I think what it comes down to, when evaluating black men, is realizing the heaps of  misinformation. Some people are too lazy to carve their own perception or dig deep and make sure the "facts" they are internalizing are actually accurate. With the above links I'm sure people get a better taste of reality. Personally, I'm shocked and just about horrified at the rate of HIV/AIDS among black women, more to that the method of contraction..........drugs are still a major factor and are killing our people at an alarming rate, although through sex with drug users...drugs are at the crux. What's even worse,  is that being removed from environments one can  forget how detrimental things are and how huge an impact they carry...i.e. Drugs. When people are bombarded with the real life imagery,  in a neigborhood for example, it's in your face...people are forced to recognize what factors are killing a people. For those that can't, haven't and never will witness that - these are the links they need to see. Creating awareness is key.

 As far as the Black man my soul won't permit me to loose sight of them and their significant strides, more to that the struggles they face seemingly daily. I think this comes from being the only girl and having 4 older brothers - what they experienced, I experienced through them in some fashion...I endured the strife.

I am not surprised at the findings of the misuse of statistics in regards to college v jail/prison. People will use anything if they even think a group will willingly follow what they are presenting without any questions or rebuttals.

Knowledge is power, voice is strength, perseverance is essential and in the end people will not only realize but become a part of the solution.

 I have so much faith in Black men.

 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.

Thankz for the stats and info.  I checked out some of them, but will look through the rest and check out the info.  I am so glad you have this syte, becauze first I can stand and say, Black mean are worth it and are damned good, in everyway.  They, like black women, have scars that have not healed or that have been buried so deep in their psyche, that it takes more than stats, to show them the light.  Each individual has their own conclusions, but the fact remains the same, Black men are worth it and are damned good.  

The stats on men with HIV/AIDS, indicated some inconsistencies, from what I saw.  For example, If white men, in 2004, constituted 192 cases at  10% of cases of HIV/AIDS, and black men, constituted 478 @ 6%, then the percentages, does not represent the high numbers of black male cases.  Even the cumulative data seems misrepresentative.  The other thing I was thinking, was what is the actual percentage of Black Americans in this country.  Last I heard it was 12% (1993-96) and it seemed to me our numbers should be much greater, especially now.

According to the stats for prison inmates, it appears black men, make up the largest population, followed by whites, latinos and so on, while white men make up the largest population of death row inmates.  Still I wonder what the actual population percentages are for the country, because then it could indicate, white males, who make up the second largest prisoner population, actually are the largest population in prison, compared to the population of black men in prison, who make up a smaller population in the country.

Anyway, it doez lead me to suspect social myths and attitudes.  Thank you for putting it out there and making people, THINK.  Think about what's REAL.

Check out my blog about "What syde r u on?" Heard about the racist comments made by a well known comedian?  What do you have to say about it.

Peace and Love

Acez

Thanks for the info.!  I've always been told that there are 3 sides to every story.....ours, theirs, and the truth!!!  Typically, the truth involves a mesh of both sides, so it's not to totally disregard the oppositional stats. and perspective because I believe that the reason people have latched on to these numbers is because we see it everyday.  If we didn't see it (i.e. homies on the corner selling weed), we'd be less likely to believe what "others" give us as our info.!  We must create and disseminate our own knowledge!!!  I believe in that!!!

Additionally, I believe that while we create our own knowledge and deconstruct the inaccuracies, we should also make efforts to help those young brothas that are the real statistics.  There's some truth to every stereotype.  The question is....how do we alleviate the real statistics?