Yasser Payne sees the headlines. He reads the articles. Indeed, he’s quoted in many of them. But for the associate professor of Black American Studies whose research centers on “the streets of Black America,” there’s a far more meaningful story being told, a prevalent message upon which he sees arguments, opinions and policies increasingly being based.

And it’s simply this: resiliency.

“Time and again, it’s the same message: Black men are not resilient. They’re not employed, not in school, not marriageable,” says Payne, rattling off the criticisms with the fluid voice of someone who has built an academic career studying them. “And that’s not true.”

Studying “street life”

Payne’s research has long been focused on the theme of resiliency in black, urban communities, with the overarching belief that “whoever controls that argument controls the people.”

His most recent study took him into the headline-making East Side and Southbridge sections of Wilmington, where 10 percent of the city’s homicides took place in 2010.

He was tasked by the city’s HOPE Commission, which aims to revitalize Wilmington’s underserved communities, to document the relationship between structural opportunity and physical
violence in these two areas.

Funded with $200,000 in federal stimulus money, $200,000 from the University’s Office of the Provost and $35,000 from the United Way, he and a team of 15 researchers from the community—all black, some ex-felons, each one trained by Payne in the areas of research methods and statistical analysis—canvassed the two neighborhoods.

From February to August 2010, they surveyed 520 people between the ages of 18–35, a representative sample of one-third of the area’s total population of 1,584 in that age group (based on 2000 census data), for their pilot ethnographic community needs assessment.

The findings served to validate Payne’s theory on resiliency.

The silver lining

More than 80 percent of the survey respondents reported satisfaction with their lives. Nearly 95 percent labeled themselves “useful to have around.” Three in four felt a responsibility to improve their communities.

“Our data challenges status quo interpretations of low-income black youth,” says Payne. “Participants love themselves, love their communities, want to work and want to be educated even in the face of overwhelming social and structural violence.”

It’s an “inherently counterintuitive” finding, he acknowledges.

In fact, the very same survey shows that nearly half have less than a high school education and only one in five holds full-time employment.

“So then how do you explain optimal psychological well-being,” Payne asks, rhetorically, adding that his next research study will aim to better understand this paradox.

An affected community

Payne’s 18-page questionnaire, which examined all aspects of daily life and exposure to violence, found a deep connection between community violence and structural inequities.

In one of his interviews, he asked a 20-year-old man from the East Side to define community violence.

“It means a community is basically disagreeing on something, and the only way they know how to solve their problems is through physical violence,” said Mohammad Dominique Chambers, the son of Payne’s lead research associate, Darryl Chambers.

Better known in the community by his nickname Pop-Pop Solid, the young Chambers was shot and killed in September 2011.

The tragedy was one of 27 homicides to take place in the city that year.

“Residents, by and large, report countless incidents of being directly and indirectly exposed to experiences of violence in the form of physical assaults, knifings, shootings, drug use and sales and homicides,” Payne and his team state in the executive summary of their findings, which will be released next spring.

They also report high rates of “structural forms of violence,” such as unemployment (64 percent), poor schooling opportunities (44 percent with less than a high school diploma), unhealthy living conditions (64 percent in low-income housing), and “failing,” “corrupt” or
“impotent” civic and political leadership.

Approximately 20 percent had been chased by gangs or individuals, about 25 percent had been attacked or stabbed with a knife and nearly 20 percent had been victims of gunshots.

More than half (54.6 percent) had a relative who had been killed with a gun. Nearly 60 percent had lost a friend to gun violence, and on average, most of their friends’ deaths had occurred before their 18th birthday.

“Structural inequality is chiefly predictive of physical violence,” Payne concludes. “There’s no quick and easy fix, but to reduce the violence and, ultimately, the crime, residents need more and better opportunities, educationally, professionally and socially.”