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A new book entitled “Changing Places: How Communities Will Improve the Health of Boys of Color,” explores how poor health experienced by young men and boys of color can be traced to what is called a “triple jeopardy” of growing up in poor families, poor neighborhoods, and going to bad schools. The book is being launched at a 2 day symposium in Los Angeles that starts today. It is being touted as “the nation’s first research and policy symposium focused on the well-being of boys and young men of color.” Writing in the LA Times this week, one of the speakers at the Symposium, David L. Kirp cites alarming statistics: “Across the country, fewer than half of all black males graduate from high school, compared with 78% of white males. In Los Angeles, the situation is similarly grim: Just 41% of black males graduate, compared with 58% of white males.” African American, Latino, and Native American boys have scored well below their white counterparts in most indicators of education, employment, wealth, and health.

GUEST: Manuel Pastor, Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California

Find out more at www.boysandmenofcolor.org.