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Thank you for visiting the website of Black Brothers United, Inc.

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Welcome To Black Brothers United, Inc.

"Change Is Great, But Greater Change Is Needed"

In the spring of 1982 a 6th grade African-American male was asked by a teacher, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  The sixth grader replied, "A lawyer, a policeman or something dealing with law."  The teacher replied, "Maybe you should consider being a plumber or a carpenter, I don’t think you have what it takes to be a lawyer or policeman."  The 6th grader thought to himself, "There's nothing wrong with becoming a carpenter or plumber, but why should I settle on what someone else says I can or cannot be?" Had it not been for the 6th grader's mother, who instilled positive self-esteem and self-worth in him, he would have believed the teacher and most-likely, not pursue his goals. 

On April 10, 1990, an African American teenager named Phillip Pannell was allegedly fleeing police on foot.  Pannell was brutally shot in the back and killed by Police Officer Gary Spath in Teaneck, New Jersey.  Spath and his partner claimed that Pannell had been reaching in his pocket for a gun. Witnesses maintained that Pannell had his hands raised in surrender.  The day after the shooting, word spread throughout the state of NJ.  Lance Alexander, age 19 heard about this horrible occurrence and decided to set in motion his work on the organization that would cater to the needs of males living in urban neighborhoods.  Eventually, Officer Spath would be charged and acquitted on charges of manslaughter. The case created controversy over the issues of racial profiling, police-community relations, police brutality, police use of deadly force in urban neighborhoods, and the plight of boys and men living in urban communities.    

Both events, along with countless others, led Lance Alexander to spearhead efforts to begin an organization that would assist and mentor boys and men living in and growing up in communities.  Mr. Alexander believes that if he could be told that he could only be what someone else thought he should be; then there are countless other boys and young men in worst predicaments than him, being told the same thing, hence, creating low self-esteem and self-worth.  He wanted to help change the mentality of boys and men through mentorship. It addition, he sought to assist in improving police-community relations, more specifically police-urban male relations. 

Black Brothers United, Inc. is a community-based organization that was initiated in 1982 and founded on May 19, 1991 in Montclair, New Jersey. Ultimately, the organization was incorporated in the state of New Jersey on August 8, 2006.  The Founder and Chairman is Lance Alexander, a person who has dedicated much of his life to the formation of the BBU.