African American Issues

There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.”

-Malcolm X

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Marriage and the Black community/society

• 45 percent of black women has never been married compared to 23 percent of white women
• By early 40s, 31 percent of black women has never been married compared to 9 percent white women, 11 percent Asian and 12 percent Hispanic

According to Dr. Phil:

• 59 percent of marriage for women under the age of 18 end in divorce within 15 years
• 60 percent of marriages for couples between 20-25 years of age end in divorce
• The average age of a man getting married is 29 years old. For women, it is 27 years old
• 55 percent of cohabiting couples get married within five years of moving in together. 40 percent breakup during the same time period.
• 72 percent of black babies are born to unwed mothers

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Additional facts about the Sixteenth Baptist Church Bombing

• There was a fifth girl in the lounge the day the church was bombed: Sarah Collins, Addie Mae’s sister. As written by  Sikora, Sarah heard the blast and saw the outside wall crumble.  However, debris blinded her but she screamed hysterically, “‘Addie, Addie, Addie!'” But there was no sound from Addie … or from Carole or Cynthia or Denise.”
• Robert Chambliss, the first suspect convicted of the bombing, was 73-years-old when he was sentenced to life in prison where he died in 1985.
• Two other suspects were later sent to prison for the murder of the four girls, Bobby Cherry and Thomas Blanton in 2002 and 2001 respectively.
• 4 Little Girls, released in 1997, was nominated for an Academy Award for ‘Best Documentary’

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• In 2002, firearm homicide was the #1 cause of death for 15-34 year old African Americans
• In 2003, 91% of African American murder victims were slain by African Americans
• In 2oo2, an African American male under 30 was nearly 9 times more likely to be murdered than a white male

Stats provided bradycampaign.org

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The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is one of the many Methodist denominations that traces its roots to the Methodist revival movement within the Church of England begun by John Wesley and others.  This movement would eventually become a separate denomination, the Methodist Church.  Methodism was organized as a denomination within the United States as the Methodist Episcopal Church.  Out of this American manifestation of Methodism, the A.M.E. Zion Church would be born.

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Status Dropout rates represent the proportion of young adults ages 16 through 24 who are out of school and who have not  earned a high school credential.

• In 1999, the dropout rate for African Americans was 12.6%
• High school completion rate for African Americans is 83.5% in 1999 (this include GEDs)
• In 1954, about 82,000 black teachers were responsible for teaching 2 million black children…11 years immediately following the Brown decision, more than 38,000 black teachers and administrators lost their jobs
• In 2000, 84% of teachers were white, while only 61% of students were white
• Blacks make up about 17% of public school students but fewer than 8% of teachers
• 38% of public schools had not a single teacher of color (2000)

*Figures are from the National Center for Education Statistics and USA TODAY.com

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In 1954, the United States Supreme Court decision in Oliver L. Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka dismantled the legal basis for racial segregation in schools and other public facilities.