Black leaders call upon entertainers and business leaders

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Black philanthropists urged African Americans in the business and entertainment communities to step in and help black communities to thrive at the annual meeting of the group called Uplifting Change Summit on Monday morning.

Ange-Marie Hancock, a political science expert at USC, said thanks to the entertainment industry, some of the wealthiest African-Americans live right here in Los Angeles.

"LA County, because of the entertainment industry, does have a higher percentage of African-Americans who are at that top tier, compared to other places like PG County in Maryland or DeKalb County in Georgia," she said. "So the resources are there. It's a matter of getting those resources leveraged in the right way to target the issues."

She also said a lack of jobs and a strong school system makes it more likely that students will drop out, and ultimately, end up in jail.

Zero tolerance for any disruptions in class means a lot of students have been kicked out of schools.

"Instead of keeping students in school and giving them detention, we're suspending them out of school which makes them more vulnerable and more likely to participate in things that will lead to more participation in the criminal justice system," Hancock said. " Even though the policy for zero tolerance had a good intention, it had an unintended consequence that ends up targeting specifically black and Latino youth."

The Liberty Hill Foundation says if we can create good jobs with livable wages and keep kids in school, then we can have healthy black communities.