Inspiring PSA Shows What Can Happen If We Believed in Black Boys

President Obama’s ‘My Brother's Keeper’ initiative imagines kids of color in a variety of careers.

Apr 13, 2016·

Culture and education editor Liz Dwyer has written about race, parenting, and social justice for several national publications. She was previously education editor at Good.

They’re more likely to be suspended—and steered into the school-to-prison pipeline—and drop out of high school than their white peers. But what would the futures of black boys look like if teachers thought they were smart and if they were given the support and resources they need to succeed?

That’s the future imagined in the latest public service announcement from My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, the initiative launched by President Obama in 2014. The clip was first seen on Sunday by 3.5 million viewers of the MTV Movie Awards, and it made its YouTube debut on Monday.

As images of black and brown youngsters flash across the screen, a narrator imagines their futures: Oscar-winning actors, valedictorians, poets, the next president of the United States, or a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

“If we believe in their futures, they will believe in them too,” Obama tells viewers at the end of the clip.

Some project that after his presidency, Obama will focus on the alliance, which now has its own website and $80 million in funding. In early April, New York became the first state to have an individual chapter of the organization, an effort backed by both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and education officials.

Meanwhile, the initiative is looking for people across the nation who are willing to get involved and be mentors to boys of color. “We all need to step up and stand together. Join the MBK community, spread the word, and learn how you can make a lasting difference by becoming a mentor,” reads the website.