Wednesday, September 30, 2009

What Linda Malone-Colon Said


Posted by Michele Olson


Linda Malone-Colon is chair of the Hampton University Department of Psychology in Hampton, Va, and will soon be the executive director of the National Center on African-American Marriages and Parenting at Hampton University. On Monday they hosted a summit on marriage, parenting and families today.

Linda is passionate about the breakdown of marriage in today’s world and how it is leading to poverty for many Americans. That is evident in her opinion piece in the Atlantic Journal Constitution. I encourage you to read this piece because it aligns with what we have been saying here at thinkmarriage.org – many of society’s problems fall back to the breakdown of the family, and we need to speak up and speak out.

These are a few of her points:

*When have you heard your public leaders address the dramatic increase of children born out of wedlock (72 percent of African Americans), divorce, cohabitation, and decline in marital quality?

*What are these leaders saying in response to the growing scientific evidence that the breakdown of marriage and family relationships impacts the mental and physical health, education attainment and delinquent behavior of our children?

She challenges the leaders of the African American community that while they have championed issues of economic and social justice they have often neglected the importance within the black community of the health of marriage and family. She asks about the urgency of what she calls a black marriage crisis…and challenges that it demands our “unqualified and focused attention.”

Linda is not afraid to speak up about what she is seeing and to call on our leaders to say and do something. We join her in the call.

Read the article and comment. Are these facts new news to you? What do you think of her opinion?

2 comments:

M. Denise Wilmer Barreto said...

Her opinion is on point and not news to me.

We need to get a movement going and TAKE BACK the conversation from the crazed extremes and help American Families - all American families cultivate and maintain strong healthy marriages - regardless of their ethnicity, income or location.

Ok - I'm off my soapbox :)

thinkmarriage.org said...

Hi M!
NO...stay on your soap box! It's people like you on your soap box that will ultimately make a difference. Thanks for contributing to the conversation.
Michele