March 15, 2017 The Skanner Page 9
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News
Real Life 101 Scholarship Fund Grants Empty Promises to Young Black Men
Real Life 101, a Detroit-based nonprofit that provides scholarships for African American males, was not
able to procure funds for scholarships this year for the first time in the organization’s 17-year history –
leaving some recipients unable to enroll in school.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The
names of the students
and parents have been
changed to protect the
privacy of the individuals
and their families.
By Chris B. Bennett
The Seattle Medium,
NNPA Member
N
ine months ago,
18-year old Jason
Smith* was on top
of the world. He
had graduated from high
school, been accepted to
his college of choice and
had just been awarded a
scholarship worth up to
$10,000 from Real Life
101, a non-profit orga-
nization out of Detroit,
Michigan that provides
college scholarships to
African American males.
The unsolicited schol-
arship offer was a direct
result of the 100 Black
Men gathering that
took place in February
of 2016 at Southshore
Pre-K–8 School in Se-
attle. The event, which
drew national media
attention, saw over 200
Black men greet stu-
dents and provide them
with encouragement as
they entered the school
building. Shortly after
hearing about the event,
Real Life 101 reached out
to the school with an of-
fer to fund scholarships
for Black males who
previously attended the
school.
Jason’s mother, Lisa
Smith, said that the schol-
arship was a blessing
that could really help
alleviate the financial
pressures she and her
husband were facing
to pay for Jason and his
older sister to go to col-
lege while maintaining
a household of five chil-
dren.
“It was like winning the
lottery,” said Smith. “We
all, Jason included, were
very excited.”
According to Smith,
the excitement didn’t
last very long. She said
they registered her son
for college in Septem-
ber, and sent over all the
paperwork requested by
Real Life 101 in order for
them to provide funding
directly to the school.
The family eventually re-
ceived a notice from the
school that the scholar-
ship funds had not been
received and that Jason’s
registration was in jeop-
ardy of being dropped.
Smith reached out to
Real Life 101 and was in-
formed that the funding
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was not available. As a
result, Smith was unable
to enroll in school for the
fall semester.
“We already knew
that it was going to be a
struggle,” said Smith. “In
the Black community we
have to do the best that
we can for our children
and education is what’s
going to help them in the
future, especially our
young men.”
Smith continued: “It
was really like pulling
the carpet from under
Jason’s feet, because he
was so excited to be go-
“
year for up to five years);
a new laptop computer; a
computer backpack and
be paired with a certified
Real Life Mentor while in
the program. The young
men did receive the
computer and backpack
as promised. However,
nearly one year after the
but that he has received
compensation for books
from the organization
totaling about $225. Ac-
cording to Jones, he was
in jeopardy of losing
his on-campus housing
when he reached out to
the organization during
the fall semester about
‘We thought this was really happening, and
it was a huge disappointment when the funds
weren’t received’
ing to school. We thought
this was really happen-
ing, and it was a huge dis-
appointment when the
funds weren’t received.”
Unfortunately, Jason
Smith was not alone.
Last year, Real Life 101
awarded
scholarships
to 10 African American
males in Seattle. The
awardees were sup-
posed to receive: $10,000
in scholarship funding
(payable at $2,000 per
initial announcement,
the organization has
failed to provide schol-
arship funds to the stu-
dents who are currently
enrolled in school, and
instead of providing
mentors the awardees
were “directed” by the or-
ganization to “Find Your
Own Personal Mentor.”
One of the awardees,
William Jones, said that
he has not received the
scholarship funds yet,
the status of his scholar-
ship. Although they did
not have the funds in
place at the time, the or-
ganization did provide
him with leads for oth-
er scholarships that he
could apply for. Eventu-
ally, he took out student
loans to help cover the
remainder of his expens-
es for the semester.
Read the rest of this story at
TheSkanner.com