Crisis in Black male unemployment - empowerment breakfast held

he second in a series of Empowerment Breakfast Meetings was held on Saturday, July 17^th at the House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn. Attended by many community activists, organizers and leaders, its purpose was to provide an update on what is being done by New York City Council Members to alleviate the crisis in Black male unemployment, which has hit a shocking 51% in New York City.

Paul Washington, Chief of Staff to Council Member Charles Barron, called the meeting to order. He then introduced the church’s Senior Pastor, Rev. Herbert Daughtry. In his opening remarks Daughtry spoke about the fact that in this country a job is more than a job. It’s tied to a person’s self-esteem, because people are judged by their material possessions. "Obviously you are who you define yourself as being, whether you have a job or not," Daughtry said. "But in reality, for so many people, not having a job makes them feel there’s something wrong with them. Seldom do they look at the structural arrangement that perpetuates unemployment."

Council Member and mayoral candidate Charles Barron continued the theme of structural unemployment, making it clear that certainly job training and job placement programs can be a good start, but what’s really needed are serious job creation programs. "Why can’t they take a couple of billion dollars and put it into infrastructure - a "Rebuild New York" program where they hire us, the new majority?" he asked. "Rebuilding the roads, the bridges - if we built pyramids, we can fix potholes!"

Council Member Letitia James spoke very much to the point as well. She outlined the colossal amount of construction being planned in her Downtown Brooklyn district alone: waterfront development, renovation of Brooklyn Bridge Park, expansion of the Navy Yard and, of course, the proposed arena. "This is billions and billions of dollars of construction work and everyone is saying ‘Great’, and the City Administration is talking about jobs, jobs, jobs," she said. "But jobs for who?"

James went on to point out that a big part of the problem is that the construction industry has had a pattern and practice of discrimination that must be dealt with. "How can we talk about job opportunities when the construction trade industry has consistently turned their backs on us?" she asked.

Deputy Majority Leader Bill Perkins also spoke valuably about the fact that "What we’re dealing with here today is not a New York City phenomenon, but a national problem."

He brought the audience up to date about the $10 million allocation in the City Budget to deal with unemployment. He said that while the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus are proud to have gotten the City Council to respond, they know that it is, at best, a band-aid for a situation that requires radical surgery. "And the radical surgery cannot take place on the basis of a $10 million dollar allocation in a $47 billion City Budget," Perkins declared. "It ultimately requires a federal non-discriminatory full employment policy."

Council Member and Congressional candidate Yvette Clarke addressed the audience as well. She spoke about some strategies for mobilizing "the people in our communities who are so overwhelmed by their circumstances that they don’t see a way out, and who haven’t been educated to the level of consciousness where they know what it means to participate in their own empowerment."

Also speaking was Asquith Reid, Chief of Staff to Council Member Kendall Stewart who wasn’t able to be there, but who has consistently and forcefully championed the efforts to deal with this problem. Reid spoke about the dire situation of unemployment in their immigrant community where they have countless problems with getting minority contractors financed, being bonded and receiving certification.

When the floor was thrown open for questions, many important issues were brought up. For example, Andre Mitchell asked that special emphasis be placed on serving formerly incarcerated individuals because the majority of young people in incarceration are coming right back to the community. "They come out and want to do right, but every door is closed and their hands are tied," stated Mitchell. "That’s what keeps recidivism going."

Barron answered that there was already a component in the $10 million allocation for the 18 to 26 year olds for exactly this reason. He said that they were working on giving incentives to corporations to hire the formerly incarcerated and also to put more money into training programs.

This interchange was especially affecting because one brother in attendance, Khalil Mustafa, shared with the attendees that he had served 22 years, and now that he’s out, he’s struggling with unemployment and homelessness. The audience listened attentively as he told of some of his own efforts to obtain employment, and the plight he sees others in as they try, for example, to sell CDs rather than sell dope. However, they’re harassed and arrested for attempting to make a living in this manner.

Also present at the meeting were the noted psychiatrist James McIntosh, from the Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to African People, Shep Daniels from the original Black Panther Party and several members of the House of the Lord Church from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. They made it clear that the issues spoken of were very relevant to the massive unemployment problems faced by their communities as well.