Introduction to Dare To Be King Curriculum

On January 1, 2009 at 2:11am, early morning New Years Day, at the Fruitvale Bart Station, Oscar Juliuss Grant III –my first nephew and the only son of my baby sister Wanda Johnson–was fatally shot in the back while lying face down and being restrained by two Bart (Subway) Police Officer’s in Oakland, California. Johannes Mehserle, the officer who fired the fatal shot, only served 11 months in jail.

The shooting was captured on over twenty cell phone cameras. The footage was immediately uploaded to YouTube where it was watched by millions. Had it not been for the video’s footage, no one would have known about Oscar Grant’s murder.

This footage and the outcry of Oakland residents prompted Ryan Coogler to direct Fruitvale Station, a film released on July 13, 2013 about the final days of Oscar Grant’s life and his encounter with police on the BART train. Fruitvale Station is a powerful account of Grant’s life as a father and a young man struggling to define his life. The film shows the brutality of the BART subway police and the injustices which occur daily in the lives of African American males.

The murder of Grant brings to light the persistent racial stereotypes that still contribute to the tragic deaths of innocent African American men and boys at the hands of police departments and citizens. Additionally, the lack of a comprehensive plan in communities to address violence among young males has created warlike conditions. For example, during the July 4th weekend in 2013 in one of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods, 72 people were shot, 12 of them fatally. In Philadelphia from July 12 to July 15, 10 people were murdered and in almost all cases, in both cities, the victims were African American and Hispanic males.

The untimely murders of Oscar Grant III, Jordan Davis, Trayvon Martin and a host of young Black and Brown males who are unknown to most have left millions of parents in a state of shock, anger and grief. These murders coupled with the alarming rates of incarceration of young males have created serious social challenges within America’s urban centers. Michelle Alexander, author The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, eloquently purports, “Like Jim Crow (and slavery), mass incarceration operates as a tightly networked system of laws, policies, customs, and institutions that operate collectively to ensure the subordinate status of a group defined largely by race.”

To this end we are excited and optimistic about any effort designed to improve the lives of youth and young adults. Models like Dare To Be King, written by David Miller, provide a sense of hope that we can interrupt violence within the lives young males.

Dare To Be King: What if The Prince Lives? is an essential community based tool designed to engage young males around numerous critical life skills areas. This curriculum can be used to create a much needed dialogue to help build young males of character who are willing to challenge narrow definitions of manhood & masculinity. These definitions have created apathy and a fascination with gangs, drugs and a “gangster lifestyle.” Often popularized by shows like The Wire and The Sopranos, Hollywood movies depict young African American males as drug dealers and criminals. Dare To Be King provides young males with a framework for addressing the culture of respect which is a crucial construction of manhood in the eyes of males.

The curriculum delves deeply into notions of respect, based on perceived insults, grudges and community gossip, which contribute to a young male defining his manhood. These false notions of respect account for a large percentage of conflicts in schools and in the community.

The curriculum masterfully uses role playing, case studies, discussion groups and critical thinking activities to attack a mindset of mediocrity and hopelessness. In September 2013, a local New Jersey newspaper ran the headline, “14-year-old Newark boy killed had 30 bricks of heroin and loaded gun in his bedroom.” These incidents speak to the urgent need in creating a greater level of engagement of young males who are locked into a lifestyle of death and destruction.

From police brutality to peer pressure, the curriculum has developed innovative practices to teach and coach life and survival skills. Other sections of the curriculum boldly challenge fatherless, self-image and peer pressure in the lives of adolescent males. Each of these areas are important in shaping the lives of young males in our community. Without efforts like Dare To Be King, we will continue to see escalating violence, incarceration and younger and younger killers in our community!

Ready for real change,

by Cephus Uncle Bobby Johnson

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