The old African proverb suggests that it takes a village to raise a child, and panelists discussing the social and economic barriers facing African-American and Latino men and boys can only be overcome if families are strong.
“While there is no silver bullet, but there is a secret sauce,” said Ralph Smith, the managing director of The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. “And, the secret sauce is parents.”
Smith said that society has a tendency to work around parents; however, it is the role and the responsibility of parents to love, provide and nurture children. Unfortunately in many impoverished communities, parents lack the tools to provide these necessities to their children, Smith said Tuesday.
Smith said that society has a tendency to work around parents; however, it is the role and the responsibility of parents to love, provide and nurture children. Unfortunately in many poverty-driven communities, parents lack the tools to provide these necessities to their children.
In addition to Smith, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Alejandro Villanueva, the executive director of Televisa Foundation served on the panel, a breakout session at the fifth annual Clinton Global Initiative America meeting at the Sheraton Hotel in Denver. Philadelphia Academies Inc. president Lisa Nutter moderated the session.
While the panelist focused on the correlation of child, family and community, Landrieu said another crucial sector of this partnership is government.
He said he understands “governments cannot replace families,” but they must work to “teach people how to be good parents.”
Landrieu said it proven that a well-equipped school with resources and opportunities can teach any student and push them to the next level. However, the problems start when the school bell rings, and some students return to their sometimes dangerous, low-income neighborhoods.
Those children, primarily African-American and Latino, go home to parents — if they are even present — who don’t know how to raise children, he said. Generally, those parents were never taught what to do.
Rebuilding the anchors of society — family, church and community — is another key to creating a community that can sustain and survive. This, he said, will help to create a “virtual cycle of a probability of success,” that will be available to all, rather than a lucky few, Landrieu said.
Villanueva, too, said the key to providing better outcomes for young African-American and Latino men was rebuilding families. Yet with his background in media, he said the society has an untapped resource with the power of television and other mediums.
He added that he doesn’t believe that organizations are not using it enough or that they are using it ineffectively. He said they should incorporate digital tools to reach mass audiences the skills parents need to raise productive children.
The overall outlook of the panelists mirrored the perspective of one of the session participants.
“The issues that these young people face will not be solved with one solution alone; we have to take a holistic approach” said David McGhee, a 32-year-old program officer for The Skillman Foundation in Detroit.
“A family can mean so many different things to a young person growing up, so it’s not necessarily just mom and dad,” he said. “It’s incumbent upon us to equip community with the tools and resources they need to totally wrap their arms around each and every young person in our neighborhoods.”
Tierra Smith: tsmith@denverpost.com, 303-954-1046 or
This online archive has been edited to restore dropped words in a quote from Skillman Foundation program officer David McGhee.
