Inspired by President Obama’s nationwide My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge, Building Brotherhood: Engaging Males of Color is a new initiative that encourages dialogue amongst men and boys of color. Through weekly workshops in North and South Philadelphia, public town hall meetings and live theatre performances around the city, Building Brotherhood: Engaging Males of Color has raised much-needed awareness of the challenges faced by men and boys of color and inspire individual and community resiliency. As part of a partnership between Mural Arts and the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services’ Engaging Males of Color (EMOC) initiative, Mural Arts’ Colorful Legacy mural  culminated in a new mural by artists Willis “Nomo” Humphrey and Keir Johnston, informed by Mural Arts’ participatory public art-making process.

The project has helped to raise awareness of the issues men and boys of color face in gaining access to education and jobs, increase men and boys’ access to behavioral health services by reducing stigma, and building momentum toward both community and individual wellness for a diverse group of men and boys of color in Philadelphia.