COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT ASSOCIATION, INC. LAUNCHES THE

CEA NEWSLETTER

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the CEA newsletter the “Authentic Voice of the Community” – a circular designed to keep the reader up-to-date on the activities of Community Empowerment Association as well as the activities within the communities that we serve.

Unfortunately the black community is presented mostly in a negative light in public media.  Our stories are not being told!  Our strengths and community efforts are not being demonstrated! For that reason, we need a publication that tells our stories from our perspective that showcases the positive work that is being done and celebrates exemplary efforts by youth, families and organizations within our communities who are making positive strides.

We have to tell our own stories! We have to make sure that the vital information that is edited out by mainstream media (creating a bias), in interviews about circumstances and events occurring in our community is included to provide the public with a more realistic view our communities given the disparities that exist. It is the intent of this newsletter to do just that!

It is also hoped that this newsletter will be the cohesive glue that creates the unity needed to address the challenges, especially the root causes of violence in the African American community, i.e. high unemployment and underemployment rates, low educational achievement outcomes, poor housing stock, lack of workforce development programs, disparities in health and mental health – all encompassed within institutional racism that is paralyzing our communities. The newsletter will provide illuminating information of the work that is being done to mobilize and unify the black community around issues that need decisive action for change. 

The newsletter will also serve as one of the recruitment arms of the Peace Alliance Network (PAN) (a network designed to create a groundswell of residents determined to work together to develop and implement strategies to improve the conditions of residents in the black community) and the Commission for a Better Life (Political arm of the Peace Alliance Network who will develop policy recommendations from the PAC).

Following is a brief history of Community Empowerment Association, the Public Health Approach to Violence, the Peace Alliance Network and the Commission for a Better Life.  Also listed is a brief summary of the activities conducted during 2010 and what to look forward to in 2011.  We would like to thank everyone that we have worked with so far to create a unified front against the root causes of violence in our communities and we look forward to working with you during the upcoming year.

 

HISTORY OF COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT ASSOCIATION

 

Major mission of Community Empowerment Association, Inc. (CEA) is to empower communities and families by providing high quality, well-managed, innovative services, including family support services, education, housing, economic development, and employment. Core belief of CEA is that families develop best in a community with a sense of order, positive social interaction, and opportunities supported by positive adults.  It is CEA’s aim and commitment to work with individuals and families to build, foster and empower the African-American community through capitalization of indigenous support, community stakeholders, organized network, and community education. CEA’s cultural frameworks are clearly unique to human and social service providers in the Pittsburgh region. CEA capitalizes on the powerful role that cultural influences play within the African American communities.

 

CEA’s distinctive programming works within four identified life-domains (individual, family, community, school), and is guided by 8 core program components which history and research has shown impact family and community changes for self-sufficiency. In order to work with youth, parents and families to strengthen protective factors for keeping children healthy and well, CEA is focused on serving its participants through these 8 core program components -- Personal Growth & Development, Educational Support, Cultural Enrichment, Economic/Career Exploration, Health and Wellness, Community Service, Recreational Activities, and Family Empowerment.

 

Empowerment begins when these factors are positively addressed in consistent and resourceful ways.  Hence, as a culturally responsive and community-driven social services organization, CEA is accountable for community empowerment through multi-sector collaboration.  Using culturally specific approaches that are sensitive to African American history, culture and behavior, CEA’s programs and services have a documented history of appeal and effectiveness with diverse African American communities. For example, CEA’s highly successful and well attended annual Kwanzaa Celebrations, Black Family Reunion Festivals, Peace in The Hood Basketball Tournaments, Jobs Not Jail Weekend Activities, Community & Educational Forums, Hip Hop Workshops, to name a few, exemplify its ability to galvanize and serve the African American community around common themes and shared cultural experiences.

 

Accordingly, CEA is focused on providing violence prevention/intervention, an after-school learning center and summer camp programs, truancy prevention/intervention, therapeutic support and human services, social support groups, community outreach, pre-employment and employment skills training, employment for youth and adults, and mentoring and family empowerment services. In part, to address unemployment in the black community, CEA also developed a landscaping and materials removal and hauling program.  The CEA Maintenance Group is a business initiative created for the empowerment of qualified community residents for hire in maintaining residential and commercial properties through landscaping, painting, cleaning, and hauling.  In addition CEA is focused on the empowerment of residents in the black community via its social justice activities.

