Recommendation to respectfully request City Manager to work with President Obama's administration on providing a report within 90 days on the My Brother's Keeper (MBK) Community Challenge and methods on how the City of Long Beach can support the initiative to improve conditions for boys and men of color in Long Beach. This report should include the following components: · A thorough summary of the MBK Initiative, with specific focus on matters related to youth jobs and internships, living wages, violence prevention, and community-oriented policing; · A review of which current programs and policies within the City of Long Beach support the goals of the MBK Initiative; · An evaluation of the ability for the City to accept the MBK Community Challenge; · A strategy of how to better connect City programs to community-based programs that align with the MBK Initiative; · A recommendation of how the City can collaborate with the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) on their similar efforts and programs; and · Recommendations on potential next steps in accepting 
Item 15 is communication from Councilmember Richardson, Councilwoman Gonzalez, Councilmember Arango and Councilman Austin. Recommendation to request the city manager to provide a report on President Obama's My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge and Methods on how the City of Long Beach can support the initiative to improve conditions for boys and men of color in Long Beach. I thank you, Councilmember Richardson. Thank you. Many of you know that in February of last year, President Obama announced the My Brother's Keeper initiative to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color in our country, and to ensure that all young people can reach their full potential. This is an exciting program that brings attention to the population of youth who are oftentimes overlooked or don't have the equal opportunities or some of the same opportunities that others might. Most recently in September, President Obama issued the next step in the initiative and declared a community challenge, asking local communities to take action and become a part of My Brother's Keeper community by enacting sustainable change through policy programs and partnerships. The goals of those changes are to improve the life outcomes of all young people, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or the circumstances into which they're born. I feel that the Long City of Long Beach is well suited to meet this challenge. While we have areas of need in a large, diverse and complex population, we also have a history of working collaboratively to make positive changes that benefit our great city. We have a world class school system with Long Beach Unified, LBC, Cal State, Long Beach. We have a number of local, robust programs that center on improving outcomes for boys and young men of color like the NAACP XO program. The CC will be an elbow as the Urban Math Collaborative in Jordan High School and the Street Community Association. Our efforts for violence prevention, healthy Long Beach policy. We just we just passed tonight the great work that school board member Felton Williams is doing within school district. Most recently I had the opportunity to go to D.C. and hear President Obama speak on the My Brother's Keeper initiative, and I was deeply inspired by his words on the importance of this initiative. I want us to meet and exceed this challenge as a city and show that when we all work together collectively with a purpose to create better outcomes for our youth, we can be a model for other large urban cities throughout our country. There are a number of council members in. Our Mayor has also indicated they're willing to participate in this challenge. I hope that tonight we can talk about formally accepting it by investing our boys in young men of color. We're investing in our city's future. Our future prosperity depends on our young people having a fair chance to thrive and succeed. As outlined in the challenge, there are four key steps and accept a local community accepting the My Brother's Keeper. So that means one we are we formally accept the challenge to we begin to convene a local action summit. And three, we do some sort of a policy review and create recommendations. And then we put our plan in action. So that's that's my recommendation tonight. And I move the item. There's been a motion. And the second councilwoman Gonzalez. Just want to thank Councilmember Richardson for this. This is wonderful. I have a two young boys at. Home, another young boy on. The way. So it's you know, we. Often focus on young women and that's wonderful, but not a. Lot of focus on young men. And so. Knowing that as a mom and having that prevalent in our. City, I think this is so very important that we're mirroring something that the president has brought forth to us. And I think your leadership on this is really key. Thank you, Councilmember Richardson. Councilmember Andrews. Yes. Thank you. I mean, I also would like to. Thank you, Mayor. I also would like to thank, you know, Councilman Richardson for bringing this forward, because I think the initiative is great from President Obama because it does improve the future of Long Beach when we help our youth. I mean, we're investing in our future. And I think this is a wonderful, you know, item that you brought forth and congratulations. Councilmember Ringa. Thank you all. I, too, want to add my voice in thanking Councilmember Richardson for bringing this forward. We always hear to talk about how our young men are being misguided, misled and led astray by other sources around in the communities. And I think that getting this program together will be of great benefit to the city of Long Beach and to our community. I look forward to having those discussions in the future in terms of maybe a conference or a some kind of of a study session that might not not only be here in the council, but also on the committee, and to invite the community to participate and give them a broader perspective as to what we're trying to do with this with this initiative. