African-American boys are dropping out of school. African-American boys are killing each other. African-American boys are entertaining Americans with songs about sexing pubescent girls and there's not one worthy ounce of outrage. [Yes, I'm still salty about Lil' Wayne's horrid display of manhood at the BET Awards]. But there's hope in the Heartland. Kentucky State University's president Mary Sias wants to open up a boarding school for black males. She's committed to increasing black male college enrollment by putting black boys in college before they begin college. Full time. Sias' boarding school project will open the doors of KSU to at least 50 boys. They'll have their own teachers, principal and they'll live in the dorms. Unless I'm late in the game, I haven't heard of anything like this for black boys. And I hope it works. A friend just told me his witty and intelligent cousin dropped out of high school when he was sixteen and did absolutely nothing for five years. The cousin recently started working as a stock boy at a local grocery store. My heart nearly cracked. I'm tired of hearing these stories. I wish KSU's Mary Sias plenty of positive strategy. Black boys certainly need rescuing.
Keith Josef Adkins is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and social commentator.