I write this blog while on summer vacation at the beach with my family. I hope this finds you enjoying some recreation and sunshine in whatever form that takes for you. We are savoring a few long, salty days with sandcastles, surf, and sunsets.

A nautical quote is certainly relevant. The tides are turning, and we are gearing up for 2011, which promises to be an exciting year of growth and expansion for us. We were thrilled to receive our status as a 501c3 nonprofit organization this spring. This milestone allows us to focus on strategic fundraising/development opportunities and inspires us to explore partnerships in the nonprofit and for-profit worlds.

In the coming weeks we’ll be sharing some exciting news about our recent grant awards and all that we are now able to deliver to young black boys and men as a result. We are also working around the clock on the inVision Project, our after-school expansion initiative; the Visible Men Recruitment Campaign for showcasing successful black male role models; website enhancements; and more.

We have some really cool ideas on how to use technology as a means to empower and connect young black boys with successful black men all around the country. We are convinced that the sharing of positive multimedia VM content with youth who have limited resources is a powerful tool. Just this evening I was able to introduce my two sons to their deceased great-grandfather from Jamaica via an old commercial he was in (he’s the gentleman in the hat with the walking stick at the end). After watching this, we stayed up talking about my family and my heritage, and watching this classic commercial countless times. Technology!

Thank you so much for your interest and support in Visible Men and our mission. We are inspired by the diversity of thought and backgrounds in the Visible Men movement. We know that together we can celebrate and elevate young black boys and men to new heights of achievement. There is a ton of work to do, but we are growing in numbers, resources, and passion every day.

Happy summer to you all!

Are you following us on Twitter? Have you like’d us on Facebook? Have you referred a friend, colleague, or neighbor to Visible Men to join the movement?

In the car as we drove from South Bend Indiana back to the airport, my wife looked at me and said “tell me about the actual race.” I proceeded to give her the entire race narrative with the pride, mile by mile. I recounted the smooth stretches, the difficult and painful miles, the cramps, the fatigue, the conversations with fellow runners, the beauty of the run, the inner monologue I had with myself, the rain clouds hovering above and the burst of energy I had at mile 24 when I finally realized the finish line was approaching.

The reality is that we all are running marathons in our lives. Whether it’s at the office, in our role as parents, friends, spouses or students, we encounter similar challenges day in and day out and need to equip ourselves with the proper tools to help us reach our own personal finish lines. The tool box for success requires that we identify our goals, train hard, get support from loved ones and family, assume an Achievement Attitude and Demonstrate a strong Work Ethic. If we are prepared and understand that parts of the run are painful and unpleasant, but we are focused on the reward at the end, than the sky is the limit for us. We must run, push, and run some more.

I encourage us all to look at the Visible Men Success Principles and see what areas we can strengthen in our lives to help us reach our goals. We are the best role models for our children, students, and loved ones.  How we conduct ourselves and what we commit ourselves to has a significant impact on the people in our lives.

When I came to the finish line, I saw my 5yo son holding a sign that read “Daddy is our Superhero.” Make it to the finish line and see how magical you feel!

Monday, 5-17-10, was without question the highlight of our year here at VM. We held our end of the year banquet celebration for our after school pilot program, the inVision project, at Sligo Middle School in Silver Spring, MD. It was a festive night to celebrate the hard work and dedication the student participants demonstrated throughout the school year as they studied the Visible Men success principles in creative ways (on the football field, fieldtrips, role playing).

The students were accompanied to the banquet by their family members and each boy received a “Success Kit” with items such as shirts, ties, Axe body spray, and the book “Gifted Hands” by Dr. Ben Carson. Now the head of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins U. Hospital, Dr. Carson was once told he was dumb and impaired but went on against all odds to be a highly Visible Man!

The Sligo Middle School Students were incredibly gracious and all expressed an interest in continuing the program again next year. Please take a moment to listen to the positive remarks made by Sligo MS Principal Jeff Rhodes in the video below.

We’d like to thank the VM community for all of your support and donations this year. Our pilot program at Sligo was a success in large part due to your investment and belief in Visible Men. We are honored and inspired to have you in our network and look forward to some exciting VM initiatives on the horizon!

The one message we know is resonating with the young black boys we are working with was echoed by an 8th grade student who attended the VM seminar in Philadelphia and the 7th grade student from Sligo—“Always Dream.” We couldn’t agree more.

Please take a moment to check out the new photos and video uploads in our VM success network.

Here at Visible Men we are very proud of how “green and virtual” we are as a start up  non-profit business. We urge you to take these simple steps to minimize your business footprint as well .

We are surrounded by natural wonders in  many parts of the DC Metropolitan area: the canal, Great Falls, Potomac River, azaeleas, tulips and daffodils are in in full bloom and the landscape is a lush green.We shop at farmer’s markets, can buy organic and healthy food for our families, have plenty of clean, green space to garden, run, play and picnic in. It’s easy to respect and nurture Mother Earth when she is so accessible and nurturing to you.