 

 

CEA ON-GOING PROGRAMMING

 

The following provides a listing of the current major CEA intervention programs and initiatives:

 

Safe Passage (An Afterschool Diversion Program)

 

Major goal of Safe Passage program is to strengthen protective factors for keeping children healthy and well by working with youth, parents and families.  More specifically, CEA’s Safe Passage program provides: (a) a safe, educational, and culturally appropriate program for children and youth; (b) therapeutic support, and life skills training to help children cope with complex issues define values, and develop strong self-esteem; and (c) community enhancement services to alleviating environmental factors that can effect social, cognitive, and emotional behaviors of our school age participants.  Within this environment, multiple objectives are met:

 

a)   Students learn skills to improve academic success;

b)   Students learn to avoid negative peer influences and situations;

c)   Students develop positive self-esteem and group identity; and

d)   Students learn to stay in school through positive role modeling.

 

Students Aimed for Excellence (SAFE)

 

Major CEA paradigm for truancy prevention/intervention Students Aimed for Excellence (SAFE) includes: (1) provision of comprehensive, flexible, responsive, and preservation focused intervention; (2) viewing of our young participants in the context of their families; (3) dealing with families as parts of neighborhoods and communities; (4) provision of services by competent and committed staff members; and (5) based on mutual trust and respect, building strong relationships with participants, families and schools.  The goals of the SAFE program are to:

 

(a)  Reduce tardiness,

(b)  Increase, improve school attendance,

(c)  Improve behavior and attitude towards school,

(d)  Increase family/caregiver involvement,

(e)  Reconnect youth to school, family and community, and

(f)  Improve parenting skills.

 

Community Wellness Initiative

 

CEA’s Community Wellness Initiative is a holistic therapeutic program to support the wellness of children, adults and families in comfortable and natural community settings.  The goal of this culturally specific initiative is to foster an environment of empowerment for youth and their families to determine and advocate for their needs, improve their health and pursue their aspirations.  In an effort to provide more comprehensive services CEA’s Community Wellness Initiative is designed first and foremost as a community-based collaborative system that includes health care providers, community and faith based organizations, schools, and other community leadership. It also incorporates a family-centered partnership-- trusting, collaborative, working partnership with families, respecting their diversity and recognizing their special needs in a culturally and appropriate manner. CEA uses a culturally specific expressive therapy approach as well as other strengths based intervention approaches to service delivery.   The objectives of this initiative are to:

 

i)    Assess the physical and mental wellness in community members

ii)   Reduce psychological distress

iii)  Increase the knowledge of socially acceptable norms

iv)  Provide an immediate level of intervention in the broader community

v)   Build trust

vi)  Address family needs

vii) Facilitate recovery and interdependence

 

As a unique Afrocentric organization, CEA understands how inequity, poverty, and racism exacerbate mental health/emotional problems among a number of African American families.  The persistent exposure to social environmental stressors stemming from various sources (e.g., chronic poverty, exposure to violence, physical and sexual abuse, loss of significant family members, discrimination, and other hardships), victimized families tend to feel degraded, hurt, uprooted against their will, or punished. Thus, CEA sees the serious need for poor and low-income African American families to be uniquely debriefed and rehabilitated - a holistic clinical process that is typically unavailable among traditional health service providers with following unique set of clinical components:

 

  Unbinding of complex emotional interactions rooted in historical burdens-- a similar condition to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder;

  Treatment of hyper-arousal (hypersensitivity) – an exaggerated reaction to stressor and fear which appear often as a symptom among children and youth; 

  Healing of paralysis (constrictiveness) associated with unresolved contextual and personal issues (suffering family, unsafe neighborhood, school failure, etc.);

  Management of social, cultural and environmental intrusion-- constant bombardment of myth, deceit, fabrication, and unnatural ideology;

  Rehabilitation of acute dysfunction stemming from abuse and neglect;

  Treatment of self alienation stemming from devaluation of African culture, its ethos, and civilization; 

  Facilitation of participants to make a connection to African ancestral roots as it relates their spirit, values, axioms, principles, and lifestyle;

  Treatment of culturally acquired immune deficiency syndrome…afflicted families may not have adequate cultural defenses, protection, or resistance to undesirable and popularized lifestyle; and

  Spiritual enrichment and augmentation of humility, compassion, and insight-- for self-renewal or realignment.

