President Obama pledges 'My Brother's Keeper' initiative, plans to keep minorities in school

Coming from Chicago's Southside, raised by a single mother, if anyone knows and understands the hardships of being impoverished, it's President Obama. In his latest initiative, President Obama is looking to lessen some of these woes.

On Thursday (Feb. 27), President Obama called on America's businesses, philanthropists and government leaders to join forces to put more young men on a path towards success.

Among those called upon were The Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Foundation. The foundations were to announce pledges to spend at least $200 million over five years to promote that goal as Obama launches his "My Brother's Keeper" initiative.

Those funds will be used towards improving programs that will keep minorities in school and increasing their chances of going to college.

The White House has high hopes that the initiative will be a success saying it expects money for those programs to grow "exponentially" as major businesses start to pitch in.

President Obama hinted at his pledge to take action just last month when, in his State of the Union address, he said that young, black men face "especially tough odds to stay on track and reach their full potential."

The president and first lady plan to keep this effort going long after President Obama's time in office. Valerie Jarrett, a senior White House adviser, said the Obamas plan to undertake this initiative "for the rest of their lives."

In the past, President Obama has been scrutinized for what some say is a lack of acknowledgement of underprivileged blacks.