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According to statistics, nearly one in eight black men between the ages of 25-29 is incarcerated. The number one cause of death for black boys is homicide. The majority of black students in the fourth grade are functionally illiterate and half of all black boys fail to graduate high school.

Dozens of black men will gather on Dec. 5 to hold a candid discussion about what can be done to address the problem.

Emerging Leaders Mentorship Program is hosting “Black Men Talk,” a breakfast meeting at the Main Library’s Francis Auditorium, 310 N. Tryon St. from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

ELMP Program Director Brian Freeland said he believes the discussion is necessary to increase awareness of the severity of the crisis. “People need to be abreast of what is really going on and how bad it’s actually getting,” he said. “I don’t think they are looking at the long term effect of this.”

Freeland said the crisis affecting black male teens is a lack of opportunity. “That lack of opportunity comes from not understanding the purpose of education, and also being disengaged from the collective whole,” he said. “the masses of America for the most part understand that globally the economy is changing, and these guys are still thinking about being a criminal, but the day of the criminal is gone because he really has no place in society.”

Freeland said the black community has failed to deal with the consequences of life after crime. “We haven’t talked the economic liability. We have briefly discussed that black males have the highest unemployment rates, but why? Don’t you think that has anything to do with recidivism, and not being able to get a job because you are incarceration? The conversation is truly not in depth enough.”

Freeland said the time for that conversation is now. “As black men, we must own this problem and intervene to help the next generation realize their full potential,” he said.

Freeland believes too black male teens throw their lives away because they lack positive role models and effective leaderships. Harsh and cruel life experiences lead many youth to believe that they are alone and no on cares, but ELMP seeks to dispel that myth through mentorship.

For more information log onto www.theELMP.com.

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