Summary

President Obama hosts roundtable discussion at Lehman College / ROUNDTABLE PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE MUSICIAN JOHN LEGEND AND CEO OF MY BROTHERS KEEPER ALLIANCE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM Joe Echevarria DC Slug: 1440 WH NY PATH2 RS34 74 AR: 16x9 NYRS: None Disc: 676 14;42;31;14 I just had an opportunity to have a conversation with some outstanding young men, many of them from here in New York, a few of them who've come from as distant as California, Boston, Jersey 14;42;45;40 I want to thank Joe Echevarria who has been heading up our My Brother's Keeper Alliance, the private sector component of what we're doing I'm going to have a lot more to say about that during my formal remarks but 14;43;05;35 If you have any doubt about the incredible promise and potential of America, then you need to get to know these young men 14;43;17;27 Because they are examples of intelligence, hard work, empathy and compassion, some street smarts And all all these young men are going to do incredible things with their lives Many of them are already doing incredible things with their lives 14;43;39;53 Part of what we wanted to do was to make sure we heard directly from young people who oftentimes are growing up in really tough situations Single parent households, low income communities, crime infested areas We've heard stories of some of these young men being stopped and put on the ground by police for no reason Domestic abuse inside the household Situations where the schools don't seem to be invested in their success 14;44;16;04 And yet, despite all of that, these young men are succeeding in some remarkable ways 14;44;22;26 Part of what I heard from them was that they're succeeding because somewhere along the line they've received a mentor, somebody who's just paying attention to them and giving them some sense of direction 14;44;35;09 Part of what we've heard is that they've had the opportunity in some way to participate in community service and to get involved And have been able to show themselves that they matter and they count and they can make amazing things happen in their own communities 14;44;53;30 And what all of them suggested is that if we're going to be successful in addressing some of the challenges that young men of color face around the country, that they're voices have to be part of how we design programs and how we address these issues 14;45;16;28 Because they've got a lot to say And what they say is powerful It makes a big difference 14;45;24;42 I just want to say to all of them how proud I am of you, how grateful I am to you 14;45;32;06 I want to thank John Legend to participate John has been doing a lot of work on his own time, not just around My Brother's Keeper but dealing with issues with the criminal justice system and incarceration and how we can steer and how we interact with communities of color and low income communities in a different direction so we appreciate his leadership 14;45;55;48 I'm very excited about what we can get done But the main reason I'm excited is because listening to all these young men I know that the future will be in good hands as long as we're giving them the support and love that they need