Did President Donald Trump end Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" mentorship program on his first day in office? No, that's demonstrably not true.
The claim originated with a tweet published on April 26, 2018 by user FIONA (@BigHPrivateEye) on Twitter (archived here) that read:
"a lot of people don't know this but while Obama was in office he started the "my brothers keeper" program which was a mentorship program for at risk youth in urban areas like Chicago. my sister worked for it and it was the presidents pet project. Donald ended it his first day https://t.co/AdyIyT92zn"
a lot of people don't know this but while Obama was in office he started the "my brothers keeper" program which was a mentorship program for at risk youth in urban areas like Chicago. my sister worked for it and it was the presidents pet project. Donald ended it his first day https://t.co/AdyIyT92zn
-- FIONA (@BigHPrivateEye) April 25, 2018
The tweet came in reply to Kanye West's tweet claiming nothing had changed in Chicago during Obama's years in office:
Obama was in office for eight years and nothing in Chicago changed.
-- KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 25, 2018
The "My Brother's Keeper Alliance" describes itself on its website:
In 2014, President Obama launched My Brother's Keeper (MBK) and issued a powerful call to action to close opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color. The initiative sparked candid dialogue and action around the country to help more of our young people reach their dreams, regardless of their race, gender, or socioeconomic status.
To scale and sustain this mission, My Brother's Keeper Alliance (MBK Alliance) was launched in 2015 as an independent nonprofit organization. Since launching, a national movement has grown: Nearly 250 cities, counties, and Tribal Nations have accepted the MBK Community Challenge -- President Obama's call to action to adopt innovative approaches, strengthen support, and build ladders of opportunity for boys and young men of color -- scores of new initiatives have been implemented, and there has been an exponential increase in aligned private sector commitments, all helping to reduce barriers and expand opportunity.
Today, as an initiative of the Obama Foundation, MBK Alliance leads a national call to action to build safe and supportive communities for boys and young men of color where they feel valued and have clear paths to opportunity. Alongside our partners across sectors, we will accelerate impact in targeted communities, mobilize citizens and resources, and promote what works, all with the goal of encouraging mentorship, reducing youth violence, and improving life outcomes for boys and young men of color.
According to the "Updates" page on the site the initiative is still quite active, posting multiple updates per month. Only a few days ago a call for proposals was published that promised distribution of more than $5 million in grants.
MBK Alliance Accepting Applications to Accelerate Impact for Boys and Young Men of Color - Obama Foundation
We are excited to announce we're now accepting proposals for the first ever My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge Competition. The Competition will provide strategic support and more than $5 million in grants to help accelerate impact for boys and young men of color in select communities nationwide.
We were unable to locate any news stories about Trump "ending" the initiative, which makes sense given that it still existed as of a few days ago
