Social Entrepreneur · Writer · Activist · Attorney · Educator
Khary
Lazarre-White
Executive Director & Co-Founder, The Brotherhood Sister Sol
Born and raised in New York City — a novelist, educator, activist and civil rights lawyer whose work centers on the intersection of race, class, gender, education, organizing and the law.
The novel
Passage
★ “Best New Fiction” — The Wall Street JournalPassage tells the story of Warrior, a young Black man navigating the snowy winter streets of Harlem and Brooklyn in 1993 — surrounded by deep family love and a sustaining connection to his history.
“Passage is a work of great originality, pain, and aching beauty.” — Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin, Columbia University
About
Three decades building youth power from Harlem outward.
In 1995, at the age of 21, Khary co-founded The Brotherhood Sister Sol (BroSis) — a now nationally renowned, Harlem-based, comprehensive social justice youth development and educational organization that works on issues of education, organizing and training the field to advance justice.
The organization provides direct service and political education to young people, trains educators across the nation on its model, and organizes to advance social change. Over the last 31 years Khary has been recognized for his leadership in providing some of the most innovative and highly successful practices in the nation.
Latest.
A New York Times feature on BroSis
Khary led the campaign over many years to raise the funds for a new building for The Brotherhood Sister Sol - and then served as project manager for it’s design and construction. The building was completed in spring of 2022 and it’s doors opened in June of 2022. The New York Times chief architectural critic, Michael Kimmelman, wrote a long feature on the building and the work of BroSis.
Read the feature
A Harlem Youth Center Still Thrives in an Uncertain Moment
Three years after the new headquarters opened, New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman returned to West 143rd Street to see how the building — and the work inside it — was holding up. Photographs by Todd Heisler. April 17, 2025.
Read the articleOprah congratulates Khary & Jason
Khary was honored, along with BroSis co-founder Jason Warwin, on May 12th, 2022 - and for that award Oprah Winfrey sent this message.
Legacy - 25 Years of Social Justice Work
A short documentary written and directed by Khary Lazarre-White.
Words of support
What they say about the work.
“Khary is using his passion to uplift and inspire a next generation through extraordinary work that creates leaders and a sanctuary for children where they can develop a higher vision for themselves.”Oprah Winfrey
“Khary Lazarre-White is my hero. I believe so deeply in the life-saving work that The Brotherhood/Sister Sol is dedicated to… it is surely one of the most incredible organizations in the nation. Their work is catalytic!”Susan L. Taylor · Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Essence
“Khary’s commitment to this critical social justice work with very disadvantaged young people is undeniable. He has dedicated his life to this work.”Dr. Pedro Noguera
Recent writings
Essays & commentary.
URBAN AGENDA: America, Manhood and Violence
New York Amsterdam NewsBuilding strong and loving boys — and confronting the toxic masculinity woven through American violence.
Read essayWhiteness in America
RevoltOn the divided state of white America, and the divergent ways of practicing whiteness since the nation’s founding.
Read essayMovement Time in America
MediumHow the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the gross inequalities of our nation — and why budgets are moral documents.
Read essayExplore
A life of service, scholarship and story.
From Harlem to Brown University and Yale Law — three decades building youth power.
Read more 02 The Novel — PassageHis “Best New Fiction” debut, set in the winter streets of 1993 Harlem.
Read more 03 WritingsEssays on race, manhood, movement, whiteness and the crisis of connection.
Read more 04 PressTwo decades of national media on justice, policing and education.
Read more 05 AwardsHonors from Oprah’s Angel Network to the Ford Foundation and beyond.
Read more 06 ContactMedia, speaking engagements, and inquiries about Passage.
Get in touch