President Obama officially launched his new initiative called My Brother's Keeper, in an effort to help young men of color on Thursday, Feb. 27. 

The 44th President spoke frankly about his experience as a young African American male and pledged to help young men of color overcome disproportionate challenges and adversity. 

"There are some Americans who are consistently doing worse in our society. Groups that have had the odds stacked against them in unique ways that require unique solutions. By almost every measure the group facing some of the most severe challenges in this county are young boys of color," he said. 

President Obama explained that he grew up in an environment that was very forgiving and that his family never gave up on him despite his mistakes as a youth. "If I didn't listen, they said it again, they would give me second and third chances, they never gave up on me so I didn't give up on myself." 

President Obama also touched on the fact he was raised without a father. 

"I didn't have a dad in the house and I was angry about it, even though I didn't necessarily realize it at the time," he said. 

During the major announcement, President Obama gave statistics on young men color who grew up fatherless. 

"If you are African American, there is about 1 in 2 chances you grew up without a father in your house,  if you are Latino, you have about 1 in 4 chances. We know that boys who grow up without a father are more likely to be poor and under perform in school," he added. 

The driving force behind the initiative was to insure greater opportunities for young men of color.

African American males are twice as likely to be held back in elementary school. Three times as likely to be suspended from school and half as likely to graduate from college, this is known as the "black male achievement gap."

The new initiative was also a response to race-related issues and tension, such as the shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida, and more recently,  Jordan Davis, who was shot by Michael Dunn for playing loud music. 

Parents of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis attended Thursday's event. 

President Obama claimed My Brother's Keeper is not a new big government program.

"What we're talking about today with My Brother's Keeper is a more focused effort on boys and young men of color who are having a particularly tough time. Government cannot play the only even the primary role, we can't replace the power of the parent," he said. 

On Wednesday, Feb. 26, Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia joined seventeen mayor from two-hundred cities in New Orleans for Cities United, a conference aimed to stop the violence and killings of African American men and boys.

Mayor Nutter commented on President Obama's new initiative. 

"As the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia and a co-founder of Cities United, I stand with President Obama in pledging to do all that I can to stop the violence against African American men and boys.  In Philadelphia, young African-American men and boys are 80 percent  of the homicide victims and 75 percent of all the arrests we make for violent crime."