It's all about the parents seeing a certain level of dedication and caringness that can spark there interest levels...
yeah..i'm sure it's comforting for black parents to have a colored face helping their community out and helping their children..but from experience..my much lighter complextion has had nann effect on my efforts toward bettering a community...when a parent sees the shine..smile..sparkle on their childrens face from my involvement in their lives...the color issue gets thrown out the fuckin' window...it's all about the level of professionalism u use...if ure doing good things for ANY community/children of any color and show a HIGH level of concern, care and interest...it comes back to you in higher forms than one can imagine...specially the love....
but the key is a face to face interaction...a voice..something to motivate these parents and someone real in the involvement