The son of a long-time friend and fellow MKP member died last week of an opioid overdose. Another brother suicided just two weeks ago. My brother’s best friend shot himself in February. Another succumbed to alcoholism recently. I am tired of these tragic events happening to men I care about and to men I do not know personally. I am tired of holding vigil and sending ‘thoughts and prayers’ of support for the families of these lost brothers.  I am sad and angry that so little is being done to support men learning how to be resilient. I want change- and so does Leonard!

First, some sad and sobering statistics about the plight of men today:

• There were 346 mass shootings in 2017, resulting in 440 dead and 1783 injured.  25% of these are school shootings! All but one perpetrated by men. (Source: gunviolencearchives.com)
• Men commit suicide 7 times more often than women. 
• Men are homicide victims 4 timesas often as women.
• 35,000 male suicides a year in the US…and rising.
• In addition, divorced men are 10 times more likely to suicide than divorced women. (Source: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, AFSP.org)
• In addition, men comprise:
  • 70% of substance abuse treatment admissions.
  • 76% of homicides. (Source: DOJ)
  • 93% of prisoners in the US. (Source: DOJ)
  • 99.3% of 1477 state executions. (Source: Death Penalty Information Ctr.- DPIC) 
  • 99.9% of combat deaths in US history. (Source: DOD)

That’s why we say men are in crisis. We are losing far too many good men and boys. This carnage must stop!  And that is why we wrote our latest book with the working title Wake Up, Grow Up, and Show Up: Calling Men into the 21^stCentury. In it, we have shared our CLASSICS Model, which offers eight powerful dimensions we know work to help men learn resilience, find their purpose and passion for life, connect with others in meaningful ways, and find a spiritual path that works for them.  This model was developed from Leonard and my 35 years of working directly with men all over the planet. It works.

The acronym CLASSICSidentifies eight dimensions that promote healthy masculinity:

C= Connection

L= Love

A= Authenticity

S= Spirituality

S= Sexuality

I= Intention

C= Community

S= Sovereignty 

These principles lay the foundation for men to rewire their masculine selves, shifting from traditional masculine ideology to the new CLASSICS roadmap. More details are contained in our book. Stay tuned as we share more on our blogs posts and our new podcast!