The Cradle, an adoption agency based in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, recently kicked off its new initiative, Our Children: An Education and Empowerment Series, with a roundtable event titled Raising Black Boys. Moderated by local news personality Derrick Young of CBS 2 Chicago, the panel featured five prominent community and business leaders who shared their personal insights and professional experiences as Black men and fathers, touching on the unique risks that Black boys face; Black boys’ dos and don’ts; and how to prepare young men for interactions with the police.
The panelists included Kenard Gibbs, VP, Black Entertainment Television and CEO of Soul Train Holdings; Ronald Holt, commander, Chicago Police Department special activities division, co-founder of Purpose Over Pain; Tim King, founder, president and CEO, Urban Prep Academies; Dana K. O’Banion, attorney and children’s book author; and Jonathan Peck, principle and owner, Strategic Advice Services, and co-founder of Concerned Black Men of Metropolitan Chicago.
Many adoptive parents were eager to hear from panelists about keeping their sons safe amid the racial inequality and police injustices that have been commonplace in the daily news cycle. Commander Holt, a 25-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, noted that it is imperative that the community and police work together for reform. “You cannot change a human being’s heart, but you can change behavior with policy,” said Holt, whose 16-year-old son Blair was killed in May 2007 on a CTA bus while protecting a friend from a gang member aiming for a rival. Today, Holt works with CPD’s crime victims assistance program, making victims aware of services and resources available to them.
King advised adoptive parents to seize every opportunity to talk about race with their children. “We have to give them shields: self-awareness, self- confidence and self-protection,” he said. Students from King’s Urban Prep Academy brought the crowd to their feet and many to tears as they recited the school’s creed, which they recite each morning at the all-school assembly.
“I’m reminded of the Nigerian proverb, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ and that is the mantra we carry with us in launching this important series,” says Nijole Yutkowitz, vice president of inclusion and community development at The Cradle and a Cradle adoptive parent. “Today, 35-40 percent of the children The Cradle places each year are Black or biracial. Our work with families doesn’t stop at the point of adoption. Our goal is to provide lifelong support and help parents prepare their children for success.”
Future roundtables in the Our Children series will address “The Color of Education” and “Raising Black Girls: My Black Is Beautiful, Too.” The series will also include film screenings, guest speakers and webcasts.
For more information, visit www.cradle.org.
