Poor boys become jobless men
Very Young boys born into ‘Generational Poverty’ face unsurmountable odds at avoiding school drop out, incarceration and early death. Employment does not exist on their horizon. This is particularly true of African American boys whose ancestral history and assets were lost in the bottom of slave ships, on psychologically paralyzing plantations, and in mind altering decades of structural prejudice and marginalization. Early Childhood Development enrichment is necessary, but insufficient absent Early Childhood Financial empowerment. In other words, poverty is THE SOCIAL DETERMINANT of life, health, and success. My Take: The crisis in very poor urban and rural areas of this nation has roots that run deep and wide over the entire landscape and have been centuries in the making. Solutions will need to be multi-system, interconnected, long sustaining and valued as a priority for the nation. The return-on-investment is assuring a nation that survives and maintains the position of Leader among nations. The consequence of doing nothing, is a nation that slowly losses ground as its human capital declines.