| in the ghetto. Moreover, survival alone may require someone else's un-survival! No, no; SUCCESS BEYOND SURVIVAL is our aim for youth of color. Envisioning youth as knowledgeable citizens obligates us to lead them into developing a value system that works for nearly everyone. Just this past week I eulogized a long-time member of First Institutional Baptist Church whose obituary read like a "Who's Who List." In the obituary of the late Moses Campbell, Jr., one line struck me as simple yet profound. It read, "He always inspired his family to work hard, do well in school, and treat people right." In other words, Mr. Campbell engaged in developing knowledgeable citizens, starting with his family. Can you imagine what future of our youth at-risk would look like if they became knowledgeable citizens? One expert on the 21st Century predicted that to be successful in the next century, every youth must be trilingual. . . knowing English, Spanish, and being computer literate. Another Generation X analyst shared that these "would be" knowledgeable citizens require Four R's from those they will respect and follow: being Real, Relevant, Relational, and Rousing. We've got a long way to go to setting up the context to create knowledgeable citizens of color. At a meeting of our low income housing project, the director of our neighborhood computer learning center informed our board that the average tenant's reading level is second grade. The challenge is to give birth to a generation of knowledgeable citizens who know how to experience SUCCESS BEYOND SURVIVAL. | |||||
| And, lastly, A VISION FOR MINORITY YOUTH BRINGS FORTH A NEW SOURCE OF LEADERSHIP. There's no doubt about it, minority youth must constitute a significant portion of our leadership in the years 2000 and beyond. The "glass ceiling" must be shattered wherever it exists in order that 93% white males over 40 don't continue to dominate all of the policy-making in our world. Young people of ebony hue, creamy bronze, regal red, and soft yellow must transform "uni-color preponderance" into "multicolor participation" at all levels, especially at the top. A VISION FOR MINORITY YOUTH will change the M-O-R from Minority Over-representation to "Minorities as Outstanding Resource!" Then, D-M-C will no longer stand for Disproportionate Minority Confinement, but "a Developed Minority Core" of Leadership. What a day when our minority youth will be seen as a new source of leadership! | |||||
| So there you have it: A VISION FOR MINORITY YOUTH. . . A KNOWN SECTOR. A NEEDED SEGMENT. NURTURED SOULS. KNOWLEDGEABLE CITIZENS. And A NEW SOURCE OF LEADERSHIP. Mind you, this VISION FOR MINORITY YOUTH can become a reality! Over 30 years ago I was a youth of color at risk, shot after breaking into a house, on probation for a year, known as the town rogue. But, thank God, I was a known sector to others; they encouraged me that I was needed; members of my family and church nurtured me back to life; I went on to become a knowledgeable citizen with five earned degrees, and since age 17, I've been a source of new leadership. That's a VISION FOR MINORITY YOUTH IN THE FLESH. | |||||
Presenters for this session included Judge Barbara |
 |
Rodriquez Mundell, Maricopa County Superior Court; James Kitt, Pima County Juvenile Court Center; Dr. Hellen Carter, Maricopa County Juvenile Probation Department; Jonas Osio Mata, | |
Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs; and
Gwendolyn Chunn, North Carolina Division of Youth Services. The session called upon judges to take a leadership |
|