In March, as the national unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent for the third straight month, the rate for black men rose to 20.2 The May edition of City Limits magazine presents a comprehensive investigation of the causes, consequences and political controversy of black make joblessness. In this web extra, we look at how some organizations in New York are attacking the problem one client at a time.

Amid alarm over high black male unemployment in New York City and elsewhere, it's easy to forget that most black men are in the labor force and have jobs, that most have never been to prison, have graduated high school and are not poor. It's not that most black men are disconnected from the workforce—just that too many are.

City Limits Magazine


May 2010:
The Black Depression

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Jarrett Murphy
Jarrett Murphy
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Nor is black joblessness being ignored by social service providers. While policymakers and politicians debate how to respond to the national phenomenon, several nonprofit agencies on the ground in New York City are assisting individual black men—and other men of color—in their struggle to find work.

In East Harlem, STRIVE is teaching civics and "soft skills" to out-of-work people, mostly young men of color, many of whom were previously in prison or on welfare. In the shadow of the Queensborough Bridge, The Fortune Society pairs formerly incarcerated men with career development coaches to help them navigate the difficult path from prison to employment. And the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), in Lower Manhattan, places ex-offenders in transitional jobs, while they search for private sector employment.

Each organization comes to the problem with a different history and approach.

CEO was launched by its current executive director, Mindy Tarlow, as a subsidiary of the Vera Institute of Justice in 1994. Its philosophy is that intervening immediately after someone is released from incarceration is crucial; getting them into a program and a job quickly is key to preventing their return to jail or prison.

CEO brings ex-offenders in for pre-employment training (tips on workplace demeanor and interviewing), puts them in transitional jobs doing maintenance and repair work, sends them on interviews for private sector work and then offers guidance and incentives—like movie tickets and bonuses—as clients move through their first months in the workforce. In fiscal year 2008, CEO had a budget of $14.1 million and placed 1,223 people in jobs.

Rob Carmona founded STRIVE 25 years ago in the basement of a housing project. Now based on 123rd Street, the program serves a wider clientele than CEO or Fortune, which focus solely on ex-offenders. With a 2008 budget of $3.9 million, STRIVE accepted 1,300 students in 2009 for its month-long "core" class, which teaches workplace conduct and interviewing skills, but also mixes in civics lessons about civil rights figures like Emmett Till and Malcolm X. The point, says chief operating officer Angelo Rivera, is to give some historical context to the situation young black men and other clients find themselves in, so they say to themselves, "Now I know why I'm so pissed off!"

Some graduates of STRIVE move from the core program to a green construction training program.

The Fortune Society traces its origin to a play about prison life that a Broadway press agent, David Rothenberg, used his life savings to produce in 1966. The show touched off spontaneous audience debates about prison life, and in order to support a longer-lasting conversation—and develop programs to help former inmates—Rothenberg founded the Fortune Society. It's location at Queens Plaza is no accident; there, the bus from Rikers Island lets out several batches of released prisoners every day. The guys come off the bus telling each other to "stay strong." But that's tough to do.