As an educator, I think the solutions start with improving and reforming public education. Young blk kids read at higher rates than their white peers during pre-school ages but by the time they are in the 3rd grade, they are years behind. The way black schools and programs have been completely gutted politically has had a nasty impact on young blk boys in particular who are incredibly impacted by the school to prison pipeline.
If we had strong black male teachers and leaders in schools, a better authentic curriculum that emphasized critical thinking, real life skills, social skills, and challenging content centered around African American culture, and REAL guidance for black students to help combat lies and myths about how to build black wealth and success so that they came out of high school with certifications, lucrative college and financial aid packages, or job training-just this educational variable alone could literally reverse these suicide rates and stop a lot of this shyt in its tracks. That’s why people literally migrate thousands of miles to give their children the opportunity to get a better education.
I have longitudinal data on children who had access to early childhood programs and their post life outcomes vs those who did not. The differences are astounding. Even if they grew up in the hood or in toxic family structures, access to quality educational services literally resulted in drastic statistically significant positive outcomes such as decreased rates of incarceration, increased income, increased rates of homeownership, ect.
But many of the programs are no longer in place because they were defunded. If you wanna stop black male suicide in its tracks…start where they spend
180 days a year, 5 days a week, 8 hours a day, for 12-14 developmental years. You want better workers? Better communicators? More highly trained workforce ready and motivated with good work ethic? More psychologically and mentally and socially adept young men? More well-rounded and cultured young men? Improve this sorry nation’s school system. So that we have a school-to-success pipeline, instead of a school-to-prison/depression/suicide pipeline.
Besides some of the fukkery Dr. Umar is on now…I honestly think his heart and mind was in the right place. After I defend this spring, I want to build a K-12 Black American school system designed specifically for underperforming blk students from low income communities. Regardless of socioeconomics, family structures, and barriers, schools could be transformative safe spaces for blacks, particularly our males if done right.
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