>> Skills taught in the program are the skills that you'd want a functioning adult to know.

You'd want them to be capable of leading groups of people when they got to college, or when they were out of college.

You'd want them to be capable of having an idea, developing a plan around it, and being able to execute that plan.

Whatever it happened to be, you'd want them to be resilient in the face of circumstances not being exactly the way they envisioned them at the beginning of the idea.

A lot of those skills and all those activities are things that they learn in the Scout program.

The Scouts or the adults that eventually come out of the program have the ability to stand on their own.

They've been through adversity.

They've had to get through these things and understand that these things don't last forever.

And so, again, if you were being a responsible parent and you developed a curriculum to say, this is the curriculum of adulting, it would be the scouting program.

>> This is history.

Lord, these are your sons.

They are husbands, fathers and grandfathers.

They are college students, high school students.

They are entrepreneurs, lawyers, politicians, servicemen, God-fearing men.

You know, they said that we couldn't do it in our community.

But with you, Lord, these are the hundred who did.

Let the celebration begin.

♪♪ >> At one time or another, most of us have seen them.

They are and were our sons, brothers, cousins, nephews, uncles, fathers and friends.

We've seen them serving, learning, experiencing, achieving.

It was across the pond in 1907 that Lord Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, a writer and British soldier, started the scouting movement.

Three years later, that movement made its way to the United States with the official founding of the Boy Scouts of America.

More than 130 million have worn the Scout uniform, committing to the Scouts' oath to help other people at all times, to keep physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

It is an oath taken by boys, many who have grown to men of distinction in all walks of life.

Though its ideals are of the highest order, the Boy Scouts of America did not always meet the moment.

For a time, it was feared that whites would leave if blacks joined their troops.

By the late 1960s and early '70s, integration increased.

Still, in certain areas, predominantly or all black troops were formed.

A Brookings Institute report shows why scouting at times has played an outsized role in particular communities.

It has filled a need.

The report states, in part... That assessment is why scouting is often a family affair, a way for fathers and mothers and grandparents to place their young black males on a road towards greater possibilities and experiences.

Swimming being one of those.

African American scouts have perfected a skill where over 50% of black children are deficient.

It has served to redirect, in a way, a negative trend one positive stroke at a time.

No longer simply about boys, the renamed Scouting America now reflects the welcoming of all youth.

A change, but the mission the same -- to prepare young people for lives of impact and purpose.

♪♪ ♪♪ >> This scouting program is fantastically supported by First Baptist Church, Glenarden.

Pastor John K. Jenkins, Sr. Back in the day when I was a young guy and he was actually in the Boy Scouts, but I was in the Cub Scouts and it was a beneficial program for him when he was coming up for his leadership position now.

And he supports these youth growing up developing character.

So that's our main thing, is boys are going to learn new skills and to be able to use those skills when they become adults, so they can be great citizens in the communities that God chooses to place them.

>> We're excited to have you.

I appreciate you all for being patient throughout this session today.

>> The Cub Scout program is a family-oriented program for scouts, um, who are in kindergarten through fifth grade.

We depend on the parents to volunteer to be the leaders, to help out with events.

We teach the boys how to get along with each other.

Good citizenship, um, to make good decisions.

We also teach them, um, about duty to God.

The Lion program and the Tiger program, the parents have to be present.

The parent and the Scout work together.

Wolf level a little bit more independence.

They're learning more about citizenship.

They're going out.

Learn about first responders.

They start their hiking.

Then the Bear is more of doing things together as a group.

When you move to the Webelos and the Arrow of Light program, they're getting ready for the troop.

Moving over to the Boy Scout troop.

>> What I've discovered in being a part of Cub Scout, it is a safe place for minority boys, especially black boys.

Um, oftentimes, if not every time that we go anywhere camping, we are the largest minority group or the only minority group.

Um, and sometimes it can be uncomfortable because we're in places that we might not necessarily feel ultimately welcomed.

Um, but we do assure the scouts that they are enough.

Um, they are loved.

Um, and they are supported.

So it's a matter of being like a black boy joy type of thing.

Um, these scouts could be anywhere in the world.

You know, they could be anywhere and doing anything.

And today they are here camping.

Um, they are enjoying each other's company.

They have camaraderie, and they're learning basic life skills.

Um, not just for the sake of maybe achieving the Eagle Scout rank, but these life skills can take them even further.

>> Uh, we put the leaves at the bottom as kit-- Uh, as the starter.

Because leaves -- Dry leaves in particular -- If you use wet leaves, it's just gonna extinguish the fire.

