*This date celebrates the founding in 1988 of the organization Amer-I-Can. 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 a practical 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 apparent when, in 1992, Amer-I-Can facilitators initiated a truce between enemy gangs in Watts, California.
The Foundation provides resources to continue this change and 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 aims to cause people to examine their past conditioned behavior patterns and systematically apply proven methods to overcome behaviors that negatively influence 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. Teaching and sharing the program concepts related to individual self-esteem can significantly impact the problems our society disregards, contending that attaining a meaningful life is never too late.
