WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com)�A new Commission on Black Men and Boys was born inside the U.S. Capitol June 4, inspired by the outpouring of more than one million Black men and boys who demonstrated outside the Capitol Oct. 16, 1995 at the Million Man March (MMM).

"Today we introduce a commission to produce a tangible work product to help our government and our community do something about it," Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) told reporters during a break in the commission�s first meeting.

"The commission is inspired by African American men and boys themselves," Del. Norton continued. "It arises from their determination to seize control of their own lives. This was dramatically apparent in the huge outpouring at the Million Man March."

The D.C.-based commission will hold meetings for one year, and will be chaired by famed former Washington National Football League offensive lineman George Starke. The new panel has "modest" goals, "compared to the dimensions of the problem," said Mrs. Norton.

For example, the life expectancy of a Black male in the nation�s capital, 58, is 15 years below the national average for all men, according to the commission�s fact sheet. Furthermore, on any given day more than half of the young Black men in Washington are under the supervision of the criminal justice system.

In addition, more than 80 percent of all AIDS cases in Washington are among Black males, and homicide remains the leading cause of death among Black males between the ages of 15 and 24.

The commission aims to identify sources of available government, private sector and community assistance to Black men and boys and to describe successes, needs and gaps in those services.

"This is what was called for by the Million Man March," commission member Raheem Jenkins, co-chair of the Washington, D.C. MMM Local Organizing Committee (LOC), and founder of the Righteous Men�s Commission told The Final Call. "To go back home, mobilize, organize, join organizations�the PTA and things like that."

"The March is what caused this to take place," he continued, "because clearly they did not have the answers to cure (all the needs identified by MMM participants)."

Del. Norton and Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies President Eddie N. Williams looked back in retrospect and want to bring some of what took place at the March and capture it, Mr. Jenkins said, adding, "I think it�s someone like (Eleanor Norton�s) responsibility, because that�s the missing link, the resources that we need."

The resources identified by Del. Norton include staff support from the Joint Center and a grant of $100,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor. The commission took so long getting off the ground, Del. Norton admitted, because her first efforts to get financial support from private sector sources were not successful, despite the statistics she cited which indicate a "frightening" trend with "domino generational effects that quite simply threaten the viability of the African American community as we have known it."

"I couldn�t start a commission here in Washington, D.C., so it would have to take Eleanor to call on a Raheem Jenkins and the rest of the brothers and say: �Come on.� That�s her job. She owes her people that, and she�s doing it. She�s heard the call," said Mr. Jenkins.

"As someone who comes in daily contact with boys who get caught up in the criminal justice system, I see a significant common denominator between them," said D.C. Superior Court Judge Eugene Hamilton, an adviser to the commission.

The panel should find ways to make mental health services more readily available to Black men and boys, commission adviser Dr. Hope Hill, professor of Psychology at Howard University, told the meeting. "Too often, the first mental health services these youngsters receive come after they�ve been incarcerated," she said.