 

CEA’s ability to address these chronic complex issues are greatly enhanced by its organizational mission, sensitivity to the needs of lower-income households, and understanding of ways that culture affects an individual’s connections to his/her community, i.e., common heritage, common experiences, common culture, and shared emotional bonds. In fact, CEA’s organizational adoption and ongoing use of culturally specific frameworks in its programs and services demonstrate acute sensitivity to the powerful role that cultural influences play within the African American community.

 

The overall commitment of this invaluable initiative is to strengthen the social functioning and resiliency of youth and family members who are currently underserved and/or hesitant to use traditional physical, behavioral health and substance abuse treatment services.

 

African American Leadership Institute

 

The major mission of the African American Leadership Institute is to help restore, reclaim, and transform Black male youth and adult leadership in targeted neighborhoods within the greater Pittsburgh area.  It was designed with a salient knowledge base, deep understanding of the complexity of race related issues, and an abundance of prior experience working with this region’s most vulnerable population.  The major components of the Institute include: (a) establishment of a Council of Black Elders (COBE); (b) targeted youth recruitment; (c) teaching, training and mentorship; (d) youth retreat conferences; (e) establishment of a Commission on Black Youth Affairs; and (f) integration function by the COBE. 

 

The goals of the AALI are to:

 

a)   Develop protective factors in participants that contribute to their individual and community success;

b)   Develop leadership protocols in schools, communities, and local groups that stem from the project’s activities and outputs;

c)   Create sustaining Institute mechanisms to regenerate and support the leadership of Black men and youth at the local and indigenous (grassroots) level;

d)   Develop knowledge acquisition, leadership, and capacity-building from the retreats;

e)   Develop a Commission on Black Youth Affairs to: (a) engage youth on community, regional, and national issues, (b) produce policy recommendations that are important to youth, and (c) create policies that produce cost savings in selected programs; and,

f)    Improve working relationships between Black leaders, youth, and residents with major institutions in the region, including formal government agencies and public service organizations.

 

There is a serious need for poor and low-income African young men to be uniquely debriefed by the COBE with insight and accomplished experience to: (1) offer introspective guide throughout the leadership journey; (2) provide leadership education, training, and mentorship; and (3) formulate and advise the Commission on Black Youth Affairs.  This component of the initiative is designed to tap the collective knowledge of the Elders for teaching and mentoring selected youth participants. The elders also help develop and foster aspirations for post-secondary education among youth participants.

 

Hip-Hop Academy

 

The Hip-Hop Academy (HHA) is a twenty week program hosted by CEA at the Community Empowerment Recording Studio.  The HHA consists of workshops held every Monday and Wednesday, focusing on the subjects of Hip-Hop music production, song writing, recording, and the components of the music business.  Each week, students participate in interactive activities that introduce them to specific areas of expertise that they are encouraged to study and master.  The HHA also incorporates community outreach and volunteering activities to give students a well rounded education related to the utilization of skills learned in the Hip-Hop music genre to better their lives and the communities where they reside.  Students who complete these educational workshops and introductory training sessions will develop practical skills and strategies for making a living in the local and international music industry. The objectives of the HHA are:

 

1)   To increase students knowledge of the music business & related industries

2)   To import marketable skills such as negotiation, public speaking, teamwork & project management

3)   To allow students to socialize & engage in cross-cultural learning with youth from different areas

 

Saturday Academy

 

The purpose of the Academy is to provide extra educational support as well as personal growth and development activities necessary for youth to maximize their opportunities and rise to their full potential.  Participants receive assistance in math and reading and then participate in creative writing, media production, entrepreneurship, jewelry making, and hip-hop seminars.  Participants also attend CEA forums that may be in progress.

 

CEA Maintenance Group

 

A business initiative created for the empowerment of qualified community residents for hire in maintaining residential and commercial properties through landscaping, painting, cleaning, snow removal and hauling.  Emphasis is placed on hiring and training community residents that have a difficult time obtaining gainful employment due to qualifications, prison records, etc.

 

Pre-Apprentice Training in Construction & Property Maintenance

 

A newly formed workforce development initiative in collaboration with Ma’at Construction Group to prepare youth between the ages of 15 and 21 for apprenticeships in construction and property maintenance which entails greenspace development, environmental improvement and weatherization.  The 12-week curriculum includes construction theory, blueprint reading, computer training, math, tools, greenspace development, weatherization, communication skills, workplace safety, career planning, mentoring and lifeskills.  The initiative targets disadvantaged youth in low-income communities plagued by drugs and gun violence, and is designed to:

 

a)   Increase employment opportunities in the construction and property maintenance fields, as well as

b)   Serve as a deterrent to selling drugs and committing violent acts.

