 NATIONAL NEWS |
'Great Gathering' Attempts to Confront Problems of Black Males
by Pharoh Martin
NNPA National Correspondent
Originally posted 3/10/2010
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - The plight of the African-American male is an issue that has been at the forefront of Black communities for generations. As one of historic cornerstones with enough reach to address this problem, three denominations of the Black church have united to proactively combat the social atrocities facing Black men in an initiative called The Male Investment Plan.
To kick off a dialog, leaders and congregations from the nation’s three largest Black Methodist denominations, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME), African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) and Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Churches came together for the first time in more than 45 years. They convened at the Carolina Coliseum in Columbia, S.C. for a three-day event called the Great Gathering on March 1-3, which organizers say brought out 12,000 people.
''We tried to bring the denominations together to have a conversation as to how they might, in an intentional way, impact some of the ills that are running our communities,'' said Rev. Dr. Staccato Powell, chairman of the Great Gathering.
The event was headlined by speakers Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the non-profit organization the Children's Defense Fund, famed author, lecturer and professor Dr. Cornel West, and author Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu. The musical musing of gospel greats Hezekiah Walker and Marvin Sapp also highlighted the three days of speakers, prayer, and Bible study.
The three Black Methodist denominations have a collective history of over 200 years and a membership base of about seven million between them.
''Something that there is no debate about is that we have to do something to address, in an impressive way, the plight of African-American males,'' Powell said.
The issues include large number of Black men who are incarcerated as opposed to those attending institutions of higher learning; Black-on-Black crime; poverty; unemployment; fatherhood avoidance; and self-esteem issues.
Here are some sobering statistics on Black males:
- Only 41 percent of Black men graduate from high school in the United States, according to Schott Foundation for Public Education.
- More young Black men in the United States have done time than have served in the military or earned a college degree, according to a 2006 study cited by the New York Times.
- According to the Centers for Disease Control, homicide is the leading cause of death among African-American males aged 15-34 years.
''How do we stem the tide of the constant flow of the African-American male going into the judicial system and penal institutions? How do we increase their number s in institutions of higher learning? So it is around that one issue that we coalesced and we put in place what we call the Male Investment Plan,'' Powell said.
The Male Investment Program targets African-American males ages 5 to 25 and helps them in different areas of their lives including economically, educationally, health-wise and spiritually.
''We can't wait until they become 12-years-old. It'll be too late. We have to start at the very outset and instill a core values system that allows them to have respect for self and for others and to recognize that it's really not a fair game,'' Powell said.
To meet this end, the organizers will introduce a Saturday Academy concept in various churches across the country and provide mentorship and workshops on life skills, career, emotional control, educational and spiritual enhancements.
''We will target churches across this country and put in an academy on Saturdays where we will begin to mentor African-American males and tracking them so that we can demonstrate quantitatively the diminution in the prison population and an increase in institutions of higher learning,'' Powell said.
Phase one of the Male Enhancement Program will begin May 2010 in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
The program will be phased in over time in 13 regions across the country.
''We're not interested in the children becoming spiritual,” Powell said. “We want them to have a relationship with Jesus. There's a difference. Our aim is to get them connected with Christian principals and have a relationship to ground them. Just like the gangs recruit. We're going to have to become aggressive with our recruitment process as well.”
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