It's no secret in Latino academic circles that there's an achievement gap between teenage Latino males and
mujeres--studies attest to this. Thankfully, there is now a movement to rectify this problem, to make sure that young Latinos voice out positive change. Out of that comes the
Santa Ana Boys and Men of Color.
It's a collective aimed to empower young men and boys of color, and they're hosting their first conference this Saturday at Valley High School in SanTana, from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The conference will focus on empowering and highlighting the issues that most impact boys and men of color these days--which, if you read this paper, means mostly killer cops, stupid politicians, and a clueless society fearful of Reconquista.
The
BMOC conference aims to bring encouragement and productivity through education and community engagement and is sponsored by KidWorks, Valley High School and The California Endowment. The conference will feature keynote speakers,
Victor Rios,
UC Santa Barbara professor and author of
Punished, and
Jerry Telllo, director of the
National Latino Fatherhood and Family Institute. Also scheduled to speak are
UC Santa Barbara professor
Aida Hurtado, and a
uthor of Invisible No More, along with
other speakers. Some of the strategy workshops have titles such as "Stopping Gangs with a Balanced Strategy," "Youth Organizing and the fight for Immigration Reform", and "Santa Ana Youth Movement Today," the latter of which is sure to thrill the city's gentrifiers.
Last day to
register is TODAY, and the conference is FREE. See you there!