The problems that have intensified for black youth in recent years include poverty, unemployment, teenage pregnancy and childbearing, and the isolation and concentration of groups in extreme poverty. These factors, coupled with disintegrating community institutions, have led to a subculture of disengagement among some urban black youth. Signs of this subculture include the rise of teenage gangs and violent behavior; the spread of drugs and alcohol abuse; high rates of homicide, suicide, and other self-destructive behaviors; and growing participation in crime. Federal and State support for appropriate programs has been insufficient, but initiatives from civil and philanthropic organizations and the media have brought the plight of black youths once again to public view and may attract the Federal resources that they deserve. Summaries of other articles in the journal and 27 references.