A report by the National Education Policy Center entitled, "Discipline Policies, Successful Schools, and Racial Justice," illustrates a widening disciplinary gap between students of color and white students in grades K-12. Unfortunately, disproportionate punishments are not limited to those we see in the criminal justice system. Check out the report through the link above and read the full article in ColorLines Magazine. Then, ask yourself. What does a lifetime of disproportionate punishment do to an individual? What can be done to change this trend? Are we taking a proactive or reactive role in our childrens' education?
Showing posts with label Family and Community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family and Community. Show all posts
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Disciplinary Gaps Not Limited to Prison
A report by the National Education Policy Center entitled, "Discipline Policies, Successful Schools, and Racial Justice," illustrates a widening disciplinary gap between students of color and white students in grades K-12. Unfortunately, disproportionate punishments are not limited to those we see in the criminal justice system. Check out the report through the link above and read the full article in ColorLines Magazine. Then, ask yourself. What does a lifetime of disproportionate punishment do to an individual? What can be done to change this trend? Are we taking a proactive or reactive role in our childrens' education?
Monday, March 28, 2011
Community Feedback Wanted
We're interested in everyone's feedback. Is an awareness campaign enough? Once people are aware, they want to DO something. What should that something be?
- We have discussed starting a "Ban the Box" campaign, asking employers to eliminate the box on job applications that has to be checked if you're a felon.
- We've talked about establishing a mentor program, where ex-offenders who have successfully transitioned back into society would mentor guys coming out of prison.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
"Not a genuine black man"
This is an interesting story done on Brian Copelands solo act titled "Not a genuine black man"
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
A need to address the continuing crisis for black families - by Walter Backstrom
Every day, my father, his brothers and sisters talk on the phone about family and other related issues. I once asked my uncle, "Why do you guys talk so much?" He uttered three words — family comes first. The older I get, the more I appreciate the wisdom of those words.
The latest report from the Council of the Great City Schools, titled "Call for Change" on the status of the black family, has just been released. Those figures, as usual, brought a lump in my throat and pain in my soul. I will not bore you with the same mind-numbing numbers that we already know.
Here are some other ones:
• "Today the number of children born into a black marriage averages less than 1 child per marriage. 'The birthrates of black married women have fallen so sharply that absent out-of-wedlock childbearing, the African American population would not only fail to reproduce itself, but would rapidly die off.' " "The Abolition of Marriage," by Maggie Gallagher, p. 120.
• "During the days of slavery a black child was more likely to grow up living with both parents than he or she is today." Andrew J. Cherlin, "Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage," revised, p. 110.
• "As recently as 1960, three-quarters of African Americans were born into a family of a married couple." Christopher Jencks, "Is the American Underclass Growing," p. 86, Table 14.
• "Today only one-third of black children have two parents in the home." Family Structure, Child Trends Databank, based on 2010 census Ddata.
These numbers should grab the attention of anyone who cares about black children, especially those parents who selfishly have taken the easy way out and abandoned their children.
I was lucky. I was raised in a two-parent family. My father was very strict. My mother was very loving. I cannot imagine my life without both of them. They sheltered me from a world that was often hostile toward black children. For that, I will be eternally grateful.
The condition of the black family — and in particular, the black male — continues to be in a state of crisis. I know people will blame the usual suspects — white people, Republicans, the tea party, etc.
My questions are — where are the black churches, where are the wealthy blacks, where is our first black president? I will tell you where they are: MIA (missing in action).
They are unfocused and, to a large degree, uncaring. There is an old saying that goes like this: "No one will do for you what you need to do for yourself."
I will admit there are many people hard at work on helping the black family. However, we need much, much more. I am a small-government conservative. I am also a believer and because of that and the tragedy I see every day, government can and must help.
The "war on poverty" in the 1960s unfortunately also became a war on the black family. U.S. Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan, a liberal icon from New York, warned against policies that splintered the black family. He was called a "racist" by the politically correct crowd, a word they still enjoy using.
The awful reality is that he was right and we have reaped what we have sown. We have been too busy watching TV, doing drugs, or whatever.
Heavens! These are our children! They look to us for love and guidance and we have told them "no."
According to syndicated columnist Bob Herbert, "This is not a fight only for blacks. All allies are welcome. But the cultural imperative lies overwhelmingly with the black community itself."
Walter Backstrom is a longtime South King County resident and active participant in the area's schools
The latest report from the Council of the Great City Schools, titled "Call for Change" on the status of the black family, has just been released. Those figures, as usual, brought a lump in my throat and pain in my soul. I will not bore you with the same mind-numbing numbers that we already know.
