Posted August 17, 2005 to Career News | Section Home | Print

Mentoring Never Gets Old

Black men need to get involved because it’s going to take black men to bridge the gap

By Amecia Taylor,
National Correspondent

Washington (NNPA) – Although mentoring has been around for years, it is getting a new push from advocates who see it as an ideal way to provide hope to the hopeless.

“Mentoring is no longer an option, it’s necessary,” said Marvin R. Dickerson, president of 100 Black Men of Greater Washington, D.C. “Mentoring used to be a nice thing to do, now it’s mission critical.”

In general, mentoring takes place when a sage or an experienced person provides counseling, guidance and shares life skills with a younger person.

“Mentoring gives children an opportunity to see something they can aspire to, they are always looking for role models, lots of times the role models in media aren’t the real life role models they need so they need more down to earth people to look up to,” says James Gatson III, Program Manager, United Negro College Fund.

The number of mentoring programs has grown dramatically in recent years. The Education Consumer Guide links this popularity to compelling testimonials by people -- youth and adults alike -- who have themselves benefited from the positive influence of an older person who helped them endure social, academic, career, or personal crises.

Cedric Mobley, Marketing Manager for the United Negro College Fund, has been a mentor for the past eight years:

“Mentoring helps young people develop goals for themselves, gives them an extra set of people who expect something of them,” he says. “They achieve because they don’t want to let someone down,” and nor do the mentors.

“I volunteered to take 50 kids to the National Black MBA Conference in Dallas,” says Mobley. “That experience showed me how important it was for kids to be involved and see role models. They saw black professors and CEO’s. Once the conference was over they came back and said is this it? They wanted more involvement.”

Mobley was previously in charge of the Black MBA Dallas and Washington, D.C. Leaders of Tomorrow, a network of high school students that are mentored by area professionals.

That means mentors must fit into a youth’s world, not just have a young person act like an adult.

“We live in a video age, you have to adapt your programs,” Dickerson says. “We’ve taken the youth to poetry slams, rap concerts, national conventions, and museums because these things keep their interest. Last month mentees sat down with the chairman of the board of General Motors and they enjoyed it.”

Although there are a number of organizations that have mentoring initiatives; it’s still not enough to meet the demand.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is the oldest and largest youth mentoring organization. served more than 225,000 youth ages 5-18 in 2004.

Greg Hinex, Senior Case Manager at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City, practices what he preaches -- he is also a Big Brother.

“Mentoring is important because I am helping society by helping a kid become functional in a positive way,” Hinex says. “I was matched with my little brother April 19, 2005 … I enjoy hanging out with my little brother and remembering what it was like to be 8 years-old and full of energy.”

Dickerson of 100 Black Men says African American males are in particular need of mentoring.

“Black males around the country aren’t graduating from high school and [many] are in the criminal justice system.”

He explains, “With rising numbers of fatherless households, mentoring is critical. Our programs are designed to expose young people to the possibility of life, What they see is what they will be.” There are 103 100 Black Men chapters around the world. Each chapter functions independently.

“The national organization touched more than 125,000 kids last year,” Dickerson says. “The National 100 Black Men of America was founded in 1963 and mentoring has always been a cornerstone of the organization,” Dickerson says. .

“Mentoring the 100 Way is a training and certification program for mentors. Don’t commit unless you can commit,” Dickerson continues. “Kids know when you’re faking … they need consistency.”

Mobley says, “Mentors can be family, community members, professors, teachers. I’m from a small town in Georgia and my professors at FAMU (Florida A&M University) helped me with image and everything else I needed to know for the career I wanted and now have.”

“Black men need to get involved because it’s going to take black men to bridge the gap into manhood … their involvement could save this generation,” Dickerson said.

That places a lot of responsibility on the mentor and the person being mentored.

“Mentoring is a lot more than a feel good experience, it’s work,” The UNCF’s Mobley explains. “It’s a job, not for fun. Kids are depending on you so take it seriously. It’s not show and tell, it’s 365 days of involvement.” •