Extension educators often seek new strategies for engaging minority youths in 4-H programs, especially young Black males. These strategies require programming developed in response to the context of this population. We offer insights into the social context of Black males and offer suggestions that will help educators develop identity and…

In this article, the author talks about a summer program at the African American Adolescent Male Summer Literacy Institute which aims to improve literacy skills of black male teens. The African American Adolescent Male Summer Literacy Institute is now in its fourth year at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC). Alfred Tatum, director of the…

In "Streetsmart Schoolsmart", two respected scholars present original research on youth gangs and school success to explain why some boys become disengaged and join gangs while others do not. Chapters vividly describe how urban boys from different ethnic backgrounds (Asian, African American, and Latino) approach schooling and identify the…

In this article, the authors discuss the potential for emancipatory pedagogies, which include practices like the use of digital tools and popular culture, to undo deficit constructions of Black and Latino males and their literacy practices. They discuss why such practices are not more readily available and visible in traditional urban school…

For the middle class and the affluent, local ties seem to matter less and less these days, but in the inner city, your life can be irrevocably shaped by what block you live on. "Living the Drama" takes a close look at three neighborhoods in Boston to analyze the many complex ways that the context of community shapes the daily lives and…

Throughout the first 157 years of The Children's Aid Society, the economy has cycled through highs and lows, some more severe than the recession individuals are still experiencing. And through them all, Children's Aid has remained strong. The society has always developed new and effective strategies to serve New York City's most vulnerable…

Traditional approaches to education and youth work were transformed by two psychologists who came to the United States as Hitler rose to power. Practical theorist Kurt Lewin challenged mechanistic ideas of behavior by studying children in their natural "life space." Theory practitioner Fritz Redl applied life space concepts to work with…

This article describes the formation and enactment of a student and teacher-generated framework for re-authoring a troubling representation of Black masculinity in a popular culture narrative. This data-driven framework highlights the ways students and teacher provided a means for literacies to serve students' desire to re-author images and words…

Using an interpretivist approach, this article explores young African American men's (n = 20) reflections on coming of age and the meanings of father loss. Based on focus groups, the authors found that it was through autobiographical narratives of loss, survival, and redemption that young men positioned themselves ideologically and constructed the…

Discusses whether white male teachers can be positive role models for at-risk black male youth and concludes that they can if they are men of integrity who are willing to take on the risks associated with being a dedicated teacher. (SLD)

Describes Project P.R.O.M.I.S.E., a school/university/community collaborative effort designed to address the needs of African American male elementary school students by providing adult African American male models involved in education at the university level. The history and components of the program are described, and plans for its evaluation…

Using linked individual and census tract data from the 1980 U.S. Census, it is found that when a teenage boy drops out of school depends not only on his family background and the increase in earnings associated with graduating, but also on the characteristics of the neighborhood in which he lives. Both the good and bad dimensions of neighborhood…

This case study of a young African-American urban male and his increasing involvement with the criminal justice system illustrates that merely providing opportunities for members of the underclass is not enough. An outlook that allows members of the underclass to invest personal resources in their opportunities must be fostered. (SLD)

This report documents the problems of Black and Latino males in New York City by assembling a broad range of data regarding the connections between the City's Black and Latino men and its social and economic institutions. The report draws primarily on data from federal surveys and administrative data from New York City and New York State agencies.…

Some educational solutions to the problems facing young African-American males have been developed through the New Orleans (Louisiana) Public School Study on Black Males (1987-88). From the more than 50 study recommendations, 10 are selected to illustrate the range of strategies. (SLD)