Hundreds of parents, advocates, and community leaders will gather to launch the Raising Him Alone (RHA) Campaign. The Campaign Kickoffs will be held on Saturday, March 14, 2009 in Newark, NJ at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.) and Saturday, April 18, 2009 at Coppin State University- Tawes Center (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).

The Baltimore Campaign Kickoff is in partnership with Heal a Woman to Heal a Nation, Inc. -- a community based organization that promotes holistic wellness for women and families through education, physical and mental health, economic and self empowerment. The Kickoff will involve an exciting full-day conference for women. It will feature workshops, a resource fair and an intimate panel discussion featuring several celebrity mothers who have raised boys to become men. The mothers include the following: Dr. Mahalia Hines (mother of rapper Common), Dr. Brenda Greene (mother of rapper and activist Talib Kweli) and Sheron Smith (mother of Grammy nominated actor and rapper Mos Def). Other featured speakers include: Meshelle, Cassandra Mack, Richard Rowe, Adeyemi Bandale, Kenneth Braswell, and Joel Austin. The Kickoff's workshops are dedicated to empowering African American single mothers raising boys, as well as to provide opportunities for these mothers to build relationships and continue to participate in on-going activities within the local community.

The Raising Him Alone Campaign is a two-city initiative designed to provide greater advocacy and support for single mothers raising boys. The Campaign seeks to address several alarming statistics that impact African American children as a whole, but more disproportionately affect African American males. These statistics include:

• A Black boy has a 1 in 3 chance of going to prison in his lifetime compared to 1 in 17 for his white male counterpart.
• Homicides among African American males ages 15-19 years of age represent one of the leading causes of death.
• 59% of Black males in their early 30s who dropped out of school had prison records
• Black males represent 8.7% of the population but represent 41% of special education placements.

The Kickoffs and follow-up empowerment activities seek to increase awareness around the need to connect single mothers to greater access to services (mental health, financial literacy, strategies for parenting a male child and strategies to support school achievement of male children). The Kickoffs are designed to begin structured conversations and activities with single mothers focused on strengthening families. Following the Kickoffs, the Raising Him Alone Campaign will continue to feature thought-provoking workshops--a series of community forums addressing a variety of diverse topics (legal resources, financial literacy, mental health support, health & nutrition & educational advocacy).

According to David Miller & Matt Stevens, The Campaign founders, "It will be impossible to change many of the negative issues which impact African American males without greater support for single mothers. Specifically, considering that an alarming number of African American males are being raised solely by their mothers. This trend of single mothers raising boys without any emotional, physical, spiritual and monetary support is crippling many communities."

Darlene Walker, Editor of Youthful Inspiration and a single mother raising a boy comments, "My biggest challenge in raising my son has been recognizing that there are some things about being a man that I can't teach him. Learning to accept the value that other parent's role holds in raising my son regardless of my relationship with him."

Darlene Walker, Editor of Youthful Inspiration and a single mother raising a boy comments, "My biggest challenge in raising my son has been recognizing that there are some things about being a man that I can't teach him. I am learning to accept the value that the other parent's role has in raising my son, regardless of my relationship with him." Ms. Walker's comments echo the need to create greater advocacy and connections to community based resources for mothers and sons. As part of its initiative, The Campaign will convene experts to highlight the following:

1. Best practices for raising a male child in a tough city
2. Access to community based resources to support the family (health & wellness, mental health, financial literacy and educational advocacy).
3. Public support and awareness for single mothers raising boys
4. Reconnecting fathers

Read Raising Him Alone Press Release. Raising Him Alone will also spotlight mothers from the Baltimore-Metropolitan area and the greater Newark Community to acknowledge their work to raise healthy sons.

Please note Kickoff times & location Raising Him Alone Kickoff 2009.