November 2, 2016
Page 11
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
Photo by M ark W ashington /t he P ortland o bserver
Portland businessman Mims Rouse Jr. and longtime Portland educator Carolyn Leonard oversee a pilot educational program at First AME Zion Church to help African
American males and men reach their full potential.
A pilot program geared to African-American boys and
men to help them achieve better results in reading skills
and study habits is a new community-based approach that
backers hope will unlock barriers and help our young
people reach their full potential.
Portland businessman Mims Rouse Jr., founder of the
African-American XY Program LLC, is enrolling student
participants in his education enhancement initiative “It
Starts with Them” at First AME Zion Church on the cor-
ner of North Vancouver Avenue and Skidmore Street.
The program’s three main goals are awakening Afri-
can-American boys and men to their full potential, clos-
ing the wealth gap between blacks and their peers, and
serving as a positive response to anecdotal evidence and
statistical data revealing a cradle-to-grave incarceration
pipeline for African-American males.
Currently open to 8th graders and beyond, including
college level and adult learners, the ultimate goal is to
serve our young people and adults with proven educa-
tional methods at churches serving the black community
at home and around the county, as well as other organi-
zations.
Mims says too many young black males and African
American men are woefully unprepared educationally
It Starts
With
Them
Community based
learning serves
local youth
because they are left behind by an inadequate education
system, social environment, and/or the political power
structure.
He cites statistics that show in reading skills, only 10
percent of African American boys in the 8th grade have
reached the benchmarks for educational proficiency.
Compared to white males, black males are overrepresent-
ed by 600 percent in the prison system while making up
only 6 percent of the general population.
The keys to success, Mims says, is having the right
mixture of reading skills and study habits, , external sup-
port from family members and the community, and a
healthy sense of self-worth.
To ensure the success of “It Starts With Them,” he
sought counsel from highly regarded teachers, education
administrators, pastors, activists, parents and others in
the Portland community.
Combining positive adult mentoring with proven edu-
cation strategies are resources that can help keep a child
from being swept into the prison pipeline at an early age,
breaking a vicious cycle, Mims says. “We must resist the
low lying fruit of building more prisons as a solution to
this crisis.”
For a calendar of events and to learn more about “It
Starts with Them,” visit the program’s website at Afri-
canAmerican-XY.com or send an email to Contact@Af-
ricanAmerican-XY.