Black History Month (BHM) 2020: 15 suggestions for sustainable Black empowerment (Part 2 of 3)

BY ERROL A. GIBBS

Part 2 of 3 is a continuation of the 15 suggestions penned in Part 1 of 3. These suggestions represent accumulated thoughts over the past Black History Month (BHM) period (1995-2020). They suggest 15 sustainable paths to black empowerment. It is only a brief synopsis of suggested approaches to begin a new explorative phase in the journey over the next 30 years (2020-2050). Similar to business corporate – Suggestion Number 1 is a directorship for policy directives and vision and mission direction.

It may seem revolutionary to mention “corporate” in a community setting, but corporate is not an ideology. It is merely a macro-level approach to strategic, tactical, and operational objectives. Likewise, to achieve standardization of processes, procedures, and methodologies. To seamlessly innovate and integrate ideas. To improve efficiencies, consolidate strengths, overcome weaknesses, build capacity, increase negotiating power, and accumulate assets. More importantly, corporate is a tactical “think-tank” for big ideas.

Suggestion Number 5. Youth Violence Mitigation Perspectives: Praise to community advocates, community organizations, religious organizations, politicians, and the justice system for their efforts to attempt to mitigate and manage the fallout from youth violence. Another step is to bring industry leaders to the table in other fields of scientific enterprises, where critical thinking is a pre-requisite for solving complex problems. The nature of the problem does not preclude the “generic” approach to solutions, even to non-technical problems such as youth violence.

Another approach is to engage in a “change of environment” to challenge the outlook and worldview of some youths. This faculty could compliment “inner city” youth programs with “outer city” programs to industrialized sites such as the James Bay Hydroelectric Project, La Grande River, Québec, Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, Lake Huron, Ontario, and the US. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC. A single outing may spark a permanent change in the perception of some youths.

Suggestion Number 6. Youth Educational Perspectives: This faculty could investigate Germany’s dual-track vocational training program known as the Dual Vocational Education Training (Dual VET), which is the route that around half a million apprentices in Germany take to a skilled profession every year. There are about 1.3 million apprentices training every year in Germany. Germany’s vocational schools’ partner with around 430,000 companies, and more than 80% of large companies hire apprentices (How Germany’s Vocational Education and Training system works. Reference: November 16^th, 2018. Paul Hockenos).

Boards of Education (BOEs) could establish an achievable 100% target for high school graduation instead of 85%. Academics in education could take on the unique role of working with the BOE and parents to institute a network of simulators and emulators to boost Simulator Learning (SL) as an integral aspect of high school and post-secondary education. Not as an adjunct to high school education, but as a bona fide academic stream underpinned by Academic Information Literacy (AIL) objectives.

Suggestion Number 7. Youth Industry Perspective: This faculty could collaborate with industry leaders to set a target for 85% of representative corporations in programs equivalent to Germany’s Dual Vocational Education Training (Dual VET) model. It may sound revolutionary, but industry leaders could play the most significant role in addressing the disenfranchisement of youths. Trades and technical (scientific) education fuels the base of expertise that industry needs to foster innovation and mass manufacturing, to sustain industrial growth and macro-level job creation.

Rapid technological changes are taking place in the world, concurrent with racial inequality, social and economic exclusion, wealth depletion, corporate downsizing, un-affordable housing, under-employment, wage imbalance, and climate change. The growth of industry also plays the most significant part of the economic viability and empowerment of peoples, communities, and nations. Hence, the principal solution to youth violence should be a more substantial effort to promote growth opportunities in the industrial sector – as the first imperative for wealth creation and employment opportunities.

Suggestion Number 8. The Money Perspective: Money is critical to achieving any agenda – building creatively or solving the problems of humanity (“deficit financed”). Money is an enabler for higher educational opportunities, social acceptance, housing affordability, elderly and childcare, the realization of justice, and health and well-being. The lack of money can cause fear, anxiety, and desperation. It gives rise to aberrant behavior that increases criminal justice incarceration.

Constitutional and financial experts could collaborate with governments to establish the right to a standard living wage for all ten provinces. To entrench into federal law, Ontario’s excellent financial literacy education program. To establish a referendum by the citizenry to prohibit a newly elected government from canceling Capital Cost Initiatives (CCI) by the former government. To post indices using a Gross Social Progress (GSP) Index to provide measures to evaluate and narrow the “gap” between majority hiring versus the hiring of women, visible minorities, people with disabilities, and Indigenous peoples.

Presented herein Part 2 of 3: These are the first 8 of 15 suggestions penned briefly. The UMGP and BHM Score Card (Suggestion Number 1) would establish the interim targets and measurable outcomes for reporting on during each succeeding BHM (2020 – 2050).