New Report: Addressing Critical Issues Among Black Males in Philadelphia

Posted by on April 18, 2011

Community coalition seeks action on needs of black males in city

Last September 30th over a hundred black men came together in Philadelphia to develop a ten-year agenda aimed at addressing the crisis facing black men and boys in Philadelphia.

The group, convened by the Father’s Day Rally Committee, included elected officials, businessmen, community activists, religious leaders, doctors, educators, and people from other professions who came together to confront “the task of articulating and defining the relevant issues that lie at the heart of the crises confronting Black Males in Philadelphia.”

Among the most pressing identified by the group include rampant joblessness and the need for economic development, educational deprivation and decline, violence, incarceration, and   A coalition of black men from a wide variety of professions, including District Attorney Seth Williams and Mayor Michael Nutter, announced last week a series of recommendations for reducing challenges experienced by African American men and boys.

The result of the group’s effort was the publication last week of The Agenda: A Cooperative Approach Towards Addressing Critical Issues Among Black Males in Philadelphia.  At a press conference held in North Philadelphia,  Bilal Qayyum, director of the Father’s Day Rally Committee, said that the report includes recommendations to help improve conditions for black men in the areas of health, education, economic development, and criminal justice.

“We have decided we are going to take ownership of this crisis,” Qayyum said.

Qayyum noted that more than 50% of Philadelphia’s black males are unemployed. “When I use the term jobless, I’m not talking about unemployed,” Qayyum said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.  “I’m talking about folks who have been out of work, can’t find work, and are not being counted by the government.”

Qayyum also noted that of the 3,405 Philadelphians were killed on the streets, 2,458 of them black males.

“We also continue to lead in all the negative statistics regarding health issues such as heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure,” he said.

At a press conference announcing the recommendations, Mayor Nutter said he would reestablish a Mayor’s Commission on African American Males, which was first established by Mayor Goode in 1984.

http://hosted.uwsepa.org/newsletter/theagenda.pdf