smile a little bit as if this city had an option, as the top civil rights activist Barbara Smith grabbed hold of President Obama's 'My Brother's Keeper' and started running through the city with it, instantaneously upon receipt. So it's not like we had much choice, because Miss Smith was gonna make sure that we did right by our boys and girls."
About a third of Albany residents are black and 18 percent are under 18 years of age, according to census numbers.
Community activist Marie Jones oversees the Albany Black & Latino Achievers Program at the Capital District YMCA. "Just imagine the positive changes we can make when reaching our young people early on. Like Pedro said, in the African proverb, 'it takes a village to raise a child,' and through My Brother's and Sister's Keeper initiative, we can and we will make a difference. So I challenge you all to tell your friends and your family. Encourage them to get involved and to become a positive role model in a young person's life.”
Funding comes from Community Development Block Grant funds as well as the Department of Youth and Workforce Services. The program complements The Albany Promise, which works on early childhood education, third and fourth grade English language and math proficiency, and high school success. A Town Hall Meeting is to be held at the Albany Public Library Main Branch at 6 p.m. February 4th to discuss ways to move the initiative forward.