 

Brother to Brother Leadership Forum  

 

Major goals of the Brother to Brother Leadership Forum are to enhance community and neighborhood safety, improve quality education in our communities, develop political and legal expertise, improve community wellness including mental, physical, and behavioral wellness, and economic development and economic self-sufficiency. This project shares breakfast every month to provide an opportunity for men and young males to talk and plan activities that will provide mentoring opportunities for the youth. The major objectives of the Brother to Brother Leadership Forum are to:

 

a)   Cultivate a new harvest of young Black men under the mentorship, coaching and wisdom of positive adult Black men; 

b)   Develop prescriptions and actions necessary to create permanent safeguards for Black youth, families and communities; and

c)   Share life experiences, challenges and assess rational and salient solutions.

 

Local Black men and youth meet in a community fellowship breakfast forum to discuss and inform each other on community issues, social/economic opportunities, spirituality, family and leadership responsibilities, etc. The participants are Black men of various faiths, professions, and backgrounds who contribute in roundtable discussions to develop action plans that address important issues impacting our communities. More specifically, the participants include youth, human service workers, doctors, laborers, lawyers, engineers, financial planners, politicians, corporate trainers, construction workers, journalists, cooks, faith-based leaders, and unemployed/underemployed youth and adults.

 

Brother-to-Brother is also actively engaged in conducting community-wide initiatives.  Selected examples of such activities are as follows:

 

The Day of Black Male Solidarity March – occurs annually since 2007 - over 600 Black men and youth gathered to renew their vow to unite and address community needs.

 

The All Guns Down– kickoff weekends within target neighborhoods where there is widespread violence - spent in engaging youth in a midnight basketball tournament/dialogue, bike ride for peace rally, bike & car show competition, and community forums to encourage black youth to put ‘all guns down’ and join in promoting ‘jobs not jail’. This on-gong campaign is directly initiated in neighborhoods suffering from violence. This campaign has occurred in two Allegheny County Neighborhoods and has attracted over 600 youth and adults.

 

Jobs Not Jail Campaign -- campaign which encourages service providers & businesses to attend our events to recruit Black youth for jobs. The numbers of Black youth currently incarcerated in Western Pennsylvania are severely disproportionate. One solution to this dire situation is to create opportunities for gainful employment for youth versus the illicit activities that ensnare many young people.  Youth are encouraged to contact their local and state officials asking them to support living wages, jobs for youth, anti-gun legislation and to address disparities in sentencing and incarceration rates.

 

Youth Fishing Trip – a mentoring opportunity for youth and adults, encouraging communication and dialogue.

 

Baltimore Black Wax Museum Trip – a historical and cultural awareness mentoring activity.

 

Sister to Sister Leadership Forum  

 

Parallel to The Brother to Brother leadership Forum, the Sister to Sister Leadership Forum's goals are also to enhance community and neighbor safety, improve quality education in our communities, develop political and legal expertise, improve community wellness including mental, physical, and behavioral wellness, and economic development and economic self-sufficiency. The mission of the Sister to Sister Leadership Forum is to empower and motivate women to effect and create changes that will improve the quality of life for themselves, their families and their communities.

 

Major objectives of the Sister to Sister Leadership Forum include:

 

(1) Participant empowerment though self-help group discussions and assessments (e.g., reclaiming sons in jail, individualized areas in need of improvement, changing perceptions from “we are not worthy – we are dealing with backlash” to "we are survivors in quest of better lives", and need for unity and respect);

 

(2) Understanding economics of community (e.g., importance of supporting local businesses, relationship between neighborhood safety and business growth and expansion, and youth education and employment opportunities);

 

(3) Assessment of community's social issues (e.g., school dropout, crime, poor health, family instability, poor parenting, etc.); and

 

(4) Assessment of community's assets (e.g., faith based organizations, local business organizations, community stakeholders, human service organizations, committed teachers, police officers, and neighbors, etc.).

 

ADDITIONAL CEA INITIATIVES, ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

 

PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH TO VIOLENCE REDUCATION

 

Violence is a serious public health problem in the United States. It affects people in all stages of life-- from infants to the elderly. Based on available official data again 2010 has been an inexcusably high and violence infested year. In city of Pittsburgh, over 8,000 violent crimes (homicide, rape, aggravated and simple assaults, and robbery) will annually victimize residents of City of Pittsburgh.

