“This day is a day of empowerment, enrichment, and encouraging young African American males, or young kings as we will call them all day today, encourage them to be the men that they were designed and destined to be.”
Parris McMurray is co-chair of the African American Male Achievement Conference Committee. He says the event is attended by over 1,000 Black boys from 8th through 12th grade, with over 80 Black men providing guidance on becoming positive young men in the community and the world.
“We have a myriad of courses for the young men to go through where they will be getting information about financial literacy, they will be getting information about physical and mental health, they will be getting information that will just help them improve their lives day-to-day.”
McMurray notes the event unites young Black men to face shared struggles and succeed together.
“This day, they see a show of unity across the greater Grand Rapids community, but also they are able to see professional men that look just like them that they may want to aspire to be like one day in the future.”
The annual event is a collaboration between Grand Rapids Public Schools, Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Valley State University, the City of Grand Rapids, and Urban League of West Michigan.
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