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Milwaukee Initiative For Young Men Of Color Gets White House Recognition

Partnership Includes City, School System And Milwaukee Bucks Organization

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The leader of White House program to help young men of color stay out of trouble says it’s “heroic” for those in troubled neighborhoods to do the right thing.

Broderick Johnson of My Brother’s Keeper came to Milwaukee to highlight a mentoring initiative announced by the city of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Public Schools, the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team and other organizations. Johnson said gun violence continues to threaten many young men of color, but there are ways to be a hero.

“It’s heroic to say, ‘I’m going to live my life the right way, I’m going to go to school. I’m going to work hard, I’m going to achieve,’ and that’s the kind of stuff we need to lift up, and that’s what My Brother’s Keeper is so much about,” said Johnson.

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Still, Wisconsin has it’s share of challenges, including having the nation’s highest rate of incarceration for African-American males, along with high poverty and unemployment rates in many of Milwaukee’s African-American neighborhoods.