College-educated Blacks have less job security

I’d like to follow up on a post from Brandon from last week on the gender gap in Black students with undergraduate degrees.

Are we protected by our education?

In the midst of this economic downturn, it only makes sense that people take refuge in education. This is especially the thinking of minorities and disadvantaged people, and rightfully so. “Education,” they say, “is a great equalizer.”

This may indeed be the case for entering the workforce. However, some recent, alarming data seems to indicate that having that degree isn’t helping Black folks keep their jobs.

Unemployment of college educated workers, by race

What does this mean?

Make no mistake: you have more security being educated than you do being under-educated. That being said, we may need a little more nuance in our thinking about the whole “get educated to get employed” approach that most of us take to education. As my mentor & friend Calvin Mackie often says, “if it only makes dollars, then it doesn’t make sense.”

In this time where cornerstone companies like GM are entering bankruptcy and promising to come out “leaner” (read: they’re going to fire/lay off/buy out a lot of people), we have to protect ourselves. The harsh truth is that even good people are being let go.

What can we do?

Here are some things we can all do to survive & thrive in this economy:

1. Add as much value as you can.
   At your job, do what you can to over-achieve. This goes without saying typically, but it’s especially important now. This is good because a record of over-achievement will serve your career well.
2. Keep your resume up to date.
   Even if you’re not looking for work, re-visit your resume every 6 months. Have you had interesting projects or achievements on the job? Have you attended trainings or acquired some type of certification? Promotion? Adding these things as they happen ensures that you’re never unprepared. Consider creating a profile on LinkedIn. (For an example, look at my profile).
3. Build transferable skills outside of your day job.
   Try to read, practice, volunteer and/or consult in areas of interest or expertise you have outside of your primary work. If there are things that you enjoy or are good at or want to learn that could have monetary value, grow these skills. After you’ve done some work on them, add them to your resume.
4. Network to net work.
   The people you know can and will help you get the work you need and want. The old saying is “network or not work,” but I like this more positive, proactive version. We all know people that know people that are [at least] tangentially connected to whatever you want to pursue professionally. What we fail to realize is that they are often more than willing to talk with us, offer advice, and help us take our next step in our careers.

I’m sure many of you have tips we all can benefit from to help us find and keep jobs in this day and age. Please share them.

One Love. One II.

My city, my city…

What’s up fam,

Tragic news in Detroit and not from the auto industry. Apparently,

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb released audit findings this morning that show sloppy bookkeeping at 189 of 194 school buildings, some of which could result in criminal charges. The tax-exempt schools also may have lost about $1.7 million that was wrongly paid in sales taxes, a meeting with a vendor revealed this morning

The audits showed loans made to school officials using school funds, missing funds from activities, school funds diverted to personal accounts, principals writing and signing checks, untimely deposits and money taken home by staff.

I am very strict about money and ethics so I get very upset when I see systematic fraud and mismanagement. Every little bit of money stolen adds up and over time, millions of dollars are being stolen from kids. This is out of control, especially when you have a culture of politics where the dominant discussion is who has control of the schools instead of making education better and cleaning up the waste and fraud right in front of our eyes. Is public integrity not cool any more? What gives? Frankly, I am tired of  the old school politicians and administrators that know they do wrong but talk about the need for young people to take the reins. I don’t think Detroit is beyond saving but it is shameful to consider the type of city you left for us. Thanks,

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

Shouldn't educators craft education policy?

It sounds like a stupid question, but sometimes those are the best kind.

I am not an educator. But in my layman’s observation of schools systems and education policies, I know that the last thing we need is to apply business models to classrooms. This “classroom as cubicle” thinking that characterizes so many charter schools’ method0logies and get’s them business loans to creat schools fails for the same reason our banking system failed:

The more one focuses on a singular indicator, the more corrupt one becomes.

Banks & businesses focused on short-term profits sacrificed responsible risk management and long-term viability. It is unacceptable to think that sacrificing the long-term quality of our children’s education is a good way to think about reforming education.

Measurement without context is a brain without a body.

Instead, I’d like to see a reform approach proposed and supported by a coalition of education practitioners, teachers, administrators, and researchers who can speak to what works in the classroom.

• I want these people to be the ones that determine how to contextualize reading comprehension, writing, math and science test data.
• I want these individuals to collaboratively design a framework for measuring teacher, school, district, and policy metrics, performance, rewards and repercussions.
• I want this coalition to be represented in the Department of Education and in a meaningful way.

I don’t know how to address these and other challenges, but these people do. We must trust and respect that. After all, public policy not designed by the people it touches should be called what it is: unkept promises.

Our New Education Secretary disagrees with me

Arne Duncan, our new Secretary of Education was never a teacher or administrator. He gave his first testimony to the House Education and Labor Committee this week. I am especially perturbed by Secretary Duncan’s affinity towards charter schools:

Successful, respected educators agree with me

Deborah Meier

Teacher, Principal, author, child advocate, and leader of the Small Schools movment Deborah Meier posed this question and gave other critiques of today’s thinking on education reform on Democracy Now! yesterday:

Why do we have a Department of Education that is led by so few actual educators?

She went on to criticize the cracking of the door towards more support for charter schools, and eviscerated the notion that a business mindset will fix education:

Unfortunately, many believe that only people that know how to manipulate money know how to change the world for the better.

Who do you agree with?

One Love. One II.

How Much Black History Did You Learn Last Month?

If the answer is “none,” go talk to a Black person older than 60. Maybe you “didn’t have time” last month, or you “already know everything,” but chances are that neither was/is the case. Learning history, though, is like starting to exercise: better late than never. Get moving.

If the answer is “a little,” I’m happy for you, but I challenge you to take time during the rest of the year to continually educate yourself on Black History and Black people’s contributions to this nation and our planet.

If the answer is “a lot,” then you did your people proud. There’s no sense in having a month to focus on something if you don’t focus on it. I challenge you to now teach some of that history to someone else.

One Love. One II.

Photo Credit: fotonomad2007 on flickr.

Rethinking policy advocacy: what rights do we actually have?

Let me preface this post by saying that I’m not a lawyer, nor have I ever tried to be one. The following is a lay person’s interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, so any/all lawyers are more than welcome to jump in and add to/correct this interpretation.

On the plane back from the National Conference for Media Reform, I had a discussion with a labor attorney who also attended the conference and was from Seattle. Among other things, he told me the following:

The Constitution only grants one right: the right to bear arms [the 2nd amendment]. Everything else described in the document is essentially a limit on the government, not the granting of a particular right.

I thought that was really fascinating if it was true. If that is the case, then we really need take a hard look at how we talk about our “rights,” and about how we defend, ensure, and advocate for those “rights.” By telling me this, he almost made me want to quit my job and apply to law school as soon as I deplaned.

ATTN: ALL lovers of better education

Teachers are one of the most under appreciated professions in this country and not only should they be paid more, many teachers pay money out of their own pocket for supplies.

There is a site, www.donorschoose.org that seeks to make it easier to teachers to do their job. Here is how the site work; 1. Teachers make requests for materials and experiences that SHOULD be provided (but that is another story) 2. You as a donor choose to donate to the project of your choice and 3. Student’s learn more and you get a specialized note from the class that benefited from your donation.

I can’t tell you how many of my teacher friends have sent out emails asking help to pay for materials. This site is absolutely amazing and if you know of any teachers, let them know about this program and make it a point to donate TODAY.

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

When communities go to school…

For adults that do not have a background in education or counseling, their ability to directly help students is severely hampered. To counter this lack of community involvement inside schools, I want to present to you an idea I have stewed over for the past week.

The Unforgivable Sin

What is the unforgivable sin for a black man?  One would think calling a black woman out of her name, but apparently hip-hop and Isaiah Thomas have taken the sting out of that one.  It used to be taboo to participate in interracial dating, but even that has lost its bite. 

Actually, it is something a lot less politically charged than that or is it?  It took me 24 years to figure it out, but the unforgivable sin for a black man is…to be unemployed.  I did not realize it, now I am faced with the looming prospect of unemployment upon completing my post-graduate studies.  And as the song says, I am living under pressure.

Up until this point, I have tried to be a pretty responsible guy.  I have done my best to be the Dream of Dr. King and what not.  But apparently, I did not realize how quickly that accounts for nothing when you do not have a J-O-B. 

