The ninth annual Intergenerational Black Male Development Symposium on Saturday, May 9 at Arcadia University will discuss strategies for resolving the challenges facing younger and older generations of black males. “Reaching Out for the Brothers: A Call to Action!” will feature more than 50 workshops, a Parent and Professional Development Institute, a Literary Pavilion filled with several well-known authors, and the ever-popular E’s BarberShop Talk. The symposium is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Arcadia’s Glenside campus.

Workshops, dialogue sessions, and specialized sessions for middle school, high school, and college students as well as parents, teachers, counselors, and practitioners feature a variety of topics, including the perspective of a misunderstood male, parenting, the do’s and don’ts of social media, and hip-hop therapy, among many others.

This year’s BarberShop Talk, “And the Beat Goes on: Oldheads Schoolin’ Youngboys; Schoolin’ Oldheads!,” will be broadcast live by WURD 900 AM radio and feature Philadelphia’s barbers and Dr. Howard Stevenson, the Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education at the University of Pennsylvania. BarberShop Talk is a tribute to E. Steven Collins, the late Philadelphia radio icon and civic leader who was a great supporter of the symposium and first moderator of the talk in 2012. This year, BarberShop Talk will be moderated by Brother Eric “Shomari” Grimes, a weekly host on WURD. The symposium’s newest feature, The “He Said—She Said” Sister Circle, will feature relationship coach and writer Summer Willow, who will guide women through honest and healing dialogue about what they really want in a relationship.

The Literary Pavilion will feature Chicago-based author Dr. Obari Cartman’s bestseller, Lady’s Man: Conversations for Young Black Men about Relationships and Manhood, a book that has been hailed as a must-read by Dr. Cornel West and Conrad Worrill. The groundbreaking book REACH: 40 Black Men Speak on Living, Leading, and Succeeding will include the BMDS on its multi-city tour. REACH is co-edited by Ben Jealous, former national CEO of the NAACP, and is a collection of essays from black men including John Legend, Talib Kweli, and Lamman Rucker. Local contributors to the book will lead a workshop and book signing.

To register or for more information, visit www.blackmaledevelopment.com, or contact the BMDS hotline at 215-572-8510 or Angela McNeil at 215-517-2657.