The African American Male Initiative
The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University has begun a project to reopen the research on African American males. Research areas will include demographic-based research, psychological/psychosocial research, as well as political and economic research. The last comprehensive research was done in 1994.
The project is funded by a $200,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 “to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations.” Its programming activities center around the common vision of a world in which each person has a sense of worth; accepts responsibility for self, family, community, and societal well-being; and has the capacity to be productive, and to help create nurturing families, responsive institutions, and healthy communities. The foundation targets its grants towards specific areas of research in order to achieve the greatest impact. These areas include health; food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy and volunteerism.
Efforts will use a structural lens to help analyze disparities that affect African American males and their education. This method focuses on opportunity structures, as well as individual factors, and allows a multi-faceted approach to educational disparity that extends beyond the institutional racism that may be occurring. The structural lens will allow proactive intervention methods to be employed, as opposed to reactive interventions.
There are several categories that are being investigated that may help answer such questions as, “Why is the African American male graduation rate so low?” Kirwan Institute researchers are looking at the school environment, race and racism, family structures, identity, the justice system, counseling and suicide to identify disparities that will help to answer this question.
Currently, a national advisory board is being assembled to guide the research review. The board includes representation from various disciplines that examine African American males specifically. Some experts that have signed on thus far are Dr. Olatokunbo (Toks) S. Fashola, Dr. Margaret Beale Spencer, Dr. Ronald Ferguson, and Dr. A.J. Franklin, among others. Also, we have had the fortune of gathering insight from Ohio State University scholars who study issues related to African American males, such as Dr. Gwendolyn Cartledge, Dr. Ralph Gardner III, Dr. James Moore III, and Dr. Stephen Gavazzi. The Institute is planning a conference on African American males at The Ohio State University in early March.
With the results of the extensive research review, the Kirwan Institute hopes to produce a book to be a guide to help redress disparity that exists with African American males in education. The product will use information gathered from experts, findings from research (focus groups), and expert and community voice to bridge the gap between theory and practice for tangible, proven methods and practical application. A book using community voice, expert voice, and the structural lens may be the first of its kind.