>> To see this minority group of black boys doing these very positive things, it brings my heart joy.

And it makes me feel warm because I get to see them grow up from little kids as Cub Scouts into these young men that I know will be phenomenal and will do very great things.

>> Bow your heads and close your eyes.

Thank you, God, for this wonderful meal that we are allowed to receive.

Thank you for the nutrients that we're going to receive from it.

Please remove any impurities.

Thank you for the person who bought it.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

>> Amen.

♪♪ >> The Boy Scouts of America is bringing young males towards a program that will develop leadership so these boys can, uh, take on challenges that seem overwhelming and with the skill set that they have that they have learned over the years, they are able to tackle those and be great employees or great owners of businesses.

We are impacting these kids to be great people in society.

[ Birds chirping ] >> Coming up from Cub Scouts, they're going to -- their first rank that they would achieve would be Scout.

And then after that, they're going to learn some really basic joining activities -- the Scout Oath, the Scout Law, the motto, things of that nature.

After that, they're going to become a Tenderfoot, and then they're going to take on some additional skills and knowledge.

And then after that, you have your second class rank that you would go for, which then builds to the next rank of being first class.

And at that point you have a scout has learned all all the core skills that they need to be successful.

They can, uh, they have some -- learn some first-aid skills.

They've learned how to work knives, they've learned how to cook food for themselves and a group.

They've learned to tie knots and how to use those knots successfully.

And so at first class, you really have a fully functional scout.

You know, after that, you get into a Star Scout who is -- Now they're starting to take on more leadership roles, which builds on some of the leadership roles and activities they would have done in some of the earlier ranks.

After that Star Scout, move on to Life.

And so Life is that rank just before they get to Eagle, where generally people think of it as like this culminating event in Eagle.

Um, but really, that's now just saying that, hey, you have completed all these rank requirements and learned all of these skills, but that doesn't mean that that's the end of your activity.

Oftentimes we'll have scouts who are, I don't know, 14 years old and they'll get to Eagle.

But then for them they're like, hey, I'm done.

And in reality, no, now you're just starting -- Now you've collected all the tools that we had to offer initially, and now you should start building something with those tools.

>> Along with ascending in rank, Scouts must earn merit badges.

Choices that can be tailor made based on interest and most important, may lead to the illustrious rank of Eagle.

>> Merit badge program is like this survey of different vocations, different skills, different hobbies that a Scout can learn to do.

For example, you look at there's a hiking merit badge or a backpacking merit badge, first aid and cooking.

So with those collection of merit badges, you are safe in the outdoors.

You can mitigate risk that may occur in the outdoors.

You can feed a group of people, your entire patrol, and you're capable of assembling all your gear and the gear for your crew together and go off on a hike.

If you take that merit badge along with American business entrepreneurship, now you're learning about how to collect money, how business happens.

You can push those two, all those merit badges together.

And now, as a college student, you're capable of taking a group of your classmates on a backpacking trip, charging them money, and actually making a business of it as an outfitter.

And those would be skills that you would learn in scouting.

We have a scout who is probably one of my favorite stories.

He's saving people's lives right now as a firefighter because he learned -- he expressed an interest in firefighting.

Took a fire safety merit badge when he was, I don't know, let's call it 12 or 13.

And now, as an 18-year-old, he's an actual firefighter saving people's lives.

Plan to go -- Actually in school now for fire safety.

>> We are a ministry first and have to keep reminding these families we're ministry first.

The decisions we make are scripturally and morally driven, so some people will come in and make worldly decisions and we don't function like that.

>> Right.

>> And I took the fault saying that all these years we've been doing scouting, but we have not been doing ministry.

So we picked it up where we're now partnering with the children and youth department with Unashamed.

We're partnering with the Sunday school program.

We're working on collaboration with that.

We're bringing in what's called a P.R.A.Y.

program, which is basically a smaller Bible study for the boys.

One of the things that we already are doing is we have -- you see a lot of our boys supported by our church, presiding over the ceremony, over the church service during Youth Sunday.

Also, BSA has what's called Scout Sunday.

So we have our youth, um, supporting the program.

So they're seen out there giving service to the church.

So we're ramping up that side of it of the Boy Scout "ministry."

>> Did you know that Pastor Jenkins used to be the senior patrol leader?

Now I'm the senior patrol leader, and he's the senior pastor.

I'm just saying.

Please stand and receive the funniest, most relatable, coolest pastor in the world.

Pastor John K. Jenkins, Sr. >> I think he's vying for my job.

Let's give it up for our young people today.

