Young Black bodies, America's preferred commodity

If you examine many sectors of American society, in particular, sectors of the American economy, you can't help but notice the dogged persistence of an old and deeply disturbing trend: Black youth, especially young Black men continue to be America's--and by her influence, increasingly the world's preferred commodity.

You see evidence of this in our most lucrutive mega-industrial complexes: media, arts/entertainment, sports/athletic, and of course the bane of urban Black existence: the criminal justice/prison industrial complex.

The Black body generates tremendous opportunities and volume in employment, product sales, business, public policy and tax revenues. Unfortunately, the lion's share of the resources, generated literally on our backs, flow out of our communities and into the hands, pockets, homes and institutions of people outside our communities. People who's primary investment interests in us and our communities lie in the opportunities to create and extract wealth for their benefit.

This is as obvious in the arena of juvenile justice as anywhere. Young Black men across the country are disproportionately and unfairly targeted for arrest, referral to court, prosecution, detention, incarceration and lengthy probation and parole. These same young men are the source of employment in rural, mostly white communities; growing law enforcement, court systems and corrections facilities budgets; reduced competition for higher education, jobs and business opportunities; and of course fodder for the lucrative media-hyped feeding the country's racism and paranoia. Black bodies are as much a commodity to the American system for where they are NOT as for where they are.

That's why I believe one of our most pressing tasks as African-Americans MUST be redirecting our young men and channeling the resources that follow them away from community/home dislocation, school failure, gang involvement crime and delinquency.

We have to step up our demand for racial-impact review of laws and public policy. We have to write letters, editorials and blogs. We have to organize phone and email campaigns. We have to revive economic targeting strategies: boycotting companies, goods and services that negatively impact us AND engaging in concentrated dollar voting in support of those that support us.

With respect to juvenile justice and the gross overrepresentation of our youth, here are a few recommendations:

Demand weekend/holiday court hearings so our youth are not held in detention facilities unnecessarily.

Demand that courts and judges use objective "screening instruments" or assessment forms to screeen out those youth who don't merit being detained because they are NOT an actual or high risk threat to public safety.

Demand resources for community and faith-based alternatives to the criminal and juvenile justice system.

Demand that youth arrested for "use amounts" of drugs be referred to treatment [as most white youth are] NOT court and jail.

Demand that youth arrested for non-violent, low-level offenses [theft, fights, trespassing, verbal assault, etc.] be referred to therapeutic and/or community-based programs and services to get the intervention they need and deserve.

If just 1 out of 5 African-Americans and other concerned Americans did just 1 of the above, the system would pay attention. We would begin to see progressive changes in laws and policy. We would begin to see resources directed away from the criminal justice/prison industrial complex and into communities where our youth can be best served.

Please, do your part today. I just did!

In service to the people,

Randell Strickland