The data presented here was initially published as part of the media press kit sent out by African American director John Singleton with his hit motion picture Boyz 'N The Hood as a way of helping to explain the tremendous obstacles facing Black American youth. The data was excerpted from the unpublished SOS, Black Folk! An Action Primer for Black Parents and Leaders done by the Children's Defense Fund, copyrighted 1990. One can secure even more updated data by contacting the CDF On-line or by writing to this Washington, D.C.-based organization for a copy of their State of America'sYouth Annual Report.

• less than a 1 in 4,000 chance of receiving a Ph.D. in mathematics, engineering, or the physical sciences.
• a 1 in 372 chance of becoming a lawyer, a 1 in 684 chance of becoming a physician, and a 1 in 2,700 chance of becoming a dentist.
• a 1 in 94 chance of becoming a teacher.
• a 1 in 45 chance of becoming a cocaine abuser, a 1 in 5 chance of becoming a marijuana abuser, and a 2 in 5 chance of becoming an alcohol abuser.
• a 1 in 24 chance of being imprisoned while in his 20's (Note: One should refer to the 1995 Report by the Sentencing Group which stated that 1 out of every 3 Black Americans between 18-25 in America was either in prison, on probation, or on parole).
• a 1 in 17 chance of being a victim of a violent crime during his teen years.
• a 1 in 12 chance of graduating from college.
• a 1 in 4 chance of dropping out of school before high school graduation.
• a greater than 1 in 3 chance of being unemployed as a teenager; and
• only a 1 in 1,465 chance of becoming an NFL player, less than a 1 in 8,000 chance of becoming an NBA player, and less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of becoming a major league baseball player.

A Black Girl today has:

• less than a 1 in 21,000 chance of receiving a Ph.D. in mathematics, engineering or the physical sciences.
• less than a 1 in 3,800 chance of becoming a dentist, a 1 in 891 chance of becoming a physician, and a 1 in 356 chance of becoming a lawyer.
• a 1 in 35 chance of becoming a teacher.
• a 1 in 9 chance of graduating from college.
• a 1 in 5 chance of dropping out of school before high school graduation.
• a 1 in 21 chance of being the victim of violent crime during her teen years.
• a greater than 1 in 4 chance of being unemployed as a teenager.