America Is Designed for Young Black Men to Fail

America Is Designed for Young Black Men to Fail  America Is Designed for Young Black Men to Fail Success for Young Black Men In America Is Accidental By Phillip Jackson The Black Star Project  Many people disagree with the title of this commentary. "You don't know what I been through to help make my Black son successful! I worked hard to get my son through school. I fought with gangs. I fought with the school. I fought with teachers. I fought with police. I fought with his friends. I fought with other parents. I held two jobs to pay for tutoring and private school. I moved to an expensive suburb. Please don't call my son's success accidental." That's exactly why I call it "accidental." Black parents, and no parents in America, should have to fight that hard and in those ways to help their sons become successful. An accident is defined as an unplanned, unexpected, and not designed (not purposefully caused) event. Based on the data below, success for most Black males in America is not intentional, not expected, not planned, not the norm and not designed. Most Black males don't succeed because of their education in America, they succeed in spite of their education in America. Therefore, when success happens, it is "accidental." But I leave it to you, the reader, to decide if Black male success is accidental or intentional. Please review the following data and facts, mostly from Chicago, Illinois. Look at the obstacles that a young Black man must overcome to become successful in America. The data, these facts and those odds are why I say, "If a young Black man in America is able to succeed, it is accidental, and not intentional! In fact, America is designed for young Black men to fail!" 1) Only 7 out of 100 (7%) of 8th-grade Black boys in Chicago read proficiently according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. 2) Only 6 out of 100 (6%) of Black male high school students in Chicago will attain a college degree by age 26 according to a study by the University of Chicago's Consortium for Chicago School Research. 3) Only 41 out of 100 (41%) of Black males in Chicago graduate from high according to the Schott Foundation for Public Education. 4) 47 out of 100 (47% - almost half) of young Black men in Chicago ages 20 to 24 years old are not in school and not working beginning one year after finishing high school according to a study from the University of Illinois Chicago Great Cities Institute. 5) 88.5 out of 100 (about 90%) of young Black men between the ages of 16 and 19 are not working in Chicago according to a study by the University of Illinois Chicago Great Cities Institute. 6) 58% of 48,921 prison inmates in Illinois are Black men and about 9,000 detainees in Cook County Jail are Black men at a per year average cost of $22,191 or about $840,000,000 per year according to Illinois Department of Corrections and Cook County Jail statistics. 7) Employers prefer White felons over Blacks with no criminal record according to a Princeton University study. 8) White high schools dropouts are just as likely to have a job as Blacks students with some college according to a study by Young Invincibles. While there is a plan to help people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Israel and other countries around the world, there is no comprehensive plan to help young Black men like the ones mentioned above in Chicago or the ones in your city. Young Black male students have the worst grades, the lowest test scores, and the highest dropout rates of all students in the country. When these young black men don't succeed in school, they are much more likely to succeed in the nation's criminal justice and penitentiary system, in the streets and on the corners of America and in our cemeteries and graveyards. Worst of all is the passivity, neglect and disengagement of the Black community concerning the future of our Black boys. We do little while the future lives of Black boys are being destroyed in record numbers. The schools that Black boys attend prepare them with skills that will make them obsolete before, and if, they graduate. In a strange and perverse way, the Black community, itself, has started to wage a kind of war against young Black men and has become part of this destructive process. Who are young Black women going to marry? Who is going to build and maintain the economies of Black communities? Who is going to anchor strong families in the Black community? Who will young Black boys emulate as they grow into men? Where is the outrage of the Black community at the destruction of its Black boys? Where are the plans and the supportive actions to change this? Is this the beginning of the end of the Black people in America? Please consider these simple goals that can lead to solutions for fixing the problems of young Black men: Short term 1) Teach all Black boys to read at grade level by the third grade and to embrace education. 2) Provide positive role models for Black boys. 3) Create a stable home environment for Black boys that includes contact with their fathers. 4) Ensure that Black boys have a strong spiritual base. 5) Control the negative media influences on Black boys. 6) Teach Black boys to respect all girls and women. 7) Encourage Black boys to provide maximum effort in work and school Long term 1) Invest as much money in educating Black boys as in locking up Black men. 2) Help connect Black boys to a positive vision of themselves in the future. 3) Create high expectations and help Black boys live into those high expectations. 4) Build a positive peer culture for Black boys. 5) Teach Black boys self-discipline, culture and history. 6) Teach Black boys and the communities in which they live to embrace education and life-long learning. 7) Encourage Black men to embrace entrepreneurship, business development and institution building in the Black community.  Phillip Jackson 773.285.9600 Blackstar1000@ameritech.net.    Click Here to invest in the work of The Black Star Project  Click Here to ask President Barack Obama to help young Black men before he leaves office.

