CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - The statistics are frightening and stories heartbreaking as the crisis the envelopes Black youth seems to have no limit and very few willing or able to do anything about it.
Over a warm and relatively pleasant Father’s Day weekend, officials reported gun violence flared in Chicago with some 50 people shot and wounded, seven dead. Among victims were a 16-year-old boy and a 24-year-old police said raised a weapon at officers.
But the plight of Black youth extends beyond violence and includes disproportionate encounters with police, arrest, and imprisonment alongside unemployment, staggering dropout rates and Black males portrayed as thugs and gangbangers. “Gun violence is one of the leading causes of death for teens of color,” according to the Center for American Progress. In 2008 and 2009, gun homicides were the leading cause of death among Black teens and Black males had the highest rates for gun-related deaths.
The violence and image of Black males in Chicago led to Illinois senators calling for the arrest of 18,000 members of the Gangster Disciple street organization.
Despite pain that wracks inner cities, Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan declared the situation is not hopeless, if Black America will unite now and move in accord with the time.
“It is an imperative that all of us who are in positions of leadership over organizations or churches—we have to come together as intelligent human beings to save a generation that will be lost unless we take the proper steps to save our youth. Our youth are suffering. And in truth, it is not their fault,” said the Minister in a message webcast June 15 in the 23rd installment of his lecture series entitled “The Time and What Must Be Done” @ NOI.org/TheTime.
In a strong and spirited message, the Minister warned Blacks fulfill the Bible prophecy of the children of Israel and must accept that their time of bondage in the United States of America, a modern Egypt, is over. The time demands that Blacks accept the promise of God and cease trying to join onto a people who have never treated them fairly and have never desired to accept as equals, he said.
The answer today is the same as yesterday, a desire to use force, and today paramilitary force, to keep Blacks under control, he said, citing a 1960s analysis by Dr. Martin Luther King that outlined problems and solutions for America’s troubled ghettos. Little has changed in unemployment and society’s failures to address the problem of racial injustice and inequality in nearly 50 years since Dr. King’s analysis, said the Minister.
“We have to rise up now and come together a united front to stop the madness,” declared Min. Farrakhan. Lawmakers are asking for millions of dollars to take Black youth off the streets and assign them to prison industry as modern slaves, unable to get jobs when they are released with felony convictions, he continued. But, the Minister added, this is why calamities are increasing on America because of “evil planning against a people that God wants to free from your hand.”
The Nation of Islam functions from the guidance of God, “let us have them (the youth) … we will show you how this can be done,” he said, calling for a cooperative effort between law enforcement, political leaders, activists and religious leaders.
“You don’t love them, but we do,” he said.
Speaking Sunday June 16 at Mosque Maryam, Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad echoed the words of Min. Farrakhan. He talked about the plight of Black youth in Chicago and how despite the Nation’s efforts to reach youth in schools, problems always arise that keep a life-saving message away from young people. Principals and schools will make appointments for a speech, but then come delays and rescheduling no matter how many times administrators are told my schedule is open, recounted Ishmael Muhammad. But, he said, when we speak to the worst youth in the worst schools within 10 minutes there is a change in their behavior as they hear a word of truth.
Instead of accepting a solution, there is fear the children will be made Muslims and others fear disapproval of the Nation’s involvement, he noted. But, Ishmael Muhammad said, why reject a solution and how can you reject help when children are dying.
“It’s not too late but it absolutely requires us to get into action like we have never gotten in action before,” said Phillip Jackson of the Chicago-based Black Star Project, which is devoted to controlling education, connecting parents, in particular fathers, with the educational process in schools and increasing knowledge, awareness and skills among Blacks. The program works with parents and children.
Black America today is in a condition reminiscent of coming out of slavery because we have nothing, Mr. Jackson said bluntly.
