Kenney appointment to aid city's black males

Mayor Kenney on Friday visited a high school for juvenile males charged with felonies, many of whom were African American.

"I saw very, very intelligent men trying to do their best to make it back," Kenney said of inmates who attend Pennypack High School, within the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center.

The school, with small class sizes, books, and "all the things they didn't have before prison," Kenney said, made him wonder: "If they had had those opportunities before they got into trouble, would they have gotten into trouble in the first place?"

Kenney reflected on the visit as he announced the appointment of Jack Drummond as director of the city's Office of Black Male Engagement - an office he hopes will help confront the huge challenges facing black males in Philadelphia and nationwide. He called the juxtaposition of the two events "poignant."

The office was created under Mayor Michael Nutter to address the needs of young men of color, including community issues, public safety, jobs, and health.

Drummond, 37, of West Philadelphia, called the $75,000-a-year job daunting in a city where incarceration, dropout, and homicide rates are much higher for black males than other demographic groups.

"I know that black men and boys have been at the lower tiers of ... education, in the area of health and wellness, job acquisition, career acquisition, and I am quite understanding and alarmed by the statistics," Drummond said. "However, I'm also a person who believes that through persistence and making sure we continue to educate ourselves around those aspects, that change can come."

The office is housed within the Office of Public Engagement.

Drummond will also manage the Mayor's Commission on African American Males, a committee of community leaders created under Mayor W. Wilson Goode Sr. at the end of his term in 1991.

Drummond is a trained violinist with degrees in psychology, education, and music. He is completing a doctoral degree in education leadership and policy at Temple University, and works as an adjunct professor at the Community College of Philadelphia. He previously coached at the Center for Male Engagement and worked in the mental health field.

jterruso@phillynews.com215-854-5506@juliaterruso