Overcoming Disparity: Latino Young Men and Boys

by Frank Acosta, Henry A. J. Ramos

Overview

Experts estimate that American taxpayers spend about $75 billion annually to support adult prisoners in detention, most of whom are men of color. Meanwhile, another generation of Latino young men and boys is at risk of being incarcerated.

This wide-ranging collection highlights the best practices developed and employed by community-based institutions to keep low-income, at-risk Latino youth out of prison so they can lead productive lives. Focusing on the work of a variety of expert practitioners and organizations, most notably the non-profits National Compadres Network and La Plazita Institute, Overcoming Disparity shares strategies, tools and resources used to effectively deal with the challenges boys of color face because of poverty, injustice and discrimination.

Based on the culturally grounded model called La Cultura Cura, the practices outlined emphasize Chicano/Latino history and use cultural expression and ritual to educate and create self-awareness, develop community programs and advance socially focused business ventures that encourage youth and community economic development.

Editors Frank de Jesús Acosta and Henry Ramos assert it is imperative that the nation’s fastest-growing community—including millions of impoverished Latino young men and boys—must be successful. “Our very future as a functioning democracy and global economic leader hangs in the balance if we cannot find a way to better harness the presently underutilized and under-resourced capacities of this population.” Including a curated sampling of leading tools, models and evaluations, Overcoming Disparity is a critically important text for policy makers, community builders, researchers, investors and others concerned about American social policy and its impact on the economy and the lives of its citizens.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781518500916
Publisher:	Arte Publico Press
Publication date:	12/22/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

FRANK DE JESÚS ACOSTA is principal of Acosta & Associates, a California-based consulting group that specializes in professional support services for public and private social change ventures in the areas of children, youth and family services, violence prevention, community development and cultural fluency. He is the author of The History of Barrios Unidos (Arte Público Press, 2007) and co-editor of Latino Young Men and Boys in Search of Justice: Testimonies (Arte Público Press, 2016).

HENRY A. J. RAMOS, the Executive Director of Equal Voice Action, a national political action and membership organization for low-income and working-class American families, is the co-editor with Frank de Jesús Acosta of Latino Young Men and Boys in Search of Justice: Testimonies (Arte Público Press, 2016) and Overcoming Disparity: Latino Young Men and Boys (Arte Público Press, 2016); he is the author of The American GI Forum: In Pursuit of the Dream, 1948-1983 (Arte Público Press, 1998).