Umoja: A Culturally Specific Approach to Mentoring Young African American Males
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Umoja: A Culturally Specific Approach to Mentoring Young African American Males Jerry Watson • Gregory Washington Desiree Stepteau-Watson
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Published online: 10 January 2015 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract This article reports that urban inner-city African American male youth residing in communities of color are at-risk and warrant interventions custom tailored to meet their unique cultural needs. This article describes a promising community and school-based intervention and prevention program utilizing Washington’s (J Soc Work Gr 2006:14, 2007) pyramid mentoring model designed to foster the positive development of this group, prevent violence, and to reduce contacts with the juvenile and criminal justice system. It discusses and presents African drumming, Spir-rhythms as a Afrocentric cultural arts tool to engage, establish rapport, and provide pyramid group mentoring experiences for African American male youth.
focus on sustained engagement and mentoring, could an intervention with an African drumming be educational, engaging, therapeutic, fun, enjoyable, and desirable for inner-city African American male youth? While this article is not an empirical study, the researchers reached a consensus regarding ‘‘promoting wellness’’ as defined by activities that positively impacted self-esteem, clarified values, improved positive behavior in educational settings, increased cultural knowledge of African cultural arts, traditions, history and geography, decreased contacts with the criminal justice system, and reduced violence.
Context of the Problem Keywords African American male youth Culturally appropriate Mentoring Violence prevention Applied social work researchers struggled with the hypothesis: could a cultural arts (African drumming) intervention ‘‘Spir-rhythms’’ be designed, introduced, and implemented targeting young at-risk African American males as a component of a group mentoring project to reduce community violence? More importantly, with a J. Watson (&) Jackson State University, 3825 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS 39211, USA e-mail: [email protected] G. Washington University of Memphis, Memphis, USA e-mail: [email protected] D. Stepteau-Watson University of Mississippi, 5197 W. E. Ross Parkway, Southaven, MS 38671, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Memphis is a city with a history of having some of the highest crime and youth violence rates in the country. Violence destroys quality of life and diminishes the freedom, health, and prosperity of individuals, families, and communities. Lack of public safety is linked to the city’s economic health, quality of education, and other community wellness goals. Consequently, lower rates of youth violence and crime are essential to enhancing the quality of life for residents and the increased economic growth and prosperity of the city (Operation Safe Community 2011). Memphis had the second highest violent crime rate in the country in 2006. With youth violence on the rise, in 2009, more than 54 % (1,462) of those arrested for committing
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