Young black males say they're energized by Obama's example

KALAMAZOO -- Keith Berry is in the midst of pulling his life together, and he gives some of the credit to President Barack Obama.

As a 19-year-old African-American, Berry said, he identifies with Obama's adolescence and sees him as a model on how to reform.


"He went through a lot of struggles when he was younger -- hanging out with the wrong crowd, smoking things he shouldn't been smoking," Berry said. "I have a lot of struggles in my life, too. But he turned his life around by putting his head into books, just like I want to do. ... It's, like, stop trying to be a thug, making bad choices."

After some troubles with school and the law, Berry is now finishing his high school studies at Kalamazoo's Phoenix High School and also is taking classes at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

Berry's story is not that unusual, local black leaders say. In the same way that rap stars and NBA stars have reshaped American culture, so Obama's status as a cultural icon seems to be redefining the way teenagers in general and black teens in particular see the world -- and themselves.

It is a phenomenon that is both powerful and gratifying, black leaders say.

"I see kids walking down the street wearing Barack shirts and hats," said Tim Terrentine, executive director of the Douglass Community Center. "They see him as cool, a guy with style. He listens to the same music as they do -- you've got a president of the United States with Jay-Z on his iPod."

"When he speaks to us, we feel like we know him," says Tony Redden, 18, a senior at Phoenix.

Yet along with cool and charisma, Obama represents a host of positive images for young, black Americans: his success through education; his commitment to his wife and family; his message about the importance of hard work, self-discipline and making one's own luck.

What's moere, Terrentine and others say, the rallying of white Americans around Obama makes black teens feel less marginalized in a nation where negative racial stereotypes still abound.

"He sends the message that leadership is not about birthright or skin color," Terrentine says. "Kids know Barack was elected by America -- not just black America, but all of America. So while it's a reality that (if you're black) things are definitely stacked against you, it doesn't have to stop you."

Mark Hill, principal of Phoenix, an alternative high school where black males make up a disproportionate part of the student body, says that Obama's name comes up constantly among his students and that "without a doubt" they see him as a role model.

Suddenly, Hill said, teens who long dismissed the value of school are reconsidering.
Hill said one of his teachers recently described how her students got engrossed in a class discussion about how they could improve their reading skills. "The teacher said she'd never seen this before, the kids initiating a discussion like that," he said.

"If we don't capitalize on this as adults, shame on us," Hill said.