Jordan Coleman is a 15-year-old high school student, filmmaker, actor, athlete, and big brother.)
Recently, I was on an Open Society Foundations Campaign for Black Male Achievement panel with superstars Nick Cannon, Russell Simmons, and Lupe Fiasco. At the town hall meeting, I was definitely a little nervous. After all, I was the only kid on stage with the entertainment superstars, but I thought it was important for the hundreds of young black males in the audience to see me up there, because I am one of them.
I am proud to be a black male. I understand there will be obstacles in my life because of this, but I will not allow my skin color or negative images of black males to stop me from reaching my goals and neither should other young, black males.
It didn’t stop President Barack Obama, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., BET-TV Founder Bob Johnson, Tyler Perry, Spike Lee, Russell, Nick, Lupe, Jay-Z, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, or Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Dr. Ben Carson from being successful.
It didn’t stop my dad, New York State Senator Eric Adams, or my grandfather, Retired Lt. of Detectives for the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Wilbert Coleman. And it definitely did not stop my great-grandfather, John Major Miller, who was born in 1916 and dropped out of school in the second grade to help support his family. He hopped a train from Florida to New York City to become the owner of a New York City Taxi medallion.
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