Four years ago, in the East Room of the
White House, we launched the My Brother's Keeper Initiative. It was declaration that in a country as prosperous and dynamic as ours, we all
have an obligation to lift up communities that have consistently had
the odds stacked against them. It was an ambitious call to action to make sure
that every boy and young man of color in this country has the opportunity to
achieve their dreams. Today, this work continues as an
initiative of the Obama Foundation. This is my platform where I can make my
dreams come true, it's a brotherhood, it's a support system, it's an opportunity, it's life-changing, it's everything. Now with this program, I can talk and you
can hear my voice, because before, I couldn't express myself the way I wanted to. It makes total sense that now, as part of The Obama Foundation, the work of MBK
continues and it's woven into our broader work about leadership
development and civic engagement. The Obama Foundation is all about equipping and spiring empowering the next generation of young leaders who can
solve problems. The My Brother's Keeper Alliance is about making sure no one is
left behind so the missions marry together and merge together quite nicely.
If we're going have leaders that are going to solve problems we need leaders of all stripes of all colors, from all communities and we're going to do that work together. It's something that everyone should adopt, it's something that every city should have because it's life changing. I think it's very important for our stories to be told because that same
struggle that we face, we can now reach back and pull another young brother
through. The next chapter the My Brother's Keeper Alliance is very exciting. We're going to go deep in communities, we're going to lock arms with them and we're going to be partners in their
success and we're going to do this work slowly, methodically, while also being
urgent about the issues that our communities face. We're going to most
definitely inspire a lot of people and that's the joy of this, seeing the smiles on
faces that normally wouldn't have them. I have always believed that the single
most important task we have as a nation is to make sure our young people can go
as far as their dreams and hard work will take them. This is something I will
be invested in for the rest of my life and I look forward to continuing the
journey with all of you.