   

Violence erodes communities by reducing public safety, economic productivity, and property values. It also disrupts education of youth, lowers neighborhood attachment and strain family relationships. Many who survived violence are also left with permanent physical and emotional scars.

 

In order to break the cycle of violence, service providers, academics, and public officials must share information, knowledge, and resources, and develop an interdisciplinary and scientifically sound strategic plan. Based on my assessment, only viable solution is to collaboratively address violence based a public health paradigm-- intervention system focused on prevention, rehabilitation, and development. This strategy can also engage community residents in positive ways, and empowers them to take ownership and sustain much needed resident commitment for a long-term public safety.

 

Unfortunately, over reliance on law enforcement for controlling violence invites further affliction of our youth and adults in Greater Pittsburgh region. The PIRC outcomes are beginning to surface and confirming CEA's prediction that the suppressive intervention is doom to a failure The total number of homicides within first 9 month of 2010 has already exceeded the entire 2009 rate.

 

Over 30 years of criminal justice research have shown that forces of police vigilance and tougher sentencing will not control crime nor sustain public safety. Waves of brutal crime are a symptom of contagious sickness of communities, instead of inherent or deliberate viciousness. 

 

Community Empowerment Association has been working with resource poor neighborhoods throughout Allegheny County with a message of hope and empowering African American men and women to begin to take their place in solving community problems. It was obvious from Emergency Town Hall Meetings held over the past 24 months with well over 800 attendees that this approach is not only salient but it is the right approach.

 

PEACE ALLIANCE NETWORK

 

On September 11, 2010, concerned citizens from Pittsburgh came together to talk about the devastating impact that violence has had on our communities.  Causes and solutions were discussed.  Out of the conversation, the Urban Peace Initiative was born.  It was decided in the meeting that to address violence, communities had to begin to have conversations about peace, that it was up to residents in communities to make it happen, and that it would take a groundswell of residents from communities affected to create the motivation necessary to develop an agenda and policies addressing root causes to violence and acquiring the necessary resources to alleviate it! 

 

Members of the Urban Peace Initiative began meeting and planning ways to develop strategies. In the meetings, a decision was made to partner with concerned citizens and organizations from other communities and to recruit residents for this peace effort.  As a result The Peace Alliance Network was formed.  The Peace Alliance Network was convened to take a leadership in violence reduction by: (a) implementing public health approach to violence and obtaining buy-in from the communities most affected; (b) gathering community data on problems and solutions; (c) generating recommendations for policies to the Commission for further development and submission for legislative changes both locally, and nationally; (d) creating a groundswell of community support to the Public Health Approach and the Commission for legislative changes.

 

Members of the Peace Alliance Network have travelled to communities throughout Allegheny County, spreading a message of hope in an effort to organize residents around action strategies to mitigate challenges and promote peace in urban communities.  In addition, The Peace Alliance Network has hosted an emergency community forum and identified four areas of focus: 

1.   Mothers and families that have lost loved ones to violence

2.   Low Educational attainment

3.   Workforce Development & Training

4.   Political & Economic Development

 

As part of the Political & Economic Development focus, the Peace Alliance Network staged a demonstration in a community around new economic development that has neglected to include indigenous residents in the planning stages, indigenous workforce identification, training and development, as well as reinvestment into the community where the new development will prosper because of indigenous residents’ support.

 

All of the focuses identified have formed groups within the Alliance to develop strategies to address the issues and bring about positive change.

 

The Peace Alliance Network has also launched a petition for a public hearing to address issues in the black community.  More detailed information about the efforts and activities of the Peace Alliance Network follows.

 

COMMISSION FOR A BETTER LIFE

 

The Commission A Better Life is a multi-sectarian and inclusive coalition designed to broker opportunities with mainstream systems for communities, families and at risk youth. Major tasks of the Commission with its interdisciplinary members include: (a) review recommendations of policy and legislative changes provided from the community; (b) develop policy and legislative changes to address root causes as disseminated through the public health approach based upon scientifically proven outcomes; (c) take legislative and policy changes to government for adoption into law for systemic changes of institutions that historically support devastation of our community.

 

The interdisciplinary members will be focused on accurately framing the issue of homicides (mainly due to gun violence) as a public health issue rather than a gun control or law enforcement issue while also addressing the root cause of violence. This Commission will also identify communities (hot spots) where violence most occurs and help develop a collaborative partnership with community based organizations that have outstanding relationships with the targeted group, community stakeholders, residents, and youth to assess community needs. Additionally, the Commission will develop an intervention strategy (community based and community driven) that encompasses: