*The founding in 1988 of the organization Amer-I-Can is celebrated on this date. Amer-I-can comprises a non-profit organization, The Amer-I-can Foundation For Social Change, and a for-profit organization, The Amer-I-can Program, Inc.
National Football League Hall of Fame fullback, motion picture actor, and activist Jim Brown founded the Amer-I-Can Program. It is an effective life management skills and human development program designed to help anyone regardless of race, age, religion, gender, or socioeconomic conditions. It allows persons to experience success by providing them with the tools to overcome obstacles and achieve their full potential. The Amer-I-Can Program emphasizes enriching self-esteem, achieving success through self-determination, and producing an attitude change from "I-CAN'T to I-CAN."
In 1993, the Amer-I-Can Foundation For Social Change was incorporated as a non-profit organization to expand Amer-I-Can services to communities and individuals that would otherwise be unavailable because of financial hardship. The need for the Foundation became clear when, in 1992, Amer-I-Can facilitators initiated a truce between enemy gangs in Watts, California.
The Foundation provides resources to continue this change to bring peace and social transformation. The Amer-I-Can Program is a 60 to 90-hour, 15-chapter Life Management Skills curriculum designed to empower individuals to take charge of their lives and achieve their full potential.
The program's objective is to cause one to examine their past conditioned behavior patterns and systematically apply proven methods to overcome behavior that negatively influenced their lives. The beauty of The Amer-I-Can Program is that it applies to all people as it transcends race, age, gender, religion, and socioeconomic status. I believe that teaching and sharing the program concepts related to individual self-esteem can significantly impact the problems our society disregards, contending that it is never too late to attain a full, meaningful life.
