Women of Color Call for Gender-Neutral ‘Brother’s Keeper’

More than 1,000 minority women have signed a letter calling for women and girls to be included in President Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” project to improve the lives of men of color, reports The Washington Post.

Eleven private foundations have outlined plans to spend $200-million on programs to boost education and economic opportunities for black and Latino males as part of the program announced by the president in February.

The open letter, signed by numerous leading artists, academics, and activists, publicly airs what had been a private debate during the planning stages of “My Brother’s Keeper” over the program’s male focus.

While praising the administration and its nonprofit partners for tackling racial disparities in income and education, the letter urges the White House to “re-align this important initiative to reflect the values of inclusion, equal opportunity and shared fate that have propelled our historic struggle for racial justice forward.”