But that is not all of DC. DC’s poorest neighborhoods won’t see many blooms this spring and the school playgrounds have no soil, dirt or grass for the kids to connect with.  Like far too many Black Urban communities across the US, the environmental issues are far more dire and disturbing in the inner city and have vast negative consequences for children and families. Air Pollution, Waste Dumping, Mercury Exposure, Water Safety, Transit Justice, Food Desserts, Urban Green Space, Climate and Lifestyle Change, Heat in the City are the top 10 Urban Environmental Issues.

Please meet a Visible Man who is green and focused on Environmental activism, legislation and awareness. Van Jones is leading the charge on the importance of Going Green in the Black Community and the Green Global Economy.

Van Jones started the non profit called Green for All  and we urge you to visit his site and learn what opportunities are out there in your community to make the lives of the next generation healthier, safer and More Green. In the black community, “going green” has the potential to save lives…what are we waiting for?

“Having carved a reputation for himself as an innovative composer, performer, violinist, and band leader, Haitian-American artist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) melds his classical music roots with his own cultural references and vibrant musical imagination. …”

Here are just a few impressive things that jump out at me about him and his story from the bio Gerard J. Senick.

Born c. 1971, in Skokie, IL; son of Haitian immigrants. Education: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, bachelor of music degree (cum laude), 1993; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, master of music degree, 1995; doctor of musical arts, 2000. (that’s not an easy get, this guy works hard)

His parents, immigrants from Haiti, had a strong impact on his musical development. They introduced him to Haitian folk music as well as to a wide variety of classical and contemporary music. As a youngster he listened to the country/rock band the Eagles, Swedish popsters ABBA, R&B legend Stevie Wonder, the works of Beethoven, and ethnic music from the Cuban, Bahaman, Dominican, and Puerto Rican communities in southern Florida. At the age of five he became infatuated with the violin. He began studying under the tutelage of bandleader Mitch Miller, who had a popular television series in the 1960s, and started to play in orchestras. As a sixth-grader, DBR played the electric guitar and synthesizer in his own band, which performed rock and hip-hop. As a student at Dillard High School for the Performing Arts in Sunrise, Florida, he played in the school jazz orchestra, backing such prominent musicians as Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Charles. After graduating from high school, DBR almost skipped college because he was producing and playing for the notoriously ribald Florida rap group 2Live Crew. Eventually, DBR’s father convinced him to attend Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he was awarded a full scholarship. Majoring in composition, he graduated with honors in 1993, and then earned master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he also conducted classical works. In 1998 he headed for New York City, settling in Harlem, a place with a rich political and cultural heritage that influenced his music.

If he’s pushing the bounds of classical music, he’s also re-examining its roots.” Daniel Levine of the Nashville Scene observed, “Roumain renders the classical gestures and parts of his works in a spirited way that maintains their historical authority. Yet his manner of playing the violin-moving about the stage, tapping accompanying rhythms with his bow on the bridge, vocalizing as he forcefully draws a chord-makes the audience feel his urge for wider musical latitude.”

DBR confided to Kozinn, “I used to be a black man. Then I became a black American composer. But if you ask me today how I feel, I’ll tell you that I feel like a very lucky young man. … I’ve been able to combine the music I grew up with … and, in some ways, to be an ambassador, certainly for what’s going on in Harlem, where I live, but also for what’s going on in contemporary classical music. I think contemporary classical music has found its soul, or maybe regained its soul and found its heart.” He told Paul Boakye of Drum, “I’ve had a lot of critical success in the classical music world. My application and responsibility as a black composer is now to create opportunities for other composers.” Speaking to Dina Di Maio of the Square Table, DBR confided, “Statistically speaking, I should be in prison–young, black, single; music is my ‘anti-drug.’ So, it’s not an exaggeration to say that music both changed my life and saved my life. I hope music plays the same role for my students.” He concluded to Boakye, “For me the arts are like a religion. It’s like this friend, literally, that I’ve had all these years. I still have and play the same violin I played when I was five years old. … This inanimate object, the violin, has been the one constant thing in my life.”

Education. Involved and active parents. Passion. Hard work. Creating his own path. Music. Sharing his gift with the world. Success!

Read more: http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608004536/Daniel-Bernard-Roumain.html#ixzz0kTe6HfMh

Historically, many African Americans were not only skeptical of the accuracy of the census, but downright mistrustful of the government due to historical wrongdoings. This fear and mistrust has lead far too many African Americans refusing to provide the Census Bureau information about themselves or their family. Presumably, blacks  fear that the information would be misused, held against them, or personally invade their space.

