We Need A New Movement for Justice and Equality

Fifty years ago, Black people of all walks of life - maids, factory workers, drivers, sharecroppers, teachers, hairdressers, undertakers and others took to the streets in protest of segregation and discrimination. They engaged in decades long campaigns to secure voting rights, access to education, employment opportunity and redress from discrimination. Lives were lost and many people suffered along the way, but thanks to their efforts and sacrifice Black communities made significant economic and social advances, particularly in the South. Unfortunately, the past two decades has seen the steady erosion of that hard won progress. The election of Barack Obama not withstanding, our communities are facing some critical challenges.

Unfortunately, the short term prognosis for many of our communities looks grim. Black youth unemployment in major cities is already in excess of 25%. Overall Black unemployment has long been in double digits. Recent reports have confirmed the disproportionate impact of the mortgage crisis on Black communities. Pres. Obama's economic stimulus plan will help ameliorate some of these problems, but it will take significant policy change - in education, criminal justice, employment development, housing and health to reverse the damage of decades of malign neglect.

There's little dispute about the reality of mass incarceration in the US and its impact on African-American men. Because of racially biased law enforcement, punitive drug laws and sentencing policies Black men are incarcerated at rates more than 10x higher than rates for whites engaged in the same activity. We decry the lack of responsible Black men in our communities but don't see the relationship between their absence and the zero tolerance policies we've adopted and enforced over the past three decades that have effectively created the aptly named "school-to-prison pipeline".

Where is the movement in our communities today to promote the kind of policy changes needed to reverse these trends, especially in the area of criminal justice? Do we really think we can change the trajectory of our youth by only focusing on the schools? We have to change the institutional policies and practices that create barriers to their long term success. How many of us would have the careers and lifestyles we do if our youthful mistakes were criminalized and punished the way they are for thousands of poor Black and Brown youth today? We don't protest the daily police harassment and railroading of our people - we only raise our voices when someone is seriously injured or killed - and only then if the person is perceived as an "innocent" victim. No one mourns the death or incarceration of Black men labeled as 'criminals' or 'gangbangers'.

A recent PBS documentary entitled Crips & Bloods: Made in America included the startling fact that in the gang warfare between the groups just in this small geographic area of Los Angeles, has claimed the lives of more than 15,000 people. That's more than the number of US soldiers lost in both Gulf wars. How many of us know that? How many of us care enough to do something about it? Clearly not the media, which hardly ever covers it, except to decry the violence and promote more gang suppression activities.



Did you know that in 2007 the NYPD made more than 500,000 "stop and frisks"? More than 60% of those stops were of people of color, even in neighborhoods where they are a minority of the population. Less than 1 in 10 stops led to any police action - (e.g. ticket or arrest) but the City still maintains there is insufficient evidence of racial bias. Did you know thousands of young New Yorkers (mostly Black and Latino) are arrested every year for being in a public housing building other than the one they live in - aka 'trespassing'? Did you know that since the implementation of the "zero tolerance" policing policies adopted by former Mayor Giuliani - more than 360,000 New Yorkers have been arrested, booked, detained and arraigned for possessing small amounts of marijuana? Would you be surprised to know that 85% of the arrestees are Black and Latino young men under the age of 25? Did you know that NYS decriminalized marijuana possession in 1977 to "protect young people from the stigma of arrest" for a basically victimless offense?

All these facts are known to the public, especially in African-American and Latino communities, yet there is little public outcry. Mayor Bloomberg has received scant criticism for maintaining the Giuliani policies or extending them by:

• increasing the number of police in NYC public schools;
• reducing availability of affordable housing;
• limiting community control of neighborhood schools and overruling the will of the public with respect to term limits.

Right now it appears he will be reelected with significant support from Black elected officials and community leaders. While I have a great deal of personal respect and regard for many of our leaders, it does feel like they've dropped the ball with respect to these important concerns.

A notable exception is Virgina Representative Bobby Scott, sponsor of the Youth Promise Act.
This legislation if enacted would begin to address some of the root causes of gang violence by redirecting resources towards education, job training, life skills development and family strengthening. The bill has picked up a fair number of supporters in the House but it passage is far from assured. Below is a video of Rep. Scott talking about the bill.



