Flipping the Script: Changing the Narrative on Boys and Men of Color
With a topic taken from the headlines of today’s newspapers, the Annie E. Casey Foundation Atlanta Civic Site in partnership with the Council on Foundation and the Southeastern Council of Foundations conducted a day long learning forum entitled Flipping the Script: Changing the Narrative on Boys and Men of Color.
To frame the discussion, Dr. David Rice, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Morehouse College, set the context by discussing the current perception of boys and men of color in the United States. This included a dialog on the holistic narrative about boys and young men of color. As part of the discussion, Dr. Rice spoke to the perceived deficit pathology which undermines men and boys of color and how to “flip” the narrative. According to Dr. Rice, flipping the script requires revising the master narrative by changing the worldview of agency, purpose, and value.
Later, William Buster, Director of Mississippi and New Orleans Programming for the WK Kellogg Foundation, shared an applied strategy entitled: Narrative 2.0. This approach includes strategic interventions, messaging, and deploying research to address the often negative narrative associated with men and boys of color. Mr. Buster pointed out there are more black men in college than prison. Many Americans believe more black men are in prison than college.
The Southeastern region is home to the largest segment of the African America community. In addition, the region is experiencing rapid growth within communities of people of color. The combination of these realities coupled with the timing of the forum demonstrates the incredible leadership provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation Atlanta Civic Site.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation is devoted to developing a brighter future for millions of children at risk of poor educational, economic, social and health outcomes. As a private philanthropy based in Baltimore and working across the country, the Foundation make grants that help federal agencies, states, counties, cities and neighborhoods create more innovative, cost-effective responses to the issues that negatively affect children: poverty, unnecessary disconnection from family and communities with limited access to opportunity. Since 1948, these efforts have translated into more informed policies and practices and yielded positive results for larger numbers of kids and families.
To learn more the Annie E. Casey Foundation Atlanta Civic Site, visit www.aecf.org
