News - Local/State

Friday, Nov. 21, 2008

Forum’s focus: Black men in Chester

CHESTER — Where is the black man?

That’s a central question to be asked at a forum Saturday in Chester.

The inquiry is not intended to offend, organizers say, but to begin a conversation in Chester’s black community about the state of its men: How are they perceived? Why? What can be done to change this?

“It’s definitely important … something that we need to address in the community,” said Chester resident Cheryl McCrorey, who plans to attend the event.

Makeda Baker, an activist in the East Chester neighborhood, said she got the idea for the forum after a man asked her what meetings she would organize for men.

In September, Baker started holding workshops for women at Chester’s Union Baptist Church. The purpose was to talk about women’s issues, particularly those in the black community.

Then a man asked her what she’d set up for people of his gender.

“I was flattered that he said that, but at the same time I was a little bit perplexed,” Baker said. “Because if you see us women going ahead and doing these things, why don’t you guys just go ahead and start doing your own thing?”

But because he asked, Baker approached the pastor of Union Baptist about holding an open forum to discuss the issues facing black men.

“I’m probably going to get a lot of flak for this,” she said, noting that people might misconstrue the event’s question — “Where is the black man?” — as an insult. “This is a cry out and a call out for a community that is in need of black men to be there. As I always say, in my community, there’s a lot of black males, but it’s not a lot of black men. And I don’t mean that to be disrespectful. … But it’s actually a fact.”

Baker said the forum looks to examine issues of crime, illiteracy, unemployment and single parent households as they relate to black men.

“We’ve got to do better,” she said. “My community has to do better.”

The forum also will look at black history and how today’s black male climate developed. A panel of local black men, including a city councilman, a city department head and a county commission official, will share their stories.

One of the speakers, Earl Moore, said the panel shows a positive snapshot of Chester’s black community: leaders, professionals and entrepreneurs setting an example.

This group, he said, portrays a different image than the black faces in media crime reports.

“That’s not representative of our community,” said Moore, director of the county’s election commission. “We, as African-American males who are in the mainstream of society, need to become more visible. This forum is one way that can display this — by showing that we’re here and we’ve made a difference and you can, too. And you don’t have to take a certain route to do this.”

One of the problems Moore sees in the black community is that some men persecute those who excel instead of embracing their success.

“We’ve got some great black leaders in Chester County and other counties surrounding Chester County,” he said. “So I’m not going to say we have a lack of black leadership. We have a lack of the acceptance of those who are in authority.” The forum will begin at 10 a.m.

Want to go?

A community forum examining the question “Where is the black man?” will be from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday inside Union Baptist Church at 211 Ligon St. in Chester. The event costs $5 and includes refreshments.