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> Deacon McJett and also the late Elder Jones, they were pitching the program around, I think maybe it might have been January or February 1982 of the year that our troop was founded, and they said, show up on Friday.

I came there with my mom and dad, signed the application.

And the rest -- the rest is history.

And then from there, you know, Carlos, Colby, the Winters brothers and all the others that we just showed up and wanted to, um, expand our troop.

>> Deacon Magette was our father away from home.

We all came up in two-parent households, and our dads were involved to some degree.

But Deacon Magette was an example of what a man should be.

How a man -- It's okay to love your children, your sons in particular.

He took care of us while we were away from home, and he always made sure that we didn't forget to pray.

We prayed every morning.

We said our grace.

God was the first thing on his mind, which made it the first thing on our mind.

>> Deacon Blunt would talk about God constantly, like, he didn't want us listening to no rap music.

He wanted to do nothing.

And so and at the time, I didn't appreciate his leadership.

And it wasn't until I became an adult and I could look back and see that it takes a certain amount of boldness to speak to a generation who's not listening.

>> Yes.

>> And then I thought, and so I went back and apologized to him and told him how much his words mean now even though I couldn't understand them then.

>> I'm going to say wilderness survival.

It kind of like encompasses like a whole lot of different skill awards and skills that you actually have to take out into the world.

And so granted, we don't live in the wilderness, but every day there's like certain challenges that, um, pop up.

>> There's an interesting story behind that wilderness survival.

I assure you.

So I know Colby was going to choose that merit badge as his number one merit badge, right?

Colby literally set up shelter with bungee cords and leaves and sticks.

So it was a difficult task, but Colby found a way to make it his own.

>> Public speaking has had a profound influence.

Confidence.

But I did accounting and finance.

Um, professional career.

And then I just got to a point where, um, I was always presenting something.

Any place I go, someone's always asking me to say something, introduce someone, that type of thing.

So I like to think that speaking whatever is comfortable for me, >> The one that stands out to me is salesmanship, because that really taught me how to be a better presenter.

It taught me how to prepare presentations.

It taught me actually how to even budget.

Um, I never thought that that would impact me like it did in my career.

But when I went to college, Bowie State University, when I went there, I said -- And I majored in marketing.

I said, "You know what?

My classes, you know, are just like -- My marketing classes are just like my salesmanship merit badge."

So they gave me the confidence.

So I look back on that merit badge.

It meant quite a -- quite a deal to me.

>> Other than going to church, the only other institution I know that really gives you character as a young boy is Boy Scouts.

That's where we learned how to be trustworthy, loyal, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.

Character is not only the integral part, it's all the other skills, leadership, responsibility, all of those things that go into being a quality person.

Character is important.

I mean, even if you're in the street, they still want you to have some level of character.

Like, you can't be a rat.

They'll tell you're not a solid dude.

They want -- Right?

So I think everybody wants character and we just don't necessarily know how to obtain it.

And of course we can obtain that in Christ.

But I think one of the vehicles that we often underuse utilize is scouting, which gives you a code to live by and to grow into.

>> Yes, absolutely.

>> Absolutely.

>> Scouting was definitely turned into a lifestyle, I would say.

When you're involved in scouting, you definitely have to believe what you're learning.

Till this day, I cannot drop anything on the ground.

No trash.

Matter of fact, I'm picking up trash.

I see something over there I'm gonna get after this filming is over.

I'm gonna take care of that.

But even bringing it to my household, we recycle.

Did my family want to do it?

No.

But guess what?

I'm an Eagle Scout, and that's what I learned.

Conservation minded.

>> Yes, sir.

>> Yeah.

>> Be aware of your environment.

[ Birds chirping ] >> The gentlemen sitting to my left, they, um -- I think they were the biggest factors.

Because I saw them.

I saw them there.

They were older, I think, what, 3 or 4 years, couple years older.

Um, I mean, they were right there.

And life just started lifing, as we say nowadays.

Um, they were like juniors and seniors and, um, in high school, um, I could see the wind under their wings, kind of like leveling them out.

And they weren't soaring as high.

And I was like, you know what?

I can do this.

I can -- I can get there before them.

>> It was almost expected.

>> Yes.

When Colby got his Eagle... >> Yes.

>> ...it was expected for me to get my Eagle.

And I'm looking at Lamar and I'm looking at Calvin, and I'm looking at Kevin.

I'm like, you got to get yours.

You know, we'll help you, but we want you to get it.

And if you don't go get it, we got a problem with you.

>> Yes.

>> It's accountability.

>> Accountability.

>> The 100 -- that should be a benchmark for others.

Um, to show that not only is it possible, it's attainable, but you get to see what it looks like.

