Photo: Pete Souza
Having a Black president in office was not just about the time he served, it was also about the impact he would have on generations to come. President Barack Obama is determined to keep building, even outside of the White House. This week, Obama, the Obama Foundation, and the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance will launch MBK Rising! in Oakland.
Five years ago, Obama launched the My Brother’s Keeper initiative as a call to action to help close the opportunity gap for boys and young men of color. MBK Rising! is a two-day convening that will bring together the initiative’s growing network of communities, elected officials, leaders, young men of color and the organizations working hard to help them achieve their dreams. Attendees will celebrate, showcase, and learn from local and national leaders at the forefront of transformational organizations that are reducing barriers, expanding opportunity, and creating lasting, systemic change.
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The event kicked off Monday and along with President Obama, speakers include Stephen Curry, John Legend, Michael B. Jordan, Ryan Coogler, Sybrina Fulton, and Rep. Lucy McBath. The Obama Foundation shares that one of the objectives of the event is to increase understanding about effective solutions for reducing youth violence, mentoring, and collective impact that leads to better outcomes for boys and young men of color.
The event registration is closed but luckily for us, the organization will live stream the main stage sessions on Tuesday, February 19 at 3pm PT and Wednesday, February 20 at 9:30am PT and 3:30pm PT. You can sign up on the summit’s homepage for reminders on when to tune in.
As a warm up to the event and a nod to Black History Month, President Obama took to his Facebook page to share a nonfiction reading that can help provide the background to some of the challenges that people of color face. His picks include Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight and The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.