The leader of a national mentoring program will offer the keynote address Monday during Lexington's Martin Luther King Jr.celebration. Susan Taylor is making a return visit to central Kentucky for the festivities.
Susan Taylor worked for close to 40 years in media, including time as editor-in-chief of Essence Magazine. Taylor's National CARES Mentoring Movement program has some 130,000 people serving in that capacity. "Mentoring is a sure way and an affordable way,and an impactful way of changing even the most challenged young people's lives," said Taylor.
Taylor says there are no National CARES program mentors in Kentucky. She says many young people today face a chaotic lifestyle. Taylor says it can be difficult for African American males to exert confidence. "We don't have an understanding of how black masculinity has been, I mean, just demonized, I mean, over centuries. This is not a new problem. This is forcing us to really look at ourselves and look at ourselves as a nation," added Taylor.
Taylor will speak at 11 am Monday morning in Lexington's Heritage Hall. The event follows the annual Martin Luther King Jr. march through downtown.?
