On June 17 a contingent of “Drum Majors for Justice” will converge at the gates of the White House to plead a case for jobs and reforms in mass incarceration when the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) dramatizes demands made by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. half a century ago.
Prior to the actual 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington where Dr. King implored the masses to become “drum majors for justice,” the IBW is gearing up for a Day of Direct Action. Their intent is to demand an end to the War on Drugs and mass incarceration and call on President Barack Obama to “invest in marginalized urban inner-city Black communities across the nation.”
“While ending the war on drugs as a devastating racially-biased policy is essential, we in IBW have always insisted that overcoming joblessness and economic underdevelopment is ultimately the key to combating the crime, violence, fratricide and mass incarceration that have become the scourge of America’s dark ghettos,” Dr. Ron Daniels, founder of IBW said.
In a report he referenced a study by the Community Service Society that allegedly revealed, “the unemployment rate for African-American men in New York — age 16 to 24 – during the height of the great recession represented 33.5 percent.”
The report revealed that when young Black men who are no longer looking for work are included, the figure today could be closer to 50 percent.
In addition, it revealed that for the year 2009, Blacks represented 13 percent of the nation’s population but accounted for 47 percent of all homicide victims.
That same study showed that 82 percent of Black victims were shot and killed with guns. Handguns, they claim accounted for 74 percent of those deaths.