The Abortion of the Female Scientist

It sounds like we not only need to save our girls, but we also need to debunk the myths of girls’ interest in science, technology, math, and engineering, which are literally killing girls’ desires to pursue these fields.

Here’s the most interesting quote:

The mentality of needing to “weed out” weaker students in college majors — especially in the more quantitative disciplines — disproportionately weeds out women. This is not necessarily because women are failing. Rather, women often perceive “Bs” as inadequate grades and drop out, while men with “Cs” will persist with the class.

I agree that this weed-out mentality is complete BS and is actually anti-competitive because it eliminates diversity in total competition.

Also, am I the only one to read this and think, “Man, the perceived bar for success is much lower for boys than it is for girls.” Perhaps those C-student boys should have been weeded-out too…

One Love. One II.

Education: A call for action!

The Supreme Court just struck a major blow for K-12 districts to conduct voluntary school integration plans. The opinion can be summed up by Roberts when he wrote, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Apparently, using race to bring people together is just as bad as using race to keep people apart. You can learn alot about how America by reading Supreme Court decisions. Nevertheless, the justices claim that they are not over turning Brown v. Board but that is essentially what happened. But this is less of a crisis than it is a call for action.

Education’s Open secret

I don’t have any kids but I know many people that read this site either will be mothers or fathers in the near future or already have young ones probably tugging at you right now. And as you consider different educational options, the lines are often drawn over to send your kids to public, charter, or private schools, with you choosing the best option available to your family. But as a New York Times magazine article by Elizabeth Weil so elegantly explains, perhaps a bigger factor in your child’s academic and social development may hinge greatly on your kid’s birthday and when they start kindergarten.

Moral School Reform?

If your family lived in a major city with a poor educational system, do you think it would be morally wrong for you to use a relative’s address that lives in the suburbs so your kids could access a higher quality education?

I ask this question because false address changes are probably the easiest way many parents access better schooling for their children. And for as much we want to see positive change for K-12 public schools, it is very difficult to ask a parent of a low-achieving school district to wait for these changes to take root. My hunch is that many people think it is bad, but permissible. Nevertheless, what does it say to our kids when we tell them to lie if and when they are asked where they’re from?

And let me flip the script, if you were living in a high-achieving school district and were asked to lend your address so the child of a relative/friend could access your school district, how would you evaluate whether or not to grant that request?

Let me know what you think,

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

Student Loan Sunshine Act

The House of Representatives “overwhelmingly approved the Student Loan Sunshine Act on Wednesday in the wake of scandals that have implicated some of the country’s largest lenders and elite educational institutions.”

 The act passed 414-3 with strong bipartisan support, and bans gifts and revenue-sharing agreements between lenders and schools, requires institutions to disclose all relationships with lenders and allows only “preferred lender lists” with assurances that they were created with the students’ best interest in mind, among other items.

This is a welcome development when you consider that the average student debt load is hovering around 20,000, the last thing we need is private lenders putting the squeeze on colleges to distribute loans that in the end, put unnecessary financial burdens on students. The Senate is expected to follow suit when they mark up the Higher Education Act. This is a good day for students. You can read the act here.

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

Education in 2008!

This is the campaign being spearheaded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation to make education a key priority issue in the presidential elections for 2008. With a war chest upwards of $60 million dollars, this is the largest single-issue advocacy campaign ever seen. What’s more appealing is that the campaign is not seeking to endorse a presidential candidate or even take stances on legislation. It simply wants to make sure education is a top priority on our national agenda.

Community colleges

As high school students prepare for graduate, their friends and family members will bombard them with the same question, “So where are you going to college?” To a large extent, I applaud the strong push for higher education but by college, most people assume college to mean a 4-year university. So when HS graduates say, “I am going to community college,” I get sick to my stomach to see the tacit disappointment register on the face of the person asking the question.

Education: A program to help Black boys

Thanks to a friend on facebook, I came across a New York Times article highlighting a mentoring program in Ossining, NY that focused on improving the academic performance and cultural awareness of Black boys. The district is sort of unorthodox in how it achieves racial diversity. “Its six school buildings are divided not by neighborhood but by grade level. All of the second and third graders in the Ossining Union Free School District attend the Brookside School.”

Detroit Schools: Hope needed badly

Amid a flood of controversy, the Detroit Public School Board voted to approve a “realignment” plan to close 34 schools by the end of this year. This is a true turning point in the history of Detroit. The reality is that enrollment has declined all over the district along with horrible mismanagement (administrative and financial) at the central office. There is enough blame to go around but cities can not be sustained without a sustainable tax base. This is best achieved when families live in the same city where their kids go to school.

Unfortunately, previous boards have been privy to the deep financial problems of the district but instead of making tough decisions, chose instead to punt. Now we are in a situation of literal “slash and burn.” This decision will be the first of many for Detroit that highlight how times have changed and that responsibility and accountability most come from the leadership and citizenry alike. God willing, we will make make Detroit Public Schools better and make this city better.

Stay up fam,

Brandon

The National Priorities Project

This morning on the radio I heard about a group called the National Priorities Project. This group gives people an easy way to visualize how the government spends money. This is an important thing to know.

Education Reform: Kill the rhetoric

This week, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick announced plans to establish more charter and private schools in the city. This is a turning point for Detroit and no matter where you live, the vitality of the inner-cities across America will hinge upon how we address the lack of quality education.

Why Didn’t I Learn About Vietnam?

Did you learn about the Vietnam war in history class in middle or high school? Did you learn about the Watergate Scandal? Maybe if we did, our generation would care more about the goings on in today’s government and better understand the importance of participation.

There have been many comparisons drawn between the situation in Iraq and the situation in Vietnam a generation ago. These comparisons speak to the similarities in the shady nature in which the conflicts were handled by the US government, the way that those that did not blindly support the war were ridiculed and negatively typecasted as weak pacifists, how so many principled politicians sat by idly as thousands of soldiers were killed in another country’s civil war, and the idea of the domino theory that once “applied” to communism now “applies” to terrorism.

One thing that characterized the US during the Vietnam War was the effectiveness of protests. There have been protests to the conflict in Iraq since before it began, and the momentum that they are building is reminiscent of those that took place in the 1960s and 70s against Vietnam. These public citizen actions were a catalyst for the Congressional action that ultimately ended the war. Prayerfully, the same will be said about Iraq protests in the very near future.

So why don’t curriculum designers teach students about their country’s activist past? Why don’t standardized tests include reading comprehension sections comprised of pieces describing Vietnam, a war that was taking place only 3 decades ago? It’s hard to believe that this is not on purpose.

What’s the solution?

Contemporary study should cover contemporary events. If you are a parent, why not lobby your school board/district to have unit(s) on Vietnam added? At least ask the question. If it can be done over the useless Intelligent Design debate, it surely can be done over a subject in which a student’s knowledge can allow them to immediately take action in the world today. If you are a student, write a compare-contrast paper on America during Vietnam and America during today’s Iraq conflict. Doing so will educate yourself, your peers, and your instructors. If you are just a concerned citizen, read up on Vietnam.

It’s important to answer questions, especially ones that are never asked.

One Love. One II.

Categories
Education
History
Politics
Foreign Policy
Iraq
So-called “War on Terror”

Education reform: Social Security meets Higher Ed

I recently returned from a working trip in DC and on the way back, I had a very intriguing conversation with an accountant who I will call Joe. The bulk of our conversation was me trying to explain to Joe the serious need and benefits of making college more affordable and accessible. While making college more affordable is good, Joe played a very good devil’s advocate by making me point out that in the end, I really think higher education should be free. He agreed with me but the problem came up with having to pay for it. Joe had an idea that I think should be fleshed out.

Simply put, Joe’s idea involves reforming social security and using the savings to fully fund higher education. But we should first put this issue in context. Social Security was created in 1935 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The bulk of what we usually think of as social security does in fact go to provide retirement benefits to elderly people who are in retirement, but there are earmarks for the widowed, disabled, and unemployed.

Throughout a worker’s career, the Social Security Administration keeps track of his or her earnings. The amount of the monthly benefit to which the worker is entitled depends upon that earnings record and upon the age at which the retiree chooses to begin receiving benefits. For the entire history of Social Security, benefits have been paid almost entirely by using revenue from payroll taxes. It is essentially a pay-as-you-go system.

