Young men (and a few women) from St. Croix Educational Complex and the West Indies Heritage School listened, laughed, sometimes applauded and occasionally looked around uncomfortably during a talk on men’s role in society Thursday at the University of the Virgin Islands.
Two senators, an expert on sexually transmitted diseases, UVI’s president, and a professor who nearly went off the rails before pulling his life together, all spoke very frankly about the challenges and dangers facing young men everywhere—in particular, young black men in the Virgin Islands.
"Young black men die from homicide at 46 times the rate of their white counterparts," UVI President David Hall said. "For ages 15 to 34, they are eight times as likely to suffer from AIDS. Why?"
After the harsh statistics, Hall told the young men they that they were already over many of the hurdles, given they were seniors in high school, planning to graduate and mostly planning to go to college. Part of the solution to turning around these stark statistics, he said, is going into the schools and working with young men in particular to motivate them to "fulfill their dreams and to go to college."
To do that means sitting down and having a talk about what it means to be a man, changing the definition from being tough or having a cool car to one of being in command of one’s own destiny and taking responsibility, he said.
"We are very proud of you," Hall said. "And we hope this session will play a small part in inspiring you to dream big dreams so you will not only be successful and go to college but go out and change the world."
Sen. Sammuel Sanes recalled growing up in Estate Clifton Hill on St. Croix and facing many of the same pressures kids face today. Without direction, he and other neighborhood kids planned fights against kids from Mon Bijou and, until college, he didn’t know what was really valuable in life.
"Of 15 of us in the old neighborhood, only three went to college," he said. After graduating high school and going off to school and to work on the mainland, he would come home to visit.
"Every time I came back, I had to go to Kingshill Cemetery to visit one of my friends. After the third time, I stopped asking questions," Sanes said.
Of his old gang in the neighborhood, four are dead, four or five are in prison and three went to college. "That’s not good at all. We are in a mindset of mental slavery," Sanes said. "Why? The first thing we think of when we think about success is what? A car with rims."
The 40 or so young men burst into laughter, and one fellow yelled out, "24 inches."
According to Sanes, many young men focus all their efforts and hard-won earnings toward a new car, what he described as "a piece of metal that in five years will be eradicated."
"Imagine if all that hard work and dedication were put instead into a college degree," Sanes said, "a degree that you will have for the rest of your life?"
He credited his parents and aunts and uncles for pushing him in the right direction, despite temptation, and pressing him to be the best at something. "College is a great way to pursue that, but not the only way," he said.
"If you want to work on cars, then do that well and be the best mechanic," he said.
Sen. Nereida "Nellie" O’Reilly spoke to both the men and women, exhorting young men to treat the women they know like princesses or queens and the young women to accept no less from any man.
"If we do that, we can end the cycle of domestic violence now," she said.
Jason Henry, who oversees HIV and AIDS programs at the Frederiksted Health Clinic, spoke frankly about the dangers of sex, especially sex without a condom, citing high numbers of cases of sexually transmitted diseases, from chlamydia and gonorrhea to HIV.
He also spoke about unwanted pregnancies. "Are you ready to have a child, to take care of it, feed and clothe and raise it?" he asked. "Are you ready to pay child support every month?"
Almost in the style of a minister, UVI accounting Professor Ricardo Caldwell recalled how as a youth he wound up in jail, and nearly in prison, before managing a second chance. He also related how college itself, the process of learning, helped him to realize what was really important in life.
The last speaker was unscheduled. Dillon Inglis Jr., a senior at St. Croix Educational Complex, had prepared a short statement; so instead of the scheduled closing remarks, Inglis was given the microphone.
Standing up before his classmates, senators and educators, Inglis spoke about the role of men as protectors and providers and the need for self-discipline.
"Through hard work and determination you can do anything," Inglis said in closing.