By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
Even with homicides in Birmingham down by 69 percent this year and violence reduction moving in the right direction, City leaders have said now is not the time to be complacent.
After announcing last week that homicides and crime were down Police Chief Michael Pickett said the game was not won and “we’re not spiking the ball.
On Tuesday, the city launched the Black Male Initiative, a plan aimed at early intervention, particularly for boys ages 8-14, to help keep them on the right path.
Recent data shows a troubling trend: teenagers are increasingly involved as suspects in serious violent crimes, Mayor Randall Woodfin said during a Tuesday press conference.
The mayor said he is alarmed that in Birmingham’s four homicides this year, eight teens have been charged in those homicides. One is 15, four are 16, one is 18 and two are 19.
“It’s not just the victims we lost who were taken from their families and loved ones,” he said. “We have eight teenagers are looking at being lost in the penal system.”
“As a son, as a brother, as an uncle, as a nephew, this bothers me,” Woodfin said. “I owe it to the next generation of Black boys who become men to say and do something.”
It Takes A Village
Woodfin emphasized that the Black Male Initiative is not a city-only effort but a community-driven one, with support already pledged from Birmingham City Schools, local churches, barbershops and other neighborhood organizations.
The Black Male Initiative is designed to intervene before young people become involved in the criminal justice system. The program emphasizes keeping youth in school, improving literacy, expanding access to job skills and providing mentorship, while addressing the root causes of violence through community partnerships.
The initiative will be led by Carnelle Howell, senior managing director at Howell Consulting and a longtime civic leader who served on the Birmingham Crime Commission.
“This wasn’t a program that was pulled out of the sky,” Howell said. “Every program under the umbrella of this initiative was an idea of young Black boys. They told us what they wanted and what they needed. When you support this program, you support our boys.”
Many young people who become involved in the justice system never intended to take that path,” Howell said. “Sometimes in life, it chooses you,” he said. “That’s why it’s important we keep the main thing the main thing—and our children are the main thing.”
Woodfin cited post-COVID research showing that disengagement from school and unemployment among Black men are closely tied to higher crime rates. “The mandate is clear,” he said. “Keep our Black boys in school. Make sure our Black boys are literate. Make sure our Black men have skills and can be gainfully employed.”
Barbershops
A key starting point for the Black Male Initiative will be barbershops, which city leaders say serve as trusted, consistent spaces within Black communities. Woodfin emphasized that barbers are already doing the work of mentorship and engagement, making them essential partners in reaching young boys early.
“Barbershops are critical access points for information, resources and trust,” Woodfin said. “Every Black boy, at some point, walks into a barbershop. That makes them a natural bridge to connect our boys to support, opportunity and guidance.”
The initiative builds on recommendations from the Birmingham Crime Commission, which called for increased parental engagement, life coaching, faith-based involvement, nonviolence training and data-driven intervention strategies.
Programs under the initiative will include parenting workshops, mentorships, GED assistance, apprenticeships and skilled trades, fatherhood engagement, mental health support, barbershop-based outreach and workforce development pathways.
Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Mark Sullivan Ed.D., recently named Alabama Education Association Superintendent of the Year, said the school system fully supports the initiative, noting persistent disparities in discipline, graduation rates and academic outcomes for young Black males.
“Our data shows that there is a group of students who are not being as successful as they can be,” Sullivan said. “We can’t be part of a system where a subsection of our children is systematically not succeeding. Every child deserves an equal opportunity to be successful in life, and when the data shows otherwise, we have to do something to change that.”