Unfortunately, by about 2018, years or so, payroll taxes will not be enough to cover the Social Security benefits and the system will begin to withdraw money from the Social Security Trust Fund. The Trust Fund is estimated to be depleted by 2042 or 2052.

It should be noted that Social Security, along with Medicare and Medicaid, are entitlement programs, which means they are generally free from political interference. Potential beneficiaries of entitlement programs have a legal right, (whenever they meet eligibility conditions) that are specified by the standing law that authorizes the program. And because it is difficult to know in advance who will meet entitlement requirements from year to year, it makes it that more difficult for the government to plan for the total costs of the program when appropriations bills are marked up.

And with baby boomers coming into retirement age, there is considerable strain being put on the Social Security System. This is because now there are 3.3 workers per beneficiary and as baby boomers draw down these benefits, there will be fewer workers to support them. This, combined with the fact that the Social Security Trust Fund will have to be tapped in the near future is causing many, including President Bush, to make calls for social security reform.

This brings me back to my conversation with Joe. He told me that the death of social security will come when a means test is implemented. Right now, if you pay into social security, you get benefits regardless of your income or assets. A means test (there are various ways this could be implemented) would essentially set a threshold, probably sliding, by which the more money a person made, they would either be ineligible to receive benefits or otherwise be able to collect decreasing amounts of benefits. Conversely, the less money a retiree made the more benefits they would be able to collect. If enacted, this could conceivably preserve the financial integrity of the program while making sure that those who need it the most actually receive the benefits. On face value, it sounds good to me. If you are sitting on 4 million from your income and assets, your social security income isn’t exactly going to make or break you.

But here is the problem, according to Joe and a report by the American Academy of Actuaries, means testing would compromise two important principles that have sustained the political support for social security, universality and earned right. Universality means that regardless of how much money you make, social security will be there for you. Therefore, any perceived threat to social security would affect all current and future beneficiaries. The earned right principle would be jeopardized because if more wealthy workers are paying into a system that they won’t be able to collect on (or collect a disproportionately smaller share) their contributions, it essentially becomes a tax, and we all know taxes are every politician’s death kiss.

But if we could find a means test that was politically feasible, Joe said that we could use these savings to fully fund higher education. Now I don’t know how much it would cost to fully fund higher education but I do know that Social Security alone cost taxpayers in FY 2006, $544 billion. And I am sure that our ability to fund higher education is a whole lot less than half a trillion dollars. Joe mentioned that these savings could be transferred to the public in the form of a tax credit. I am not sure how this would work, or what method would be best, but the principle I think is sound. If people with higher education end up making more money over the course of their lifetimes, they will probably be able to make good use of their money such that they won’t need to rely on social security by the time they are ready to retire. Sounds like a win win to me.

What do you think?

Stay up fam,

Categories:
Education Reform
Social Security
Retirement
Higher Education

Education reform: Revisiting Intelligence

So today, I came across an article in NPR today that talked about a study featured in the journal, Child Development, showing that “if you teach students that their intelligence can grow and increase, they do better in school.” And while this may not seem groundbreaking to you, I suggest you click on Read More.

The article is put in context by research psychologist Carol Dweck from Stanford University, who said that “all children develop a belief about their own intelligence.”

Dweck then used the following paradigm to understand these beliefs; fixed and growth mindsets of intelligence. As you can imagine, the fixed mindset cause students to think of their intelligence that is set in stone while students who follow the growth mindset think of their intelligence as something that can grow and evolve over time.

Dweck wanted to find out if there was a correlation between a student’s academic beliefs and their grades.

So, first, she looked at several hundred students going into seventh grade, and assessed which students believed their intelligence was unchangeable, and which children believed their intelligence could grow. Then she looked at their math grades over the next two years.

“We saw among those with the growth mindset steadily increasing math grades over the two years,” she says. But that wasn’t the case for those with the so-called “fixed mindset.” They showed a decrease in their math grades.

I didn’t exactly fall out of my chair when I read that but I do think it is worth noting that many parents are not aware of of their child’s intelligence belief. Forget kids, what about you? What factors do you think were most influential in framing your intelligence belief? And if your mindset has changed over time, has it changed from the growth mindset to the fixed mindset or vice versa? Why?

The aforementioned results, caused Dweck and her colleague Lisa Blackwell to see if there was a correlation between a student’s belief about their intelligence and their grades.

So, first, she looked at several hundred students going into seventh grade, and assessed which students believed their intelligence was unchangeable, and which children believed their intelligence could grow. Then she looked at their math grades over the next two years.

“We saw among those with the growth mindset steadily increasing math grades over the two years,” she says. But that wasn’t the case for those with the so-called “fixed mindset.” They showed a decrease in their math grades.
This seems straight-forward enough but Dweck and Blackwell wondered if you could teach a child to have a growth mindset, could you then improve their grades?

So, about 100 seventh graders, all doing poorly in math, were randomly assigned to workshops on good study skills. One workshop gave lessons on how to study well. The other taught about the expanding nature of intelligence and the brain.
The students in the latter group “learned that the brain actually forms new connections every time you learn something new, and that over time, this makes you smarter.”

Basically, the students were given a mini-neuroscience course on how the brain works. By the end of the semester, the group of kids who had been taught that the brain can grow smarter, had significantly better math grades than the other group.

I think this article was inspiring not because I was surprised at the results but because of the potential hope it holds out for teachers. Now I am not a teacher, but I know that one of the most frustrating teaching experiences is dealing with a student that has it made up in his/her mind that they can not master a given lesson. And if there is any way we can convince students that by not giving up when they are frustrated, their brain cells are working to make them smarter, then I am all for it. This fixed mindset is pervasive and is infecting students at younger and younger ages, thereby encouraging more students to mentally check out from school. And I know that we need to completely revamp the way do administer education, but in the meantime, our students need every leg up possible.

For those interested, Dweck’s latest book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, gives parents and teachers specific ways to teach the growth mindset of intelligence to children.

Stay up fam,

Categories:
Education reform
intelligence

Education reform pt 1: Context

What’s up fam,

My heart is heavy. Recently, the board of Detroit Public Schools announced plans to close 52 schools by next year. Their rationale for this decision was in part to have school capacity reflect the rapid decline of school enrollment due to the growing exodus of families either moving to different cities or sending their kids to charter schools (or using a family member’s address to enroll in another district). I have had enough! Our school system as a whole is not where it needs to be and I am tired of hearing about how we need to reform our schools without policies in place to inform those discussions.

So I went online and I googled school reform report and I came across a report entitled, Tough Choices or Tough Times, created by the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. (All subsequent quotes are from the executive summary of this report that I can’t link to because it is in pdf format)

We often hear about how we are living in a global economy and how our kids need to work hard but the way that we run our schools don’t reflect this new paradigm. But before we get into the proposals put forth, we should first understand one of Garlin’s themes for 2007; context.

The first commission released a report in 1990 that discussed how a worldwide market was developing in low-skill labor and that the work requiring these skills would end up in the countries where the price of low labor was the lowest. As a result, the commission pointed out that the United States could go one of two directions; “it could first try to compete in the low skills market and experience declining wages over time or it could try to compete in the worldwide market for high-value-added products and services. Aiming for the latter would require us to benchmark our curriculum to international standards, ensuring our children were competitive for jobs requiring advanced skills.”

Fast forward 15 years and we find ourselves in a situation where countries like India and China can offer large numbers of highly educated people willing to work for low wages. The report adds,

“Whereas for most of the 20th century the United States could take pride in having the best-educated workforce in the world, that is no longer true. Over the past 30 years, one country after another has surpassed us in the proportion of their entering workforce with the equivalent of a high school diploma. Thirty years ago, the United States could lay claim to having 30% of the world’s college students. Today that proportion has fallen to 14% and is continuing to fall.”

What I really hate is that even now, our industrialized schooling models largely corral our kids toward getting a “good job” after matriculating through high school and possibly college. What’s worse is that if we don’t make drastic changes, more and more students will find that the doors they thought education could open, will be closed. This is being aggravated by the flattening of the world economy. The report points out that

“Every day, more and more of the work that people do ends up in a digitized form. From X-rays used for medical diagnostic purposes, to songs, movies, architectural drawings, technical papers, and novels, that work is saved on a hard disk and transmitted instantly over the Internet to someone near or far who makes use of it in an endless variety of ways. Because this is so, a swiftly rising number of American workers at every skill level are in direct competition with workers in every corner of the globe.”

