A Statement from The Brotherhood/Sister Sol
Protests have spread across this nation since the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. Youth and staff of Bro/Sis have joined these protests and expressed our fury at yet another name being added to the long list of Black people killed by the police. Each an individual. Each beloved and mourned. Yet common circumstances of unnerving vicious repetition. The country is exploding with protests as every city has a similar list of Black and brown people killed by the police. Killed for being in our homes, for walking down the street, for riding in cars, for jogging, for being a child and playing in a playground, for sleeping in our beds.
Bro/Sis is a social justice youth development organization and for 25 years our staff and youth have protested such killings by the police here in NYC and organized for change.
Bro/Sis has been centrally involved in the organizing movement to challenge and change the NYPD’s unconstitutional and widespread discriminatory use of “stop and frisk;” to end the discredited and racist policing practice known as “broken windows policing” that has resulted in so many deaths across the nation and filled jails and prisons; to change racially disparate enforcement of marijuana laws; to close the stain on our city that is Rikers Island; to demand an office of independent investigations and prosecutions of police violence and killings; and to remove the NYPD from our public schools.
We have constantly called attention to the profoundly unequal justice system in our nation. This system and the type of policing that feeds it are reflections of the larger society. Racism was central to the founding of this nation and continues to be deep seeded in all aspects of society – it is in the very air around us. We will continue, unfailingly, to do this work to counter systemic racism and to organize for a just and equitable America. It is the very reason Bro/Sis was founded – to support youth in comprehensive ways in response to the comprehensive inequities they face – and to help them to learn to change these conditions. We are tired – but we will keep moving. We will only be successful if people of good faith of all backgrounds and ethnicities, all who believe in justice and equity, join us and commit to this struggle.
Khary Lazarre-White
Executive Director & Co-Founder
The Brotherhood/Sister Sol
Educational Programming, Training, Organizing for Social Change
Mission Statement
Founded in 1995, The Brotherhood/Sister Sol (Bro/Sis) provides comprehensive, holistic and long-term support services to youth who range in age from eight to twenty-two. Bro/Sis offers wrap around evidence-based programming.
The organization focuses on issues such as leadership development and educational achievement, sexual responsibility, sexism and misogyny, political education and social justice, Pan-African and Latinx history, and global awareness. Bro/Sis provides four-six year rites of passage programming, thorough five day a week after school care, school and home counseling, summer camps, job training and employment, college preparation, community organizing training, and international study programs to Africa, the Caribbean and South America.
Bro/Sis is unique in that we are locally based, yet with a national reach as we are: an evidence-based program that serves young people from economically poor communities and are seen as a model for the nation; we organize and advocate for social change; and we publish curricula and educate and train educators across the nation on our model.
Our Theory of Change is to provide multi-layered support, guidance, education and love to our membership, to teach them to have self-discipline and form order in their lives, and then to offer opportunities and access so that they may develop agency.
We rely heavily on the generosity of individuals and organizations to sustain our innovative programming.
Programs
Rites of Passage
The Brotherhood/Sister Sol’s Rites of Passage (ROP) Program is the foundation of the organization.
After School
Our After School Program provides an entry point for youth into our organization.
Summer Leadership
The Summer Leadership Program (SLP) provides an enriching environment when school is out.
College Advisory
College Advisory Program (or CAP) is our most formal approach to college preparation.
Capital Campaign
The Brotherhood/Sister Sol (Bro/Sis) is proud to announce that on October 12th, 2018 we broke ground on our new home. This 20,000 square foot capital project provides critical support to one of the leading citywide youth development organizations in New York City. This development allows for the creation of the necessary physical site for an organization that is being modeled across the country.
Completion is scheduled for the spring of 2021.
We have secured $18,300,000 in funding for this two-year $18,800,000 development and construction effort.
We need your help today to reach our goal of $18,800,000
The architectural firm of Urban Architectural Initiatives, designed the building and Gilbane Building Company, one of the largest privately held and family-owned construction companies in the field, is managing the project. Our government relations firm, one that has been critical to the success of this project, is Kasirer Consulting. The Board of Directors of Bro/Sis is deeply committed to this expansion and their advice and leadership has been critical to the success of the effort.
Upcoming Event
Education, Covid, Race and America
Monday, October 26th, 2020 – 6pm
* Facebook account not required to watch
With Pedro Noguera, Dean, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California; Ana Oliveira, President & CEO, The NY Women’s Foundation; and Bro/Sis Executive Director, Khary Lazarre-White.