As 2010 unfolds, we have witnessed changes on a scale that are hard to put into perspective. While the economy appears to have stabilized, progress is being opposed vigorously by corporate interests, too many of our seniors and children are un- or under-insured, and health care disparities persist even among those who have access; our education system continues to be a pipeline, far too frequently, not to a better life, but to life as a bankable commodity in correctional systems.

Even as change happens around us, the 100 Black Men of Philadelphia has taken steps to ensure that we will remain relevant. With the help of one of the top consulting firms in the world, we have been engaged in a strategic planning exercise that will provide us with a roadmap toward our future. Gone are the days when passion and purpose were enough to attract resources and mobilize people to work on issues important to our community. Today, transparency, strategy, and execution are just as important as passion, if not more so.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, once said, “If you can control a man’s thinking, you don’t have to worry about his actions. If you can determine what a man thinks, you do not have worry about what he will do. If you can make a man believe that he is inferior, you don’t have to compel him to seek an inferior status, he will do so without being told, and if you can make a man believe that he is justly an outcast, you don’t have to order him to the back door, he will go to the back door on his own, and if there is no back door, the very nature of the man will demand that you build one.”

We welcome you to browse our pages and share in our efforts to change the minds and lives of the youth of Philadelphia.