Dear Community Member:

We would like to take this time to introduce you to BMI, The Nyumburu Cultural Center, and to some of the exciting programs BMI offers school children under the auspices of the Nyumburu Cultural Center at the University of Maryland (UMD). 

These programs are geared towards engaging college students to become more involved in the surrounding areas of College Park. We would like to, now, take the opportunity to describe those two programs in the hopes that you might want to get the kids you work with, involved in these programs. The majority of our programs will be at no cost to you, besides transportation to Nyumburu (www.nyumburu.umd.edu).

The first program we would like to describe is the Black Male Initiative Program (BMI). BMI is a program that empowers undergraduate male students, on the UMD campus, to become active leaders in their community, on and off campus. BMI is a collection of faculty/staff, undergrad/grad students, and professional/dedicated males from the greater Washington DC Metropolitan communities.

We foster an environment predicated around fellowship, brotherhood, activism, scholarship, civic engagement and self-empowerment as a means to increase retention rates for black males. Some of the programs that BMI Members are actively involved in are: the Prison to College Pipeline Program (Oak Hill Youth Center), mentoring at several elementary, middle, and high schools (e.g. Greenbelt Elementary School, Martin Luther King Middle School), and Know Your Rights Workshops. BMI is a social service group that is extremely solution oriented. Please visit www.theblackmaleinitiative.org for more info.

The second program we would like to describe is the Nyumburu Leadership Series. The Leadership Series is designed to provide students (men and women) with experiential learning opportunities, coupled with theoretical and critical discourse that engages students towards formulating their own leadership philosophies. Students are challenged to explore various methods and tactics of effective leadership while offering opportunities for collaborative program development. The Leadership Series workshops are held one Saturday each month and span throughout the Fall and Spring semesters.

One of the foundations within the Leadership Series is that no leader can be truly effective if she/he is not well informed about the critical issues which affect her/his community. We make it a point to inform all of our members about those critical issues which affect so many of our communities, both on and off-campus.

The Leadership Series is in no way, shape, form, or fashion rooted in incessant discussions about the aforementioned issues. We candidly discuss issues and create productive solutions to them in which our members can actively work towards improving. The Leadership Series is geared towards activism which is rooted in strengthening and improving communities.

In short, we are writing this letter to extend the opportunity for elementary, middle, and high school students to become involved in our brand new BMI/Leadership Series Youth Leadership Institute. The Youth Leadership Institute that we have created is designed to actively expose and involve youth to collegiate life. We want to engage, and immerse, as many youth in various aspects of college life in an effort to strengthen their academic, civic, social, and professional goals. We want to develop and ameliorate the youth’s academic prowess via tutoring workshops. After all, leadership gains strength with increased intellect. We want to help develop their social skills by engaging the youth in team oriented activities centered on community involvement. We want to train youth how to serve as community leaders, organizers and ambassadors through a myriad of leadership oriented workshops, activities, and projects which are based on high levels of engagement. We plan on developing various professional skills in young people in an effort to get them to start envisioning themselves as professionals one day. The aforementioned leadership, professional, and socially based trainings are progressive in nature. They are geared towards positive outcomes for the student and his/her community. We strongly believe that the Leadership Institute will produce young students who will become civically engaged, socially conscious, academically proficient, solutions oriented, and confident. We also want youth to see themselves as viable agents for social/community change. This vision is a key factor towards active citizenry. Active citizenry leads to a more engaged community which is working together towards its overall amelioration.

The youth at your school (within your community) are the future. We strongly believe that there is so much untapped potential within the youth in our communities and this is why we want to invest in them. All of our programs are free for youth. Travel to UMD is the only thing that the youth (and their guardians) need to take care of. Please find enclosed a flyer and pamphlet on both the Leadership Series and the Black Male Initiative Programs. This information is for your perusal and background information.

If you are interested in involving any of your students within our Youth Leadership Institute please feel free to contact us. You may email us solomon@umd.edu or nyumbz@umd.edu or reach us by telephone at: 301.314.8439 or 301.314.7760. We would love to talk to you about our Youth Leadership Institute Program and how your students can get involved in it.

Respectfully,

The Men of The Black Male Initiative Program