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Austin. Thank you. And I, too, am very proud to sign on. And second, this this great agenda item. I want to congratulate and thank Councilmember Richardson for bringing it forward. Obviously, as a parent of two young boys and future young men of color, I am happy to accept this challenge. But I'd just like to say that, you know, I'm proud of the city of Long Beach, because I think we are we're cutting edge and and and moving in the right direction and have been moving in the right direction for some time. And so this challenge is going to be something that that I'm sure, like Councilmember Richardson said, that we will be able to exceed, meet and exceed in short order. Thank you. I also want to thank all the signers and Councilman Richardson for bringing this forward. And just as a small point of up here as well, we had a conversation with the White House possibly about two or three weeks ago about the My Brother's Keepers challenge. It's a great program, etc.. I think it's fantastic. The council is moving forward to support this really important program. The initiative has also asked mayors to sign on as a support and supportive of this important challenge from the President. And so I went ahead and signed about three weeks ago for myself, and I think that with the Council moving forward and putting this in place, I think it's a good opportunity for all of us to work together to address these incredibly important challenges. Oh. Any public comment? All right. My name is Howard Perry, along with 100 black men of Long Beach. And this is my associate, actual mentor and chairman, Lance Robert. As you guys know, the 100 black men is in relationship to the My Brother's Keepers. We've been doing that kind of work since 1963 in New York when we started. And as you know, we started here in Long Beach in 2008, and we have a mentoring program we started in 2008. We have it every Saturday at Cal State, Long Beach and every. Thursday of. The month. And we've been doing it since 2000 and we've never missed a Saturday. And we've had over a number of kids has gone on to graduate and go to college and they're doing real well. We got some exceptional stories that we can tell and so we want to be more involved in this process because we think we're touching the kids, the young men every day. So we kind of know the problems that they go through and and actually know how to help them through those issues. So we would like to be a part of the process. And I'm like a brother. Robert, speak a little. Bit more well-stated, Brother Perry and I'll just take the remaining minute and a few seconds here. But I am the chairman of the Mentoring Committee for the 100 Black Men of Long Beach and very proud of the work that we do and loving those young men and moving them to adulthood successfully from young men to adults, our boys, we tell them to manufacture strategies for success. We say boys make excuses for failure, but men manufacture strategies for success. So it's been our passion for the last six years. I'm even working on my dissertation and relevant to the work that we're doing with these young men, and we're making great strides in helping them to come up with a growth mindset with, with, with moral training that is beyond compare. These young men are doing it. And so I just wanted to say we're an exact match for what the President has called for. We've been we were on the front lines in the city of Long Beach doing this work in the community when our summer academies and we just want to be included in any conversation that goes on with the city council about boys of color in the community in the city of Long Beach. And that's why we're here this evening, that you would please include us in these types of conversations, because we're working hands on with them every day and we spend a lot of time. Everything is volunteer that we do. We don't charge for anything. We just give our service. We give our lives to the young people and we've been with them six years. We never charge for anything. So we're not here to sell anything. We're just here to uplift and and to support our young people. So thank you. Thank you. And thank you for for all the work you guys do. Any other public comment? Good evening. My name is Kim Evans and I am a resident of the city of Signal Hill, but I am a prior manager. Of Forest Lawn Memorial Parks and mortuaries here. In the city. And for the ten years that I served at the Vice President under my. Watch, we buried a multitude of young men of color. And I was so excited and thank you. Member Austin for the emails that I get on a continuous basis, letting me know what the topics that are going to be discussed here. Thank you. Member Richardson, for bringing this up. I was in D.C. two weeks ago sitting in the White. House discussing this. As a faith based member. So I want to thank you and I encourage all of you. To step forward. I looked at this one bullet point where it says that to evaluate. The ability for the city to. Accept the MBK community challenge. I don't know how we cannot not accept this challenge. We have a choice today, and I ask that you would please be favorable in making that choice. Thank you. Thank you. Any other public comment on the item? See? None. There's been a motion made on the floor in a second. So, members, all those in favor, please go and cast your vote. Motion carries a to. Thank you. Makes that in, please.