You can support this effort -visit Hear My Votes where you can download an app that lets quickly email or telephone your Congressional representatives.
http://www.hearmyvotes.com.

Street Soldiers: Warfare American Style

Last night my local PBS station aired an amazing documentary that should be viewed by anyone concerned about the current state of young Black men growing up in the abandoned neighborhoods that exist in every major U.S. city. The film is entitled: Crips & Blood - Made in America. For those who saw the 2006 documentary Bastards of the Party, it tells a similar story. Both films are about the history of the Crips & Bloods - the gangs that took root in South Central Los Angeles more than 25 years ago, wreaking havoc on the lives of gang members and the neighborhoods they inhabit. So far the warfare among these two primarily African-American gangs have claimed the lives of more than 15,000 - primarily young people. And that's just the number of the murdered - it doesn't include the number who've been permanently maimed or injured or the tens of thousands languishing away in California's numerous and overcrowded prisons.

The men interviewed for the film describe themselves as growing up in a war zone where to show any sign of weakness or emotion (other than anger) is to risk serious harm or even death. Most acknowledged getting their first gun in their early teens. Because the war has been going on so long - there are now successive generations of Los Angelenos that know nothing except gang membership, shootouts, violence and death. They decried the lack of a father or other positive male role model in their lives and it's obvious that for many, the 'cool' posture and tough image they project is a cover for the pervasive fear and unspoken longing that's just below the surface.

The commentators and community activists discuss the various public policy decisions that have helped create these conditions and keep them in place -

• the decision to invest in prisons over education - California incarcerates more Black men each year than graduate from the state's colleges and universities;
• California has reduced funding for education - especially higher ed at the same time it has engaged in massive prison expansion (it's one of the many consequences of having an aversion to taxes and an attachment to cowboys);
  
• Until recently, the principal response to gang violence has been increased law enforcement and surveillance - particularly of young, Black men in and out of South Central LA;
  
• The adoption of mandatory minimum sentencing, three-strikes and no parole policies have removed large numbers of men from the community for long periods of time - the combination of long incarceration and post-conviction sanctions means that involvement in the criminal justice system becomes a lifetime barrier to advancement and mainstream life, regardless of ability and personal rehabilitation;
• The failure to fulfill on promises for community investment and political inclusion - (after the 1992 rebellion the city created 'Rebuild LA' with a promise of job creation, business development and committed attention to the problems of the area - within 18 mos the initiative was abandoned and with it the fragile truce between the Crips & Bloods)
• The failure of the media to consider urban warfare as newsworthy despite the high number of casualties. There's plenty of media coverage of school shootings which claim the lives of young people in affluent and/or suburban communities, but as noted recently by Bob Herbert in the New York Times, the media is virtually silent about the killings of Black and Latino youth.

One can debate the degree of personal responsibility one should take for the choices one makes in life - but to listen to these brothers it's clear they didn't feel they had a choice. The options available to them in the environment in which they live dictated in the words of one, "I had to put my moral feelings and thoughts aside and become an animal in order to survive".

The film ends on a hopeful note - it features the organized effort of former gang members and formerly incarcerated men to redirect the lives of young men who would otherwise follow their path. They are working in the community to address the fear, anger, frustration, desperation and nihilism that continues to define life for many Black and Latino youth. Most are working without resources and support from local government. Clearly, that needs to change. But more importantly, we need to think about the message we send as a society that continues to endorse war - against real and imagined enemies; that continues it's love affair with guns - including semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles (don't believe the founding fathers had those in mind); elevates results over means (e.g. doesn't matter how you made your $$$ as long as you have it - think Wall St. or doesn't matter if you break int'l conventions and torture people as long as the results are useful). Whether we like to admit it or not - our youth are watching, listening and learning. The Crips & Bloods are a mirror into an aspect of America we prefer to regret - the country that suppressed Black people with fear and violence; that virtually exterminated Native Americans in the name of 'manifest destiny' and believes in an economic system that benefits the few at the expense of the majority............................ These brothers are seeking to make change for themselves and the next generation - the question is will we be enablers of change or continue to maintain the same institutional barriers?