DAPCEP is partnering with Brand Camp University and UAW-GM to host a special pre-screening of part four of CNN's Black in America series!
***PLEASE NOTE: seating is limited, so please contact Samantha Harris (313-831-3050 or
info@dapcep.org) to have your name put on a waiting list. We will notify you one week ahead of the event if seats will be available for your party.***
The CNN Black in America documentary series premiered in July 2008 to millions of viewers across America and presented a profound portrait of the challenges faced by the Black community. Since 2008, the series has been the inspiration for numerous community, business and social forums; expanding the discussion of what it means to be Black in America and synonymously what it means to effect positive change in America.
To DAPCEP, it means shrinking the educational achievement gap: more than 30 percent of white, non-Hispanic American adults have at least four years of college, but only 18 percent of African Americans and 12 percent of Hispanics have reached the same level of attainment. DAPCEP addresses this issue by engaging underrepresented students from metropolitan Detroit in intensive out-of-school time programming in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Since 1976, DAPCEP has impacted the lives of over 150,000 youth.
“As we work to fulfill our mission of increasing the number of historically underrepresented students who are motivated and academically prepared to pursue degrees in STEM, it is imperative that we expose our students to entrepreneurship. The documentary Black in America 4 is a great illustration of Tech Entrepreneurship; our students need to see this and learn from those profiled,” says Jason D. Lee, DAPCEP Executive Director.
One of eight tech entrepreneurs who is profiled in Black in America 4 is Hajj Flemings, founder of Brand Camp University and author of The Brand YU Life: Re-thinking Who You Are Through Personal Brand Management. Brand Camp University is the largest personal branding conference in the Midwest and aims to enhance the relationship between people and their ideas through personal branding, technology and entrepreneurship.
Mr. Flemings will participate in a panel discussion after the pre-screening event, at which time DAPCEP students and guests will be invited to ask questions and engage in dialogue about the film. This unique opportunity will strengthen student motivation and reinforce positive perspectives regarding the relationship among educational attainment, professional achievement, and personal identity.
The UAW-GM is proudly hosting the pre-screening and panel event at its Center for Human Resources. Providing lifelong learning opportunities for General Motors employees is the core mission of UAW-GM’s training center. This mission, coupled with the intrinsic ties to STEM professions and metropolitan Detroit, defines UAW-GM as the ideal host for this inspiring event.
There is room for 360 guests at this special event, so please contact DAPCEP as soon as possible to be put on a waiting list. Students in DAPCEP's specialty programs: Promoting Underrepresented Girls Involvement in Research, Science and Energy (PURSE) and Renewable Energy Advancement for Detroit Youth (READY), are encouraged to attend.
PURSE is a project supported by the National Science Foundation, and engages metropolitan Detroit high school girls, in grades 9-11, in project based out-of-school time science and engineering activities that teach concepts related to the production and storage of energy, and to identification and integration of renewable energy and energy efficiency systems. In addition to technical concept mastery, students participate in leadership development programming to strengthen their future roles as leaders in the scientific, engineering and entrepreneurial enterprises. The READY project is based on the PURSE model, but is for African American boys. It is supported by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Skillman Foundation.
The partnership among DAPCEP, Brand Camp University and UAW-GM to bring CNN’s Black in America 4 to metropolitan Detroit youth and residents is representative of the positive impact this series has and will continue to have on our communities.
