President Obama to Visit Lehman College

It has been almost 14 years since a siting US President visited the Bronx, the last being President George W. Bush when he threw the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium during the 2001 World Series. Today, the circumstances are different. The nation has been reeling from the tragedies between law enforcement and unarmed minorities. In the wake of the Mike Brown shooting in Ferguson Missouri, President Obama introduced the "My Brother's Keeper" initiative challenging communities with 6 goals:

• Ensuring all children enter school cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally ready
• Ensuring all children read at grade level by 3rd grade
• Ensuring all youth graduate from high school
• Ensuring all youth complete post-secondary education or training
• Ensuring all youth out of school are employed
• Ensuring all youth remain safe from violent crime

Today, he will introduce an offshoot called "My Brother's Keeper Alliance" a non-profit intended to provide opportunities for black and Latino males at Lehman College. The non-profit will provide monies to programs that support these kids from early childhood to after high school. 

We're excited for the initiative and also excited that we will have a siting president coming to our borough not in a time when our borough is down and out or when as New Yorkers we experience the worse attack since Pearl Harbor, but when we're on the rebound. Obama will not be standing in rubble like Jimmy Carter, but instead Obama will be standing in a great public institution that provides a multitude of opportunities to us all. 

The event will be lived streamed on Lehman's Website at  2:30PM.