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The Challenge Before Us is to Be a Part of the Solution
If you read our previous column, Saving Young Black Men—Hope for 2024, you’re already aware that one of our foremost concerns is raising awareness about the growing challenges young Black men face and exploring alternatives to the cycle of violence that has become all too common.
The thought that we might slowly, even unconsciously, allow it to be “okay” for our Black men to become—dare we say it?—expendable is truly alarming. Consider the fact that 24% of African American male students drop out of Chicago high schools, 45% of Black men between the ages of 20 and 24 are out of school and unemployed, and more than 65% of the prison population consists of Black men. These are staggering statistics, underscoring that more young Black men end up incarcerated today than at any time since the end of slavery.
If we don’t elevate our awareness and take action to address how this crisis is crippling our families and stunting the growth of our communities, it would be as if we are suffering from amnesia—forgetting the long, hard battles for freedom and equality. These fights started long before Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad and continued through the Civil Rights Movement, and they persist today in the ongoing struggle for equal rights, opportunities, and pay in the business and corporate arenas.
While we acknowledge that many families, and especially our youth, face uphill battles, we also believe their situation is not hopeless. Across the nation, and particularly in Chicago, there are countless institutions, programs, and people ready to offer help. The effort to find realistic solutions for our specific challenges may be difficult, but it is necessary.
Visionaries like Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr., U.S. Congressman Danny Davis, and Illinois Senate President Emil Jones have made improving the condition of African Americans their top priority. Congressman Davis recently expanded his work by issuing a national challenge to Black men of all ages to take responsibility as students, husbands, and fathers. President Jones has been vigorously engaged in legislative battles, fighting for police accountability, particularly when false testimony in court leads to the wrongful incarceration of innocent men, stripping them of their freedom and dignity.
Former CHA executive Phillip Jackson, after reading my column, reminded me that his Black Star Project continues its vital work. With a tireless commitment to education, Jackson dedicates every day to finding solutions for the plight of young Black men. Similarly, Attorney Arvin Boddie, a member of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, believes that for too long, African American parents have not shielded their children from the dangers of guns and drugs. He emphasizes the need for parents to instill critical philosophical values that can guide their children through adolescence and into productive, career-focused adulthood.
There is a tremendous amount of work ahead of us if we are to prevent the devastation caused by mis-education and under-education from turning our youth into prey for racial and economic exploitation, leaving them vulnerable to the injustices of the criminal justice system. As the renowned activist Eldridge Cleaver once said, “If we are not a part of the solution, we are a part of the problem.”