The My Brother’s Keeper program held its year-closing ceremony Thursday at Lockport High School. The celebration included award of certificates to MBK participants, especially three graduating seniors: Taj Young, Tristan Grimball and Elijah Burton.
Students from LHS West and Aaron Mossell Junior High School were also honored, along with MBK ambassadors and the MBK advisory committee.
Teria Young, Taj Young’s mother and a member of the committee, said that while the program was made for young men of color, that does not mean other students are disqualified from participating.
“The program pushes academic success,” Young said, adding that it instills perseverance to continue one’s education after high school, be it through college or vocational training.
Heather McClain, the school district’s diversity, equity and inclusivity director, introduced Alexandre Burgos, 26, of Buffalo’s West Side and Puerto Rican descent, as the keynote speaker.
Burgos started a non-profit organization, Upstate New York Black & Latino Pride, which focuses on the struggles of African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and the LGBTQ+ community. He also is a delegate for the Democratic Party and will attend the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
“As part of his career (Burgos) has worked to deliver resources for community programs. He has negotiated and achieved advances in (New York state) for causes including health care, affordable housing, public safety and racial justice,” McClain said.
Burgos told students that they should never give up on themselves and they should “defy” any statistic that lowers their own expectations. He said he was told by a teacher at McKinley High School that he would be lucky to get a job at a supermarket.
And look at him today.
“I always liked the analogy of the difference (between) a thermometer and a thermostat,” Burgos said. “A thermometer tells you the temperature and a thermostat regulates it. That analogy has been a guiding force in my life.”
District superintendent Mathis Calvin III said he was excited to celebrate the students who participated in the MBK program, especially the seniors.
“I think it’s a celebration for our staff and learning community. When any group of our students do very well, we all do well,” he said.
Taj Young said he intends to continue his education at SUNY Niagara and transfer to another school to become a doctor of psychology. Young also spoke in front of the assembly, as the student representative on the MBK advisory committee. He said speaking in public is difficult but it’s also “a blessing.”
“Everything is a blessing, even hard things. I realize now that you go through hard things in life, but it’s all part of the process. It’s a blessing in disguise,” Young said. “It was really hard to get up there, but I put my faith in God and he made my path straight.”