Reality Check

- a publication of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

reality

The tri-annual newsletter of The Brotherhood/Sister

Sol

Summer 2008

Vol. 10 No. 2

check

During a mid-March session with Eternal Sistas (ES), a currently graduatingchapter of our Rites of Passage Program, we read the transcript of the

A MorePerfect Union

speech by Barack Obama. Their reection on his speech is the

inspiration for this piece. Teens have an amazing gift for delivering a stingingdose of truth – whether you want to hear it or not. Before Wendy, withwhom I co-facilitate ES, and I passed out the speech, the young women werespewing cynicism – “Yea yea yea, we heard this before” or “Oh, I knew hewas gonna badmouth his pastor” and “Damn, he’s gonna try to please folks.”None of them, all seniors in high school, had actually heard him deliver his speech.No one at their homes did. None of their peers listened to it on the radio or watchedit on YouTube the following day. By the end of our reading, ES was impressed byhow much of who they are – young Black women in Harlem, living in workingclass families, attending mediocre to failing public schools – was in his speech.They were glad Obama drew out the complexities of race and racism in America.

Excited and overwhelmed by their rst opportunity to vote this Fall, they

were all inspired – except one young woman. She is 18, a mother of a three-year-old, and struggling to graduate from high school. While sharing our

reections, she said under her breath, “So he’ll get elected President and we’ll still be poor.” Everything stopped. We all

heard her – and we knew exactly what she meant. How would the election of Obama translate into real positive changefor children and families in Harlem, in Bushwick, in the South Bronx; people who have been cut off from the prosperity of urban revitalization; who attend failing schools; who struggle from paycheck to paycheck; who cross the street, eyes low,to avoid glances that may lead to confrontation and senseless violence; who cringe at the sight of cops? She asked all those

questions in the brevity of her statement. It is difcult to envision change and have hope, after years of broken promisesand at-out lies by people you have elected (or didn’t elect, for that matter). Amidst strong doubt that elected ofcials

will do

anything

to transform our society and the world into a more just place, who will take on the challenge to bringabout change? Assuring her that her skepticism was valid and understood, I asked her, “Who’s gonna take the weight?”The very simple answer is that it must be us: you and me. Ignorance and apathy must cease. We cannot live by the adage “itis what it is.” We must become informed, critical thinkers who envision possibilities and take action, whether big or small.Members of our Liberation Program have taken the weight during a six-year campaign to seek the restoration of an abandonedpublic school in Harlem into a viable multi-use community facility. Members of our Rites of Passage Program take the weight

as they challenge each other to live up to their denitions of what it means to be a sister/brother, women/man and leader.

Members of this year’s International Study Program are taking on the weight of bridging global communities as they prepareto explore the rich history and culture of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Each of us who question and act – whoquestion why there are continuous threats to public school funding and demand more for our youth from our city; who questionwhy Black and brown children are usual targets of police harassment and brutality; who teach young people their rights andhow to avoid negative interactions with the police; who question why we are in a recession,and who create a plan to amass wealth for future generations – we all take the weight.Paraphrasing Toni Morrison, the author Julia Alvarez writes, “The function of freedom is to freesomeone else.” Understanding that our individual lives are connected to others’ lives is anessential step toward creating an equitable and just communityand world. Social justice work cannot be seen as the sole

responsibility of our elected ofcials. It is

our

responsibility.While some of us wait for the right person to lead thiscountry, we have to acknowledge that we possess the abilityto become the right peopl

e to transform ourselves and the world.

from the directors circle

Khary Lazarre-White, Cidra M. Sebastien, Susan Wilcox

in this issue:

What’s Good @ Bro/Sis:

College Acceptances:

Teen ASP Speaks:

Voices/Voces:

And Still I Rise:

Big Ups:

Reality Check

- a publication of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

The Brotherhood/Sister Sol is excited to embraceEnmanuel Candelario as a full-time staff member. Enmanuel is analumnus of Lyrical Circle,and has been involvedwith Bro/Sis since 2001.Enmanuel graduated from

Fordham University in

May 2007 with a B.A. inPolitical Science and UrbanStudies. He has taughtcreative writing workshopsall over NYC, and he will continue to co-facilitatethe Writers Collective Program. “I’m super

amped and ready to do great work!” This Fall,

Enmanuel will be teaming up withBrotherhoodChapter Leaders Orisanmi Burton and JuanTavarez to create two new Brotherhood chapters.

what’s good @bro/sis

The Brotherhood/Sister Sol is grateful for the support of hundreds of individualsand the following foundations, organizations and agencies:

Co-Executive Directors

Khary Lazarre-WhiteSusan Wilcox, Ed.D.

