African-American Families Conference/Judge Hatchett

Last night I had the privilege to attend a reception at the 10th Annual African-American Families Conference on the campus of University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. The keynote speaker was the Hon. Glenda Hacthett or more commonly known from her television show as Judge Hatchett.

She addressed several issues that families face in raising young kids today. She reiterated that it is projected that of the African-American males born today, 1-in-3 can expect to be incarcerated at some point during their lifetime.¹  She suggested that this is only a prediction and we have an obligation to ensure that it does not become a reality. She also touched upon the other well-documented obstacles our youth face and must overcome, such as single-parent households, young parent households, gang participation and/or gang violence etc…

One of her remedies to counteract these dire odds is education. Statistics have shown that the longer youth of today stay in school, including undergraduate studies, the better their chances that they will succeed. Just recently, there was an article speaking on that very same subject; the less education one has, the less likely you will be gainfully employed. Glenda Hatchett advocates setting the bar high, "Expect Greatness", and prepare oneself to meet those goals through education. Even if you stumble, there still will be many doors of opportunity available to you than if you didn't aspire to achieve greatness. In her book, Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say!: Saving Your Child from a Troubled World, she says, "Teach your kids that greatness is within their grasp. Expect it and it will come; reach for it and it will instill hope, dedication, and purpose."

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¹ Marc Mauer and Ryan Scott King, “Schools and Prisons: 50 Years After Brown v. Board of Education,” http://www.sentencingproject.org/pdfs/brownvboard.pdf, The Sentencing Project.