Tied to Greatness is a non-profit organization that conducts a Tied To Greatness National Tour as an outreach program that seeks to improve the self-image and esteem of at-risk, inner city high school males. With an average of just 35% of inner city males graduating from high school, Tied to Greatness uses the influence of positive male role models, fashion, and the symbolism of the necktie as a catalyst toward manhood and maturity. Tied to Greatness seeks to remind our young men about the importance of personal image and to encourage each participant to
make different choices about his future. The Tied to Greatness National Tour travels to several cities and hosts 3-hour local presentations to at-risk high school males, with the vision of inspiring a generation through personal touch and dialogue. This initiative’s mission is to reconnect young men of color to their rich history of men who dressed well, carried themselves with dignity, and accomplished great things in society.
Tied to Greatness knows the outlook for many young men of color is not promising. The organization implements these strategies to that these young men will recognize the power of self-image and make better life choices:
- We overwhelm the young men with images of strong, educated, articulate, well-groomed men of color to combat the negative stereotypes seen in their environment.
- We teach the young men the power and importance of a strong self-image through personal stories from positive influential men of color.
- We teach them to “tie a tie” as a ritualistic rite of passage which will ignite personal pride in appearances and build inner self esteem.
- We have each young man recite the Tied to Greatness Pledge whereby they commit themselves to finish their education, live a better life, and be more conscious of their image.
- We provide each young man with a copy of the pledge and a tie that they can keep for future special events.
- We provide a copy of, Restoring the Male Image, as a reference book to reiterate all that they have learned that day.
To learn more about Tied to Greatness and how to get your child involved, you can visit http://www.tiedtogreatness.org and follow them on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TiedToGreatness
