Judge Marvin Arrington: 10 Ways Blacks Can Improve Our Community

Judge Marvin Arrington

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Marvin S. Arrington Sr. has long been one of the most dynamic advocates of Atlanta–especially its youth. In addition to serving as city councilman for 28 years – nine as a city council president – he was one of the first African American lawyers to make partner in downtown Atlanta. Arrington received the Georgia Bar Association’s highest community service award, “The Chief Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service.” Arrington has also been voted “One of Atlanta’s Top 25 Lawyers” by Atlanta Magazine and was cited one of “The 100 Most Influential People in Georgia” by Georgia Trend Magazine.

“I’ve always been a youth advocate. I started setting up Head Start Programs in South Carolina, setting up neighborhood community centers,” says Arrington, author of Blueprint for Atlanta’s Success as well as his autobiography. “I’ve always been involved with youth programs, teaching Sunday School and trying to get young people’s attention and getting them going in the right direction.”


With rising crime, increased gang activity and an economy that appears to be circling the drain, Arrington knows the youth are particularly susceptible to the temptations lurking in their neighborhoods. Arrington recently sat down with rolling out to outline what he believes needs to be done to reverse the trend of increased black criminality, incarceration and recidivism.

Education:
“If we have the assistant D.A. criminal defense bar association of going to schools and say ‘this is the consequences of what you’re doing and somewhere you have to … it’s kind of speak up and say you cannot do that and they have to understand that.”
Outreach: “We got to make a concentrated effort, whether its 100 Black Men, whether its Black Ministers, whether it’s enrolled in the school social work at Georgia State or Clark Atlanta. But you got to have an outreach program that say to young people, you can be a better you.

Increase parent participation:
“I think you can speak in the schools, participate in the PTA. You can create a patrol program where you have law enforcement programs on their days off go in and read to young people. We have to figure how to get parents involved in the PTA. I have gone to several schools where there are hardly no participation by parents. And I say to them: ‘don’t expect me to do more for your children then you are doing yourself.’”

Be your Brother’s Keeper:
“If you see somebody acting up – or as my grandmother used to say, ‘acting crazy’ – pick up the phone and call somebody. If you see somebody executing a drug deal, call somebody.”


Stop being apathetic: “We’ve got to get mad. We got to say ‘we’re going to take these communities back’. And we’re going to make Atlanta a good city for our kids to go to school.”

Early intervention: “We have to get involved early on – first grade, second grade. You’ve got these young people [having] a 50% high school dropout rate. Why is that? These young people can’t even speak good English. Don’t know anything about math. Don’t want to get involved [in school activities].”


Cultural unity: “Deacon boards, ministers, fraternities, sororities … all of us collectively have got to reach out and say ‘we are going to create a new individual, a new young black person’.”

Make time, not excuses: ‘No more excuses’ says the President Barack Obama. Get in there. Get involved. If you see a good fight [for justice], get in it.

Personal accountability:
“Parents say ‘well, we don’t have any money’. But then I look at the lottery line, and the line is out the door. So it’s where we choose to put our resources. I put mine in my children.”

Know that children model parents’/adults’ behaviors: “It appears that there are no boundaries. [children say] ‘I get up and do what I want to do’. And sometimes children do what they see parents do, particularly fathers. So you can’t expect a child to turn out better than you if you’re [committing] domestic violence and not being involved in what kids are doing.”

Arrington believes most people already know what to do to improve their lives, the lives of their children, as well as uplift members of the community. The Judge believes that we have to be willing to take the time to get involved, knowing that whatever we give to others will eventually return to us tenfold.

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