>> Amen.

>> What your brothers look like before you and what you could attain in your years to come.

I love being a part of a historical event like this.

To me, what better way to show that there's growth in your community by showing I can do what you can do.

>> Amen.

>> I can do that too.

You got more than 100 scouts from one church.

>> Amen.

>> How amazing is that?

That ought to be celebrated.

That should be on the news.

>> Amen.

>> Amen.

>> We need to show positivity.

And that's what's happening right here with this group.

>> Amen.

>> Yup.

>> I just want to just, uh, celebrate you men, you brothers, for the accomplishment that you've done in your life.

And hopefully, you know that it has helped prepared you for your future.

And we're proud.

I'm honored to be the pastor of the church that's got 100 Eagle Scouts.

Not a lot of churches can say that.

Thank you.

>> I did two years of Cub Scouts and I had a great experience.

And then I moved to a point where my sons were starting off in that same age group.

So I knew the program was a great program for youth.

>> I was under William Chen at the time as a Scoutmaster.

So then my son, obviously I brought my son with me because I had most of the girls in my household, and my wife told me, you're taking care of everybody else's son, take yours.

So even though he was under age, I would sneak him in the tents at the camp outs and, uh, and, uh, we just grew up together through scouting.

>> I had an assignment, and my assignment was take care of my grandchild.

My introduction was bring him to a meeting.

Let's see what's going on.

We were Tigers with a K. That's before the Lions program was reintroduced.

And my job then was just to be a parent.

And all of a sudden, I got wrangled in by a guy named Richard White, who was the den leader at that time.

And he said, your job will be to keep them in place.

So that was my job.

Keep them in play.

>> My son was a kindergartner and he joined the program, and he already had leaders in that group.

But then I had a second son and he -- I became his leader.

And so I've been with the program ever since.

>> I was the mom who helped coordinate things.

Then I moved to a den leader, and then I moved to a committee chair, um, who's responsible for running the whole program.

>> My son, Eagle Scout number 50.

He saw some kids, our neighbors, in a blue Scout uniform.

We found out when the meetings were, very chaotic.

If you can imagine, a bunch of five and six and seven year olds running around.

I just knew he didn't -- wouldn't like it.

And he said, dad, this is what I want to do.

>> So when my son turned five, he was in kindergarten and I decided to put him in scouts.

And it just happened that First Baptist Church of Glenarden had a troop, troop 1657.

>> James Wallace, my son was in second grade when we were on the cusp of joining.

>> Among its priorities, the safety of its scouts is at the top of the list for Scouting America and the First Baptist Church of Glenarden.

>> Two-deep leadership always.

Never in a room alone with a Scout by yourself.

Those are the things we practice and we preach -- the buddy system.

When the child goes somewhere or that scout goes somewhere, he's got a buddy with him.

That's the primary focus of 1657 and also the primary focus now of scouting to protect those youth.

>> First Baptist requires all adults that are in contact with youth to be fingerprinted by the church.

And criminal background check.

The second wave of protection is called YPT -- Youth Protection Training.

All leaders and all parents, if you're around a child, it's required online training.

You get a certificate and we keep a record of that, and BSA keeps a record of that.

>> You got it.

>> There you go.

>> Oh!

>> I was the dad who would sit in the back of the room, just watch what's going on, you know, looking at my watch.

Couldn't wait for it to be over.

And some months went by and I would sit there and as they were going over their lessons, you know, maybe it might have been talking about cars or, you know, something else.

I would just think in my head, how come we aren't doing this outside?

How come we aren't, you know, doing more?

If we're talking about a car, let's bring up a car.

If we're talking about fire, let's go build a fire.

And, um, one day I came to the meeting.

No leader was there.

It was just me and a couple other parents.

And I went outside in the hallway and I said, hey, you know, where are the leaders or where's our leader?

And he said, you know, the leader is out on sick leave, and you know, you're going to have to take over.

So I just kind of laughed.

You know, I didn't think much of it.

And, um, until they held up a shirt and said, you know, put on the shirt and just go through the book and, you know, see what you can do.

And so from the first time I put on the shirt, you know, really terrified of.

Okay, I've got a bunch of kids in here.

What am I supposed to do with them?

And I remember going home that night reading one of the first lessons.

It was on how to take care of your car and myself and another leader, we got the idea, hey, let's bring all the mom's cars to a parking lot and let's show the kids how to change their oil.

Let's show them how to wash the car.

Let's show them where all the fluids are, you know?

Hey, here's how you jack it up.

And for me, it was simple stuff, you know, it was things that.

