August 17, 2011
Page
II
Invest in a Positive Future for Children Now
Our future
depends on the
next generation
by
M arian W right E delman
In the Children’s Defense
Fund new report on the State of
America’s Children we give a
comprehensive overview on
the well-being of America’s
children. But ju st who are
America’s children and fami­
lies today? Children make up
almost one in four of the people
living in the United States today.
They are the poorest age group in
America. And the younger they are
the poorer they are— cheating them
in the years of greatest brain devel-
opment. In chapters on child popu-
lation and family structure we take a
closer look, and a national child and
family portrait begins to emerge.
One of the most striking facts
about America's children is the rap-
idly blurring distinction between
who is a “minority” child and who is
in the “majority.” Today, almost 45
percent of Am erica’s young are
children ofcolor, and by 2019—just
eight years away— they will be the
majority of our child population. In
fact, the majority of children are
already children of color in the Dis­
trict of Columbia and nine states—
Hawaii, New Mexico, California,
Texas, Arizona,
Nevada, Florida,
M ary lan d , and
Georgia.
The number of
Hispanic children
has increased ev­
ery y e a r since
1980, rising from
5.3 million in 1980 to 17 million in
2009. The number of whitechildren
has decreased every year since 1994,
and the number of black children
has remained steady over the past
two decades.
Behind these numbers and sta-
tistics is an urgent call to action,
Throughout America’s history and
still today, children’s life chances
have always been unequal based
on color, although God did not make
two classes of children and every
child is sacred. But practicality will
force what morality has been unable
to achieve.
We can’t afford to keep leaving
whole groups of children of color
behind who are becom ing our
nation ’ s majority without condemn­
ing our entire nation to failure. Right
now The State of America’s Chil­
dren 2011 tells us children of color
are behind on virtually every mea­
sure of child well-being. They face
multiple risks that put them in grave
danger of entering the pipeline to
prison rather than the pipeline to
college, productive employment,
and successful futures.
Children ofcolor are at increased
riskof being bom at low birth weight
and with late or no prenatal care,
living in poverty and extreme pov­
erty, lacking family stability, facing
greater health risks, lacking a qual­
ity education, being stuck in foster
care without permanent families,
ending up in the juvenile justice
system, being caught in the college
completion gap, being unemployed,
and being killed by guns.
The multiple risks facing children
of color are cause for great concern
from us all who need to raise a next
generation that can care not only for
themselves and their own families
but also our seniors of tomorrow.
While today there are almost twice
as many children as seniors, the
national snapshot shows that by
2040, that gap will close. There will
be 94 million children and 81 million
seniors.
Our children’s success in edu­
cation and in em ploym ent will be
essential to keep our society func­
tio n in g , b u sin e sse s ru n n in g ,
adults teaching, and health care
professionals serving everyone’s
needs.
Today’s children will care for all
of us tomorrow and w e’ll be count­
ing on them as the economic drivers
of the future who will be raising their
own families, assisting their par­
ents, and investing in the economy
and in Social Security to keep us all
thriving. We must take extraordi­
nary steps to address the crisis to­
day— so we will have a generation
who can succeed in life.
The snapshot of our nation’s
families tells us a lot about where
our next generation is heading, be­
cause family structure and stability
make an enormous difference in
every child's life and impact the
availability of resources— both
emotional and financial— for chil­
dren.
.......
Single parents often need extra
support and teen parents even more.
About 70 percent of all children—
but fewer than 40 percent of black
children— live with two parents.
Twenty-three percent of all children
and half of black children live with
their mother only. Black children are
more than twice as likely as white
children, almost twice as likely as
Hispanic children, and three-and-a-
half times as likely as Asian/Pacific
Islander children to live with neither
parent. Teen parenthood also var­
ies widely; the birth rate for His­
panic teens ages 15 -19 is twice that
for white teens but just above that
for black and American Indian
teens.
Taken together, all o f these
num bers paint a clearer picture of
what our country’s children— and
future— will look like. It’s clear
that if we still want to see a strong,
prosperous Am erica tomorrow,
it's time to invest in a positive
rather than negative future for
millions of our children right now.
There is not a moment to wait or a
child to waste.
