My Brother's Keeper Alliance
We Are The Ones
We Are The Ones
“We’re the ones to not give excuses, to not wait for permission to challenge biases.”
In 2014, President Barack Obama launched an initiative called My Brother’s Keeper, a program with the goal of closing opportunity gaps for boys and young men of color. In 2015 it was established as My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, an independent, nonprofit organization, to sustain this mission. Following President Obama’s departure from The White House, MBKA has now become a core initiative of the Obama Foundation.
We collaborated with Matter Unlimited, an agency focused on creating socially-minded campaigns for brands and nonprofits, to produce and direct a film set to launch alongside “The Keeper’s Code,” the digital aspect of MBKA’s campaign, based around six principles inspired by conversations with young men of color across the country. We immediately responded to Matter’s mission to re-engage the public with MBKA and help encourage young Americans to become allies to young men and boys of color in their fight against the injustices they face.
“For our children, and our neighbor's children, because our futures are all tied together.”
The resulting film, “We are the Ones,” serves as a call to action — a way to encourage young people to join the national conversation about systemic racial issues and provide support for young men of color. The film features NBA player Steph Curry, Chance the Rapper and President Barack Obama himself. It’s always fulfilling to collaborate with organizations like MBKA, but working with these three legends was an incredible honor and a humbling opportunity.
The campaign launched December 25th, 2017, with the spot airing on ABC as part of a pre-game show for the NBA’s Christmas games. “We are the Ones” garnered national press coverage and support from major publications like Washington Post, USA Today, People, Esquire, and AdWeek and received significant attention across all social media platforms. As a result, thousands signed up to “Join the Alliance” through the MBKA website.
We’re thrilled to have made this film for an organization encouraging us all to understand injustices in our society and support those who face them everyday.
“I am my brother’s keeper. We are the ones.”