How come every guy doesn't know this?

But the look on their faces, on the kids' faces kind of told me that day, like, wow, we could actually teach them something.

We had a skill that we could give them.

And, you know, after a while, you know, my wife really just said, okay.

Friday nights are yours.

It's your bonding time.

This is the time dedicated to scouts.

And I think for the commitment, you know, as they got older, you know, your commitment level changed because before it was just, hey, you got a scout meeting on Friday night, then it turns to, hey, we're going to go hiking in the morning.

Let's do that.

And then it was, you know, then they got old enough to actually camp out.

So now we're going to camp Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday.

So it just progresses over the years.

But when you look at the impact that it has on the scout that made the Friday nights worth it.

>> Get ready to wake up.

It's almost 6:00.

Good morning.

Nicholas.

>> Yeah.

>> It's time to get up.

You're already up?

>> Yep.

>> Okay.

Wonderful.

It's just about 6:00.

>> Alright.

>> They all transitioned from, um, Cub Scouts.

Going into Boy Scouts, we went to Webelos camp.

Everybody went.

It was not even an option to say no.

You were going because you needed that experience, right?

Um, and we did the no news is good news.

Did they cry?

Yes.

Did we let them call home?

Not really, because we knew that they were going to be homesick, but we knew that they were going to be okay, too.

Right?

Um, and the other opportunities that we gave them was the fact that we decided to just not stay within our area.

Right?

Maryland, D.C. and Virginia.

We ventured out, um, for example, we went to Mory's Pier, which was in New Jersey, and that's when I was like, man, these parents really trust me.

I'm driving this -- I'm driving this van with your babies, and we're going to the beach, this body of water.

Right?

And they, you know, and they trusted us, but they had a good time, right?

I wanted them to experience camping on a beach.

Right?

We've camped in cold.

We've camped in rain.

Right?

Being locally here.

But there's something about getting the opportunity to camp out on a beach.

And I wanted to, you know, kind of give them that opportunity.

So we were always looking for fun, innovative and engaging opportunities for the scouts to participate in.

>> We've done like week-long backpacking trips.

And when I say backpacking, I mean everything's on your back.

What you sleep with or what you sleep in, your food, your clothes, flashlights, anything that you need is on your back.

And you backpack from place to place, place to place.

Um, that was an experience because I was there.

Um, they've also been on week-long canoe trips where they canoe from place to place.

Everything that they need is in that canoe.

If it goes over, everything is wet unless you have it tied tight and secure.

If you didn't, you learned a lesson.

So I think those kinds of experiences may be experiences that you know are not usual experience for some scouts.

>> And especially for African American scouts, because let's face it, some of them are fearful of the water.

But guess what?

You earn that swimming merit badge so that you can open up the doors to water activities because you could not do those things if you could not swim.

And so I think because a lot of the scouts, I think all of the scouts in our patrol had their swimming merit badge, it opened up the door to so many other things that they could participate in.

>> And some of our scouts became lifeguards.

>> Exactly, exactly.

>> And now, coming to the stage, let's get those snaps in the air and give it up for Scout Poet.

>> Why I got to be a scout mom?

You know, it's two types of scouts, right?

The ones who already wanted to be here, and the rest of us who was dragged by our parents.

And it's probably because the uniforms.

I don't know what it is about looking like a spokesperson against forest fires, but I'm starting to think it's because of retired Eagles who wanted to get back at us because they had to do it, too.

Mom.

If you wanted me to appreciate home-cooked meals more, there were better ways because a cold cut sandwich, a singular unwashed apple, and a stale cookie do not constitute a meal.

My taste buds have trust issues now.

And you didn't tell me being a Boy Scout was a boycott against comfort.

Because I promise it's hottest whenever we outside, darkest whenever I got to go to the bathroom, rainiest whenever we have camp outs.

Whoever in scout history decided to be upset with the weather really needs to ask for forgiveness.

I have learned, though, that, um, sleeping bags have claustrophobia because why are they so hard to put back into the bag?

And speaking of which, what do tents have against the bags that they come from?

And why ain't nobody tell me that spiders, bears, and other critters also get to become scouts too, because sometimes I see them more than my patrol do.

Mom.

Why?

Because when that summer camp bus pull up with days of contained funk because them two outfits was worn and tough, I also wonder why them showers was not taken enough, and why the best meals only come when the meetings are over, or the meals we cook ourselves at home.

I don't do too much in the kitchen.

When that campfire gets to burning and I get to fixing, I have realized there are some things I love about being a scout despite all the things that I don't.

