Be Real for a Minute
Author: D.R. Boatwright

I need you to be honest with yourself for one minute. When you think of a young black man in America what you do think about? Or a better question would be, “When you visualize a black man, what do you see?” Before you answer, don’t say Barack Obama. I’m proud of him just like you are, but he does not represent the average black man. Don’t name any sports stars, rap stars or movie stars, in other words nobody famous. Now what do you see? Having trouble getting a visual…let me help you out. When I look to the left I see a lot of brothers on the block, running the streets, not going to school and being put in prison. When I look to the right I see products of affirmative action. I see quota fillers because somebody said that there aren’t enough blacks in the boardroom, the classroom or in management positions and they feel that by putting 2 or 3 in the mix of about 40 or 50 will solve the problem. The commonality in both situations is the perception. Nationally, the perception is that if you are a black male coming from the inner city or a low income neighborhood you are already too far behind to be a productive member of society. To make it worse, when you actually go into these areas there is no upliftment or encouragement for these young brothers to make their dream a reality. Instead of being implanted with seeds of hope and inspiration by loved ones and mentors they learn lessons of self indulgence in materialistic possessions and that hard work is a worthless endeavor. By not looking at education as a viable option and being indoctrinated with instant gratification they turn to the streets to achieve their goals.

Now I am not naïve in any regard to the current state of America. Inadequate schools, absent parents, racism and lack of labor-related jobs are having a profound effect on black men because this environment is not conducive to success. I think Jay-Z said it best, men and women lie but numbers don’t. Everyone is aware that the perception is black men don’t take care of their children. We already know at 70% of black children are born out of wedlock which puts our youth at a disadvantage from birth. In an article from the USA Today it stated in 2000, 84% of teachers were white, while only 61% of students were white. Blacks made up about 17% of public school students but fewer than 8% of teachers and 38% of public schools had not a single teacher of color. To summarize, it basically says we are underrepresented in education and unfortunately we are overtly represented in jail and prison. For Blacks to make up only 15%-18% of the general U.S. population, but represent over 40% of those incarcerated denotes a serious problem. From the U.S. Justice Department, approximately 10.4% of the entire black male population aged 25-29 was incarcerated…and people wonder why we are in such dire straits. At one of the most pivotal times in the life of a man, a disproportionate amount of us are spending it in prison. The Justice Policy Institute said in 2002 the rate of black men going to prison is 5 times what is was 20 years ago. Add the fact that society maybe willing to forgive, but few second chances are given to those with a record and what you get is what the media calls the “Black Male Crisis”. Despite this picture of hopelessness, I still believe in the fortitude of black men. I know first hand what we are capable of when we are focused on a progressive agenda and the time has come to move forward to save our community.

It’s time to change our mindset. By empowering the minds of young black men with self-awareness, leadership, health and financial literacy we will be making a valued investment in the future of our country. This will also allow our black men to take their rightful place as the pillars of our community and leaders of our families. For generations our community has passed down an attitude that the system will not allow us to succeed. What needs to be understood is that the system itself is not the problem rather that we are not taking advantage of the system to achieve success. A proposal to activate change is to have professional black men mentor our youth. As a firm believer in influence, I believe that direct access to success will evoke the attitude to achieve it. Another suggestion would be to effectively teach parenting and family values. Too often our youth are forced to fend for themselves because the structure they are in is unstable. The foundation that we currently have needs to be rebuilt and this is what EYM represents. “We cultivate dreams by reconstructing reality.” We plan to re-shape the minds of young black men to take back what they willingly let go…their dreams. This is more than a movement to generate traffic on the internet. This is more than a mere social forum to talk about the problems in Black America. Ultimately, this is the groundwork for cultivating the lifestyles of our young men to see success not as privilege for some, but an expectation for all. EYM is not just an idea or a passing fad; we plan to empower what we willingly let go of…our black men.

D.R. Boatwright is a Senior Curriculum Analyst and Writer for Empowered Young Men, an organization designed to reprogram and develop young black men into leaders. Our slogan “Cultivating Dreams by Reconstructing Reality” gets at the essence of what we do. By surrounding young black men with older more successful black men and helping them build a positive network of people from all walks of life to support their dreams, we know that we can get them excited about life, education and the great resources America has to offer.

D.R. Boatwright can be contacted at drboatwright@empoweredyoungmen.org