Parentella

Last month, a new short, 30 minute documentary was released called “Beyond the Bricks.” Produced by Washington Koen Media and supported by the Ford Foundation, “Beyond the Bricks” analyzes the one of America’s critical problems in education: the consistently low performance of black males in school.

The film follows African-American students Shaquiel Ingram and Erick Graham as they struggle to stay on the track in the Newark, NJ public school system. Weaved into the boys’ stories is commentary from some of the country’s foremost leaders, experts and scholars focused on black boys and their education including Newark Mayor Cory Booker, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and Schott Foundation President Dr. John Jackson, among others.

Though the film focuses primarily on students from Newark, NJ, the issues addressed there extend to urban enclaves throughout the nation.

Tied to the film is a national community engagement campaign. While this campaign centers on young black males, the primary objective is to reach the influential members of these boys’ communities to stimulate deeper involvement in their lives. The goal is to bring together educators, community leaders, policymakers, parents and students to promote positive communication, and to create solution-based action around the problems black male students are facing.

With the national support of Open Society Institute’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement, CALL TO ACTION and outreach partners, “Beyond the Bricks” has scheduled Town Hall events in 10 communities that have been identified primarily by their struggling graduation rates for black males: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Jackson, MS, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Oakland, and Philadelphia.

See the trailer here. See the list of scheduled film screenings and Town Hall events here. If there is not one scheduled for area, you can request one here. Image credit: http://www.beyondthebricksproject.com/

——————————

Christi Grab is Parentella’s Editorial Director and author of The Unexpected Circumnavigation: Unusual Boat, Unusual People Part 1 – San Diego to Australia. She is currently working on book two of the series.

Related posts:

1. Educational News Tidbits
2. Obama Announces Change the Equation Educational Initiative
3. Community College Initiatives by President Obama
4. “Race to Nowhere” vs. “Waiting for Superman”

Tags: Brick by Brick, Education Reform, Educational movie, high risk, low income, Title I

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 23rd, 2010 at 12:01 am and is filed under Christi Grab, Current News, Education Reform, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.