Here’s the real deal: African Americans desperately need to be counted in the US Census Bureau. The statistics that are published about black men every day are dismal (drop out rates, incarceration, homicide, disease), and some of us fear that these statistics are not entirely accurate because a significant section of upstanding black male citizens still are “invisible”. Our communities need resources, our children deserve better. The country needs to know we are here.

The 10-question census, conducted every 10 years, helps determine the apportionment of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the annual distribution of more than $400 billion in federal funds. Census information affects the appropriation of funds for education, hospitals, emergency services, job training, infrastructure, federal programs and more. Many professional organizations use census data to advocate for causes, rescue disaster victims, prevent diseases, research markets, locate pools of skilled workers and more.

When you do the math, it’s easy to see what an accurate count of residents can do for your community; better infrastructure, more services and a brighter tomorrow for everyone.

Guess what, it’s just 10 questions. There is no long form this time.When the Census 2010 arrives in your home, take the 10 minutes to complete it. It’s time to be seen, heard and counted in the African American community.

Strength in numbers, my friends. Strength in numbers.

source: www.2010census.gov

http://2010.census.gov/mediacenter/portrait-of-america/portrait-3.php

No excuses means that when a student with profound dysfunction in the home and neighborhood arrives at school and says he didn’t complete his homework last night because there was a crisis in his building, the teacher looks at him and says, “I’m sorry to hear about the crisis in your building, but why isn’t the homework done?” . It’s expecting them to find a way, fight harder, work longer, and never give up. It’s continuing to expect great things from children who have chaos, unpredictability, pain and loss in their life. It’s showing them that you care, and because you care, you are going to demand excellence in their school work and behavior.

Yes, along with a “no excuses” policy comes  empathy, connection and the acknowledgement that some students just plain have it harder. The ideal relationship with our youth is to help them feel heard and understood, and to hold them to a very high standard in spite of all the hardships in their lives. Making excuses for our students when they fail serves no one. Resources, excellent teachers,  school counselors,  mentoring programs, coaching and extracurricular activities all help to strengthen our students and give them opportunities to find skills, joy, and success. However, a universal “no excuses” policy by parents, educators and those that love and nurture our youth is more powerful than anything we can provide them. It sends a deep and resonating message: we believe in you and your abilities.

“Urban Prep in Chicago made history when it opened in 2006 as the first all-boys charter school in the nation, said founder Tim King. King was determined to take African-American boys from “tough backgrounds” and get them into college, just as King had succeeded in doing as president of Hales Franciscan.

Four years ago, every freshman at Urban Prep Academy Charter High School-Englewood was given a watch and told they now had no excuse to be late for class at a school dedicated to putting black males into college.

And no excuses were needed Friday, when Urban Prep’s first graduating class celebrated the news that every senior had been accepted to at least one four-year college.”

What Urban Prep has done in “beating the odds” and graduating 100% of their students is beyond impressive. It’s inspirational. Even if a school doesn’t have some of the advantages Urban Prep has, there is one winning attitude any school can have: expect success from your students. Don’t accept the excuses the students provide you when they fall short, and certainly don’t make excuses for them.

Discipline, accountability, goal setting….these are the anchors in the storm all children need.  Read more!

Few have shown the mental fortitude in the midst of extreme hardship like Mandela. We have a lot to learn from him: endurance, inner strength, pride, vision, surviving against the odds…and letting our light shine.

Invictus:, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”…They were words Mandela recited to himself during the 27 years he spent in jail, imprisoned by a white government for fighting against apartheid. February 11 marks the 20th anniversary of the leader’s release. Following his release from prison, Mandela supported reconciliation and negotiation, and helped lead the transition towards multi-racial democracy in South Africa.

Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, the first black South-African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election..

These wonderful words from Marianne Williamson were used by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 Inauguration Speech.

Our deepest fear
is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are
powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves who am I to
be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are we NOT to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened
about shrinking so that other
people won’t feel insecure
around you.
We are born to make manifest
the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just within some of us
it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light
shine we unconsciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our
own fear our presence
automatically liberates others.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/04/morgan.freeman.mandela.invictus/index.html

“He eventually went on to Ohio University on a National Merit Scholarship. There, Harris joined the school’s speech and debate team. His friends were puzzled. “Black people don’t speech,” one of them told him. He did; Harri’s team eventually finished fourth in a national tournament.”

“At night in the bedroom attic that he shared with his brothers in the Nashes’ home, Leon imagined what he could become. He visualized the brick house he would live in as an adult, the cars in the driveway, the pool in the back, the trees just so. He wanted to carry a briefcase to work and wear a mustache. He was fascinated by Darrin Stephens, the ad man married to the pretty witch Samantha, on “Bewitched”. Darrin carried a briefcase, “and people respected him for what he knew”.

Leon has had an impressive career as a scholar, national and local news anchor, husband, father and community advocate.

Respect, Leon, Respect.

Read the Washing Post article here.

http://www.shanidavis.org/