Oakland aims to lift students who are young, male and black

Oakland was alone in 2010 when it created a race-based program in its schools focusing solely on African American males. It was a controversial idea — an abandonment of a color-blind classroom to improve the lives of black boys.

Yet five years later, the East Bay city is leading the nation in the growing movement to address inequities and improve the lives of African American males.

Oakland, Detroit and Washington top a national list of cities committed to helping black men and boys, scoring 95 out of 100 points, according to a report released Thursday by the Campaign for Black Male Achievement, a national membership organization.

The top scores don’t mean these cities are the best places for black males to live. Instead, the scores reflect a city’s commitment to erase the negative statistics related to African American males in education, employment, incarceration and life expectancy, among other areas of well-being.

Oakland, Detroit and Washington have a long way to go in reducing crime, poverty and low educational outcomes for black males, the report said.

“No city can raise the victory flag,” said Shawn Dove, CEO of the Campaign for Black Male Achievement. “It’s not where there is success, but where there is growing promise and hope.”

The “Promise of Place” report scored 50 U.S. cities based on factors the organization considered important indicators of a commitment to African American male success, including targeted public or grant funding; the presence of organizations or national initiatives like 100 Black Men or the Black Star project; membership in the Campaign’s organizations; and a citywide program or effort like Oakland Unified’s African American Male Achievement office.

The analysis also looked at each city’s demographics, which totaled 5.5 million black men and boys, or 30 percent of all African American males in the country.

Kevin Jennings teaches the Manhood Development class for 6th grade boys at Montera Middle School in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. Kevin Jennings teaches the Manhood Development class for 6th grade boys at Montera Middle School in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Oakland aims to lift students who are young, male and black 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

San Francisco was also on the list, receiving a score of 47, just below the national median score of 48.5.

The report exemplified a growing national focus on black males, which includes President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative; the Black Lives Matter movement; and outrage over police shootings of black men and boys.

“I’ve always believed that talent in this world is equally distributed,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, in the release of the report. “What hasn’t been equally distributed, however, is opportunity.”

Cities, schools, businesses and community groups are starting to increase those opportunities, said Chris Chatmon, executive director of Oakland Unified’s African American Male Achievement office.

“I think it’s a tipping point, a watershed moment,” Chatmon said. “We’re all beginning to lean in to supporting African American males.”

To that end in Oakland, the school district has added Manhood Development classes in 20 elementary, middle and high schools — courses for black male students, as well as other young men of color. The program also provides case managers to help the students navigate school, home, the streets and whatever else might impede their path to graduation. So far, dropout rates are down and the students’ grades are up, among other positive indicators.

On Wednesday, Manhood Development teacher Kevin Jennings introduced the idea of the Socratic seminar to his Montera Middle School students, a practice that involves the teacher posing questions and students expressing their ideas after listening to their peers’ comments. The idea, he said, is to ensure that the boys have a voice in the world and feel confident sharing their thoughts.

“I definitely want to teach them to express their opinion,” he said, adding that current events, like the Chicago police shooting of Laquan McDonald, often come up in class and that it’s important for the young men to be part of that national conversation. “I always tell them the time they’re growing up now has a lot of racial politics.”

But Jennings believes their lives, their futures, will be better than the generations of black men before them. The report released Wednesday echoes that optimism.

Graduation rates are up in Detroit, suspensions are down in Oakland, and there are more black male mentors in Washington.

“We have a long way to go,” Dove said. “But there are pockets of promise we can expand upon.”

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker

To see the full report, go to http://blackmaleachievement.org/