Event Beneficiary

The Think Black! 2010 event will primarily benefit the W.S.A.C.F.'s mentoring program: Alpha G.E.N.T.S. (Gaining Essential Networking Tools for Success). This program was designed to cultivate male students to become successful adults by adopting a focused and goal oriented philosophy through a structured atmosphere that provides them the foundation of life skills and continuous support.

The G.E.N.T.S. program commits itself to each student throughout his academic experience and transition into the working world. The program ensures success through ongoing evaluations of its workshops and activities. It uses a tiered curriculum that will build toward graduation from high school.

Students may begin the program at the 8th grade level and end at 12th grade. During the first year of the program to the last, participants receive a mentor to aid in development, networking opportunities, and scholarships. The G.E.N.T.S. program provides monetary funds for book scholarships and academic incentives. It also provides items that aid and encourage participants to work closer to their goals.

Members of the W.S.A.C.F serve as mentors and meet with the young men monthly to participate in workshops that are both fun and educational. Some recurring programs planned for the upcoming year include: High School Academic Excellence, Teenage Pregnancy/ STD prevention, Go-to-High School/ Go-to-College, Basketball Tournament, Career & Personal Goal Setting, Financial Literacy, Field Trips, College Tours, Entrepreneurship, Dressing for Success, and Community Service.

Statistics Affecting Beneficiary

Participants in the Alpha G.E.N.T.S. program are faced daily with health, economical and social issues which are evident by the following statistics:

• 85% of Black high school students graduate (U.S. Bureau of the Census, March 1997).
• 3.5 million Black children (31%) live below the poverty level (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).
• 40% of black men die prematurely from cardiovascular disease as compared to 21% of white men (Men's Health Magazine, Black American Men's Health - November 2006).
• Black men are 5 times more likely to die of HIV/AIDS (Men's Health Magazine, Black American Men's Health - November 9, 2006).
• Black men experience disproportionately higher death rates in all the leading causes of death (Men's Health Magazine, Black American Men's Health - November 9, 2006)
• Some 54% of white students use the Internet at home, compared with 26% of Hispanic and 27% of black youngsters (USA Today, 2006).
• 17% of Black Americans are college graduates (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002).
• In 2005, homicide victimization rates for blacks were 6 times higher than the rates for whites (US Department of Justice, 2006).
• In 2005, offending rates for blacks were more than 7 times higher than the rates for whites (US Department of Justice, 2006).
• Based on current rates of first incarceration, an estimated 32% of black males will enter State or Federal prison during their lifetime, compared to 17% of Hispanic males and 5.9% of white males (US Department of Justice, 2007).
• Sixty-four percent of prison inmates belonged to racial or ethnic minorities in 2001 (US Department of Justice, 2006).
• About 10.4% of the entire African-American male population in the United States aged 25 to 29 was incarcerated, by far the largest racial or ethnic group by comparison; 2.4% of Hispanic men and 1.2% of white men in that same age group were incarcerated (2007 Pearson Education, Inc).
• Today, more African-American men are in jail than in college (2007 Pearson Education, Inc).

Having understood the environment for minority males, it is important that these youth are given a structured atmosphere that provides them the foundation of life skills and continuous support.