My Brother’s Keeper keeps promise to uplift youth

By Aswad Walker

Recently, Mayor Sylvester Turner celebrated My Brother’s Keeper Houston’s (MBKH) accomplishments over the past eight years during his tenure and introduced its new director, Chazz Bailey.

MBKH, a Houston Health Department initiative focusing on boys and young men of color, leverages the expertise of educational institutions, nonprofits and other partners to combine strategies and programs to increase opportunities and close disparity gaps that exist in disadvantaged communities.

While Turner celebrated the eight-year MBKH leadership of Houston Health Department Director Stephen L. Williams, the mayor made it clear that he’s looking ahead to even bigger things from the organization.

“This is the relaunch and the mayor’s all in,” said Turner. “So, over the next three months, this program receives the mayor’s intensive intervention.”

Citing that Houstonians 15 – 26, primarily you men of color, are driving the city’s crime numbers, Turner said “We don’t have a day not to devote to them. We don’t have any time not to give to them. So, it’s not about, at this point, me standing up and just thanking what has taken place over the last eight years when the need is even greater today than back then. So, it’s the relaunch. But it’s really a call to action again, to say that we have a lot of work to do.”

Turner said he’ll work closely with Bailey and Williams all the way up to 11:59pm on Dec. 31, his last seconds in office, to make significant progress working with the city’s young men and women and “establishing a launch pad by which the next administration will take over.”

Bailey was a leader in 100 Black Men of America’s Collegiate 100, even starting a chapter when in Savannah, GA. But his heart for service shown through mentoring students young than him starting during his middle school years and extending through college.

Bailey shared his vision for MBKH’s future.

“You just heard not only Director Williams, but also the mayor say, ‘Chaz, you got a lot of work ahead of you. I’m passing the baton.’ I wasn’t ready . But it ain’t about being ready. It is about taking the lead of action. And so that’s what we’re going to be doing with MBK going forward. We’re gonna be utilizing tried and true strategies, paying attention to yes, what we did in of old, but looking at what works going forward.”

Some of MKBH’s partner programs include the Houston Youth Workforce Council, MBK Wrap Network, MBK ReDirect Diversion Program and the MBK TeamUp for Houston’s Youth.

“The Houston Health Department is proud to serve as the backbone for this great initiative and lead the charge in mapping a successful path for young men of color,” said Williams.