I grew up white in the 1960s—reckless. I drove drunk, grew marijuana two doors down from a cop and always went without punishment. On several occasions police brought me home and let my mom know that I had misbehaved.
My resilience was rarely tested, because I never needed it.
For Black youth living lives parallel to mine, every day demanded extraordinary resilience. A single mistake could mean handcuffs and a criminal record, or worse if the officer was mean or bigoted. Where I brushed off mistakes, they had to brace for life-altering consequences.
A mother talking to her Black son leaving the house on a Friday night for fun with friends, would have a very different conversation than my mom telling me not to be stupid.
Resilience might help someone live through mean spirited insults, failing a test in school but it’s not much help for someone caught up in the justice system.
Macalester college’s African American Men’s Study in 2001 showed that 44% of Hennepin County’s Black adult men were arrested that year. No duplicate arrests, 54% of those men would be rearrested within two years.
For two decades, recidivism at nine years in America’s prison system has stayed at 80%.
My mother’s warning was, “Don’t be stupid.” Black parents pray their sons make it home alive and without a criminal record. That relentless, generational resilience—required to even hope for survival—is a weight I never had to carry but for so many others, staying safe is a daily battle against a punishing system.
KARA has been funding the Financial Literacy Project, INVISIBLE CHILDREN Campus Programs, public presentations, books, and social media for many years. We have had a really impactful 25 years thanks to our followers.
But here’s the reality-as we are an advocacy group not providing service we live on donations alone. We want to keep the momentum going but we need the funds to do so…
So, we are asking for your help as a way to support all our efforts going forward. Please consider a monthly donation of 5 or 25$ to sustain KARA’s ongoing efforts.
An additional choice, would be to sponsor a our new Spotify Social media platform for $500 and receive recognition for you or your organization Thank you to those who have sponsored a KARA projects in the past!
For stock and legacy donations contact mike@invisiblechildren.org with donations in the Subject line.
This post written by former CASA guardian ad litem volunteer Mike Tikkanen
#resilience
#juvenilejustice
#bigotry
#lawenforcement
#Police
#sheriffs
#macalestercollege
#africanamericanmensstudy
#kara
#kidsatriskaction
#recidivism
#generationalresilience
