Number
121719
Version
SUBSTITUTE 1
Reference
121596
Sponsor
ALD. DAVIS, MURPHY and HAMILTON
Title
A substitute ordinance establishing a black male achievement (BMA) advisory council.
Sections
320-29 cr
Analysis
This ordinance establishes a black male achievement (BMA) advisory council to make recommendations to the common council on the issue of African American male achievement. The BMA advisory council shall be composed of 13 members, each of whom shall be subject to confirmation by the common council.
The black male achievement advisory council shall also oversee the City Leadership Grant to Promote Black Male Achievement from the National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education and Families.
Body
Whereas, Nearly 2 in 3 African American children (64%) live apart from their biological fathers compared to 1 in 4 white children; and
Whereas, Only 45% of African American males in Milwaukee graduate from high school compared to 92% of their white peers who reside in Wisconsin; and
Whereas, The 2010 Census of Wisconsin residents reported that 12.8% (or 1 in 8) of African American working age men were in state prisons or local jails; and
Whereas, Over half of all Milwaukee County African American men in their 30s and half of Milwaukee County African American men in their early 40s have been or are currently in adult state correctional institutions; and
Whereas, Only 44.7% of the metro area’s working age African American males between the ages 16-64 were employed in 2010; and
Whereas, Milwaukee is one of the top 10 poorest cities in the United States with the general poverty rate of 33.2% of which 40% of the population is African American; and
Whereas, A large body of research shows that young black males are significantly more likely than other segments of the population to experience joblessness, low educational attainment, incarceration, family instability, and other challenges that perpetuate a cycle of intergenerational...
Click here for full text