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The Urban Update (December 2020)
Many of Baton Rouge’s leading organizations have had to significantly adjust their operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During these times of disruption and uncertainty, your organizational leaders have found adaptive and innovative ways to serve you through…
Black Americans donate a higher share of their wealth than Whites
Despite lower net worth, they have a culture of charitable giving. They are philanthropists investing in their communities. By Michelle Singletary for the Washington Post Dear Reader, The Black church saved my life. In my tweens, I had to be home-schooled, because juvenile rheumatoid arthritis made it difficult for me to walk without crutches. Isolated from my …
LaunchBR and its Impact in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, La. (November 30, 2020) — LaunchBR is impacting small businesses through the creation of catalytic partnerships, engaging and mobilizing business owners and providing support to local companies. LaunchBR is a business development program that serves local companies, woman-owned, veteran owned, and minority owned businesses. They support businesses through coaching and training that is free or low-cost. …
Giving Tuesday: Contrary To Popular Belief, Black Folks Have Been Philanthropists ‘Since The Beginning Of Time’
On this Giving Tuesday, take some time to reflect on the financial contributions from African Americans that have been consistent and dependable for many generations. By NewsOne Staff African Americans — despite finding themselves at the bottom rung of the nation’s economic ladder — are collectively among the top ranks of financial contributors to charitable …
Raymond Jetson Urges Black Elders To Mentor
By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Raymond Jetson’s passion, which led him to be a 2020 Influencer in Aging, is motivating older Black men to mentor Black youth and young adults. The pandemic’s brutal impacts on the African American community have only intensified Jetson’s efforts. “It exacerbated the inequities that we reflect on periodically every time there’s a …
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Baton Rouge receives $5 million award to fund Plank Road Masterplan
Source: WBRZ By: WBRZ Staff BATON ROUGE – Build Baton Rouge, the redevelopment authority of East Baton Rouge Parish, will be using funds from a $5 million award to fund the Plank Road Masterplan’s initiative to eliminate blight, grow small businesses, and preserve housing affordability in North Baton Rouge. The capital city earned the money after winning …
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Baton Rouge Native Wins Gen2Gen Innovation Fellowship
Published in SwagHer Magazine Encore.org today announced that Sherreta Harrison of MetroMorphosis, a Baton Rouge nonprofit, has been selected as one of 15 Gen2Gen Innovation Fellows, a group of the nation’s most talented innovators and entrepreneurs marshaling their best ideas to create and scale intergenerational solutions. Harrison was selected from a field of more than 160 …
Social Innovator in Baton Rouge Wins Presitious Gen2Gen Innovation Fellowship
Sherreta Harrison of MetroMorphosis selected for inaugural fellowship dedicated to groundbreaking intergenerational solutions Baton Rouge, September 23rd — Encore.org today announced that Sherreta Harriison of MetroMorphosis, a Baton Rouge nonprofit, has been selected as one of 15 Gen2GenInnovationFellows, a group of the nation’s most talented innovators and entrepreneurs marshaling their best ideas to create and …
Social Innovator in Baton Rouge Wins Prestigious Gen2Gen Innovation Fellowship
For Release September 23, 2020 Sherreta Harrison of MetroMorphosis selected for inaugural fellowship dedicated to groundbreaking intergenerational solutions Baton Rouge, September 23rd — Encore.org today announced that Sherreta Harrison of MetroMorphosis, a Baton Rouge nonprofit, has been selected as one of 15 Gen2Gen Innovation Fellows, a group of the nation’s most talented innovators and entrepreneurs …
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We’ve Seen Enough!
