PHILADELPHIA — Numerous organizations intent on reversing alarming disparities in high school and college drop out and incarceration rates among Black males gathered in Philadelphia this week for a Call to Action Summit, sponsored by the Presidents’ Round Table of African-American CEOs, a group of Black community college presidents. Summit participants were tasked with developing concrete action plans to remedy what many call a Black male “crisis.”
“The Presidents’ Round Table thought it was critical that we bring individuals together to make certain that we recognize and understand the critical need for us to move,” said Dr. Charles A. Taylor, convener of the Round Table and president of Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, Va. “I don’t want to be here five years from now and continue to talk about the crisis. … We have all the statistics, we have all the research, now is the time to stop talking and start doing,” he added.
Andrew Jones, Round Table secretary and Dallas County Community College District vice chancellor for academic affairs, added context to the discussion in his remarks before the assembled crowd, which included community college presidents from across the nation.
“In most of our major cities in this country, less than 50 percent of African-American males graduate from high school. In some cases, 80 percent of the state prison population is African-American males, where you might have as little as 4 percent in the general population,” Jones said. “We know that it’s not the kind of thing to lay the foundation for healthy economies, a healthy society and a safe society. We’re here today to help us galvanize our efforts and make sure this never again becomes typical,” he added.
During the summit, participants were broken down into six groups tasked with developing recommendations on how to address various key components of the Round Table’s Black male initiative. The groups developed action plans on establishing a central clearinghouse of information on Black male initiatives nationwide, identifying funding resources, enhancing data collection and collaboration, launching effective marketing campaigns, and influencing public policy.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D) joined the public policy group discussion and then gave a heartfelt address to summit participants delivered without prepared notes or a teleprompter. During his speech, he laid out some sobering statistics, noting the city of Philadelphia has a 45 percent overall high school drop out rate. More than 50 percent of Black males in Philadelphia high schools drop out, and nearly 60 percent of Hispanic males drop out, he noted.
Nutter said high drop out rates only help feed Philadelphia’s violent crime rate, ranked highest among the 10 largest cities in the United States. Critical to stemming crime is boosting access to education, Nutter added, outlining his reasons for proposing a $4 million dollar community college funding increase.
