Leaders from different faith groups will mobilize to save what they see as an endangered species: the African-American marriage.
Over the next several days diverse faith organizations will offer local and national events designed to highlight the importance of marriage among African-Americans.
Organizations in cities across the country will hold activities to observe Black Marriage Day March 30. Some of these events include “renewal” weddings, marriage-themed contests for teens, workshops and conferences, date nights for singles considering marriage and inductions into “Marriage Halls of Fame” for longtime couples.
Last year groups and organizations in over 150 cities, including Indianapolis, participated in Black Marriage Day by hosting activities.
“This year the passion for celebrating Black marriages is bigger and better than ever,” said Nisa Islam Muhammad, creator of Black Marriage Day. “From coast to coast marriage activists are committed to changing our community. Marriage matters to the Black community, and we want everyone to know.”
Black Marriage Day has been sponsored by the Washington, D.C. based Wedded Bliss Foundation, which is dedicated to providing resources and support to organizations nationwide seeking to educate their communities on the importance of marriage.
Muhammad, executive director of the Wedded Bliss Foundation and a correspondent for the Nation of Islam’s Final Call newspaper, developed the marriage day while conducting research on fatherhood and marriage following the Million Family March in 2000.
At press time, there was no confirmation of local events affiliated with the Wedded Bliss Foundation’s Black Marriage Day this Sunday.
However, on Saturday, April 5 the Black Catholic Caucus of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis will host its own Black Marriage Day event at St. Michael Church, 3354 W. 30th St. The program, which costs $25 per couple, will last from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Couples of all faiths are invited to participate in the event, which will include activities and discussions led by Andrew and Terri Lyke, a Chicago based couple who have been married 33 years and have become nationally recognized leaders in marriage preparation and enrichment.
“They will definitely be able to offer couples some insight on how to strengthen their marriage and maintain the sacramental quality of their commitment,” explained Father Kenneth Taylor, pastor of Holy Angels Catholic Church and director of multicultural ministry for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
Taylor added that the program is being presented as a response to “recent studies indicating that there is a crisis in regards to marriage in the African-American community.”
Many of the researchers who have written those studies agree that Black Marriage Day events are definitely needed in a society where all racial groups are witnessing higher levels of divorce.
According to the African-American Healthy Marriage Initiative, only 42 percent of African-American adults are married, compared to 61 percent of whites and 59 percent of Hispanics. Also, 62 percent of Black households are headed by a single parent.
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has indicated that marriages among Blacks dropped from 70 percent in 1963 to 48 percent in 2003. The percentage of Black women who are married declined from 62 percent to 31 percent from 1950 to 2002.
Lorraine Blackman, Ph.D., a sociologist and researcher at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), noted that causes for the decline have included higher rates of couples choosing to live together unmarried, different expectations of marriage among some men and women, and high rates of unemployment and incarceration that have reduced the amount of marriageable Black men.
Blackman, who released a study on Black marriage, said solutions for the marriage crisis should include community initiatives that offer culturally-relevant marriage counseling, job training and more constructive sentencing policies for Black males as well as programs teaching children the value of marriage.
“On average, married African-Americans are wealthier, happier and choose healthier behaviors than their unmarried peers,” Blackman noted. “Their children also typically fair better in life – differences that indeed seem to stem largely from marriage itself.”
For more information about the Wedded Bliss Foundation’s Black Marriage Every Day visit www.blackmarriageday.com.
For more information about the Black Catholic Caucus’ Black Marriage Day call (317) 926-3324.