It has been little over a month since our country was made aware of the fatal 8 minutes and 46 seconds in which Minneapolis police officers stood guard as one of their own weaponized his knee to not only strip George Floyd of his liberty, but also of his life. And though protests have seemed …
Leading Movements
Written by: Sherreta R. Harrison In any moment of societal upheaval, there emerges a unique and necessary role: the activist. An activist is one who is usually aware of causes and challenges before the rest of the world and tries tirelessly to get the rest of us on board. As a result, he or she …
Raymond Jetson: Change is coming, driven by our young activists
By Raymond Jetson for The Advocate Eight minutes and 46 seconds. Rarely has so much transpired in so little time. None of the actors in this tragedy could begin to comprehend the impact of the moment. Not the police officer pressing his knee into something that could not have been human to him. Not the black …
The Urban Update (June 2020)
Many of Baton Rouge’s leading organizations have had to significantly adjust theiroperations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During these times of disruption anduncertainty, your organizational leaders have found adaptive and innovative ways toserve you through coordinating efforts. Read on to find out how BREC, EBRCOA, BuildBaton Rouge and others have responded to our city’s latest …
Philan’ Yourself
Written by: Lauren Crump Sometimes, philanthropy gets in its own way. Etymologically, it’s “the love of humanity”. In practice, it’s a financial contribution. But in many circles, it’s considered an opportunity and distinction reserved for the wealthy. What’s wrong with that? Philanthropy doesn’t suggest a certain amount. It is simply a contribution to long-term strategy …
Navigating Education through A New Pandemic
Written by: Moon Muhammad On March 13th, in the midst of an unrelenting course collaboration, we got word that the governor had announced school closures. To be fair, only a handful of first – year teachers had gotten the word at my school and had naturally taken to the halls to showcase their exuberant happiness …
What You Should Know About Systems Change
Written by: Luke St. John McKnight During times of uncertainty and unrest there is often much discussion around the need for systems change, the societal software update. Systems change by its nature is a complex and ever evolving field, but the literature of adaptive leadership offers several tenants to think through and work from when …
Leading Change in an Ever- Changing Environment
Written by: Johnathan S. Hill Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic, recent tragedies involving African-Americans and law enforcement and the word-wide response to both of these events has presented individuals, organizations, institutions, businesses, schools, and churches with an opportunity to explore and approach leadership in news ways. Over the past few months, leaders have found themselves attempting …
Racialized Rationales Summary Report
On April 23rd MetroMorphosis hosted a virtual community forum focused on examining the disparate impact COVID-19 has had on the African-American community and the consequences of that reality. The forum was attended by over 70 members of the community and a panel of influential thinkers from across Louisiana and the south. This report offers a …
The State of Black Boys and Men of Louisiana Report (2010)
This report substantiates and quantifies the extensive and shocking social status of too many of Louisiana‟s Black boys and men in the 21st century. What a full examination has shown is an overwhelming disparity and alarming rates in violence, homicide, incarceration, unemployment, and education level of many Black families… Read More
The Urban Update (April 2020)
Many of the city’s leading organizations have had to significantly adjust theiroperations due to COVID19. While many continue to work to find new andinnovative ways to serve you, the response won’t be “a straight line”. Read on tofind out how BREC, CATS, EBR Housing Authority and others have responded toour city’s latest crisis.
Cox Communications, ExxonMobil join forces to provide $30,000 for student technology
By WBRZ Staff BATON ROUGE- Cox Communications and ExxonMobil Baton Rouge are joining forces with several non-profit organizations to provide technology to support students learning from home in East Baton Rouge Parish. The companies announced Tuesday that they are providing $15,000, for a total of $30,000, in grant funding to The Walls Project, which collaborated …
Gov. Edwards announces funds for the Health Equity Task Force
April 10, 2020 at 4:30 PM CDT – Updated April 24 at 6:39 PM BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Governor John Bel Edwards announced the creation of the Health Equity Task Force Friday, April 10 during his daily COVID-19 media briefing. The task force will look at how health inequities are affecting communities that are …
Guest column: In times of certainty, rely on all your communities
by Raymond A. Jetson for The Advocate On Sunday Dec. 31, 2017, I stood before the people of the Star Hill Church and delivered my final sermon as their pastor. For 23 years of Sundays and Wednesdays, we had assumed our respective positions in a mutual search for meaning, purpose and wisdom. A dear friend …
Raymond Jetson: “It’s the Damn Inequities!”
This week two opinion pieces stirred emotions and thoughts deep within me. To my knowledge, Charles Blow and Ashley K. Shelton do not know each other even though they are from the same part of the world. Yet, they both wrestled with the prickly notion of the impact of preexisting inequities on the programmatic, policy, …
The Search for the Next Superintendent: An Open Letter
Of the 23 applicants for the Superintendent position that is currently open in East Baton Rouge Parish School System (EBRPSS), a number of them are highly qualified with decades of experience in education. A Texas consulting firm recommended 14 of them to continue in the hunt. At last week’s meeting, the School Board selected 5 …
The Last 100 Hours
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A working committee of the grassroots organization Urban Congress on African American Males in Baton Rouge volunteered to provide an independent review of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections (DoC) pilot 100-hr Pre-Release Program (a reentry preparation curriculum) by conducting a two-phase interview process with representatives of both inmate and staff …
A Community Response to Disrupting Violence
There has been much discussion in recent weeks around the subject of violence in the Baton Rouge community. Elected officials, law enforcement leaders, clergy, community activists, and community members from all walks of life have offered their thoughts on this important matter. Many have passionately called for action to address the seemingly non-stop cycle of …
OPINION: A Call to Older Black Men: It’s Time to Fight for Youth
By Raymond A. Jetson for Next Avenue Just a few weeks ago, 24 African-American teenage boys from a local high school in my Baton Rouge, La. community were recommended for suspension. Their crime: participating in a “fight club.” They were not involved in street fights, nor was there any intent to harm anyone. They were simply …
