• 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. U.S. D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census.
• 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes. Criminal Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26, 1978.
• 60% of repeat rapists grew up without fathers. Raymond A. Knight and Robert A. Prentky, “The Developmental Antecednts of Adult Adaptations of Rapist Sub-Types,” Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol 14, Dec., 1987, p 403-426.
• 71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father. US Dept. of Health & Human Services press release, Friday, March 26, 1999.
• 85% of children who exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes. Center for Disease Control.
• 90% of adolescent repeat arsonists live with only their mother. Wray Herbert, “Dousing the Kindlers,” Psychology Today, January, 1985, p.28. 71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools.
• 75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse canters come from fatherless homes. Rainbows for all God`s Children.
• 70% of juveniles in state operated institutions have no father. US Dept. of Justice, Special Report, Sept. 1988.
• 85% of youths in prisons grew up in a fatherless home. Fulton Co. Georgia jail populations, Texas Dept. of Corrections, 1992.
• 75% of prisoners grew up without a father. Daniel Amneus, The Garbage Generation, Alhambra, CA: Primrose Press, 1990.
• Fatherless boys and girls are: twice as likely to drop out of high school; twice as likely to end up in jail; four times more likely to need help for emotional or behavioral problems. US D.H.H.S. news release, March 26, 1999.
• 43% of US children live without their father. US Department of Census.
• Two years after divorce, 51% of children in sole mother custody homes only see their father once or twice a year, or never. Guidubaldi, 1989; Guidubaldi, 1988; Guidubaldi, Perry, & Nastasi, 1987.
• 42% of fathers fail to see their children at all after divorce. Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr. and Christine Winguist Nord, “Parenting Apart,” Journal of Marriage and the Family, vol 47, no. 4, November, 1985.
• 90% of father disengagement is caused by obstruction of access by a custodial parent anxious to break the father-child ties. Kruk, 1992, cited by Prof. John Guidubaldi in his Minority Report and Policy Recommendations of the US Commission on Child & Family Welfare, US Code Citation: 42 USC 12301, 1996. Same cause identified by Braver, Wolchik, & Sandler, 1985, without incidence values.

Go to NorthStarNews.com to see more episodes of “From The Bottom Up.”

More and more, our young brothers and sisters are forced to define the path forward for themselves. “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” If we don’t answer yes to this question we will be responsible for a cultural genocide of catastrophic proportions.

With each segment of this series, I am further convinced that we have the capacity to transform our reality into one that uplifts and enriches. I am encouraged by the tenacity of people like Alton, Phillip and Nathan, who are highlighted in this week’s segment of “From The Bottom Up.” Young brothers and sisters like them are working hard to provide some relief in communities where hopelessness has taken hold. We owe them our help and support.

Dana Rone, a community activist continues working to bring resources to undeserved communities. She ask if we, as a community are prepared to take advantage of the changing political and social climate.

Add your voice to the protest by going to NorthStarNews.com and leave a comment. We’ll forward all comments to the National Action Network.

In modern politics, the razor that has been most effective is the ability to raise loads of cash in support of a bid for office. While we as individuals wax philosophical about how politicians ought to be more responsive to community needs, the fact is that we have not as a group, been able to match the amount cold hard cash that others have contributed to our leaders. We have not purchased a collective seat at the table and as a result our issues continue to go unaddressed.

There is however, a sharper razor that we’ve yet to unleash. The lock step demands of a well organized community has the power to cut through any amount of money thrown on the table. Just imagine what would happen if we truly had the power to giveth or taketh away hundreds or thousands of votes. The examples are everywhere; labor unions, the religious right and the Latino community of late, have all exhibited a collective show of force that has made their issues worthy of consideration by elected officials.

Community organizing is no small thing. In the absence of large buckets of cash to throw around, it is our only leverage; it’s the only razor we can wield. We can no longer be reluctant to use it as we seek to create change from the bottom up.

In the forth segment of “From The Bottom Up” on NorthStarNews.com, we profile Jacqueline Mason-Francis, a community organizer in Harlem who feels like she is finally being heard.

We have taken up the President’s call to affect change from the bottom up. We want to hear from you. Email us at fromthebottomup@northstarnews.com to become part of our From The Bottom Up community. If you know someone in your community who should be profiled send us a note and we’ll do our best to include them in one of our profiles.

Some say that America is experiencing the worst economic crisis since the great depression. Folks in Black (URBAN) communities are being hit the hardest as unemployment numbers for Blacks approaches 11 percent. But while stocks on Wall Street continue to lose vale–and personal savings are decreasing, the election of our first Black President has created a growth industry in urban communities across America. The business of leadership is going strong with no signs of being adversely affected by the economy.

Employing the most sophisticated marketing strategies and the most savvy public relations teams, Black political leaders are popping up all over the tube lately. Contrary to our Presidents insistence that change will come from the “Bottom Up,” Our new crop of exalted, enlightened and forward thinking leaders often appear on television by themselves; disconnected from those they represent, and providing viewers with their plans for transforming our communities. One is left to believe that there are scant few in the Black community who have any sense of the challenges facing our communities, and even fewer working on them.

But while the light that’s being cast on high profile Blacks has intensified, it’s also become very narrow. The spotlight has made these “superstars” unwitting (or not) accomplices to marginalizing the work normal folk who, may be less sophisticated in their approach but are no less committed to the cause.

There are people like Dilettante Bass and Shareef Nash (featured in the latest segment of “From The Bottom Up”) in cities all across this country. Every day they get up and do the unglamorous but necessary work of human and cultural revitalization. These are the future leaders who’ve put skin in the game with no expectation of a reward other than the advancement of the communities in which they live.

These young leaders must be mentored and nurtured. The stage is large to be shared with these ground troops. Our leaders can surely turn their spotlights into floodlights and take the efforts of these future leaders out of the shadows and make the job of creating change from the bottom up a whole lot easier.

In the 3rd episode of NorthStarNews’ “From The Bottom Up” video series, Marcelus “Bishop” Allen, founder of Saving Ourselves, talks about the importance of saving our children