Black men and boys matter, and Shawn Dove, president and CEO of the Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA), has known since the organization's start in 2008. The initiative, built on the knowledge that black men are worth the investment, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and is proud of its accomplishments thus far, as well as its work developing black male community leaders.

Dove said this work is more than just something that blossomed into a career; it's his passion, calling and ministry. The organization, headquartered in New York, has grown to have 5,700 individual members and 2,765 organizational partners under his direction.

CMBA was formed in response to the many national, statewide and local policies, community programs and resources, that aren’t created with young black men in mind.

"Life outcomes for black males lagged far behind those of their white counterparts in all areas, including education, health, safety, jobs and criminal justice involvement," Dove told Blavity.

The three-year initiative, which first launched out of the billion-dollar endowed Open Society Foundations, became an entity itself in 2015 and continued to grow in unexpected ways. Dove said the work "resides at the intersection of movement and field-building, focusing on building leadership capacity at the city and community level, as well nationally.”

Over the past few years, CMBA has implemented several exemplary programs, which have yielded substantial outcomes toward amplifying the livelihood of young black men.

CMBA helped contribute to the launch of President Obama's trailblazing My Brother's Keeper initiative. The program was created in the wake of his poignant speech in response to the injustice of George Zimmerman's acquittal. 

A few of CMBA's programs include Rumble Young Man, Rumble, which provides high school students with finding colleges best suited for their interests, as well as the admissions process.

The Promise of Place report was first launched the same year CBMA became independent. The "first-of-its-kind" report evaluated 50 U.S. cities based on the quality of life for black men living there.

This year’s Promise of Place report reflected the dire need for CBMA and its work, finding black men and boys still face far worse outcomes than their white, Latino or Asian male counterparts when it comes to violence, education, health and jobs. It also showed that 59 percent of black males graduate high school compared to a 65 percent rate for Latino males and 80 percent graduation rate for white males. A black man without a high school diploma is bound for prison by his mid-30s.

Dove said statistics such as these speak for the reason CBMA had to become an entity and focus on these needs alone. 

“What this nation truly needs is not a Campaign for Black Male Achievement but a Corporation for Black Male Achievement," he said. “This would elevate the investments from millions to billions to fortify wealth-building and promote economic justice.”

Looking forward to the next ten years of the organization's success, Dove declared, "There's so much more to be done before we can declare America as a true place of promise for black men and boys, and we look forward to continuing this fight along with our members, partners, and black men and boys themselves."

CBMA doesn’t acknowledge its anniversary as something to “celebrate” rather “acknowledge” because there’s more work to be done.

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