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A participant came to the program
angry and confused. He has two brothers who are gang leaders who
are serving time. He told the class of his effort to resolve conflict
with an aggressive classmate as the result of the class.
A mother called one evening when her son had been missing
with some of his friends. As a single mom, she now calls whenever her son
gets out of line. The youth has responded to the program and is now obedient
and working to improve his grades.
After the first session, a participant's
mom state that she can see a big difference in her son as a result of the
program. Since that time, the facilitator has been called when the youth
was upset about a family situation. The facilitator was able to support him
while the situation was being resolved.
Another mom spoke of the pride that her son
has in being a "Nubian Warrior". He wears his warrior necklace
and bracelet to school every day. He was responsible for recruiting a boy
for the second session of classes.
A participant, who has gone thru the "Rites
of Passage" and was a "Nubian Warrior", was having trouble
at home and school. He had said he was going to drop out of school and go
live with his dad. After the facilitator talked to him, he said that he wanted
to remain a part of the program, continuing to stay with his mom and would
stay in school.
A participant who is a "Nubian
Warior" recruited
his brother for the program. One afternoon coming home from school, they
were jumped on and beaten up by a group of kids. Both he and his brother
came to the class that evening and they were visibly shaken by the experience.
This gave them the opportunity to come to the class to receive comfort
and support from an African-American adult male. This also gave the facilitator
an opportunity to show them that someone really cares about them and
to prove to them that the facilitator will follow up on the incident
to see that they are all right. Also, it allowed the facilitator to check
out what both the school and the police were doing to find out who was
involved and what was being done.
Another student came to class upset
about an incident that had taken place in school. He told of three boys
in school who were not students and who had been walking the halls drinking.
One was even carrying a gun. This afforded the class an opportunity to
discuss the issue of crime and violence and what we must do to survive
living in a dangerous environment. The facilitator took the boys to see the
movie "Menace II Society."
This provided an opportunity to talk about the violent behavior in the
movie and how that relates to living in a dangerous society. The class
came home to experience a drive-by shooting. |
