A Leader By Example

Aight, folks so I wanted to share something good today as part of my ongoing commitment to step outside the negativity and begin to reconstruct images of Black males in America.

I came across an article recounting one Black male's story of leadership from the "Being a Black Man" series in the Washington Post. (Thanks Mike for forwarding the link to us) I thought the story was pretty inspirational and I hope it will encourage you all to think of what you can do (or already are doing), just for today, to be a role model. Enjoy!

Peace,
Erica


"Be the change you wish to see in the world"-Mahatma Ghandi


A Leader By Example

By Jabari Asim
Tuesday, June 27, 2006; 1:08 PM

WASHINGTON -- Let's say you're an African-American man, fortysomething, educated and a happily married homeowner.

You're more familiar than you care to be with news reports about black men doing wrong. You may have seen some of that wrongdoing up-close, or even found yourself staring at a brown face from the wrong end of a gun.

In any case, you don't need to see statistics to confirm what you already know. So you just shake your head when you read about a recent Washington Post survey which found that one in four black male respondents had been victims of a violent crime. You sigh when the same poll shows that a third of never-married black men have fathered a child. You nod knowingly when you read that "better-educated, affluent black men are most likely to criticize black men for not taking education seriously enough."

After all, you've been there. You live there. Unless you're a man like Sylvester Fulton.

Fulton, a 46-year-old Memphis resident, was recently named Big Brother of the Year by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. He has been a Big Brother to Jeremy Moore, 15, for more than four years.

Fulton had plenty of excuses when he was invited to be a Big Brother in 2001: "I was a full-time grad student. I had just found that I had diabetes. I had a wife and daughter. And I had this real bad habit of playing golf whenever I could."

Fulton got involved while president of the Memphis chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation's oldest black Greek-letter college fraternity. The group has a national partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters.

He felt "a little nervous and a little excited" the first time he met Jeremy, but they soon established a rapport. "They do an excellent job matching you with children you have something in common with," Fulton said. "When I saw his face I could see that he was so happy to have a Big Brother." The two go to sporting contests, take road trips or just hang out. Fulton said he is always on the lookout for "teachable moments."...



FOR FULL ARTICLE check out the link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/06/27/BL2006062700733.html