So I guess I gotta be a scout because even though those early mornings have my eyes wide shut when it's actually time to leave, it is actually tough.

I gotta be a scout because I gained memories here that will last a lifetime.

Got badges that made my hard work shine.

Went fishing, went swimming.

Spent all nights in tents.

This life I'm living I gotta be a scout.

Because no matter how hard it is to accomplish things in life for me, I realize I could do it.

All my friends and my patrol is with me.

I know now how much I am thankful for all of this, even though I'm a little mad when I have to come here.

I now know I'm just as mad when I have to go.

So now I'm here, realizing when I look back over my life and I think things over, my good scout days outweigh my weary scout days.

So no, I will not complain.

Thank you, mom, for putting me in this position where I gained all the skills I need to be successful in life, I made connections I will have my entire years on this earth.

So now I do know it's still two types of scouts, the ones who wouldn't want to be anywhere else, and the rest of us that learn we don't ever want to leave.

>> That plastic jacket on.

>> Unh-unh.

>> Put a hole in it.

>> Use a marshmallow.

>> This marshmallow that day.

Yeah.

>> Wow.

>> There's been some great stories, and the campfire gives us an opportunity to hear these stories.

>> That's it.

>> We had a Goshen trip where -- Remember the boy was throwing trash in the trash?

>> Yeah, that's the one.

The Dumpster?

>> Yeah, Dumpster.

And he threw trash on top of a bear that was in the Dumpster eating and, uh, and he -- Buddy system.

>> It was Evan and somebody.

>> Yeah.

It was -- They had the buddy system.

They came down and the scout had to make a decision.

What do you do when you hit a bear in the head with a sack of rubbish that looks up like, what are you doing?

And the -- the smart boys decided he's going to catch the slow one.

They left him, and then by the time he turned around, he said, I better catch up.

>> He was on his feet.

>> So -- so -- so we tell those stories that of these young boys experiences and listen to how they say.

And it's always seems to be around the campfire.

Yeah.

>> I think watching the camaraderie that we built with one another as leaders and, you know, and watching some funny incidents happen.

>> Yeah.

>> But melting shoes.

>> Yeah.

>> Camp food is the best you'll ever have in your life.

I don't know if it's just because you're -- you're -- you're outside and you had to actually make it from scratch.

You know, you didn't come with a box or anything.

You had to make it.

It was over the fire that you did, and you pretty much got to cook it the way you wanted to cook it.

The food just comes out amazing.

>> There are many qualities that encompass leadership.

An essential is commitment.

Those leaders of every type who possess it and practice it are difference makers.

>> I was under William Chen.

He was a scoutmaster.

So, uh, William Chen and myself made the decision to have female leaders in our program.

It was out of frustration.

We got tired of asking the brothers in our community.

Also the demographic.

A lot of our families are single, live by single mothers, so out of necessity, I got tired of asking brothers 3 or 4 times and I told them -- I challenged them.

I said, the reason you don't want women, female leaders, because you know they're going to do better than you.

They're going to come with their uniform, full uniforms, they're going to be in attendance.

Black women get things done.

And so it exposes your weakness.

>> Yeah.

>> Um, and we got pushback and I didn't care because we had a troop to run.

>> Right.

>> And they've come in and a lot of the women have done a dynamite job, uh, came in and did whatever was needed -- Whatever needed to be done the women would do it.

We've got the dedicated dads, the few that we have, and they're just excellent.

My purpose was to have men in front of the boys.

A lot of the women that are leaders didn't want to do it, but they had to do something for their son.

So I always wanted to keep the men in front, and then the moms would be in the background for the support.

>> One of the things that I implemented early in the program was male leadership.

And that caused a problem with a lot of women.

Um, I was like, well, in the classrooms, we want men to be up there teaching the boys, showing them how to be men.

Um, give the man a chance to step up.

If no one stepped up, then there was no problem with someone else leading.

Um, but, yeah, that caused a problem.

So now they don't want women to lead?

No, that's not it.

Give the man a chance first.

>> Yes.

We were women in scouting, helping these -- The scouts move through the process.

But we can't teach a boy how to become a man.

Right?

You obviously need someone who looks like you to help you wade through that process.

But the great thing about our team is that we had all of that in place, and we knew when to step aside and let them lead that.

It wasn't like there was a stronghold or a tug of war.

It just worked, right?

And so it wasn't just myself and Damalia.

Like I said, we had Mr. Chen, who was a male leader, scout leader.

We also had William Chen, the son, who was a leader.

We had Brian Ruffin, we had Carlos.

Um, and, you know, these men were there.

