| Black Empowerment Under The Microscope |
| Written by Peter Wairegi |
 “THE WORST OF TIMES AND THE BEST OF TIMES”In keeping with February as a month in which we celebrate love and black pride I decided the best way for me translate that with our readers was to share a recent speaking engagement I had. I was invited as a presenter at the 11th Annual Black Issues conference, which took place on February 6, 2010 at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. My presentation centered on Building a Bridge for African American Future Entrepreneurs and Leaders through Engagement. I started by discussing the changing landscape of the Black community. My topic explored the four critical issues facing the black community. 1) The rise of single parent families and its impact on black youth. The census figures show that nearly 6 million black children grow up with one parent and seven out of 10 children are born to unwed mothers. While this by itself is not the only factor confronting the future of families in the black community, it has far reaching crippling effects to the future generation. I outlined some practical solutions such as a value centered lifestyle that can reverse this trend. We must offer family value, social education and support, better communication, more community centered value system and less on individual centered approach. We must teach the youth high morals and respect for the institution of marriage. In addition more men must take responsibility for raising families and embrace better conflict resolution. 2) The second critical issue is the eroding education performance and commitment to higher learning. A recent study by Harvard University showed that one student drops out every 25 seconds. Compounded that figure translates into 7,000 per day or 1.25 million per year. This is more common in black America largest cities such as Detroit, Cleveland and Baltimore where the drop out rate was 70% Education advancement, affordability and retention proves to be a constant struggle against reduction in budget and much lower test scores in predominantly black community schools. This trend affects the student's future employment prospects, learning potential, standard of living and that of the blacks in the community and ultimately the black family in general. 3) The third critical issue is health prevention and management of disorders which are disproportionate in black communities such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Most critical is the aggressive intervention and behavior modification to fight infectious disease such as HIV-AIDS. African Americans constitute 13% of the American population but account for 50% of the 40,000 new cases of HIV-AIDS diagnosed every year. One of the causes for this increase is because of the unparallel use of drugs and poor living standards. This phenomenon was even more acute when a report in 2005 showed that Black women account for nearly 2/3 of all new cases among women. The figures can be partially attributed to unprotected sex, chronic drug use and late access to proper health care. 4) The fourth critical issue of concern is adapting to changing economy and demographics, which has resulted in high unemployment among African Americans. This changing environment and reduced access to capital has made the situation that much more desperate. New initiatives and strategies will be needed to jumpstart this group in this very key area of economic empowerment. I believe that adapting to the changing environment and building strong communities is the blueprint to facilitate this growth. High employment and poverty are some of the key limiting factors to individual and community growth. A large number of single parents hold entry level jobs, two or three at times to make ends meet which means they are not at home in a supervisory capacity. The children are then affected as they are left to fend for themselves with little or limited supervision and absent role models. The cycle repeats itself hence the current dilemma of failing black families and by extension their communities. I challenged the delegate and all leaders to join me in implementing the necessary strategies to uplift our youth and in turn the community to action in solving these and many other problems that plague our communities. It is quite clear that the black youth in today's market are ill prepared for the real world and trail in economic productivity. We must teach entrepreneurship, innovation and personal responsibility to our youth. Parents must lead by example and build bridges and effective networking social initiatives. Engagement requires us all to understand that this is a process. The desired result will be a more durable and successful family unit, which will foster strong families and hence growing community. This is good not only for individual enrichment but for our national growth. As a famous African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child,” let's all do our part and make significant contributions to support our youth and lives of all those we touch. Show your love and pride by building strong bridges for African Americans future entrepreneurs and leaders through engagement. By finding solutions to issue facing the black community, then we can in turn change our obstacles into opportunities. This will aid in the building of an empowered black community. Mzee Peter Wairegi Publisher and CEO |
