Aug
15
2011
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and billionaire philanthropist George Soros are donating $30 million dollars each to their City’s Young Men’s Initiative. The program is designed to address the broad disparities slowing the advancement of black and Latino young men by helping them enter the economic mainstream through educational and employment opportunities. According to Mayor Bloomberg, “Even though skin color in America no longer determines a child’s fate – sadly, it tells us more about a child’s future than it should.” That sentiment is shared here in California, with the fate of boys and men of color drawing the attention of the State Legislature. The Inland Valley News reported last week that less than half of young men of color in California are employed, and “one third of them are incarcerated, on probation, or on parole.” High-school drop-out rates for Black and Latino youth in California are particularly high. On Friday the Los Angeles Times reported that only 68% of Latino and 58% of Black high-school students graduated in the 2008-2009 school year. The numbers are especially dismal when compared with White and Asian students, who graduated at rates of 84% and 89% respectively. To address the challenges faced by California’s male youth of color, the State Legislature created the State Assembly’s Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color. The committee will host a series of hearings throughout the state over the next year, with the first hearing scheduled for Wednesday August 17th in Sacramento. The Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color will bring together state legislators, community leaders, youth, and experts to understand how policy is developed, financed, and delivered in ways that influence young men of color in California.
GUESTS: Jevon Wilkes, youth alumnus of the Bresee Foundation, Manuel Pastor, Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California
The first hearing will be held in Sacramento on Wednesday August 17th at Room 437 at the California State Capitol, 10th street and Capitol Mall Sacramento, CA 95814, from 1:30 to 4 pm.
Future hearings will be held in Los Angeles and throughout the state.
Thank you for having me on the show. Hopefully I have done something to spark the mind of individuals who are willing and ready to step forward and move in a positive direction to molding men of color to being healthy and being successful. We, the youth, are the future invest in the future.
Kudos to those who put this very important issue on California’s agenda. There are those of us who have been working on these issues for years. We have been discounted, marginalized and even targeted, because we raised the issues of disparaties and discrimination affecting Black boys and young men that exceed other minorities, yet the issues were largely ignored especially by funders and elected officials until Latinos was added in the mix. I fully recognize that Latinos and others are being discriminated against, however not at the levels that Blacks are and continue to be. Your statistics listed in the above article is confirms what I’m saying. In addition substantial funding and focus is being given to Latino and Asian orgs working on these issues for their youths and issues while Blacks orgs are not. Hopefully this will change!
Yes, Javon youth are part of our future but, we all share this planet including those who have led the path before you for you to follow. The future is about all of us, that includes those who work unselfishly for the youths, senior citizens, poor, underrepresented, etc. We are investing in our youths and communities, but youth must be unselfish in doing for others as well.
Looking forward to this event and hearing!