In introducing his “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative in February, President Obama vowed to “give more young Americans the support they need to make good choices, and to be resilient, and to overcome obstacles, and achieve their dreams.” The president went on to say that “by almost every measure, the group that is facing some of the most severe challenges in the 21st century in this country are boys and young men of color.”
The implication is that young black women and girls are doing just fine. But now a group of 1,000 women of color are calling on the President to include young women and girls in My Brother’s Keeper-type programs. In an open letter to the President, the group states that “the crisis facing young boys of color should not come at the expense of girls who live in the same households, suffer in the same schools, and endure the same struggles.”
The letter calls on the President to realign the goals of the program to include both boys and girls of color. Among the signers of the letter are Anita Hill, Mary Frances Berry, Alice Walker, and Angela Davis.
