A male mentor provides guidance in navigating through a young man’s life. Some things can only be imparted to a young man through another man. It does not only take knowledge to make it as a man, specifically a black man, but it also takes wisdom and know-how. Mentorship is not possible without relationship building. It has to begin with sincerity, trust and the ability to see each child’s own potential. You have to meet children where they are because every person does not begin at the same stage nor possess the same capacity to learn. This does not mean their journey will not impact society. What’s important is how they will impact society. This starts with who is guiding their journey! Mentorship programs, groups and initiatives should always provide the support necessary to positively impact underserved youth.

 

It’s no secret that men and women are different. Sadly, we live in a generation where there are many women raising men. A woman is capable of raising a man, that’s been proven. But why is it left to women to try and train a young black man how to interact in this world. Even in the instance of absent fathers, there are enough black men available to extend guidance to fatherless young men. In addition to providing some guidance in navigating through life as a man, our program features diverse adult male mentors. These unrelated perspectives aid in  developing different outlooks of what it means to be a man. Having diverse backgrounds as role models and mentors are so important because every man has had different life experiences. This impacts how we’ve developed as men; based on exposure, guidance or lack of guidance. Based on this philosophy, each young boy in our program will be able to identify himself or find a similarity in one of our adult males.