The Determination to Succeed Back2School summit is a dream come true, and this is personal for me.
Currently black and brown males are the lowest performing in education across the country in k12 and higher education. I know that all too well, as a black male that did not truly understand the importance and significance of education, wasn’t self-aware, didn’t know how to self-reflect, and led to me not believing in my own ability. Due to the healing journey that I have been on for over a decade, I have created many different opportunities for the youth with great success from mentoring programs to sports teams and literacy groups, plus many other things like a podcast to talk about many issues plaguing our community. Another reason I knew I had to do the summit was because of a conversation I overheard that has stuck with me for 15-20 years. I overheard a high school black male talking with some of his friends, but I heard him say with disappointment in his voice that he had received 2 F’s. That wasn’t the saddest part of the conversation, the saddest part was one of his friend’s responses…. he laughed and said “I beat you; I got 3 F’s”. I was in shock, and it has sat with me for years, but that memory has pushed me to want better for young black boys and led to the creation of programming and fundraising events to help me change that narrative. The Determination to Succeed Back2School Summit is just that, an opportunity to supply the youth with skills, strategies, and knowledge to help them START the school year off on the right track with a reset and a fresh start. It is designed for 40 black males to come and get empowered and head into the school year equipped with what they need to be successful. I am doing this from a proactive approach because I have had schools reach out and contact me to work with a cohort of students which I have been more than willing and excited to do but it feels like I am putting a Band-Aid on a limb that is about to fall off the body. The work I have done with those students have been helpful but reactive and some of those students at that point in the school year were at such a deficit that some had given up and not seeing a way out of the hole that had been dug. Many of the school districts are not willing or just don’t have the funds, so coming up with The Determination to Succeed Back2School Summit allows me to give them a fighting chance from day 1. I am also still taking donations and looking for sponsors as I will create a cohort of students to mentor from the summit throughout the upcoming school year. If interested, please email me at eubanks.solutions@gmail.com.
Thank you!
