Update | Our boys need positive role models – Nomdarkham
Published:Friday | November 19, 2021 | 12:06 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
THE BLACK Kings Rising (BKR) movement launches its 'Featured Faces' social-media project today in an effort to inspire at-risk young men who have been ostracised.
Jump-starting the initiative on International Men's Day, Joel Nomdarkham, a digital marketer and social media expert, along with his team of fellow creatives, will be showcasing video content and images on eight men from all walks of life. The discussion will centre on topical issues such as family values, men's mental health, and education.
Nomdarkham told The Gleaner on Thursday that the BKR community of 27 members initially started in 2020 through a tweet soliciting support in mentoring young men.
The initiative emerged amid the Black Rights Matter movement that generated global support after a racially motivated killing of George Floyd by US police officers.
“Of course, it happened in America, but any black person would have known what those effects are and what it does to the mind ... . There are so many challenges that we have in Jamaica,” he said.
SIMILAR CULTURAL EXPERIENCES
Citing gang murders of men and the high-school dropout rate in Jamaica, Nomdarkham believes that both countries have similar cultural experiences.
“That tweet grew into a movement,” he remarked as the BKR team had their first launch on World Social Media Day, June 30.
Nomdarkham wants to see more serious conversations about masculinity and has called for men to shun traditional behaviours such as crude catcalls and violence against women.
“We want to start a movement to encourage the undoing and the unlearning of certain things,” he added.
Nomdarkham has also gathered a small group of women advisers to shine a light on perspectives and behaviours that men themselves have not considered to be offensive.
The young males benefiting from the BKR's consist of farmers, barbers, fishermen, and others.
Nomdarkham says there will be some “seriously uncomfortable conversations over the next couple of months” to shake things up. He believes that many more positive role models must be highlighted within the various social spaces.
"Our boys find it very hard to find positive male role models because the stories of men generally aren't highlighted enough, which is why our group of creators is seeking to change this. Visual advocacy helps to raise issues and we need more of that," he said.
The BKR will convene a Twitter Spaces meeting Friday at 8 p.m.
Editor's note: The young males benefiting from the BKR's outreach include barbers, farmers, and others. An earlier version of the story suggested that that was the composition of the organisers.