We share stories of how culturally-relevant practices can be healing and transformative in the lives of boys and young men of color who have experienced trauma in their lives and their communities. We hope these stories will inspire boys and young men of color and the people and systems that interact with them. We also hope they will create support for the people and organizations that are featured in the stories. Share your story.
I was invited to Jackson, Mississippi by the Juanita Sims Doty Foundation to conduct a training on the cycle of dehumanization and racialized trauma, and its impacts on health and well-being for children of color.
I’ve been a mother for 14 years. I have a teenage son and a young daughter. Being a mother is a great honor that brings an indescribable joy. I marvel daily at the ways my children are growing and developing. I am also humbled at how parenting has made me a better human being. At night, I often gaze at my two precious children sleeping and am filled with gratitude and warmth.
Meet Maȟpíya Black Elk, Director of Hiyupo Alliance Boys and Young Men of Color Programs at the Native American Community Academy (NACA). In this video, he shares his emotional journey of healing from the internalized negative feelings created by the historical dehumanization of Indigenous peoples when they were colonized. Maȟpíya’s experience with his loss of […]
By Andrew Mulinge In a society where boys of color are stigmatized in every aspect of their lives by officials holding public office, in law enforcement and others, you’d think that the institutions charged with protecting and supporting their intellectual growth would be better at withstanding the forces of stigmatization. But our schools are no exception, as evidenced by […]
To Our Forward Promise Family ~ All of us have been deeply impacted by the immigration crisis at the border in which both the separation of children from and reuniting with their families has traumatized them, severely compromising their current and future well-being. Central to our mission at Forward Promise is broadening the field’s knowledge […]
In April, Forward Promise, the national program office of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) focused on improving the health and success outcomes of boys and young men of color (BYMOC), convened its nine (9) grantee organizations, leadership from Forward Promise and RWJF, and industry leaders from the Forward Promise National Advisory Committee (NAC) at […]
As teacher appreciation week comes to a close, Forward Promise National Advisory Committee member, Krishaun Branch, shares his reflections on the value of education and the influence of having black male educators as mentors. Krishaun graduated from Urban Prep Academy, an all-male Black high school in Chicago, Illinois, and was one of the first Urban […]
December 19, 2017 Forward Promise Team As the year comes to a close, the Forward Promise team took some time to reflect on how far we have come as a National Program Office and to fine tune our vision for where we want to go in the new year. As we took stock of the […]
April 1, 2017 Howard C. Stevenson, Ph.D. Director, Forward Promise “In the dark, we hide the heart that bleeds And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.” If “it takes a village to raise a child,” what does it take to raise a healthy village for boys and young men of color? Affordable health care? Financial […]
As in the desert that surrounds this city, it seems almost all living happens at dusk. The sun throws rose-colored light on the Sandia Mountains, the pale houses empty, and the sidewalks fill. Above, the skies look brush-stroked and extravagant, and a breeze comes, as if it had been hiding too. When you endure in the desert, this hour is your reward.
Anchorage, Alaska is a celebration of natural splendor. Snow-topped mountains reach up into clinquant skies and create a majestic backdrop for the normalcy of life happening below. It’s the meeting of two worlds in the state’s largest city—the earthen grandeur that’s existed for lifetimes and the contemporary bustle of the now.