The Urban Congress on African American Males in Baton Rouge continued to discuss goals for improving the wellbeing of and opportunities for black males on Thursday evening as dozens of people met at Baton Rouge Community College.
The urban congress identified seven goals at its last meeting in April. They include increasing high school and college graduation rates; enhancing workforce engagement credentials for those without college degrees; increasing the number children ready for kindergarten; increasing access to primary care; and focusing on family, mentoring and community service by building on existing leadership skills in the community.
At Thursday’s meeting its members recommended action items for how to move forward. Among those in the congress is 21-year-old Preston Castille III, a Southern University student with an interest in increasing capital within the black community.
“It’s imperative to circulate money within the community,” said Castille, who also attended the congress’ first meeting in April. “Without capital you cannot create sustainable jobs, you cannot have sustainable education. Without capital, there’s no infrastructure for anything to build upon.”
Cultivating generational wealth by expanding business ownership and financial literacy, as well as increasing access to capital and business opportunities, was also among the goals the congress identified in April.
The urban congress is an offshoot of MetroMorphosis, a nonprofit founded by The Rev. Raymond Jetson of the Star Hill Church. Jetson says the congress’s framework has been to reject to a narrative that says there’s something wrong with black men and boys.
“From the very beginning this work has been about building upon the assets,” he said, adding that there are systemic structures in place that contribute to problems black males face.
The exercises delegates engaged in Thursday night provided feedback for the seven goals identified. Their discussions were meant to determine if the goals comprehensively reflected the conversations that took place in April, and how to connect the goals with other work going on in the community, Jetson said.
Baton Rouge has changed since the congress first convened in April. This month, Baton Rouge police officers shot and killed 37-year-old Alton Sterling, a black man in front of a North Foster Drive convenience store. Sterling’s death was followed up by the shooting of six local law enforcement officers by a lone gunman from Kansas City, Missouri. Three of the officers—Matthew Gerald, 41, Brad Granola, 45, and Montrell Jackson, 32—died.
Hours before the congress convened Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke a memorial for the officers, alongside many local officials, at Healing Place Church.
While the congress focused on the goals on Thursday, organizers didn’t shy away from addressing the events of this past month.
“In many regards the international spotlight Baton Rouge has found itself in adds another dimension and degree of urgency to this work,” said Chris Tyson, broad chair for MetroMorphosis. “But it is in the face of that more than ever that we need to stand on the work that we’ve already been doing.”
—Alexandria Burris