And the great thing about our parents, they were there if we said, hey, we're going camping and we need x, y, z, the dads were there, right there in the trenches with us, camping or whatever event we were doing, they were right there.

And the same thing can be said for the mothers as well.

But we knew when to step aside and let them have those conversations and handle those events.

So it wasn't a tug of war.

>> I witnessed a patrol or a couple patrols that had men on the front and the women in the back, but those women were strong.

They were the administrators.

They were the planners.

Um, to the point when that group got to a point and I became committee chair.

Yeah.

I did recommend a woman to the lead because she was such a beast.

I mean, she would run circles around some of the guys in her thought process and her development of her own son, her patrol.

As the committee chair, I really wanted -- And one of the instances, uh, to promote a woman as our scoutmaster.

But that didn't happen.

Okay, but we found a strong leader in our next scoutmaster.

>> My call to the black men is that they will go to their creator and get the confidence to lead in an uncomfortable position, but to trust God more than their feelings and even their skill set.

But see the open door that God is opening up for them to lead.

And because we have a lot of young men, the harvest is plenty.

But the laborers are few, and we're looking for more laborers because there are so many youth that are looking for direction.

And we are the answer.

But if they can trust the creator, they will be able to function with wherever and whenever God calls them.

Yep.

That's my call to the black man.

>> Whether socializing with their patrol, working together to review all important advancements in rank, scouts are continually perfecting lifelong communication skills.

>> One of the Scouts felt so comfortable talking about him being on the spectrum of autism just off the cuff, and I was like, man, that is amazing because sometimes you have other people that will make fun of you because, you know, you have autism or because you're different and they don't understand what that means, right?

But the group rallied around him and just continued to support him.

>> Every time that there was a border review, I just felt so proud for each boy to be able to walk into that room by themselves.

The door was shut.

They were in a room with a table, three adults behind it.

They had to stand up and speak.

They had to introduce themselves.

They had to answer questions.

Um, and I think that, you know, them just doing that just made my heart proud.

And just knowing that, getting that skill, um, just helped them in life.

Um, you know, they had to do college interviews.

Some had to do college interviews, some had to do internship interviews, job interviews, some went directly into the world of work.

Um, and they had those skills.

>> When they start working on their Eagle Scout project, they're looking for an opportunity to provide a service to someone in the community.

It can't be anyone associated with Boy Scouts, but it has to be someone in the community that they can provide service to, whether that's an animal shelter, a book drive, um, or a flag at a VFW hall.

So they have to -- But the key point is that they're going to lead other scouts in the execution or in the delivery of these services.

And so throughout the entire program, they've been learning these incremental skills around leadership and around leading people and in different positions and different, um, through different events.

And so the Eagle Scout project is kind of the culmination of that -- of their last thesis statement on, hey, yes, I can lead a group of scouts, and here's an example of it.

>> I had never been an Eagle coach before, and I had only watched our former coach do it, but I really wanted to learn the process because here I was.

It was my son's turn and I didn't know what was next.

So I went to University of Scouting, which is pretty much our scout training, and took the class for it.

I started doing research and my son's project was he did, um, vegetation planter boxes for a church in southeast, and you almost kind of look at it as, you know, it's just -- it's just vegetables.

What does that have to do with anything?

Until you get there and you find out that church uses those vegetables to feed the homeless, or they're feeding, you know, people less fortunate.

So now the project started taking on a different life, like you're leaving behind your legacy for a project, and, um, that's what you're leaving behind.

And so as an Eagle coach, you know, I start to look at the projects and approach them when I first come to a scout to say, what legacy are you leaving behind?

Who is this going to impact?

You get a chance to sit down with that scout that you've known since he was in some cases five to see their vision and their journey continue on.

>> Nearly 3% of scouts of any color have achieved Eagle rank.

Millions didn't make it into that rarefied air, but in this black troop, more than 100 did.

>> I'm known as the pandemic scoutmaster.

I was the interim scoutmaster during that two year period, and the 100 Eagle came out of -- Basically I had made it personal because what was happening, unbeknownst to a lot of the parents, but the leaders knew that our ministry was under attack.

We was under attack externally as well as internally.

And, uh, it was a very painful process.

But I would still show up.

And then God said, God said he would do something to basically show everybody who's still in charge.

That's what 100 Eagles came from.

And I had a major health challenge that I was battling also at the same time that only these guys knew about.

And so, um, it was a faith walk.

But when these boys came to our meetings, they were ready to advance.

And when we -- when we got down to three, all I did was look at Steward when he got the 100, I think I broke down crying somewhere.

Thank you, guys.

