The BMDS 2012 Planning Committee invites you to join us on Saturday, May 12, 2012 at Arcadia University, 450 S. Easton Road, Glenside, PA from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for a life-changing experience – The 2012 Black Male Development Symposium (BMDS). The BMDS will present workshops in distinct Pathways presented by individuals or groups selected through a competitive national call for papers process.

The Mission of the Black Male Development Symposium (BMDS) is to provide a forum that will present practical strategies, techniques and solutions through the presentation of interactive workshops, presenters, best practices and resources that will assist attendees in developing realistic models and concrete recommendations they can put into practice in their respective communities. The BMDS serves as a place for finding practical models of solution and not just a forum for pontification or “drive-by conversation.” The symposium becomes a place for transformative action and communication where men and women alike can share intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and cultural opportunities for growth and development that will improve the quality of life for African American males, their families and their communities.

A Middle School Institute (MSI) is offered with workshops that more closely meet the needs of 6th through 8th grade students. These workshops are designed to offer best practices, programming and strategies that are psychologically and cognitively appropriate for middle school students. Experienced facilitators provide workshops that are informative and engaging for students, parents, teachers and practitioners. The 2012 Symposium will also be offering a Parent Institute designed to assist parents and caregivers in learning new ways to help engage their children in homework completion, staying safe on the internet, positive ways to improve behavior, and preparing for the next level of school.

This year’s symposium theme “Reclaiming Our S.W.A.G. (Soulful Wisdom and Genius) – A Life Guide Symposium for African- American Males” will address how Black males present themselves to the world and how they can best handle situations with intelligence, style, calm and grace. Young Black males in society are regularly portrayed in a negative way. In an effort to dispel negative stereotypes, BMDS seeks to provide techniques and strategies that will help our Black men and boys acquire the skills and knowledge to help them get ahead and claim their “swag.”

WHAT: A discussion of “Disintegration” by Eugene Robinson

WHEN: Saturday, March 26, 2011, 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: The Arts Condominium community room, 1324 Locust Street, Philadelphia

The days when a single “black leader” could speak for “black America” are long gone, if indeed they ever existed, says Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson in his new book “Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America.”

Our March book discussion will focus on Robinson’s new book, in which he describes four distinct black Americas: the middle-class Mainstream, which has an ownership stake in American society; the Abandoned, the poor minority whose chances of escaping poverty and dysfunction are worse than at any time since Reconstruction’s end; the Transcendent, the small elite whose wealth, power and influence is so great that even white people must bow before them; and two types of Emergent groups – the multiracial children of integration and recent black immigrants from abroad, both of whom challenge our very notions of what it means to be black in America.

The discussion will be facilitated by Leo Jones, J.D., a lawyer-turned-educator living in Greenbelt, Md. An avid reader, Jones has led numerous book discussions and founded a literary fiction book group in Baltimore in 2005. An expert on school reform, Jones currently serves as Turnaround Director at the William C. March Middle School in Baltimore, where he provides daily on-site technical assistance and support to teachers and administrators.