At a recent forum conducted by the Bethlehem chapter of the NAACP, panelists agreed upon two primary causes behind current issues impacting the African American community: the need for education and criminal justice reforms.

The forum, titled "21st Century Issues Affecting African Americans," was held at city hall and moderated by Esther M. Lee, president of the chapter.

Panelists included Association of American University Women member Randi Blauth, Lehigh University professor Dr. James Peterson, Bethlehem Boys and Girls Club director Winston Alozie, Bethlehem's Mayor Bob Donchez, Chief of Police Mark DiLuzio and Fire Chief Robert Novatnack, Pastor Melvin Tatum and District Attorney John Morganelli.

"Our job is to just move along and keep issues in the forefront ... and rather than to go out onto the street and create a protest, a conversation to me is much more enlightening and hopefully we can come to conclusions about issues that face our communities," Lee said to begin the forum.

The meeting began with each panelist listing his or her leading concerns about the current issues facing African Americans and proposing solutions of how to both combat them and ensure Bethlehem maintains its order.

A call for better education was one of the most discussed aspects of the community needing improvement.

The conversation began with Donchez, but the panelists agreed that this change needs to begin with universal pre-kindergarten.

"I really think that education, in my opinion, is one of the great equalizers of our society because it does allow individuals to gain skills to rise up and basically have a better quality of life," Donchez said.

He explained that the problem stems from a lack of funding as well as cuts made to education, particularly in urban areas.

According to Donchez, this problem of access to education and the quality of education students are receiving is partially responsible for the problems seen in the criminal justice system.

A central concern involving the criminal justice system is the need for decriminalization of marijuana and lesser punishments for non-violent possessors of small amounts of controlled substances.

Tatum focused on this issue, explaining the negative impacts it has on society.

"It's the way it threatens communities of color, disenfranchises thousands by limiting and through that it limits their voting rights, denies access to employment, housing, benefits and education to many more, because when we have more prisons being built than more colleges and schools, that's a problem," he said.

Among these issues, other topics addressed were needing to build relationships in the community between law enforcement and civilians, promoting better role models for children and taking the time to understand one another.

"African Americans are the canaries in the mine. So what influences and impacts the African American community actually also impacts and influences the broader American community and certainly that's the case for Bethlehem," Peterson said. "This conversation is about African Americans, but is indicative and reflective of larger issues that we have to think about, not just for Bethlehem, but for the whole nation."

The Bethlehem NAACP intends to continue the conversation with similar meetings to follow.