Mayor’s Commission on African-American Males begins work
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Members of the new Mayor's Commission on African-American Males gather Tuesday at Philadelphia City Hall. (Tom MacDonald/WHYY)
Philadelphia’s new Commission on African-American Males has started work.
The 30-member commission is designed to help African-American men in Philadelphia reach their goals, said Mayor Jim Kenney Tuesday. The panel will advise city elected officials, particularly in the areas of prospective policy and legislation.
“This is about giving everyone an opportunity to meet your potential,” Kenney said. “You were put on this Earth by your god to meet your potential with certain god-given talents, and many times in life and in America, obstacles are in the way of that.”
City Councilman Curtis Jones introduced the bill to create the commission, which also needed voter approval to become part of the Home Rule Charter.
“The thing you have to do in government today is quantify things, you can’t just say there is a problem, you have to say what the problem is and how much it will cost to fix,” said Jones. “And those quantitative analyses will guide us in our budget, and that is why this commission is important.”
After a City Hall introduction, the commission members convened the first meeting.
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