Black teenagers & cops: A conversation

One week ago in the Bronx, New York Assemblyman Michael Blake and I co-hosted a meeting of community leaders, young people and NYPD local precinct police. The goal was simple: begin a dialogue about the senseless violence erupting in cities across America.

The first half of the meeting revolved around letting the two sides talk, releasing air from our increasingly precarious racial balloon. A young African-American man asked the police officers why, when they stopped him, they slammed him against a fence.

The NYPD invitees said they recognized that some police take it too far, but that most really care deeply and value lives in the communities they serve. The officers also spoke about how hard it is for them to effectively fight crime in an environment of distrust, where some citizens won’t even report perpetrators.

The young people in the room responded, letting police know that in order to rebuild trust, they had to do a better job of publicly rebuking their peers when they cross the line; without this, all cops are assumed to be involved, even those who actually abhor uncivil tactics. There were head nods from the cops, and it seemed all sides began to understand each other a bit better.

We had all agreed to focus on solutions in the final hour. The framing question was simple: “If money were no object and you could do anything at all to solve this, what specifically would you want to do?”

That’s when ideas began to flow. More than 40 ideas in all — from reorienting school curriculum, to training parents on how to do their vital job better, to providing creative economic opportunities for disengaged youth, to innovative ideas about how to reform the police.

One youth suggested creating “cycles of success” for youth, in which one internship opportunity leads to another which eventually leads to a job. Another youth, fondly remembering a basketball game between officers and fifthgraders, suggested more activities to integrate cops into the community. It was an amazing sight to see: police and kids seated around the same table, solving issues for a community they all love.

It is a formula the nation should consider.

As the organization I lead, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, rolls out its efforts across the nation, one starting point is connecting young adults to jobs. More than 300 jobs were lined up for the career summit we co-hosted in Oakland last week. We are also linking young people to powerful tools and resources, including mock interviews, health and social services, entrepreneurship workshops and more.

The alliance, which was born out of a national call to action from President Obama, plans to engage deeply with over a dozen cities across the nation in the next 24 months. I am elated by the pledged support of corporate America’s biggest brands and highly optimistic about outcomes for boys and men of color.

But such efforts won’t be enough.

The event bringing young black New Yorkers and police officers together reminded me that in addition to programming, we badly need open dialogue, in good faith, leading to collective action. As challenging as discussions about race and equity are and as fatigued as our nation may be about the prospect of having them, they are a mandatory element of healing.

The conversation was also a reminder of the need to engage our youth to help solve issues disproportionately affecting them. They may actually be our most underutilized asset. Engaging them means the rest of us will often need to take a step back and recognize that now, listening is leadership. Those closest to the problem will often have the best solutions, and it is time to let their lights shine.

A dialogue in the Bronx can be a national model for building bridges