Strong bonds the goal of local and national movemen

About 70 percent of African-American women do not live with a spouse, the Census Bureau says. That's the direction in which Monica Blackwell-Harper once saw herself headed.

Although she wanted children, "I didn't want to get married," the 35-year-old from Forest Park says. "I didn't understand why people would (marry). It seemed like a bad idea, because in my circle, it seemed like everybody broke up." That included her parents, who divorced before she entered grade school.

A movement now under way hopes to multiply such successful marriages. Locally and nationally, programs are being offered - many funded by federal or state grants - with the goal of strengthening relationships and promoting the benefits of marriage, particularly among African-Americans.

The movement has gained momentum since 2002, when President Bush, citing research that shows children do best when raised in healthy, stable, two-parent households, launched his Healthy Marriage Initiative.

Critics have questioned the effectiveness of marriage-skills programs, which often are aimed at low-income couples, and say such programs could increase domestic violence by encouraging women to remain in dangerous relationships. Proponents claim just the opposite: The voluntary programs improve marital happiness and help reduce domestic violence.

Regardless, the effort faces big challenges. Statistics compiled by the federal Administration for Children and Families show that while all races are affected by divorce, single-parent homes and declines in marriage rates, the impact has been greater in the African-American community:

Blacks are more likely to be divorced (9.4 percent of males; 13.3 percent of females) than whites (9.1 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively) or Hispanics (5.9 percent and 9.3 percent).

Single female-headed families are far more likely in black homes (45 percent) than in white (13.7 percent) or Hispanic (22 percent) homes.

68 percent of African-American births are to unmarried women. For whites, it's 29 percent; Hispanics, 44 percent.

"We're in a crisis," says Jimmie Lee Walker, a retired Cincinnati Public Schools teacher and co-founder of Saving African American Families, a local nonprofit group that works to inform and empower blacks on health and family issues.

"For so long, (disintegration of the black family) was a hush-hush subject. The first goal is to get it out in the open, and to get people talking about ... marriage," she says.

Groups join forces

Anderson Township-based Beech Acres Parenting Center last year was awarded a $338,000 grant from the Ohio Strengthening Families Initiative to conduct a marriage awareness and education campaign aimed primarily at African-Americans. More than a dozen other groups have joined forces with Beech Acres to offer classes, workshops, marriage retreats and other training, through a coalition called Building Strong Marriages and Families.

The coalition includes S.O.A.R. Development Corp., a faith-based nonprofit agency established by Word of Deliverance Ministries for the World, a nondenominational, primarily African-American ministry in Forest Park. That's where Craig and Donita Jackson lead an eight-week class for couples, "Franklin Covey's Eight Habits of a Successful Marriage."

Craig, 37, is an assistant vice president for Fifth Third Bank. Donita, 35, is a middle school guidance counselor. Both were children of divorce, raised in single-parent homes. The experience "shaped our thoughts on marriage, in that we wanted to make sure when we did it, we were only going to be married one time," Craig says.

They married 13 years ago and have two children.

Most people "learn more about how to drive a car than how to live in a lifelong relationship with one person," Donita Jackson says. So when a marriage hits rough spots, "What are you supposed to do? You just don't know, especially when it hasn't been modeled for you in a healthy manner."

Donita says of the "Eight Habits" curriculum: "It's not cookie-cutter. She gets a book. He gets a book. You write in your own book and then collaborate: What do you want your relationship to look like? It's not someone preaching at you saying you should do A, B and C and then you'll be at D. It's about what works for you."

In a recent class, the Jacksons led a lively discussion with 10 couples, including Monica Blackwell-Harper, a stay-at-home mom, and Tramell Harper, a Procter & Gamble manager.