Gathering at NCCU aims to lift boys of color

DURHAM -- An annual gathering on closing the achievement gap and improving graduation rates for black, Latino and Asian boys is coming to the Triangle.

The Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color will hold its sixth annual "Gathering of Leaders" from April 26 to 28 at N.C. Central University in Durham.

Executive Director Ron Walker, who is based in Boston, said the association is the only national group devoted to the affirmative educational development of young men of color.

"We know the secret sauce of success, and what we plan to do is not make it a secret anymore," Walker said Wednesday at a press briefing in Durham.

The coalition seeks to transform schooling for a population that has historically struggled compared with its white counterparts. Telling statistics, primarily among black and Latino boys, include low graduation rates, over-representation in special education classes, and under-representation in gifted and talented programs, Walker said.

In 2007, about 8 percent and 24.7 percent of 16- to 24-year-old black and Hispanic male students, respectively, were classified as high-school dropouts, compared with 6 percent of white males, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

"We believe that the dire statistics and the typical story when you think of boys and young men of color is usually a negative one," Walker said. "Our organization is all about transforming that image, creating a new narrative, so that we are receptive in understanding that our boys are filled with promise."

The first "Gathering of Leaders" was held in 2007 at Wheelock College in Boston, Walker said. The program has since been held in Atlanta, Philadelphia and New Orleans.

Durham became the next destination after Kristy Moore, Durham Association of Educators' president, and others stood up at last year's conference at Howard University in Washington and called for the Bull City to host the next assembly, Walker said. That request was followed by an eloquent and timely application to the organization, he said.

This year's theme is "Great Schools ARE NOT an Accident: Successful Learning Communities for Boys and Young Men of Color."

The event will include for the first time a town hall discussion open to the public.

Durham Board of Education Chairwoman Minnie Forte-Brown described the symposium as an opportunity to learn how to cultivate the genius in youth of color.

"When we look at our data, boys of color are at the lowest on everything," Forte-Brown said. "It is not that they are not prepared. It is not that they don't have the talents. It is we don't know the strategies to get to it."