But here in America, we are led to believe that influxes of Mexican immigrants are taking away domestic jobs. And while corporations pull the wool over our eyes, they are outsourcing work to places like China and India. In other words, someone doesn’t have to live in the U.S. to compete for your job.

Next time, we will delve into the recommendations of the report.

Stay up fam,

Categories:
Education Reform

A Girl Like Me, and 3 Ways that we can Change Kids’ Images of Themselves

I was sent a video today that really bothered and inspired me. A high school student in New York made a documentary called A Girl Like Me (see below, linked here) that brings the question of our children’s images of race are affected at a young age.

This is reminiscent of the famous Doll Test that was part of the Brown v. Board of Education case against segregation.

How do we reverse this? There has to be a way to let Black children know that Black is good and not bad. But how? Since the idea of “white being better than Black” is learned/taught like everything else that a child absorbs, we have to think about what we are doing specifically to get Black boys and girls to think like this.

With this in mind, we need to be careful what we say and do. Here are 3 Ways that we can Change Kids’ Images of Themselves:

1. Be careful how we talk with, talk about, and acknowledge Black people
This means cleaning up our intra-racial dialogue. This means being careful about how we say things when criticizing one another (why do we have to say “you are a sorry excuse for a Black man” and not “sorry excuse for a man). This means no longer saying n!gga/n!gger to one another or anyone else, especially around children [of any race]. I would bet that even if a kid did not know what the word meant, they would know it was bad.

2. Watch what we watch, Listen to what we are listening to
Pay attention to subliminal messages in our media. Look for things that are being “said without being said.” For example, take TV shows like MTV’s The Real World. The majority of [straight] Black male characters on that show over the years have had non-Black girlfriends. The majority of the Black female characters on that show have been highly temperamental and standoff-ish. They did not outright say that “Black men want any woman that is not Black,” or “Black women are impossible to get along with.” The thing is, they did not have to say it. Take BET as another example, with their insistence on pushing music videos that push ignorant interpretations of Black masculinity and hyper-sexualized interpretations of Black femininity. They are telling you that this is what Black folks are. Kids aren’t stupid, and if they see a bunch of [Black] men smacking around Black women on TV, they are going to start wondering whether something is wrong with Black women. If the media that you consume is pushing this garbage, STOP CONSUMING IT!

3. Educate young people by talking about why you love your people
I am not talking about educating through school, which of course is necessary. I am talking about educating by talking with kids. When was the last time you, Black man/father, told your Black son/daughter or any other Black child why you love Black women or Black people? Black woman/mother, when was the last time you told your Black son/daughter or any other Black child why you love Black men or Black people? We spend so much time telling kids negative stuff: don’t do this, don’t touch that, don’t go here. Why not spend some time telling them what to do: do love your people.

Any other ideas?

News coverage and a brief interview with the filmmaker are available here.

One Love. One II.

Categories
Black Issues

Democratic Response to the 2007 State of the Union

Newly-elected Senator Jim Webb from Virginia gave the official Democratic Response to the State of the Union last night. I’d like to break down what he said here.

First, a slight omission: Bush did not give Katrina one sentence; Webb gave it gave it one phrase. I guess that is better than nothing, but it still sucks.

It would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President’s message, nor would it be useful. Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and health care for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.

This was a good opening statement, and I agree with all of it it except for the last phrase, which doesn’t make any sense. To say that the Democrats hope “that this administration is serious about…addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans” is not needed because it is clear that this is not a priority. It would have made more sense to phrase this part as a challenge followed by a Democratic plan for the Gulf Coast.

The fact that Webb said “it would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President’s message, nor would it be useful” is good because it says “we don’t want to argue, we want to act.” I pray that that is more than just rhetoric.

When one looks at the health of our economy, it’s almost as if we are living in two different countries…In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy – that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.

This was the strongest part of the speech. It focused on the need to remember that the Middle Class is critical to the success of our nation for both economic and emotional reasons. The economic reasons are relatively obvious in terms of the amount of money that these people can spend. The emotional reasons should be relatively obvious too because this gives those who are poorer something to aspire to. Unfortunately, as Webb points out, there are people in this country who want to eradicate the Middle Class by engaging in class warfare, using the weapons of high education and health care/insurance costs to push those who are currently middle class down to a lower level of economic vitality.

With respect to foreign policy, this country has patiently endured a mismanaged war for nearly four years…they owed us – sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for our welfare, a guarantee that the threat to our country was equal to the price we might be called upon to pay in defending it.

Though obvious to some, this statement cannot be repeated enough: we made the wrong choice when deciding to invade Iraq, and we are continuing to make the wrong choice by staying there. The voters made this clear in November, and the government must pay attention. The Congress must do everything within its constitutional mandate to protect us from a heavy-handed, non-thinking executive. This was not happening when everyone was a Republican. Perhaps that will change now that a different party is running the House and Senate.

The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction…an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq’s cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.

Note the words “immediate” and “short order.” These can be translated to mean “Get out, and get out now! No ’surge.’ No ’staying until we achieve [the yet-to-be-defined-state-of] victory.” This is what voters told their government in November that they wanted. The government needs to respond to the will of the people.

One Love. One II.

Categories:
Politics
State of the Union
Democrats

Collective Action and The Talented Tenth

“I love black people, but I hate niggas”
-Chris Rock

Right now, I am watching the Colts receive the AFC Championship trophy. However, one of the major things the commentators kept bringing up was that this is the first time that two African-American coaches will be in the Super Bowl. Before they would bring up the games, the win, their intelligence as coaches-race was the primary focus, as this was a milestone for all African Americans. And it was. However, it got me to thinking: “Will African Americans ever stop being considered as a collective, homogenous group and is this necessarily a bad thing?” Just as we are quick to appropriate the good, what about the bad or less than spectacular aspects of our community?

I have long been of the opinion that there are two characters in African-American society, African-Americans and Niggers. And the gulf between the two is growing so wide that soon we will not be able to hide behind skin color anymore, and it will come down to economics, which is what race has been a red herring for all along. But I digress. African Americans are known to complain that niggers make the rest of the race look bad and are holding us back by their ignorance (read: Bill Cosby). And Niggers say that African Americans are too uppity, self-righteous and tame. As such, there is no small amount of animosity between these two sub-groups in African American society. And this concerns me deeply.

First, to answer my own question, I believe that African Americans will never stop being considered a homogenous group in America and as such, the actions of the few will forever reflect on the majority. We do not have the luxury of Caucasians, who do not concern themselves with hillbillies in the Appalachians. Unlike them, we have African-Americans and Niggers often sitting at the same table, in the same family. So, for those individuals who wish it would not happen, and think it should not occur anymore where we are viewed as a collective, do not hold your breath, it aint gonna happen (my thoughts as to why is another post in and of itself). We are so mixed together that we can hardly tell the difference between the two. We still unconsciously view ourselves as a collective.

However, here is a little insight that Bill Cosby and others of the Black intelligentsia might not understand. In fact, it is borderline heretical, as a member of the progressive African-American constituency: African-Americans need Niggers and Niggers need African-Americans. It is the yin and yang of racial politics. God creates duality for a purpose. In every African-American, there is a part of him willing to “burn this so and so down” if he feels like he is being disrespected, and it goes past being assertive. And it goes the other way also.

Now, here is the million dollar question: “How do we help each other as members of this collective ethnic group?”

I will not lie; I was supremely frustrated with certain aspects of the African American community. And my frustration culminated in a heated discussion with Garlin. At that point, I was ready to turn my back on the Niggers, and like Noah, focus on saving my own family from the impending doom and finality of the decimation of the middle-class and the haves v. have-nots. We knew all too well the threat of some segments of our ethnic community being a permanent underclass in America. And we could not understand why more people did not see it and why we seemed powerless to stop it.

Even in my own family, I could not understand how some of my family members chose not to follow my example. I tried in vain to encourage various cousins to go to school and consolidate the gains of my aunts and uncles so that we could make that power play to prosperity.

But on the other end, when I would speak with middle to upper class blacks and listened to their characterization of those perceived as Niggers, I was not satisfied either. It was a characterization that lacked compassion and understanding. Only then could I understand why we cannot come to the table and collaborate. Somewhere down the line, we received a distorted view of one another.

