5000 Role Models of Excellence

Recently, I was inducted into the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project as a Mentor.

Founded by then Miami-Dade County School Board Member, Dr. Frederica S. Wilson, now member of the Florida Senate District-33, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project was initiated by the Miami-Dade County School Board in March 1993, due to the realization that there is an ongoing crisis in the lives of many young males. The project’s mission is to intervene in the lives of at-risk boys, in order to provide them with alternatives that will lead them away from a life of crime and violence. 

In these times, many men are banished from the American economy and faced with choosing the drug market for survival (Essence, 1994), which increases violence in schools and society in general. A large part of this escalation is because parents are not taking responsibility for their children’s actions and because positive male role models are absent. We agree, society should insist that parents be held accountable for their children’s actions and education. But who will assume responsibility for the “at-risk” youngsters, who have no parents or positive role models in their lives? 

The 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project is dedicated to providing the support necessary to reclaim our youth. Adult male Role Models are trained to salvage the “at-risk” boys, who maybe be considered as candidates for society’s endangered species list.

According to statistics, the minority male child is an endangered species. Therefore, it is imperative that we counter this threatened extinction with programs of prevention, development, and acceleration. We must be pro-active and vigilant b/c we are running out of time. 

As a mentor, my goal is to instill, in the youth of Miami-Dade County, the values of mainstream America, while respecting the existing values of the individual. The 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project focuses on three general assumptions:

1. There are positive and successful men in our community to emulate; 
2. There are positive alternatives to self-destructive behaviors and societal pitfalls; and, 
3. Everyone must assume responsibility for preparing our children to effectively deal with the challenges and struggles that now confront today’s youth.

To paraphrase an African proverb, “It takes an entire village to ‘educate’ one child,” this is our motto and creed. We believe, the entire community must be involved in the process of changing the direction of our youth.