The chips are stacked against black males trying to make it through school and experts have pointed to everything from the Great Recession to the 1980...

Negative representations of black males are readily visible and conveyed to the public through the news, film, music videos, reality television and other forms of media. These stereotypical, one-dimensional characters negate the broader and deeper experience of black life.

If you are a successful black/Latino male, or someone who cares about the fate of young males of color in particular, you have tremendous potential and capacity to mentor.

Every race, gender, and socioeconomic category has its own particular set of challenges and obstacles. The precarious predicament of the black male in America has been especially concerning.

What killed Trayvon is more important to discuss, than whom. While justice will hopefully take care of the who, it is up to us as a collective to problematize the what. In some regards, grappling with the problems on an individual is a far easier task than delving deeply into the societal ills informing individual mindsets and actions.

In his dying moments, Trayvon Martin gave voice to all of the black men, women and children whose humanity continues to be denied in a society that has long chosen to not listen to us.

The gap in achievement between black males and their white counterparts isn't news -- it's common knowledge, generally accepted, and only sometimes bemoaned. So why aren't we more alarmed?