So, I pose the question, what is our place in this mess? How do we help our brothers and sisters who are characterized as Niggers and how can they help us, since they are here for a reason? I don’t have the answer. I have not even figured out how to get those who are not like myself to listen to me. But I do know that I have to check my self-righteousness, ego, and frustration at the door. I do know that I need them and they need me, and I will always go back to the ‘hood, whether they want me there or not. And no matter how high a barrier my education and professional achievement erects between us, I will be there. No matter how some of us glorify the Thug Life and our impoverished backgrounds as a badge of honor, and others of us who believe money entitles us to special treatment. We need each other. Why? Because at one point, in American society, we all were Niggers. Whether we like it or not, we have and probably always will be treated as a collective group in America. But only now, do we have the benefit to refer to ourselves as African Americans.

The Consigliere

P.S. For more commentary, go to this link.

Categories:
Black Issues

The SuperSpade in the news…

What’s up fam!!! I wish everyone a Happy New Year and a year of growth and fulfillment. My year started off great as I was able to participate in a press conference with the Change America Now Campaign. The Change America Now Campaign is a national effort to pass the economic elements of the 100 hour plan as outlined by the Democratic leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The proposed legislation would increase of the minimum wage, lift the prohibition on Medicare negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for lower prescription drug prices as part of the Part D prescription drug plan, cut the interest rate on student loans in half to make college more affordable and end tax breaks for big oil companies and invest new resources into alternative sources of energy.

I was asked to discuss the why Congress should cut the student loan interest rates in half. And for those of you who think legislation doesn’t touch you personally, cutting student loan interest rates in half would save the average college student $5,600. We must take the necessary steps to make college more affordable.

Now if I was smart like Garlin, I would have recorded my remarks. However, I was quoted in some newspapers and I wanted to share them with my Superspade family.

1.5.07 Groups Back Congressional Action read more
As the 110th Congress convened Thursday under Democratic control, a coalition of organizations said in Lansing they were calling on their members to help get passed an agenda that included an increase in the minimum wage and cuts in the interest rate charged for student loans.

1.5.07 Michigan Coalition Nudges Congress read more
A Michigan coalition has embraced the new congressional Democratic Party agenda to hike the minimum wage, reduce the cost of college loans and allow more competition in setting prescription drug prices. Michigan Citizen Action (MCA) wants all of that done in the first 100 hours of the new session in Washington.

1.5.07 Michigan Groups Push Bills in New Congress read more
The democratically controlled Congress should boost the federal minimum wage, reduce by 50 percent the interest on college student loans, and give the Medicaid system the authority to bargain with major drug companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors.

Stay up fam,

Categories:
Higher Education
Politics

School aid not distributed evenly

This was the title of a CNN article describing the gist of a report by Education Trust, essentially saying that way we fund public education short changes low-income and minority students.

The following is an excerpt of the press release by Education Trust;

The report, Funding Gaps 2006, builds on the Education Trust’s annual studies of funding gaps among school districts within states. For the first time the report includes data and analysis on:

• How federal Title I funds widen rather than narrow the education funding gaps that separate wealthy states from poor states; and,
• How funding choices at the school district level provide enhanced funding to schools serving higher concentrations of affluent students and white students at the expense of schools that serve low-income students and students of color.

This should not serve as any new groundbreaking information but reports like this play a critical role in educating the public and alerting policy makers that our approach to education is failing our children. Please read this report, review their analsyis and proposed solutions.

Stay up fam,

Categories:
educationalfunding
educationpolicy

Affirmative Action aftermath…

In the aftermath of Proposal 2, (Michigan voters recently voted to ban affirmative action programs in higher education admissions, public employment, and contracting) the universities were in the middle of an admissions cycle and opponents of affirmative action wanted the admissions standards to change immediately upon passage of the proposal. This was profoundly absurd and should show how you much good would be achieved if the energy used to keep Black kids out of college were used to improve public K-12 education..

Fortunately however, “U.S. District Judge David Lawson…said it would be too disruptive to do away with affirmative action immediately because they have already begun accepting students for next fall.” The judge went on to say that the schools have until July 1st to come up with new admissions policies for the next round of admissions. That’s great, but here’s the thing, too many people sat on the sidelines waiting for Proposal 2 to pass and then say “I told you so.”

Therefore, if you are in school right now or know people that are, this is a critical time in our history for students to help formulate policies that can do effective and meaningful outreach while surviving the legal rigor of a political climate affirmative action as a free pass for Black folks. So for all my people who were involved in this fight in Michigan and across the nation, the true ugliness of this fight is after affirmative action is banned. Now is the time to make sure mechanisms and programs are in place to make sure that universities can to the best of their ability still reach out to students that are traditionally underrepresented in higher education.

So now you have two choices, you can 1) talk about how screwed up this country is and refrain from getting involved or you can 2) stand up and fight for justice while pulling up kids behind you that need an example of success and hope. So whether it is tutoring, mentoring, or doing recreational programs, get in the game. The other side wants us to waste all of our efforts on the nuances of policy but our kids futures are in the balance. This fight isn’t really about race; it is about who can and who cannot get access to quality education. And Black people as a whole are on the outside looking in. So stop staring at your degree and provide the spark that kids need to believe in their potential and seize the power of education by the bullhorns!

Stay up fam,

Categories:
affirmativeaction
education

Supreme Court addresses race and public schools

For those of you still in permanent vacation mode until after New Year’s, let me point your attention to a case being heard before the Supreme Court to determine whether race may be used as a basis for assigning students to public schools. This case is not receiving nearly as much hype as the University of Michigan cases but its impact will be far reaching. The heart of the dispute centers on

on two programs in Seattle, WA and Louisville, KY that use race as a factor (not the only one) in hopes of ensuring that each school’s population approximate the racial make up of the entire system.

According to an article at findlaw.com, (emphasis mine)

The school policies in contention are designed to keep schools from segregating along the same lines as neighborhoods. In the Pacific coast city of Seattle, only high school students are affected. The plan in another city, Louisville, Kentucky, applies systemwide.

Now I will resist the urge to go into a historical tangent on the effects of far reaching effects segregation in public policies and schooling in particular due to but not limited to the GI Bill following WWII, private racial covenants, racial zoning and otherwise blatant discrimination propagated by the deeply flawed Federal Housing Administration, and who could forget the historic rise of Levitowns. When we couple these state-supported segregation forces with public school systems largely funded by local property taxes, it is no surprise to see schools generally segregated by four factors, class, race, location, and overall school quality. (For more on this topic, read Jonathan Kozol’s landmark book entitled, Shame of the Nation)

Nevertheless, in Seattle, a parent was outraged after her then 8th grade daughter ranked the top three high schools she wanted to go to and was refused admission to her first school of choice (newly remodeled at the time and majority White) and she was assigned to another school (arguably of lower overall quality and majority Black). Now I am sure that one of the main reasons why the Seattle parent moved to that part of town in part to take advantage of the good school in her area. And what the Seattle plan does is simple, it disallows (on a grand level) parents to provide their kids a better education via living in a part of the city with higher socioeconomic levels.

Why this affects you
I don’t know the demographics of the people that read the SuperSpade, but I would venture to say that many of you do not have any children. However, if and when you do decide to have kids, where you plan to live will have life-long effects on your child’s development. Chief among these reasons is the quality and reputation of the school system. Any real estate agent worth his/her chops will go to great lengths to discuss the quality of the school system when trying to sell a home to family that has children. This is because they know that if nothing else, the quality of the schools will play a huge part in the decision-making process. So when you have kids, would you agree to raise your children in a district that had a race-balancing program, knowing that they might not get into the best possible school? I ask that because I wonder how you would feel if you were that Seattle parent. In that respect, I would argue that most parents are rightly or wrongly, insanely selfish when it comes to providing the best for their children. Moreover, this decision will have a huge impact on the ability of the state (in this case school districts) to provide opportunities for children to be able to interact with other children that do not look like them. And for anyone who has spent extended time in a diverse environment, one of the saddest things is to see someone hold views that are so flawed but could have been addressed if they were exposed to a diverse environment.

Diversity as a compelling state interest?
Therefore, the reach of this decision is broad because like in the University of Michigan cases of 2003, diversity is being put forward as a compelling state interest. Now I believe in diversity but I know many folks that support affirmative action and/or race balancing policies see diversity as legal front for ensuring that underrepresented minorities get access to opportunities that were historically denied them. To that end, sometimes the legal proponents of diversity and affirmative action will argue diversity in court but will wink and nod to their supporters, with both parties knowing the real fight at hand. So if diversity is the legal strategy that is keeping policies like affirmative action alive, (by their chinny chin chin no less) then the supporters of affirmative action and race balancing should be able to articulate the virtues of diversity with the same force and articulation as arguing that their kids deserve access to quality education and employment opportunities.

