Hearsay With Cathy Lewis

Polls indicate that optimism among black Americans rose after President Obama's election. Despite that optimism, disparities in achievement persist. White Americans over 25 are more than one and a half times as likely to hold a bachelor's degree and there are more African-Americans under correctional control today than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the start of the Civil War. Today we'll talk with two educators who are working to encourage success among black American males - Dr. Alvin J. Schexnider, President of Thomas Nelson Community College and Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, President of The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and co-author of Beating the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Males. We'll also bring you a conversation with Antwone Fisher about his latest book A Boy Should Know How to Tie a Tie : And Other Lessons for Succeeding in Life.