Self-sufficiency for those who have paid their debt to society:

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Please read the below Illinois Policy article.

Share with the community.

Written By Bryant Jackson-Green | Criminal Justice Policy Analyst

Without a job, an ex-offender is likely to re-enter the system. Finding work breaks that cycle. Illinois needs major re-entry reforms that remove barriers to employment and work – and give ex-offenders a chance at success

Each year, more than 30,000 people are released from Illinois prisons and face the challenge of re-entering society. And what most ex-offenders want more than anything is to find work so they can provide for themselves and their families.

But even after serving their time, these former offenders face huge obstacles to finding jobs and staying out of prison: bad state policies that make it incredibly difficult for ex-offenders to find work.

Once ex-offenders repay their debt to society, they shouldn’t have additional barriers to turning around their lives and staying out of crime. Illinois should encourage stable, legal employment that allows ex-offenders to support themselves and their families.

That’s not what happens today. The collateral consequences of criminal records punish former offenders even after they’ve completed their sentences. People with criminal records can be banned from getting educational loans, renting property in some areas, and working in at least 118 different occupations. And the stigma of a criminal record makes some private employers reluctant to look at job applications from former offenders.

Many reform advocates support “ban the box” policies that require businesses not to ask about an applicant’s record until after an interview as a way to help former offenders find work. But the downside of ban the box is that it creates burdensome regulations with which small businesses may struggle to comply, and may just shift rejection to later in the application process.

Gov. Bruce Rauner is aiming to reduce Illinois’ prison population by 25 percent by 2025. To accomplish this, the state needs sentencing reform and alternatives to incarceration, such as drug and mental health courts. But Illinois also needs to fix what happens after incarceration. Can ex-offenders find meaningful work, support their families, and get their lives back on track? If they could, nearly 50 percent of men and women who serve their time in prison would not return within three years.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Research from the Safer Foundation shows that Illinois ex-offenders who are employed a year after release can have a recidivism rate as low as 16 percent. Success is possible, but only with employment.

To encourage employment and self-sufficiency among former offenders, Illinois should lift restrictions that keep ex-offenders out of work and craft pro-growth policy solutions to create more economic opportunity. Finding a well-paying job soon after release is essential to making a successful transition from prison.

Here are three concrete ways the state can accomplish this:

• Sealing expansion: Allow most nonviolent offenders the chance to apply to have their criminal records sealed as soon as they successfully complete their prison sentences or parole, if applicable.

• Business-liability reform: Protect businesses from lawsuits based solely on hiring an employee with a criminal record.

• Occupational-licensing reform: Remove legal barriers that prevent former offenders from working in most licensed occupations.

Adopting meaningful reforms can help Illinois save taxpayer dollars by making it less likely that former offenders will be unemployed and fall back into crime. Studies have shown that recidivism – the rate at which former offenders relapse into crime – is substantially lower for those who find work than for those who remain unemployed.

Even a small decline in recidivism, just 1 percent, for example, would save the state $108.2 million over nine years in tax dollars, victimization costs and lost economic activity, according to an estimate by the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council.