Marian Wright Edelman is presi­
dent o f the Children's Defense Fund.
1 11
Dedicating ‘The Dream’ on the National Mall
Be proud and contribute to the cause
by
W illiam R eed
A w eek o f
events is planned
in W ash in g to n ,
D.C. around the
dedication of the
Martin Luther King
Jr. National Memo­
rial on the National
Mall on Sunday, Aug. 28, the 48th
anniversary of the day King deliv­
ered his famous "I Have a Dream"
speech.
Preceding, and following the cer­
emony will be star-studded con­
certs, luncheons, dinners and re­
ceptions attended by an array of
African-American leadership.
A quarter-million people will
gather on and adjacent to the four-
acre plot on the northeast comer of
the Tidal Basin to dedicate a monu­
ment to Martin Luther King’s legacy
and its location on A m erican
history’s Main Street. The event
will feature the first African-
A m erican President o f the
United States as he honors the
first African-American with a
memorial on the National Mall -
and the first non-president so
honored.
Thousands of contributors
and community leaders will join
President Barrack Obama at the site.
Central to the thinking of Martin
Luther King was the concept of the
"Beloved Community." TheM LK
National Memorial’s centerpiece is
the “Stone of Hope”, a 30-foot statue
of Dr. King, with a450-foot inscrip­
tion wall with excerpts of his ser­
mons and public addresses.
The process of designing, fund­
ing and constructing the memorial
was coordinated by the nonprofit
Martin Luther King, Jr. National
Memorial Project Foundation. Harry
E. Johnson Sr. and his Alpha Phi
Alpha fraternity deserve credit for
arriving at this historical reality.
Johnson has served as president
and chief executive officer of the
foundation since 2002. A former fra­
ternity president, Johnson reports
that the MLK Memorial cost $120
million to build. The U.S. Congress
gave $ 10 million in matching funds.
In his public invitation, Jonson
said: “We look forward to sharing
with you a joyous and historic day
for our nation.”
To many, King symbolizes the
Civil Rights era’s great American
Revolution. After M LK’s assassi­
nation in 1968, his fraternity Alpha
Phi Alpha proposed a permanent
memorial in Washington, D.C. Al­
pha Phi Alpha's efforts gained mo­
mentum in 1986, after King's birth­
day was designated a national holi­
day. In 1996, Congress authorized
Secretary of the Interior Bruce Bab­
bitt to permit the fraternity to estab­
lish a memorial in the District of
Columbia, and gave the group until
November2003 to raise $ 100 million
and break ground. In 1998, Con­
gress authorized the fraternity to
establish the foundation to manage
the fundraising and design and ap­
prove building of the memorial.
It was an uphill clim b for
Johnson’s foundation to build the
MLK Memorial. A MLK King Fam­
ily company. Intellectual Properties
Management Inc. proved to be a
significant obstacle. The family
wanted the foundation to pay li­
censing fees to use M LK’s name
and likeness. The King family
pledged that any money would go
to the King Center’s charitable ef­
forts. The King Center in Atlanta is
the location of King’s grave and a
National Historic Site. Estimates
suggest that the King fam ily
charged the MLK Memorial Foun­
dation $800,000 in fees. Now, it’sail
“OK” between the foundation and
the MLK Family. Children of MLK,
Bernice and Martin Luther King III
toured the National Mall site in
October 2010 and are expected to
attend the dedication.
Black Americans have reason to
be proud and to be MLK memorial
benefactors. As we raise a toast, it
would be “significant” if there were
more contributions from our com­
munity to this cause. Most of the
MLK memorial ’ s construction costs
were underwritten by American
corporations and organizations
such as the National Basketball
Association. General Motors Cor­
poration gave more than $ 10 million
and will serve as dedication chair.
The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate
Foundation is dedication co-chair,
as is Stevie Wonder, who wrote
M LK’s “Happy Birthday” song. A
minority, female-owned and oper­
ated firm , M cK issack and
McKissack, is a part of the MLK
memorial design-build team. To make
a
d o n a tio n ,
v isit
www.mlkmemorial.org.
William Reed is president and
chief executive officer ofBlackPress
International.
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