About 1st & 45
Vision
We exist to bring awareness to the social and economic factors contributing to the youth epidemic of Black male homicides.
Mission
Implement fact-based research and a results-oriented game plan to tackle the social determinants contributing to the deaths and incarceration of Black male youth in America.
Values
We conceptulize data-driven solutions based on researched facts that Black communities can implement and sustain to Save Our Sons Now!
America’s Unrecognized Public Health Crisis
EXAMINING THE BLACK MALE HOMICIDE MATRIX
The homicide rate for African Americans has soared over the last 50 years. Black males account for less than 7% of the American population, yet account for more than 50% of all U.S. homicides. The Black male homicide matrix is complex and the continued silence surrounding the deaths of our Black fathers, uncles, brothers and sons is why nearly 450,000 Black males have been murdered since 1950.
Black Male Pipeline to Prison Crisis
EXAMINING THE BLACK MALE PRISON MATRIX
As the Black male homicide count rises, the Black male prison population swells. In America, Black males are currently being incarcerated for violent crimes at an
unprecedented rate. The United States’ efforts to get tough on crime with building more prisons to lock-up more inmates appears to have fumbled in reducing the violent crime rates in African American communities. Prisons have purpose; however, past trends of constructing prisons to combat crime suggest that if prison beds are built, the business model is only successful if the prison beds are filled.
Foster Care's Pipeline to Prison Crisis
FLAGGING SOCIAL DETERMINANTS BIRTHING THE FOSTER CARE CRISIS
Over the next few months, 1st and 45 will attempt to unravel the social spider web birthing irresponsible behaviors leading Black males to their graves and prison cells. Here is what must be understood: no one is born a murderer or a menace to society; however, the environments and social determinants often influence the behavior and social choices which have created this epidemic of the homicides, the leading cause of death for Black males ages 1 to 44.