The easier it is for former offenders to find legal employment, the easier it will be for them to move from dependency to becoming productive taxpayers – and stay out of crime.

Stay Safe and Alert!!!

Later, Leroy Duncan

Community Representative

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Please read the below Illinois Policy article. Share with the community. Written By Bryant Jackson-Green | Criminal Justice Policy Analyst Without a job, an ex-offender is likely to re-enter the system. Finding work breaks that cycle. Illinois needs major re-entry reforms that remove barriers to employment and work – and give ex-offenders a chance at success Each year, more than 30,000 people are released from Illinois prisons and face the challenge of re-entering society. And what most ex-offenders want more than anything is to find work so they can provide for themselves and their families. But even after serving their time, these former offenders face huge obstacles to finding jobs and staying out of prison: bad state policies that make it incredibly difficult for ex-offenders to find work. Once ex-offenders repay their debt to society, they shouldn’t have additional barriers to turning around their lives and staying out of crime. Illinois should encourage stable, legal employment that allows ex-offenders to support themselves and their families. That’s not what happens today. The collateral consequences of criminal records punish former offenders even after they’ve completed their sentences. People with criminal records can be banned from getting educational loans, renting property in some areas, and working in at least 118 different occupations. And the stigma of a criminal record makes some private employers reluctant to look at job applications from former offenders. Many reform advocates support “ban the box” policies that require businesses not to ask about an applicant’s record until after an interview as a way to help former offenders find work. But the downside of ban the box is that it creates burdensome regulations with which small businesses may struggle to comply, and may just shift rejection to later in the application process. Gov. Bruce Rauner is aiming to reduce Illinois’ prison population by 25 percent by 2025. To accomplish this, the state needs sentencing reform and alternatives to incarceration, such as drug and mental health courts. But Illinois also needs to fix what happens after incarceration. Can ex-offenders find meaningful work, support their families, and get their lives back on track? If they could, nearly 50 percent of men and women who serve their time in prison would not return within three years. It doesn’t have to be this way. Research from the Safer Foundation shows that Illinois ex-offenders who are employed a year after release can have a recidivism rate as low as 16 percent. Success is possible, but only with employment. To encourage employment and self-sufficiency among former offenders, Illinois should lift restrictions that keep ex-offenders out of work and craft pro-growth policy solutions to create more economic opportunity. Finding a well-paying job soon after release is essential to making a successful transition from prison. Here are three concrete ways the state can accomplish this: Sealing expansion: Allow most nonviolent offenders the chance to apply to have their criminal records sealed as soon as they successfully complete their prison sentences or parole, if applicable. Business-liability reform: Protect businesses from lawsuits based solely on hiring an employee with a criminal record. Occupational-licensing reform: Remove legal barriers that prevent former offenders from working in most licensed occupations. Adopting meaningful reforms can help Illinois save taxpayer dollars by making it less likely that former offenders will be unemployed and fall back into crime. Studies have shown that recidivism – the rate at which former offenders relapse into crime – is substantially lower for those who find work than for those who remain unemployed. Even a small decline in recidivism, just 1 percent, for example, would save the state $108.2 million over nine years in tax dollars, victimization costs and lost economic activity, according to an estimate by the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council. The easier it is for former offenders to find legal employment, the easier it will be for them to move from dependency to becoming productive taxpayers – and stay out of crime. Stay Safe and Alert!!! Later, Leroy Duncan Community Representative

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TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GABBY DOUGLAS CLICK HERE  THE VIEW. . . ‘The View’ will be returning for its 20th season and the show has named Candi Carter as

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THE VIEW. . . CANDI CARTER ‘The View’ will be returning for its 20th season and the show has named Candi Carter as its new executive producer, making her the first Black woman to do the job. Carter has served as the interim showrunner on “The View” since September to help reboot the talk show, that has struggled since creator Barbara Walters retired in May 2013. Carter spent 15 years as a supervising producer at “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and has produced for BET. Congrats to Candi! Maybe the show just needs some black girl magic. . .