ABSTRACT
There is a crisis taking place in the Black community and few seem to care. We ask, “where have all of the positive Black ‘real’ models gone?” We chose the adjective real rather than role intentionally as role models do not seem to be working by our assessment. Recently, we each asked colleagues to name five Black men. We were not surprised by the predictable responses received. One individual gave the following names: “Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Hill, and [the first author].” Another colleague had the following list: “father, grandfather, two friends, and MLK Jr.” It is our contention that the latter list provides a closer approximation of what is necessary, though still not entirely sufficient for Black youth to thrive in a world that is not always affirming of Black people. The former list could be used to supplant lessons learned from people present in our lives, but is not as helpful as the latter as those individuals have the opportunity to provide feedback to the person. And it should be noted that the first list contains Kevin Hill-who is a fictional character on television. We need real Black men modeling behavior that is exemplary and facilitative of healthy development.
