NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) – New York City is not a friendly place for young Black males, according to Bob Law, state co-chairman of the local organizing committees for the Millions More Movement. “We have to decide that we have the responsibility for stabilizing our community,” Mr. Law explained to those, who back in November, attended a Brooklyn LOC rally to ‘stop the violence.’
New York City saw a 17 percent jump (6,867) in juvenile delinquency cases in Family Court in 2005, according to an NYPD database. Another alarming statistic is that 93 percent of those committing murder in the city are between the ages of 18 to 24; and 90 percent of that number are Black and Latino. Fifty-seven percent of homicide victims are between the ages of 25-40 with 82 percent being male–90 percent Black and Latino.
A recent report entitled “Fight Crime: Invest In Kids,” written by professors from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the City University of New York states: “On school days, the prime time for youth crime in New York is from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The crimes that occur are serious and violent, including murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults.”
›“We must find the means as a community to begin to raise Black boys into strong Black men,” Mr. Law explained to a gathering of concerned citizens in Brooklyn on Dec. 13, the occasion was an “Evening of Dinner and Dialogue.”
Heading the dialogue was activist and author, Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, Ph.D. who laid out for the audience some rather compelling data. “In 1920, 90 percent of Black youth had a father in the home. In 1960 that number had dropped to 80 percent; and in 2006 32 percent,” the author of some 27 books stated.
Dr. Kunjufu also stated that 75 percent of Black males in jail come from failing schools; and cannot read above a sixth grade level.
Gary Beidleman is a principal at the Foundations Academy in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. “Parents have to have more trust in the school system and of course we need more parental involvement,” Mr. Beidleman said.
Mr. Law said that the ultimate goal of the SOS program is to develop ‘peace keepers units’ that will patrol the streets in the Black community of New York City’s five boroughs.
(Jerry Muhammad contributed to this article)
›