Obama forms nonprofit to aid young minorities: 'America's future depends on us caring about this'

President Obama
(Image credit: Chris Kleponis-Pool/Gettt Images)

President Obama on Monday announced the formation of a nonprofit organization intended to expand opportunities for young male minorities, saying the work would remain a mission "for the rest of my life."

"America's future depends on us caring about this," Obama said at an event in New York to unveil the organization.

The nonprofit, the My Brother's Keeper Alliance, is an offshoot of the My Brother's Keeper initiative Obama launched last year to help young men of color reach the American dream.

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The rollout came as racial unrest continued to roil Baltimore following the death in police custody of an unarmed black man, Freddie Gray. Though Obama did not address the incident as directly as he did last week, he touched on the same themes of discontent and disconnect at the heart of protests surrounding Gray's death when arguing for the nonprofit's importance.

"The only difference between me and a lot of other young men," Obama said. "is that I grew up in an environment that was a little more forgiving."

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.