Real Men Real Heroes

Real Men, Real Heroes, Inc. traces its beginnings to late 2006 when a Wichita philanthropist committed to improving the lives of children sought to do something to help African American boys, the demographic segment of children at great risk. Philanthropist Barry Downing challenged his childern's projects manager Polly Basore to come up with an ide... a. Basore held numerous conversations with members of the local black community, local educators and leaders of nonprofit mentoring organizations. A constant theme emerged identifying a need for positive role models -- something to counteract the damaging effects of boys growing up in fatherless homes, exposed chiefly to media images that seemed to portray black men as either criminals or successful only in the fields of pro sports or rap music. In Wichita, as elsewhere in the nation, nearly half of all black children live without fathers at home - twice the rate of any other ethnic group in the United States. Census data shows that children in mother-only families, regardless of race, are more likely to live in poverty, be arrested as juveniles or have children in their teenage years, factors that all contribute to a lifetime of difficulty. If black boys were suffering from exposure to images of negative and/or unrealistic role models, then why not show them the opposite? From this was born the concept introducing local black youth to real men in their community who were everyday heroes. In March 2007, Basore invited two dozen members of the community to form an advisory committee to shape what became The Real Men, Real Heroes Project. Initiatially nominations were sought from the public to identify men who qualified as exemplary role models. Nominations were then reviewed by the advisory committee and subjected to formal background checks. A group of 32 men were then invited to join the project, taking on the role of being identified as a Hero in promotions aimed at generating excitement among youth. In October 2007, the Heroes were featured on billboards, bus ...Read More