Without a change in mindset and action Black America’s trillion spending power, having a Black president and the ability to purchase high cost goods means nothing, he said. Fifty to 60 years after slavery the Honorable Marcus Garvey had factories, a Black nursing corps and a Black army, he noted. “We have a defeatist mindset today,” he said.
But through its work with everyone from pastors, to street organizations, businesses people, schools, mosques, the Black Star pushes active and purposeful education, he explained. The group has a Parent University, a Saturday School program, a citywide parents group, the Million Father March, which has dads takes their children to school on day one and advocates staying involved in schools, plus a radio show, special events and seminars.
“We work with everyone from the Catholic Church to the Gangster Disciples. We work with anybody that wants to bring light,” said Mr. Jackson without apology.
Telling children to go to school isn’t enough, he said. With that message Chicago closed 50 public schools and is putting money into a sports stadium for DePaul University and in Philadelphia, they closed 23 schools and started building a multi-million dollar prison, he added.
“It’s all about skills, education and jobs, if we don’t focus on those three things they will run us off the planet,” said Mr. Jackson. There must be a unified Black effort to provide what is needed, he added.
“At least when we came out of slavery, we knew we were in bad shape. Today we think everything is OK. You are in trouble when you don’t know you are in trouble,” Mr. Jackson said. But, he continued, just 3 in 100 Black males in Chicago finish college; only 39 percent finish high school; and 52 percent of Chicago’s Black men in non-institutional settings, not in school, the military or prison, are unemployed, he said. There is a direct correlation between unemployment and violence, the more unemployment the more violence, Mr. Jackson noted.
But on June 29, the Black Star Project is holding a mass graduation, complete with caps and gowns, for Black males who receive their diplomas this year. The event will be held at Chicago State University at 1 p.m. and will include rapper Lupe Fiasco as one of the main speakers. Young men from throughout the Midwest are expected to attend. The event will be part celebration, part rites of passage, part inspiration and part service connection. The idea is to pull together the few Black males who graduate from individual schools into one place for ties with colleges, open bank accounts, voter registration, mentors, and a place where Black manhood can be redefined.
These young men graduate not ready for life, college or a job so the graduation ceremony is an attempt to help change that, he said. Blacks must create jobs, said Mr. Jackson.
The space at Chicago State holds 5,000 people and Black political and spiritual leaders, businessmen, educators and others have been invited to attend. The program will include African drumming, a libation for the ancestors and men inviting these youth into manhood, he said.
Mr. Jackson says teaching, loving Black boys and creating opportunity for Black boys is the answer, not more police or the National Guard. Illinois Senator Mark Kirk’s plan to take $30 million and lock up thousands of Gangster Disciples is totally off base, he said. That $30 million could do some good if given to use to work with youth, but Blacks can’t wait for others to help or see the light, it’s on us, he stressed.
Sondra Muhammad and Frank Muhammad of the Nation of Islam’s Mosque Maryam in Chicago repeated Min. Farrakhan’s declaration that all is not lost with youth. Sondra Muhammad, a businesswoman and activist, is a founder of Parents Unite to Save Our Children. She works with schools, pastors, recreation centers, youth and parents to serve and inspire youth. The group is mainly composed of Christians, she said. But, she added, there is an understanding that Blacks must work together to carve out a future for their children.
With others, she hosts gatherings that promote anti-violence and feature words from Min. Farrakhan and speakers like Ishmael Muhammad and pastors. The gatherings may include pizza, music and discussions, or focus how to create a job, she said. The children love learning about knowledge of self and unity across religious line works, said Sondra Muhammad. Several weeks ago an anti-violence event at a Chicago Park District field house had to turn away young people because the place was full, she added.
“We go out we try to get (youth) to do for self, we try to give them something to do,” explained Frank Muhammad. “Basically it goes back to like family, it takes a village to raise a nation. It’s trying to raise the youth, to bring them back to God to let them know they are important.”
Generation Opportunity put Black youth unemployment at 22 percent in January.
