WASHINGTON — Raised in a series of foster homes in Connecticut, Sixto Cancel beat all of the odds that were stacked against him.
The outspoken and inquisitive student, who has probably experienced more challenges than most adults twice his age, is now an honors student at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“I wasn’t raised by a mother or a father. It’s nonprofits and the government that raised me,” said Cancel, who shared his moving story with a packed audience that gathered at the National Press Club yesterday for the “Advancing Success for Black Men in College,” symposium sponsored by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF).
Cancel’s success is testament to his amazing will, as well as Connecticut’s well-designed foster care program. But far too many Black men between the ages of 18 to 24 continue to fall through the cracks in disproportionate numbers, forcing President Obama and seasoned educators to once again train a national spotlight on how best to address this vexing issue.
For Ronald Mason Jr., president of Southern University and A&M College System, the issue isn’t new. In fact, he’s been talking about the struggles that beset Black males for so long that the conversations sometimes seem “circular.”
“But in light of the dismal numbers – which continue to suggest that only 28 percent of Black men age 25 and older hold a postsecondary degree compared to 41 percent of men of all races age 25 and older- almost everyone agrees that challenges remain.”