We were blessed with the largest troop in the state of Maryland.

Probably one of the largest African American troops, and then to have 100 Eagles.

Then I think at the time we were getting ready to have the 100, Elder McJett, our first scoutmaster, transitioned at 90 something, but he was -- he was watching the coat of arms from his nursing home while he was transitioning.

He saw John on the screen back on the other side.

So he got to live to see the 100th Eagle.

>> Yeah.

>> And so we -- we gave that ceremony and honored him, um, with that 100 Eagle Scout.

>> My introduction to scouting was my mom signed me up and we just kept on going every Friday.

I started as a Cub Scout all the way from the beginning.

I didn't really want to, but she made it -- She made it known that it was something she wanted me to finish.

So that's what I did, I finished it.

The swimming merit badge had a great impact on me, because my mom put me in swimming when I was three, and when she signed me up at first she would cry when she saw me at lessons and I wasn't really sure why.

But now that I'm older, I understand now she was giving me a life skill that she didn't have and that I could carry on for the rest of my life.

>> One of the most memorable things I remember was Mory-Ellis.

Mory says, you know, I can do this and I'm going to do this mile swim.

And so we're all gathered around watching Mory do the mile swim.

We also remember Richard White, our scoutmaster.

And Richard is in the water.

And he is -- he is just standing still, but his arms are moving.

His legs are moving.

But he was just simply standing still.

Um, and the -- and the instructor said, uh, Mr. White, are you all right?

And he says, yes.

Yes.

And we grabbed and we get the grappling pole and we pull him out.

>> So for me, I didn't pass the swimming test when I went to summer camp, and, uh, yeah, I didn't pass the swim test.

So there you go.

>> But -- But Mory-Ellis kept swimming, and he went every day.

He went through the drill 75 yards, uh, a quarter of a mile.

And then on the final day of camp, he earned that mile swimming merit badge.

He had achieved something he really wanted to do.

>> Another merit badge would probably be the lifesaving merit badge, which is basically like a lifeguard course.

You learn your CPR, your lifeguard saves.

All that will have to do with lifeguarding.

And it's impactful to me now because I'm a lifeguard now.

I work at Allentown Splash Park in Temple Hills, Maryland.

Um, the same pool that I learned how to swim at.

The leaders were always looking out for us, and they always gave us multiple opportunities to showcase our abilities and become leaders.

I was -- In my -- In my particular patrol, I was a patrol leader, so I was able to lead my group.

In Scouts, I was able to be a part of a program called NYLT, which stands for the National Youth Leadership Training.

The leadership and teamwork abilities I've learned in Scout has allowed me to succeed in my multiple workplaces and at school, which led for me to get promoted to a pool manager.

I would recommend FBCG's scouting program because it's not just scouting, it's all -- it's a family environment.

FBCG's scouting experience, it helps us break the stereotype because our patrol is predominantly black, and we're just doing things you've never seen before, with a small percentage of scouts already making it to Eagle.

But even a smaller percentage of those Eagle Scouts are African American.

So we're just bringing up the percentage of Black Eagle Scouts in America.

>> I think in the very beginning, it was I'm going to give my son something to do on Friday night, whereas it changed to hey, how can you make the troop better by doing X, you know?

So I would have that mindset.

and then it became as an Eagle coach, hey, can you guide me into a project that I'm going to have a long-term effect?

And now towards the -- the, you know, the latter half of my journey, it's what now can I leave behind.

You know, is the troop any better than when it was when I started?

Are the Scouts any better than when I started?

And so really it's -- it's -- it really means leaving behind a legacy for this -- this program.

And again, even though the program isn't perfect, I don't know any other program where a kid can fly a plane, a kid can go on a side of a mountain and ride ATVs, or you hike to the top of a mountain and watch the sunrise.

There's no other program where you can get that.

It really has become almost like a -- a family.

Um, an important part of the family journey and a program like this.

>> What scouting has done for me and my family and my son in particular.

There is nothing like it.

There is no other experience.

There's no one else that could have given him the experience that he got from scouting.

There's nothing like it.

And until you put your son in there and you actually physically see what he's doing and what's going on, you really don't understand.

>> For my son, I mean, it did wonders, right?

He was able to become a leader, right?

Utilize his leadership skills, utilize his communication skills, the ability to just kind of think quick on his feet and the ability to work well with others, right?

Where can you get all of that?

Like a one-stop shop where you want to empower your child?

You know, maybe get them outside, outdoors, having a good time and meeting new friends.

I'm proud that he is an Eagle Scout, but I'm most importantly proud that he's an Eagle Scout with troop 1657.

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