AAMI PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS - Reading is Fundamental

As part of our focus on education every year, our students receive literature as part of their membership package. The books they receive are intended to challenge their perceptions and expand their thinking on a variety of issues, including leadership, masculinity, economic empowerment, and more. Often, during our biweekly sessions our students will have discussions around passages from these books with a focus on how to critically analyze and, if possible, apply the lessons learned to their lives.

In 2019 and 2020, MALE Connection students participated in vibrant “Cuts and Convos” barbershop discussions with the local community around Tayari Jones’ “Silver Sparrow” and Carter G. Woodson’s “The Miseducation of the Negro.” These discussions took place at Artistic Effects, a beauty & barbershop located on the southside of Milledgeville. Raymond Davis, shop owner and barber, co-facilitated the discussions with Dr. C. Emmanuel Little, program director. These discussions focused on various issues such as family dynamics, race, gender, trauma, education, and community empowerment.