Not unlike boys from other races, young African American boys need positive male role models in their lives to demonstrate appropriate behavior. The absence of a father or father figure in the homes of many of our African American boys sometimes requires the community to step in and provide that much needed figure.

In the fall of 2003, Michael Johnson and close friend Steven Ridges decided to volunteer their time working together with children. Feeling frustrated with what they recognized as a glaring problem with the state of the young African American male, Michael and Steven decided to take action. They began working with a small local organization reading to elementary aged boys on the weekends at a local book store. Several months later, they started their own reading program at an after school program at a local YMCA and elementary school. They were quickly joined by Tanya Johnson, a good friend of Mr. Johnson and concerned mother of a young son.

During the period they started the program at the YMCA and school, Michael and Steven also initiated a program at one of the local inner city high schools working with junior class males. As a result of those two programs, Mr. Johnson quickly realized that a majority of the boys in both age groups struggled with reading.

That realization marked the beginning of his focus on researching the unique challenges of young African American males, and his identifying the model for improving the outlook for the young boys. The research culminated in his identifying two blaring issues: 1) the educational Achievement Gap in reading among black males, and 2) the absence of positive male role models in the lives of many African American children. As a result of the findings, he realized a program was needed that could combine a focus on reading improvement with the involvement of positive African American male role models. That set the stage for the formation of a larger scale non-profit organization. He established The Prodigy Project, Inc.