Here are some other ones:
• "Today the number of children born into a black marriage averages less than 1 child per marriage. 'The birthrates of black married women have fallen so sharply that absent out-of-wedlock childbearing, the African American population would not only fail to reproduce itself, but would rapidly die off.' " "The Abolition of Marriage," by Maggie Gallagher, p. 120.
• "During the days of slavery a black child was more likely to grow up living with both parents than he or she is today." Andrew J. Cherlin, "Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage," revised, p. 110.
• "As recently as 1960, three-quarters of African Americans were born into a family of a married couple." Christopher Jencks, "Is the American Underclass Growing," p. 86, Table 14.
• "Today only one-third of black children have two parents in the home." Family Structure, Child Trends Databank, based on 2010 census Ddata.
These numbers should grab the attention of anyone who cares about black children, especially those parents who selfishly have taken the easy way out and abandoned their children.
I was lucky. I was raised in a two-parent family. My father was very strict. My mother was very loving. I cannot imagine my life without both of them. They sheltered me from a world that was often hostile toward black children. For that, I will be eternally grateful.
The condition of the black family — and in particular, the black male — continues to be in a state of crisis. I know people will blame the usual suspects — white people, Republicans, the tea party, etc.
My questions are — where are the black churches, where are the wealthy blacks, where is our first black president? I will tell you where they are: MIA (missing in action).
They are unfocused and, to a large degree, uncaring. There is an old saying that goes like this: "No one will do for you what you need to do for yourself."
I will admit there are many people hard at work on helping the black family. However, we need much, much more. I am a small-government conservative. I am also a believer and because of that and the tragedy I see every day, government can and must help.
The "war on poverty" in the 1960s unfortunately also became a war on the black family. U.S. Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan, a liberal icon from New York, warned against policies that splintered the black family. He was called a "racist" by the politically correct crowd, a word they still enjoy using.
The awful reality is that he was right and we have reaped what we have sown. We have been too busy watching TV, doing drugs, or whatever.
Heavens! These are our children! They look to us for love and guidance and we have told them "no."
According to syndicated columnist Bob Herbert, "This is not a fight only for blacks. All allies are welcome. But the cultural imperative lies overwhelmingly with the black community itself."
Walter Backstrom is a longtime South King County resident and active participant in the area's schools
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Community needs to mobilize to save black children - Bob Herbert
We know a lot about the tragic conditions confronting a large portion of America's black population, especially black males, writes columnist Bob Herbert. But no one seems to know how to turn things around. No one has been able to stop this steady plunge into a socioeconomic abyss.
Syndicated columnist
When I was a kid my Uncle Robert, for whom I was named, used to say that blacks needed to "fight on all fronts, at home and abroad."
By that he meant that while it was critically important to fight against racial injustice and oppression, it was just as important to support, nurture and fight on behalf of one's family and community.
Uncle Robert (my father always called him Jim — don't ask) died many years ago, but he came to mind as I was going over the dismal information in a new report about the tragic conditions confronting a large portion of America's black population, especially black males.
We know by now, of course, that the situation is grave. We know that more than a third of black children live in poverty; that more than 70 percent are born to unwed mothers; that by the time they reach their mid-30s, a majority of black men without a high-school diploma has spent time in prison. We know all this, but no one seems to know how to turn things around. No one has been able to stop this steady plunge of young black Americans into a socioeconomic abyss.
Now comes a report from the Council of the Great City Schools that ought to grab the attention of anyone who cares about black youngsters, starting with those parents who have shortchanged their children on a scale so monstrous that it is difficult to fully grasp.
The report, titled "A Call for Change," begins by saying that "the nation's young black males are in a state of crisis" and describes their condition as "a national catastrophe." It tells us that black males remain far behind their schoolmates in academic achievement and that they drop out of school at nearly twice the rate of whites.
Black children — boys and girls — are three times more likely to live in single-parent households than white children and twice as likely to live in a home where no parent has full-time or year-round employment.
In 2008, black males were imprisoned at a rate six-and-a-half times higher than white males.
The terrible economic downturn has made it more difficult than ever to douse this raging fire that is consuming the life prospects of so many young blacks, and the growing sentiment in Washington is to do even less to help any Americans in need. It is inconceivable in this atmosphere that blacks themselves will not mobilize in a major way to save these young people. I see no other alternative.
The first and most important step would be a major effort to begin knitting the black family back together. There is no way to overstate the myriad risks faced by children whose parents have effectively abandoned them. It's the family that protects the child against ignorance and physical harm, that offers emotional security and the foundation for a strong sense of self, that enables a child to believe — truly — that wonderful things are possible.
All of that is missing in the lives of too many black children.
