2017 11th and 12th Grades African American Youth Leadership Conference (AAYLC)

Bring Your “A” Game is a one-hour session that focuses on the instructors using both 22-minute video and an interactive discussion format to have a conversation with African American males about the plight of young African American men and boys who are dropping out of High School with the dream of becoming a rapper, entertainer or sports figure.
Regarding the film, BRING YOUR "A" GAME; to generate a national conversation on the plight of Black men and boys, the Twenty-First Century Foundation (21CF) partnered with actor-director Mario Van Peebles and producer Karen Williams to create BRING YOUR "A" GAME—a groundbreaking documentary film that, in Van Peebles' words, uses a two-prong approach to "sheds light on both the plight and the resilience / influence of Black males."
Interviewees include such iconic figures as Richard "Dick" Parsons, Chris Rock, Spike Lee, Dr. Cornel West, Ice Cube, Cory Booker, Sean Combs, Russell Simmons, Kevin Liles, Lou Gossett Jr., Lupe Fiasco, Hill Harper, Damon Dash, Kevin Powell, Melvin Van Peebles, Geoffrey Canada, Bruce Gordon and former NBA star Alan Houston, among others.
The two-prong approach is a s follows:
First the film uses a cinematic (i.e., movielike) style, influenced by popular culture and employing innovative technologies, the Instructors use the film to first show the pitfalls of dropping out of High School, i.e., having no job, dealing with drugs, crime and how this path usually leads to the individual ending up living in a life of poverty or worst, landing in jail.
Second, using an interactive discussion format the instructors underscore how essential educational achievement and high school graduation are to helping the audience develop strategies to improve their lives and make them successful in today's world.