This post is getting long, so I will stop, but I will point out the solution to this problem. If all the schools in any district were equally excellent, then parents/students would not feel compelled to see that one top school as the only way to get the training they need to compete. But in our society, too many of us are unable to envision a world where someone doesn’t have to lose in order for us to win..

Stay up fam

Categories:
supremecourt
education
race

Where was Kwame Kilpatrick?

What’s up fam, I am still smarting from the passage of Proposal 2, a ballot initiative that bans affirmative action programs in Michigan in higher education, public employment, and contracting. However, I am deeply troubled by the eerie silence I noticed from Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick. As Detroit’s representative, of a populace that is overwhelmingly in support of affirmative action, I expected Kilpatrick to be more integrated in the campaign to keep affirmative action.

Now I am under no illusions that Kilpatrick’s increased visibility would have turned the electoral tides but his silence I think is indicative of a widespread feeling that was whispered throughout the progressive community before the election; “I think Proposal 2 is going to pass so what’s the point of going all out to defeat it?”

In fact, the only commercial I heard featuring Kwame was his speaking in support of the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Jennifer Granholm. Kilpatrick was not up for reelection and just recently accomplished one of the greatest political comebacks in Detroit political history. So if anyone can help inspire hope in the face of insurmountable odds, Kilpatrick is the man.

Kilpatrick’s lack of leadership pains me because while I don’t have any sources, my hunch is that there was some political blackmail that silenced his efforts to speak out against Proposal 2.

While I was preparing to write this piece, Garlin sent me an article that highlighted Kilpatrick’s stance on affirmative action. The article states that at a Kilpatrick said at a fundraiser, “We will affirm to the world that affirmative action will be here today, it will be here tomorrow, and there will be affirmative action in the state forever.” And as Garlin pointed out to me, this quote was said in the spirit of, “at least I am on record.” Being a proponent of affirmative action is not effective at a fundraiser. It needs to be explained to folks that can’t afford to make political donations.

My discontent stems from the fact that Kilpatrick is an amazing campaigner and I think his presence would have really inspired people to get off the sidelines. I could just imagine the impact of having the TV cameras follow Kilpatrick going door-to-door explaining to Detroit citizens why they should vote no on Proposal 2. Seeing that would be considerably more helpful to our efforts than some watered down statement made at a political fundraiser.

So where was Kwame?

Stay up fam,

Categories:
detroit
politics
affirmativeaction

For Richer and For Poorer (No Romance Without Finance)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are not necessarily the views of all members of The Superspade. It may be simply the nonsensical rantings of a frustrated twenty-something.

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

Whitney and Bobby. Reese and Ryan. Britney and K-Fed. Eddie Murphy and his wife. Babyface and Tracy. Kimora and Russell. What do all these lost souls have in common? They are no longer in marital bliss. Technically, theses people have enough money where all they have to do is be in love and live. But yet, more and more celebrities are breaking up. Why?

I have been having this ongoing dialogue with my female friends that circles around men and finance. It is my belief that women and money are a lot like fire: They can either help you or hurt you. With that said, as women begin to outpace men in the areas of education and high paying jobs, we come to a fork in the road as I perceive it. Women want men to be men. A significant portion of this traditional gender role is that a man should provide and furnish comfort and security. Or they want him to have at least the same level education/money as they have. On the surface, this seems fair. You don’t want any deadweight in your relationship. However, do these kind of expectations reinforce class in American society, especially in the area of romance? If I drive a bus or work at the post office, is it unlikely that I can date a lawyer or a doctor?

Think about it. Education, in theory, affords you access to more resources. It is an economic truism that people will buy as much lifestyle comfort as their paycheck will give them. Hence, if a woman is making top dollar, then how does this affect the dating expectations? Along with more income, comes a different environment. When you come home from a long day of work, who is more likely to understand what you are talking about if you are a doctor/lawyer/engineer? And how does this affect the power dynamic? I know some women who try to rule over their man because they hold the purse strings. Or on the other end, the man tries to over-compensate because he feels inadequate about his lady making more change. It is a real obstacle.

Perhaps this belief is only prevalent in the young adult demographic, but I have encountered frequently. However, this is like having your cake and eating it to. If a woman today is likely to rise more quickly, especially a minority woman, is it fair to put all the weight on the man?

A lot of women in my age group want the men they deal with to be a “high roller”. They are more concerned with status than character. And as men, we feed into it. I would venture to say that 75% of what we do is to please a woman somewhere.

I had a conversation not too long ago with a certain young woman and she expressed to me that she was afraid she was going to be poor if she stayed with this certain young man. She came from a little money and he was more blue collar. She continued to go on about the lifestyle she was accustomed to and the like. So I asked her, what did comfort look like to her? She replied it was paying the bills, saving, taking trips on occasion. I then asked her, how much did she need a year to feel and do those things, and she said a quarter million.

This is just one of the many conversations I have had with a variety of women. I am not saying anything is wrong with it, however, when pressed, they could not quantify these abstract wants and desires. If you cannot quantify it, then you will never be happy. Because it will never be enough. And while that man is out trying to stack, these will be the same individuals that will complain about him not helping around the house or with the kids or spending time with them. You can’t win for losing.

In Other Words

Maybe I am tripping. But I know for most people in their twenties, you don’t have a dime. You just finished school and you got bills. You have not made any real money and you just trying to get by and adjust to the “Real World”. Yet, when you go out, all the shorties is checkin for the dudes with the rims. Where do the real women hang out at? The ones who see your potential and love you for you? What happened to finding a good dude with some goals and who treats you like a queen? What happened to working as a team and making it together? By making the profit motive supreme, you miss out on some really good people. But like they say in the mob, “Nobody wants to work for it anymore.”

What people do not realize is that when you struggle and come up with somebody, it brings you closer. It is not predicated on a business transaction, it is based on some real, hell or high water type stuff. Then we wonder why the number of unmarried couples outnumber the married couples. Whether it comes to money or relationships, you have to have teamwork. A woman cannot expect to sit around while a man is working, or vice versa. Both people need to play their position. The money will come. It is more important that you share the same goals and values. And anyway, everyone needs to focus on getting their own in this world and stop waiting for someone to give it to them. As my mama says, “If you waitin for somebody to do something for you, you gonna be waitin a long time.”

I could just be voicing my insecurities, because I was never the dude with money. I have lived on a budget for as long as I can remember and I had to work for everything I have. Yet, I am a decent dude. I might not be able to “cake” a woman off now, but I am resourceful and she will never have to guess where she stands with me. And by the way, I am going to be rich. But you do not want someone who is going to fold on you as soon as money is tight. Every man needs a Hilary-stand-by-your man-ride-or die chick. I want to know that the woman in my corner is loyal and she is real. And fortunately for me, I have found that one. .

Final Thought…For Now

Ladies, I am not saying that you are gold diggers for having standards. But make sure your expectations are reasonable. You should hold yourself higher than any dollar amount a man could give you. Demand more than his money, demand his heart and his time. If you have that, you wont ever have to worry about finances.

Fellas, if we want to demand the ladies step it up, we have to make sure we are real men. I am Old School, and it is my belief that the man should set the tone for the relationship. We must lead by example. Prove to the ladies that you are worth the risk and that by hooking up with you, she is joining something great. If all you have to offer is that same ghetto-mentality and lame duck excuses, do us all a favor and just turn your wallet over now. Many a good woman has been ruined because she was under “bad management”, ya dig?

I could go on for pages, and I got a little off topic. But this is just how I see it being played out in my neck of the woods. I will revisit this issue from time to time and report my findings.

But in the meantime, you, the SuperSpade community, let me know what you think. What is the role that class plays in romance? How important is money really? How are prevailing attitudes affecting our relationships? Sound off.

Truth and Peace,
Steven M DeVougas
Categories:

Love
Friendships & Relationships
Money

Post election analysis: How to keep affirmative action

This post comes to you from the friendly skies en route to Baltimore, MD. It is good to be home and I really miss my Superspade family. I want to continue my post election analysis by providing some insights I learned while trying to keep affirmative action policies in the state of Michigan.