I wouldn't for a moment discount the terrible toll that racial and economic injustice have taken, decade after decade, on the lives of millions of black Americans. But that is no reason to abandon one's children or give in to the continued onslaught of those who would do you ill. One has to fight on all fronts, as my Uncle Robert said.
Black men need to be in the home, providing for their children. The community at large — including the many who have done well, who have secured a place in the middle or upper classes — needs to coalesce to provide support and assistance to those still struggling.
Dorothy Height, the longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women, who died in April at the age of 98, always insisted that blacks "have survived because of family." And she counseled: "No one will do for you what you need to do for yourself."
There are many people already hard at work on these matters, but leadership is needed to vastly expand and maximize those efforts. Cultural change comes hard, and takes a long time, but nothing short of a profound cultural change is essential.
Let the message go out that walking down the aisle carries with it great responsibilities but can also be great fun, and watching your kid graduate with honors is a blast.
Black children can't wait for Washington to get its act together. They don't have time to wait for the economy to improve. They need mom and dad and the larger community to act now, to do the right thing without delay.
This is not a fight only for blacks. All allies are welcome. But the cultural imperative lies overwhelmingly with the black community itself.
Bob Herbert is a regular columnist for The New York Times.
By that he meant that while it was critically important to fight against racial injustice and oppression, it was just as important to support, nurture and fight on behalf of one's family and community.
Uncle Robert (my father always called him Jim — don't ask) died many years ago, but he came to mind as I was going over the dismal information in a new report about the tragic conditions confronting a large portion of America's black population, especially black males.
We know by now, of course, that the situation is grave. We know that more than a third of black children live in poverty; that more than 70 percent are born to unwed mothers; that by the time they reach their mid-30s, a majority of black men without a high-school diploma has spent time in prison. We know all this, but no one seems to know how to turn things around. No one has been able to stop this steady plunge of young black Americans into a socioeconomic abyss.
Now comes a report from the Council of the Great City Schools that ought to grab the attention of anyone who cares about black youngsters, starting with those parents who have shortchanged their children on a scale so monstrous that it is difficult to fully grasp.
The report, titled "A Call for Change," begins by saying that "the nation's young black males are in a state of crisis" and describes their condition as "a national catastrophe." It tells us that black males remain far behind their schoolmates in academic achievement and that they drop out of school at nearly twice the rate of whites.
Black children — boys and girls — are three times more likely to live in single-parent households than white children and twice as likely to live in a home where no parent has full-time or year-round employment.
In 2008, black males were imprisoned at a rate six-and-a-half times higher than white males.
The terrible economic downturn has made it more difficult than ever to douse this raging fire that is consuming the life prospects of so many young blacks, and the growing sentiment in Washington is to do even less to help any Americans in need. It is inconceivable in this atmosphere that blacks themselves will not mobilize in a major way to save these young people. I see no other alternative.
The first and most important step would be a major effort to begin knitting the black family back together. There is no way to overstate the myriad risks faced by children whose parents have effectively abandoned them. It's the family that protects the child against ignorance and physical harm, that offers emotional security and the foundation for a strong sense of self, that enables a child to believe — truly — that wonderful things are possible.
All of that is missing in the lives of too many black children.
I wouldn't for a moment discount the terrible toll that racial and economic injustice have taken, decade after decade, on the lives of millions of black Americans. But that is no reason to abandon one's children or give in to the continued onslaught of those who would do you ill. One has to fight on all fronts, as my Uncle Robert said.
Black men need to be in the home, providing for their children. The community at large — including the many who have done well, who have secured a place in the middle or upper classes — needs to coalesce to provide support and assistance to those still struggling.
Dorothy Height, the longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women, who died in April at the age of 98, always insisted that blacks "have survived because of family." And she counseled: "No one will do for you what you need to do for yourself."
There are many people already hard at work on these matters, but leadership is needed to vastly expand and maximize those efforts. Cultural change comes hard, and takes a long time, but nothing short of a profound cultural change is essential.
Let the message go out that walking down the aisle carries with it great responsibilities but can also be great fun, and watching your kid graduate with honors is a blast.
Black children can't wait for Washington to get its act together. They don't have time to wait for the economy to improve. They need mom and dad and the larger community to act now, to do the right thing without delay.
This is not a fight only for blacks. All allies are welcome. But the cultural imperative lies overwhelmingly with the black community itself.
Bob Herbert is a regular columnist for The New York Times.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative
Did you know that The City of Seattle's 2009-2010 budget included a new, multi-million dollar Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative to dramatically change how the city deals with youth violence?
Learn more-
http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/education/youthInitiative/
Learn more-
http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/education/youthInitiative/
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