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Over the past several decades, we have seen erosion in the institution of family to such an extent that our children and our communities suffer greatly. On Sept. 29-30, the National Center on African American Marriages and Parenting (NCAAMP) held a summit on the Crisis in Marriage, Parenting, and Families in the United States. Leaders from across the nation participated. These leaders included clergy, community organizers and academics.
This month, I introduce Dr. Linda Malone-Colon of Hampton University. Malone-Colon was an organizer of the NCAAMP summit. In addition, you will learn how to view the DVD recording of the summit and how you can support the efforts of NCAAMP.
NCAAMP
The NCAAMP is part of the psychology department of Hampton University of Virginia. From their website you will learn that “the mission of NCAAMP is to strengthen families in the African-American community by helping African-Americans gain essential knowledge, skills and other resources required for building and sustaining healthy marriages and practicing effective parenting. NCAAMP will accomplish this goal by increasing the public awareness of the status and value of healthy African-American marriages and parent-child relationships and of the importance of effective cultural and societal support.” Malone-Colon is director of NCAAMP.
Linda Malone-Colon
Malone-Colon is quite familiar with Washington, DC. She grew up in Hampton and attended the University of Virginia. She moved to Boston where she delivered her first son and later moved to California where she had her second son. She then found herself in the District of Columbia at Howard University. She jokingly noted that she is “HU, HU two times [for Howard University and Hampton University].”
Malone-Colon established the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center (NHMRC). As noted on the NHMRC website, “The National Healthy Marriage Resource Center (NHMRC) is a clearinghouse for high quality, balanced, and timely information and resources on healthy marriage. The NHMRC's mission is to be a first stop for information, resources, and training on healthy marriage for experts, researchers, policymakers, media, marriage educators, couples and individuals, program providers, and others.” Note that NHMRC operates Two of Us, a website for individuals and couples to access relationship resources.
National Summit on Marriage, Parenting and Families
Malone-Colon, chair of Hampton University’s Department of Psychology, shared that the summit was planned to raise awareness of the center (NCAAMP). In addition, she explained the reason why it was established. “Out-of-wedlock births for the entire population are at 40 percent – a five-year jump by 25 percent.” It is worse for African-Americans, where “72 percent of black children are born out of wedlock.” The summit involved “more than 100 leaders of influence who shared the vision of strengthening families in this country.” Malone-Colon was chairperson of the summit. Tony Dungy, former coach of the Indianapolis Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was honorary co-chairperson.
Malone-Colon understands that there is a great body of research out there that focuses on the crisis in marriage, parenting and families. She asked, “What is the research telling us about how this crisis affects us psychologically, physically and spiritually?” With a charge from Dr. William R. Harvey, president of Hampton University, Malone-Colon helped to establish NCAAMP. “I see it from a spiritual place. It is a calling,” she said. “In my small way, I want to yell out to my community and to this country that there is a crisis.
“Family relationships are foundational to what we do in life. If we don’t get this right, [we will face many other problems.] Whether we have healthy families has implications for physical and psychological health. Public leaders have not given it the attention it deserves. Spiritual leaders are increasingly addressing it. It’s such a big job; we need help from a higher power.”
Spiritual leaders made up one of the panels of the summit. “African-Americans are more likely to address this crisis through church. There are marriage ministries, single-parent ministries, singles’ ministries…” Invited speakers of the summit included journalist Roland Martin and his wife, the Reverend Jacquie Hood Martin. The Reverend Bishop Eddie Long was keynote speaker for dinner. The Reverend Dr. Renita Weems, author of books on women and relationships and women and spirituality, also spoke. In addition to Christian leaders, there were imams and those of other faiths.
A second panel was made up of members of the media. Malone-Colon said, “We will learn about what the media can do to be more socially responsible in strengthening families while watching their bottom line.” This is in terms of what we see on television, in movies, in print magazines and newspapers, and what we hear and see on record albums and on the Web. In addition to Roland Martin as a keynote speaker, William Raspberry, journalist and author, and Caitlin Flanagan, of Time Magazine, were panelists.
The Youth Panel was the third panel. Malone-Colon noted that we must learn from “the wisdom of our youth.” She pointed out that so many of our children are “growing up in a single-parent and divorced-parent culture.” She added that we must listen to their suggestions. She stated that she is hopeful that we are in the “family-forming generation [as opposed to the ‘me generation.’].”
Other panelists and speakers at the summit included Joshua DuBois, head of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships; clinical psychologist and television personality Jeff Gardere; Paula Parker-Sawyers, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy; S. Truett Cathy, founder and CEO of Chick-fil-A; actors and producers Tim and Daphne Reid; and Douglas Wilder, former governor of Virginia.
Healthy Families, Healthy Communities
Remember the days when the entire community looked after our youth and children? From an early age, children learned how to be effective parents by modeling themselves after those around them. In today’s world, for many, modeling oneself as a parent after those around us may be a bad idea.
Case in point: many of today’s parents do not think that it is important to become engaged in their children’s education. They do not meet teachers and principals when asked to attend PTA meetings.
Another case: Joe Madison, the Black Eagle of talk radio, told stories of how mothers in his Southeast neighborhood often contributed to the problem of violence when they cursed out adults who reported to them bad behavior in their children.
Still another case: Parents often have their heads in the sand when it comes to their children’s use of alcohol and other drugs. In fact, some parents model bad choices for their children by indulging in drugs and cigarettes in front of their children.
Finally, when a mother or father is in an abusive relationship, they teach their children that it is OK to be abused.
Without healthy families, there can be no healthy community. As with many other major cities, the District of Columbia finds itself in a crisis in terms of healthy parenting and healthy families. Teen pregnancies, unplanned pregnancies in and out of wedlock, separated and divorced parents, and families separated by service in the military or by incarceration in prison all contribute to the crisis.
To target low-income families, the government of the District of Columbia has established the Interagency Collaboration and Services Integration Commission (ICSIC) whose lead agencies include the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Human Services (DHS), the Department of Education (DOE), and the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA). One of their stated goals is to assure that “children and youth live in healthy, stable and supportive families.” They focus on food, jobs, affordable housing and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
The DOH has several resources for parents to help their children become healthy adults. Visit www.doh.gov (or call 311) for more information. Healthy Start, Healthy Families is available to pregnant women and their children who are at risk for falling between the cracks when it comes to establishing a family unit where strong and productive children can be raised. Phone 311 or visit the websites for DHS, DOE and CFSA (found at dc.gov) to learn how these agencies support healthy families.
For More Information
Visit secure.hamptonu.edu or secure.hamptonu.edu/contribute/ncaamp (757-728-4912) for more information on the National Summit on Marriage, Parenting, and Families and other announcements. Watch for how to order the DVD of the summit for your church or other organization. Proceeds will support NCAAMP. For information on the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center, visit www.healthymarriageinfo.org (866-916-4672). Finally, the link for the program brochure for the Summit on Marriage, Parenting, and Families can be found at www.hamptonu.edu/events/NCAAMP_Summit_Program.pdf.
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