Workshop Pathways
On behalf of the Black Male Development Symposium (BMDS), we invite you to join us by submitting a proposal for the 7th Annual Black Male Development Symposium. The BMDS is seeking dynamic workshop presenters and speakers who want to share their experiences and best practices for our 2012 Symposium. We invite you to submit proposals that address issues raised in any of the seven (7) pathways below.
If you intend to submit a proposal, please be sure to read the information below. We are eager to receive your proposals and look forward to having you shape and expand the Symposium’s vision.
The deadline for submission is Monday, January 30, 2012.
SYMPOSIUM PATHWAYS
The focus of this Symposium is to examine the myriad of challenges that are having an adverse effect on the socialization of Black males. The Symposium seeks solutions and strategies to address and counteract these challenges. Please select the Pathway that best fits your field/interest and the format that will best facilitate the learning you want participants to achieve. Additionally, please indicate which group(s) should attend your session: Middle School Students, High School Students, College Students, Adults or Professionals (Educators, Administrators, Community Advocates and Parents).
As you read through the Pathways and consider submitting a proposal, please note that as BMDS designs the symposium program, we are committed to an inclusive understanding of diversity. For BMDS, diversity refers to the presence and acknowledgment of different points-of-view, including the varied ways of making meaning per different ethnicities and cultures, religions, economic/class status, age, sexual orientation and educational/developmental abilities.
Reclaiming the Black Male Image focuses on the historical relevance of Black images throughout various genres of media and how we can help Black males overcome the psychological assaults that exploit who they are and hinder their social development.
Topic suggestions:
- What historic debates about media images of Black males continue today and with what effect?
- What are the affects of popular culture and Hip Hop—both positive and negative—on Black male imagery?
- How can culturally-based programs such as Rites-of-Passage deconstruct what the media has constructed?
- Are there some consensus definitions that can provide new directions? If so, what do they suggest about the next generation?
- What are emerging understandings of the links and disconnections between media and reality?
Educate to Elevate focuses on the widening “achievement gap” for Black males as the education reform movement advocates for institutional change in order to create more inclusive and positive learning environments. What models of teaching, learning, and professional development are needed to prepare a new generation of leaders to meet the institutional challenges of educating a culturally, ethnically, religiously, and economically diverse student population?
Topic suggestions:
- How do we assist Black males in understanding their “testing edge” as they participate in state and national testing?
- How do we utilize the creative models of problem-based learning, art and performance integration, community-based service-learning projects, inter-group dialogue, and living/learning communities as partners in closing the achievement gap?
- How can we better engage Black males in the classroom?
- Hip-Hop and culturally responsive teaching: A sound educational strategy or simply hype?
- What are the strategies needed that prepare Black males emotionally, spiritually and psychologically to learn within a toxic society?
- How do we teach Black males to connect the dots of self-empowerment, education, careers and lifelong learning and financial literacy?
- How do we teach Black males to translate the language of the streets to the language of the classroom?
Family and Relationships focuses on the power and responsibility of maintaining healthy relationships. How do Black males learn the significance of celebrating themselves along with upholding the ideals of family, community, father/ motherhood, brother/sisterhood, and man/womanhood?
Topic suggestions:
- What are the key elements of loving and prosperous relationships?
- What is the impact of the criminal justice system on the African-American family?
- How do we teach young men and women to develop healthy, safe and empowering relationships with one another?
- Are the tenets of the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” applicable to today’s social realities?
- Parenting 101—Have the rules really changed?
- Homophobia and the secrets it creates.
- What is the shape and form of the revised extended family?
Health, Wellness and Spirituality focuses on assisting Black males in “tapping” into the various methods of self- improvement that can empower them mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Topic suggestions:
- The stereotype suggests that asking for help is not a “man thing.” How can we challenge this mindset?
- How do we teach Black males to put down the junk food and begin enhancing their state of health?
- The number one killer of young Black males between the ages of 21-45 is AIDS. How do we get the education and prevention message out to them?
- Racism has forced a lot of Black males to sit on top of their pain. How does this social disease impact the health, wellness and spirituality of Black men?
- How do we assist Black males in utilizing their spiritual tools in fulfilling their personal, spiritual and community mission?
Winning the Future through Economy Development focuses on teaching Black males to become self-sufficient entrepreneurs, and utilizing that knowledge to create a better economic legacy for the black community in the future. Winning the Future through Economy Development will assist our men in connecting the dots of the lifelong learning process of self- empowerment, education, career, and financial literacy.
Topic suggestions:
- How do we teach young Black men to connect the dots of self-empowerment, education, careers and lifelong learning and financial literacy?
- How do we teach young Black men to become 21st century employers and entrepreneurs?
- How do we assist young Black males in cultivating their skills to create an effective and legal community-based economy?
- How do we utilize the cultural strategies of Pan-African economic and communal models (historical and contemporary) to promote economic literacy
- The magic of a 3-digit number between 300 and 850: How does your credit score impact your life?
Advance Your SWAG focuses on teaching Black males how to reclaim a positive self-image, which includes the qualities of sophistication, wisdom, and assertiveness in their everyday lives. Advance Your SWAG will help our men combat the negative imagery of the Black male by redefining what it means to be a successful, responsible, and respected member of the Black community.
Topic suggestions:
- How can Hip Hop be used to help Black males regain their status in the U.S./world as intellectuals and warriors?
- How can we examine the original “swagger” of such great men as Imhotep, Malcolm X, Paul Robeson, President Barack Obama and Jay-Z, et al to serve as examples to Black males.
- How do we teach young Black Males that true “swagger” is Something We All Got and how to use it in a positive manner.
- Manners + Confidence + Style = Swagger: A new code of conduct
- How do we help young Black men step up their game, advance their swagger, get ahead and live out their dreams?
Strategies and Techniques in Service Delivery to African-American Males focuses on providing practical strategies and techniques for schools, agencies, community groups, parents, and programs interested in improving the quality of life for Black males in the areas of Education, Health, Economics and Criminal Justice.
Topic suggestions:
- How do we increase the number of community outreach programs for Black males?
- How do we increase the number of Black male teachers/professors/administrators in schools?
- How do we increase the number of preventive social service programs targeting Black males?
- How can we better inform teachers, counselors, and administrators about socioeconomic conditions in Black communities that affect young males?
- How can we reduce access barriers for Black males to health and mental health services?
- How can we increase the number of Black males exposed to systems that create role models that build self-esteem?
- How can we increase the level of educational attainment, skill development, work experience, and training for Black males?
- How can we increase the use by Black males of information and resources related to sustained employment?
- How can we assist with the development of legislation that will reduce the barrier to employment created by criminal records?
- How can we expand effective intervention programs for juvenile and adult offenders entering the criminal justice system?
Your registration for the BMDS authorizes the Symposium to use video and audio footage, photographs or any other media for marketing, promotional, and/or educational purposes.