Ward Connerly is hopping around from state to state trying to ban affirmative action programs primarily in higher education, public employment and contracting. He did it in Washington via Prop 5, California with Prop 209, and most recently in Michigan with Prop 2.

Now for anyone from Michigan or elsewhere who didn’t lift a finger to help register people to vote or educate people on the effects of banning affirmative action but felt smug enough to say after the election, “I knew Prop 2 was going to fail,” shame on you. I have had it with so-called conscious folks who love to philosophize for hours on end about the plight of Black folks and how we need to raise up but when you ask them to do something that actually requires work, their calendar is suddenly filled to the brim.

Being conscious is a step in the right direction but it is not enough. When I ask you to help do phone banking, I don’t want to hear you talk about the nuances of institutional racism. There is a time and a place for that but right now, all I need is a yes or no. I already agree with you and I am only going to nod my head in agreement. And if you claim to be as conscious as you claim to be, let’s see to it that our actions have the same intensity.

I got a little side-tracked for a minute, but I do not apologize.

Anyways, Ward Connerly is putting ballot initiatives up that attempt to ban affirmative action which means that in order to beat this guy, we have to make sure people vote in favor to support affirmative action. But we forgot about a crucial lesson in Michigan that I hope you don’t make in your state as well. Before you start screaming, “Vote to Support Affirmative Action!” make sure the organizing coalition you are apart of actually implements a comprehensive voter registration drive.

Why do I say that? Well, once you actually do voter registration, you can then call these people and educate them on affirmative action. When this doesn’t happen, your get out the vote efforts are not strategic and all you end up doing is conducting a visibility campaign, which will inevitably result in mobilizing people to vote that are not registered to vote! It sounds so simple I know, but registering people to vote is taken for granted more often than you would care to realize.

Secondly, most research shows that in order to win a campaign to support affirmative action, you have to target white women because they will provide the necessary electoral support to tip the election in your favor. On its face, this thinking is logical and reasonable. However, not ALL of your efforts should be devoted to targeting white women. Why? Because you will more than likely develop a coalition that is largely comprised of men and women of color and then you will try to get this coalition to convince White women to vote to support affirmative action. This strategy is not only embarrassing but it is not sound. Most people tend to trust people that look like them, period. So what ended up happening in Michigan (in my opinion) is that largely people of color targeted white women while neglecting the very communities of color that need to educated on the effects of affirmative action. Now I am not saying that only Blacks can talk to Blacks, but what I am saying is that in terms of strategy, never forget to take care of your base.

In fact, I know a large number of White women that understand and can explain the benefits of affirmative action for all people. For example if you have a strategy to send me (tall Black dude) to do canvassing in a majority-White suburb versus a white girl, who would you send? I am not saying I wouldn’t be effective but let’s think strategically. If white women need to be targeted, then we need to recruit conscious white women that are willing to go out in their communities and tell people about the truth of affirmative action.

As for people of color, don’t assume that all people of color are automatically going to support affirmative action. Many families of color do not have the pleasure to check email, read the news/blogs etc. at work or at home for that matter. Do you even know how fortunate you are to be reading this post right now? Stop taking your access to information for granted and throwing a fit when you talk to a person of color that never heard of affirmative action.

Lastly, don’t wait until the question is on the ballot before you act. If you wait until then, the battle will be immensely difficult moving forward. Proposition 2 should never have even made it on the ballot and you should be making plans now so that it doesn’t make it on your ballot. One thing that liberal minded people haven’t quite mastered is the supreme importance of framing the debate before the debate. The way that Prop 2 was worded was so twisted that many people thought that they were supporting affirmative action when in fact they were voting against it. Here is how it worked in Michigan, voting no meant that you wanted to support affirmative action. And voting yes meant you wanted to ban affirmative action. In other words, no meant yes, and yes meant no. By not addressing this backwards logic will greatly hamper your organizing efforts so get in the game early.

I just realized this post is getting really long so I will just stop for now.

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

Categories:
affirmativeaction
politics

Post election analysis: Affirmative Action

Guess who’s bizack? What’s up fam, my extended absence was due to my job doing political organizing leading up to the election. To Garlin and Steve; thank you for holding it down and continuing to bring the fire. So due to the political nature of my job, it is only fitting that I provide some post election analysis as it pertains to the banning of affirmative action.

Here in Michigan, there was a ballot proposal sponsored by the wrongfully titled Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. The ballot proposal asked Michigan voters to amend the state constitution to ban affirmative action programs. The ballot initiative passed by an astounding margin of 56% to 42%.The text of the ballot read as such; (emphasis mine)

A proposal to amend the state constitution to ban affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin for public employment, education or contracting purposes.

Now if you were oblivious to the long lasting effects of banning affirmative action, I could see how it would be reasonable to think that voting yes for this amendment is in line with your values and beliefs. However, I want to spend a little bit of time on the loaded term, preferential treatment. These two words are powerful because it assumes that we are all equal and therefore, any group getting so called preferential treatment is unfair to the people that don’t get preferential treatment. In fact, affirmative action tries to actually level the playing field. But here is where I think lies the deep philosophical difference between supporters and opponents. Opponents of affirmative action like to believe that the playing field is equal and proponents of affirmative action try to level the playing field. I just find it sad that in 2006, so many people are in refusal of believing that discrimination is not an institutionalized feature of our society.

And as for this colorblind mess, I can’t stand it. Humans are not dogs, we see in color. Many White people will think that their Black counterparts in college got there by affirmative action, due to athletic scholarship, or just otherwise have not earned the right to be where they are. Taking away affirmative action will not heal race relations and will not make racism and discrimination disappear. Let me say that again, taking away affirmative action will not heal race relations and will not make racism and discrimination disappear.

Ward Connerly and his conservative backers will be taking his ban on affirmative action to five different states. Banning affirmative action has a very salient effect into tapping into the anger that is just beneath the surface of many white people. And before I think it crazy that the government should take positive action to make up for discrimination, I like to refer to Dave Chappelle.

This ballot initiative is bad for Michigan and I can only hope that the decision would have been different had people voted using logic instead of emotion. And as my co-worker so eloquently expressed to me, “Not everything should be decided by the people.”

In the next post, we will look at ways to blunt the effects of this decision and what to do if Ward sets up camp in your state.

Categories:
politics
affirmativeaction

Hybrid Schools

There is a heated debate going on here in Seattle about a private nonprofit group pushing to share space with a public high school, creating a “school within a school.” The Technology Access Foundation (TAF) is making this push to open an academy inside of Seattle’s Rainier Beach High School.

What do you think about private groups taking over space in public schools?

We talk quite a bit about education here, and I think that this is an interesting dispute. I am a proponent of public education. I am a bit weary of charter schools. I am also a big fan of technology. I believe that the more technology students have access to, the better. I believe that access to technology is a great way to improve one’s quality of life.

On this particular issue, I am a bit torn. I’ve done work with TAF since I’ve been in the Seattle area, and I like the things they do. However, I’m not really comfortable with them making this move because I feel like it’s a power-grab. I’d rather see TAF create their own technology-focused institution wholly separate from Rainier Beach. Everybody wins with this solution, and they are free to partner with any/all high schools in the district.

One Love. One II.

Categories
Education
Technology

A Proposed Black Agenda for Democrats

BlackCommentator.com has a great list of items that the Democrats should focus on should they take control of the House of Representatives. These items, in their view, would be the most beneficial things that they could do for Black people in this country.

Here are the plan’s 10 proposals:

1. Introduce and pass comprehensive Katrina legislation that includes a victim’s compensation fund akin to that awarded the 911 families
2. Introduce and pass legislation to fix and expand the Unemployment Insurance (UI) system
3. Equalize education funding in the states by introducing and passing legislation authorizing a federal education incentive fund that induces states to eradicate unequal school financing schemes
4. Improve the quality and effectiveness of primary and secondary schools by introducing and passing legislation that encourages comprehensive school reform in the states
5. Authorize and appropriate resource support for African Union peacekeeping forces in the Darfur region of Sudan
6. Combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in African American communities by introducing and passing comprehensive HIV/AIDS legislation
7. Spur economic development by passing legislation implementing federally funded business training programs in high schools, community colleges, HBCU’s and other minority-serving education institutions
8. Introduce and pass legislation to guarantee universal access to health insurance
9. Introduce and pass federal legislation standardizing state voting requirements and mandating paper verification voting systems
10. Respect the traditional seniority system in the House of Representatives that would allow ranking African American committee members to ascend to their rightful place as chairs of powerful House committees

The most interesting points on this list in my mind are numbers 3 & 9.

