Latest news with #BecomingAMan
Wall Street Journal
30-05-2025
- Health
- Wall Street Journal
‘The Family Dynamic' Review: Sibling Opportunities
President Obama didn't want to go. He was returning home to Chicago in 2012 to deliver a speech at Hyde Park High School, and his schedule was already jammed. I was Chicago's mayor at the time, and leaned into my reputation for being lousy at taking 'no' for an answer. 'Mr. President,' I said, 'I served for a long time as your chief of staff, and I'm allowed one ask—this is it.' Begrudgingly he agreed to participate in 'Becoming a Man,' a program to connect at-risk youth with male mentors, five days a week, for three hours each day during the school year. He was taken in. The program partly inspired his second-term initiative 'My Brother's Keeper.' 'Becoming a Man' came frequently to mind as I was reading Susan Dominus's 'The Family Dynamic.' Ms. Dominus, a writer for the New York Times Magazine, begins with a provocative premise. For all the attention society invests in understanding the role parents play in shaping their child's life, we pay comparatively little attention to the effect of the household as a whole—specifically whether a child with siblings is the firstborn, the youngest or falls somewhere in the middle. Ms. Dominus presents us with a series of family stories (with a passing reference to mine) and explains what the latest research tells us about how human character is shaped by a person's unique family structure. Much of Ms. Dominus's account confirms truths that ordinary people know instinctively: that children are shaped by the place they occupy in their extended family, that it matters if children are encouraged to try new things and admonished when they fail, that children flourish when they feel secure at home and wither when they don't. And yes, much is determined by birth order. I once complained to my mother that she loved my older brother, Ezekiel, more than me, to which she replied, in what I wasn't sure was a joke, 'No, I hate you all equally.' What's remarkable is that, in the political circles in which I run—that is, among Democrats—you can't discuss these topics openly and honestly. When, as mayor, I delivered a public-safety speech that touched on fatherhood and male role models, the activist community denounced me. Many on the left also criticized President Obama when he focused on the scourge of paternal absence. Ever since the furious reaction to the Moynihan Report 60 years ago—in which Daniel Patrick Moynihan, then serving in the Johnson administration, concluded that black poverty was largely a result of family breakdown—many on the progressive left have tried to steer all conversation about disparate outcomes to questions of economic inequality and institutional racism. These realities play a critical role, for sure. But the family, as Ms. Dominus demonstrates, is the fundamental factor.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Social services organization Youth Guidance, headquartered in Chicago, holding fundraising gala this week
Since 1924, the social services organization Youth Guidance, as its mission statement says, has created and implemented school-based programs that enable children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education and ultimately to succeed in school and in life. Youth Guidance is located around the nation, but its central office is in Chicago. Weekend Break: Alma Padel in Glenview The Bright Futures Gala, Youth Guidance's premier annual fundraising event to support programs like Becoming A Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW), is this Thursday, May 29, at the Hilton Chicago on Michigan Avenue. Skaykira Richards, WOW Director of Program Administration, and Lissette Guzman, WOW Senior Counselor, joined Jewell Hillery — who happens to be emceeing the Bright Futures Gala — on Sunday's WGN Weekend Morning News to talk about Youth Guidance and the gala this week. Sunday Brunch: Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! and Lil' Ba-Ba-Reeba! serve authentic Spanish cuisine in Chicago See the attached video player for the interview, and visit for more information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