Associate Director

Cidra M. Sebastien

Board of Directors

Tinika Brown, Esq.B. Seth Bryant, Esq. (Chair)Paul E. Butler, Esq.Susan ChapmanCori Chertoff Jocelyn CooleyRabbi Rachel CowanIsis DelgadoStephen C. Graham (Treasurer)

Frantz Jerome

Jane Lazarre(Secretary)Rahsan-Rahsan LindseyDominique Mitchell Jon Moscow (Vice-Chair)Pedro NogueraAndrietta SimsNicole Valentine, Esq.Minerva WarwinDouglas H. White, Esq.

Jason Warwin

(Co-Founder on leave)

PRIVATE & CORPORATE SUPPORT:

PUBLIC SUPPORT:

Councilmember Robert Jackson | NYC Department of Youth and CommunityDevelopment | New York State Ofce of Children & Family Services-APPS Program

reality check

Publication Team

Editor-in-Chief & Designer:

Valerie Caesar

Contributors:

LaShae Adams, Keith Brisbane, Tiana Hammonds, Zora Howard, ShaTokaHyman, James McMichaels, Cidra Sebastien, Richard Watson, Maxwell Veloz

WELCOME ENMANUELPassage: The Journey of Manhood

This Spring, current and alumni Brotherhood members came togetherat

Trout Lake Camp

in Stroudsburg, PA for a weekend wilderness

retreat to reect, bond, build. During mind, body and spirit challenges,

alumni members acted as big brothers as they pushed current members

to dene their values and live by their words. Of the retreat, one brother

writes, “

When I laid down I started thinking about a lot of stuff, and watching the stars. The stars were beautiful. I’ve never seen stars likethat in the city. At the moment, I realized that I had an opportunity that other kids don’t. So I have to take advantage.”

Alumna Day of Self-Indulgence & Reection

Young women who graduated from Sister Sol, the Liberation Programand After School Program came together on May 31st for a dayof pampering and reconnecting. Sister Sol alumna received theirbinders—a collection of handouts and writings gathered over their4- to 6- year experience in the Rites of Passage Program—and took atrip down memory lane. All alumna were happy to see old faces andmeet new sisters. The group also completed an alumni survey. Writingabout what comes to mind when she thinks of Bro/Sis, one alumnashared, “

I think about self-respect. I think about struggle. I think about broadening my horizons. . . I think of myself and who I’ve becomeand of what a dramatic impact Sister Sol had on me.”

Reality Check

- a publication of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

C O L L E G E A C C E P T A N C E S

Congratulations to all the graduates of the class of 2008!!

Shaun burgess

Borough of Manhattan Community College

andrew ensley

State University of New York @ Clinton

Dowling College

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

State University of New York @ Onondaga

Keith brisbane

State University of New York @ Cortland

State University of New York @ Onondaga

Sequan Spigner

Brandeis University

Liberty UniversityLincoln UniversityState University of New York @ CantonState University of New York @ ClintonState University of New York @ DelhiState University of New York @ Onondaga

Antaeus Ashcroft-Turns

St. John Fisher College

Adelphi UniversityBryant UniversityClark Atlanta UniversityHampton UniversityMulhenberg UniversityState University of New York @ BuffaloState University of New York @ Old WestburySt. John’s UniversityUtica College

njeri parker

Manhattanville College

City CollegeLehman CollegeManhattan CollegeSt. John’s University

Howard brown

Haverford College

Vassar CollegeUniversity of ConnecticutState University of New York @AlbanyState University of New York @ BinghamtonState University of New York @Buffalo

jhana myers-roach

Clark Atlanta UniversityHartford CollegeHampton UniversityMorgan State UniversityCity College of New YorkBorough of Manhattan Community College

dominique mitchell

State University of New York @ Delhi

John Jay College

The Brotherhood/Sistser Sol provides comprehensive college guidance to our members. Over their time in our program, our teen members attend college tours where they are exposed to higher learning. We work with each young person to form a list

of schools that ts her or his particular needs and interests. We provide intensive guidance, write letters of recommendation,and provide nancial aid. Our members are presently attending or have graduated from a wide array of colleges and

universities. Below is a list of this year’s high school class and the colleges in which they were accepted and plan to attend.