Helping Our Young Black Men-Part 3

Click here to read Part 1 and Part 2

I had the opportunity to meet a young black male over the weekend while I was in California at the 168 Hour Film Festival .  His name was LaMar and he was 15 years old.  What struck me immediately was that when his grandmother introduced us to one another, he looked me straight in the eyes, gave me a firm handshake and called me ‘Sir’.  "Did he just call me, Sir?"  When he did these things, I immediately thought to myself, "Now this young man has been given some real training."

Click here to read Helping Our Young Black Men-Part 1

Any time I’m out in the community the question is often in my mind, how can we help our young black men? Just over a month ago I was on the shuttle between Grand Central Station and 42nd Street and Times Square.  A young black male got on the train, dressed like he was going to an interview.  He had an apple pie from McDonald’s, which he proceeded to eat.  When he was done, he threw the box and bag on the floor underneath his seat.

(’Who Am I?’  Photo taken by Larry Reid. 2007)

What can we do to help our young Black men?  This morning, while waiting for my train, I ran into a young man I know.  We hadn’t seen each other for a while and as we caught up on things, he admitted the struggles that he faced: to make a real change in his life that would take him away from illegal activities.