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State of the African American Male
Mission Statement
The state of the African American male (SAAM) Initiative facilitates dialogue between individuals and organizations addressing the issues significantly affecting African American males. SAAM will create networks that are actively involved in and empowered by the democratic process to improve the conditions of these men and boys.
SAAM Organization
Congressman Danny K. Davis and Richard Boykin, a young minister and attorney who serves as his Chief of Staff, began the SAAM Initiative in May 2003. The Initiative seeks to better understand some of the historical, psychological, economic, and social challenges prohibiting upward mobility for many African American males. In addition, it seeks to assess the impact of the larger society on the current condition of African American males, and the role it should play in empowering these men and boys to overcome barriers. In making these discoveries, SAAM hopes to inspire action that will generate legislative, policy, and social changes that will dissolve barriers to success for African American males and empower these men and boys to seek and obtain the resources that they need to overcome the obstacles that remain.
Since its inception, the Initiative has been adopted as a program of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), a 501c3 organization.
SAAM Activities
The SAAM Initiative raises awareness and encourages action through a national conference and regional meetings. The inaugural event, a national conference, was held on November 14-15, 2003 on Capitol Hill in Washing, DC. Approximately 1,500 participants with a myriad experiences were in attendance; including Members of Congress, religious leaders, business executives, scholars, students, ex-offenders, service providers, and community members.
Since this event, SAAM has held a regional meeting in Houston, TX. which will be followed by eight additional conferences over the next year. These regional meetings are also expected to attract a diverse group of participants. Each one will be hosted in partnership with conference co-conveners, grassroots organizations, and one or more Members of Congress from the region in which the event will occur. In an effort to maximize resources and ensure participation, several of these SAAM meetings will be included as a component of existing conferences. For example, the SAAM meeting in Miami will be a component of the annual conference for 100 Black Men, Inc.
SAAM will augment the impact of the regional conferences through the creation of maintenance of the SAAM Clearinghouse. The clearinghouse will be located on the SAAM website, and it will highlight best practices and funding streams as well as connect organizations and individuals working to serve and empower African American males. This in turn, will create a social infrastructure to ameliorate the disproportionately unfavorable outcomes of African American males.
SAAM Target Population
The State of the African American Male Initiative seeks to address issues affecting African American males in five areas:
- Health
- Education
- Economic Empowerment
- Criminal Justice
- Civic Participation
First, African American males need increased access to affordable, quality and culturally competent healthcare. Stroke and diabetes killed African American males between 55 and 64 at about 3 times the rate for white males their age in 2000 while cancer and heart disease killed African American males in that group at rates 50% above those for their white peers. In addition, African American males are nearly twice as likely as Hispanic males and more than three times as likely as white males to be uninsured.
Second, men and boys need responsive culturally competent educational environments in order to flourish academically and socially. Eighty five percent of African American children in special education are boys (Kipnis 2000). On average, African American 3-4 year-olds score in the 20th percentile of standardized tests (Nicholson).
Third, SAAM seeks to identify barriers to employment as well as proven techniques to overcome these obstacles. Thirty-two percent of African American males are unemployed. Sixteen to twenty-four year-old African American males are more than twice as likely as young white males to be both out of school and out of work.(Joint Center 2003)
Fourth, these men and boys must have equitable policies and practices in the judicial and penal systems in order to prevent and reverse their disproportionate representation within these systems. In 2001, 16.6% of African American males were incarcerated, compared to 2.6% of white males and 7.7% of Hispanic males (United States Department of Justice, 2003). Furthermore, 40% of African American males are connected to the criminal justice system via probation, parole or prison (CRS 2003)
Fifth, it is imperative that African American males have positive role models and mechanisms of socialization that empower them to assume civic responsibilities in their governmental entities, communities, and families. Thirty to forty percent of the next generation of African American males will permanently loose the right to vote if current trends continue. In 9 states, 1 in 4 African American males never vote again because they were convicted of a felony (Mauer, 1999)
Expected Results & Goals
The State of the African American Male Initiative seeks to augment the efforts of local and state commissions while motivating sustained and purposeful activities that significantly and permanently transforms existing policies and practices into those that support and empower these men and boys. It is expected that the SAAM Initiative will reach more than 200,000 people through its conferences, websites, outreach and research.
To fulfill its vision, SAAM has established the following goals:
- To use regional conferences to discover local and grassroots perspectives about the conditions of African American males
- To identify organizations and best practices which further the SAAM mission
- To create a website that serves as a clearinghouse to highlight and connect best practices which improve the condition of African American males.
- To identify funding streams (i.e. federal, state, local, private etc.) and public policies that support these best practices
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