Home
> Local Red Tail Pilot to address Black Male Leadership Development Saturday Institute
Local Red Tail Pilot to address Black Male Leadership Development Saturday Institute
Year-long program grooms emerging teenage African American males
Pittsburgh, Pa. – Black Male Leadership Development Institute (BMLDI) will hold its monthly Saturday Institute, on Saturday, January 28, 2011. The institute brings African American boys, in grades 9 through 12, together to participate in a year-long program designed to increase educational and leadership opportunities, expose them to challenging curriculum and a rich set of activities that enhance their self-awareness and world view. This institute will include a special address by renowned Civil Rights Attorney Wendell G. Freeland who was a Tuskegee Airman for the Army Air Corps during World War II and flew as a bombardier with the 477th Bombardment Group. Immediately after Freeland’s address the young men will view the movie, Red Tails.
Red Tails is a high-flying action epic feature film inspired by the heroics of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-African American aerial combat unit to serve in the armed forces. This extraordinary opportunity was made possible by a special co-sponsorship by Rho Boulé Pittsburgh chapter of the Sigma Pi Phi fraternity and the Pittsburgh Chapter of The Links.
BMLDI, which is co-sponsored by Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh and Robert Morris University (RMU), is in its 6th year and this is the second year for year-round activities. The institute began with a week-long summer residential program on the RMU campus. Staffed by a faculty consisting of mostly African American leaders from the region and beyond whose diverse backgrounds span the range from the pulpit to the boardroom, these sessions are designed to inspire and motivate the participants as well as to provide a venue for adult men role models to share their stories.
The week-long program is followed by The BMLDI Saturday Institute which is an ongoing year round series of activities and workshops on leadership development, community service, advocacy, college and career preparation, networking, presentation skills, character education and more. The institute engages participants in ongoing programming throughout the school year with the help from the Heinz Endowments and Buhl Foundation.
Black Male Leadership Development Institute is a non-profit program that operates entirely on grants and donations. For more information on the program or how to donate, contact: Sabrina Saunders, Director of Education and Youth Development at 412-227-4215.
