On Thursday, February 22 a forum organized by Jonathan Jelks and Azizi Jasper was held at the Grand Rapids Community College with the focus being African-American youth. Organizers invited several local community "leaders" to address the forum. The speakers included Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell, local radio talk show host Robert S., local educator Rodney Brown, and Sara Smith with the South East Community Association.
Mayor Heartwell spoke first and was asked to address the issue of youth participation in civic engagement. He shared some stories about a meeting he had just come from at Alger Middle School for the Mayor's Youth night out. He said that some of the youth said there was a generational disconnect with communication technology and the Mayor acknowledged that "it is important for my generation to use these tools." Heartwell also mentioned the Mayor's Youth Council that meets with him once a month for dialogue on the City and the biggest concern that is voiced is over violence on the street and in the schools. The Mayor said "We have to find ways to address that with community responses," but offered no concrete actions that either the City was taking or what the community could do.
The Mayor was also asked by the organizers about economic opportunities in the area. Heartwell said "We live in a global economy, with job flight a big problem. There are new jobs in the service sector, but people are making half of what they used to." He said that opportunities are emerging are in the high tech field and what he called the "knowledge based sector - research & development." Lastly, the Mayor mentioned the entertainment sector - the business of entertainment, film making, music production, etc. He said "I'm convinced we have a promising future," and then mentions the so-called mystery development spot along the river.
Before the next panelist, Azizi Jasper identified six issues that he thinks are paramount with youth in the African American community: 1) Generational fear - older generation doesn't feel safe with youth, 2) Lack of communication, 3) Apathy, 4) Generational naivete, 5) the breakdown of family structure, and 6) Economic problems.
Robert S. stated that "there is a lot that our elected officials need to learn." He emphasized that "No matter what you went through in life you are responsible for your lives." He also stated that the current generation is "too removed from the struggles of the civil rights movement." The radio talked show host then addressed the issue of youth violence. "What we have is a form genocide and fratricide and you can't talk about that if you are getting funding from the government. What we need to do as African American males is to be responsible for our teenagers. We cannot rely on money to change our situation."
The next speaker was Rodney Brown, who referred to himself as a post civil rights activist. He said "I need the youth to tell me what to do, cuz I wish that I had people tell me what to do when I was 22." Brown mentioned that although gains were made with the civil rights movement, "this has not translated to things improving for Blacks such as health, education and economic security. When addressing recent gang activity Brown said the "street violence is not by gangs, since they are not organized to steal or sell drugs." For Brown, "they are just confused youth."
The last panelist was Sara Smith who began by asking "where is our place to have a voice?" She mentions that while some of "the graffiti is beautiful, but where do youth go to paint or express themselves?" She does mention a few places that youth can go, which is mostly for 15 year olds and under. She states that the community is lacking in resources and that "we can't expect youth to make a living on a McDonalds salary. We need positive outlets. We can heal our community."
During the question and answer period a wide range of issues were addressed from new projects that are being started to how to address the divide that separates what people were naming as the Civil Rights Generation and the Hip Hop generation. While the forum was promoted as a youth empowerment forum, few youth were present. Some young African Americans did speak during the discussion, but the focus still seemed to be on what the panelists had to say. At one point someone stated "We need to find ways to get people out and get behind each other. We need a plan of action." Unfortunately there were no next steps or strategy to continue the discussion or how best to implement any of the ideas mentioned during the forum. One of the forum organizers did mention that there is an open-mic opportunity at a coffee house on the corner of Hall and Madison where African American youth gather for expression.