#3 is interesting because if we do real work to equalize funding, then maybe we can actually have a real merit-based process for evaluating school performance instead of the sham that is No Child Left Behind. Having school funding being tied almost solely to property taxes leads to a vicious cycle in the presence of urban sprawl, brain drain, and other migration phenomena. Perhaps we can come up with a better system that works in spite of these sorts of things.

#9 is important because voting is important. Because voting is so important, anything that can be done to protect the system for counting votes is equally as important. If people were completely confident in said system, I wouldn’t have to beg so hard.

Would you add more to this list?

One Love. One II.

Categories
Black Issues
Politics
Democrat

The New Separate but Equal?

The Federal Government is voicing support for more single-sex classrooms and schools. The claim is that some studies have shown that single-sex environments lead to better academic results.

The part from the article that worries me is this (my emphasis added):
–
“School districts that go that route must also make coeducational schools and classes of ’substantially equal’ quality available for members of the excluded sex.”
–
That sounds a whole hell of a lot like separate but equal to me. That ideology was found to be unconstitutional.

I never attended a single-sex school or class, so I have no first-hand experience with this. Do people that did feel that they were better off because of that experience? Is anyone else as nervous as I am about resurrecting ’separate but equal’ rhetoric?

One Love. One II.

Categories:
Education

No Child Left Behind Cheats to Get Ahead

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a joke. BushCo’s flagship education policy has done little except add even more beuracracy to our educational system while doing little to improve student performance in math and reading, which was its goal.

It’s been in the news twice in recent days, but not for good things:

G. W. Bush’s brother Neil is set to make fat profits from NCLB single-bid contracts Bush’s brother and parents are lined up to make money off this.

Armstrong Williams, who was paid to endorse NCLB on his TV show in 2004, has agreed to pay back $34,000 of the money that he took
This guy was paid to get Black people to think that NCLB was a good thing. Note that in his settlement, he has admitted no wrong doing, since misleading Black people is cool. Why would one need to pay someone off to talk about a good program?

So add corruption to the beuracracy and lack of results to what NCLB has given us since its inception. Improving student performance is a great idea, but it doesn’t have to be done in shady ways.

One Love. One II.

Categories
Education
No Child Left Behind
Politics

The Weekly Dream: Decisions, Decisions

Question of the Week: What determines how you vote?

I have been involved with The SuperSpade from its inception. And for all the political issues and topics we discuss, for all the awareness my brother Garlin brings everyday, one thing has eluded me: What is my “voting process?” With the upcoming elections, I believe this is extremely relevant.

I am all for civic duty, but when I turned 18, I noticed that voter education in this country was weak. First, most Americans do not understand the structure and intricacy of our governmental system. Don’t believe me? Ask anyone on the street whether America is a democracy or a republice and explain the difference. This is problematic for obvious reasons. If we do not know how the system works, then we do not know who does what.

Secondly, the media throws around a hodge-podge of issues and scandals, but there is not a scale or any mechanism I am aware of in order to evaluate and make sense of it all. To me, politics is like a high school popularity contest. This results in decisions being made based on sensationalist issues like abortion or gay marriage, in the wrong (i.e. presidential) race.

I find business far more interesting than politics, because I know that is who runs America (if you don’t believe me, look at the laws, but that is another debate). Furthermore, I hate being knowingly lied to, so politics is not high on my list. If we want to improve voter turnout, we should empower people with the tools and the process to make good political decisions. That way, voting does not just feel like an fruitless exercise. In addition, we must teach people how to leverage their votes and make the system work for them. Voting is just the starting point for civil involvement. Although Garlin may be better equipped to discuss this more thoroughly, I will share a few of my thoughts as to making better political decisions.

One Man, One Vote

First, understand the basics of our government: separations of powers, the Constitution, etc. You do not need to be an attorney, just know who does what. For instance, a lot of people voted for Bush because of his faith based movement or his stance on abortion. What he believes is fine and dandy, but those issues are not within his sphere of influence. Take abortion or gay marriage. Those are not issues for the federal government, those are state issues (according to the Supreme Court). Another example is how we blame Bush for the state of the country. While he is responsible for a good portion of the mess we are in, the real fault lies with our lame duck Congress. Bush’s job is to execute the mandates of the Congress. Congress approved and re-approved the Patriot Act. Congress has allowed the country to be sharply split among partisan lines. It is much easier for you personally to hold your state representatives accountable than to hold Bush directly accountable. But because in the aggregate, we do not understand the system, we are taken in by rhetoric.

Second, understand what issues are relevant to the particular office. This will tell you why you should care about a particular political race. In business, people are evaluated only on those things within their immediate sphere of control. It should be the same in politics. That way, I can hold my congressman or state legislator or mayor responsible for the relevant issues, things he can and should control.

Third, look at the candidates and yourself and where you stand on the pertinent issues. This will take a little sleuthing, but I suggest that you look at a wide variety of informational sources before forming an opinion. Because the truth is often in the middle.

According To Me

What you begin to realize is that your vote alone gives you one thing: The right to complain. True power in politics is attained either through people or profit. Either you have access and influence with a large audience or you got Microsoft money. Our Founding Father’s did this by design, as they were extremely afraid of ignorant factions and tyranny by the majority. Thus, only individuals with access to the most resources could attain the heights of political power. So, to overcome this inherent obstacle, we must pool our interests and resources together (read: lobby, organize).

Closing

This is how the game seems to me, right or wrong. But I am sure if you follow these instructions, at least you have a skeleton to make your vote more of a conscious decision. And once consciousness comes, accountability cannot help but follow.

Happy Voting.

Truth and Peace,
Steven M DeVougas

Categories:
Politics
The Weekly Dream

Self Esteem & Academic Performance

I think that if students care about the things they learn in school, if those things can be tied to things in their everyday situation, then that can lead to them being more successful academically. Students will probably be most confident when they are learning things that they know that they can apply immediately.

Well, this article says that performance in mathematics is not tied to confidence in one’s own math ability. The the study mentioned in the article did not cover other subjects (english, social studies, etc.). However, this does sort of put a wrench in my aforementioned beliefs. Why does this happen in math (assuming it doesn’t in other subjects)?

I do not think that the problem is that educators tie school subjects to ‘real life.’ The issue to me appears to be that our students seem to have a false sense of how well they are performing. How do we change that?

One Love. One II.

Categories
Education
Self Esteem

Black Revolutionary v. Black Radical

What’s the difference (if any) between being “a radical thinker/actor” and being “a revolutionary thinker/actor”?

This question, among others, was poised to me in an email by a sister/colleague of mine from my days at the University of Michigan. The fact that this question was sent over email is further evidence of why spaces like the Superspade are so vital, so we have active and lively discussions pertaining to Black Thought. Primarily because for those of us who were active in college but are now spread across the country, it is difficult to have conversations like this. Thank you Tiffany,

I remember having a conversation with my nephew where he used some slang term I can’t remember right now, but I asked him what the word meant. He tried to define it as best he could but to no avail. The lesson learned was that we should all be careful to use words that we know what they mean. This same principle applies to the question posed from the outset.

What’s the difference (if any) between being “a radical thinker/actor” and being “a revolutionary thinker/actor”?

The operative words here are obviously radical and revolutionary. A dictionary search of these terms I think provides a good foundation for our discussion.

For our purposes the best definition we have for radical is favoring drastic political, economic, or social reforms.

As for revolutionary, two definitions actually suit our purposes;

1. of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of a revolution, or a sudden, complete, or marked change: a revolutionary junta.

2. radically new or innovative; outside or beyond established procedure, principles, etc.: a revolutionary discovery.

With these definitions in tow, I think it is safe to say that a radical is someone who believes things should be profoundly different while a revolutionary is someone who takes action to realize the manifestation of radically held beliefs.

Are these terms commonly used interchangeably — if so what are the implications in doing so? Do we use the terms “revolution” and “radical” in superficial manners?

Unfortunately these terms are thrown around like dirty socks. People should understand that real revolutionaries died and risked the safety of their families just so we could go to college, vote, use public accommodations, and give us the peace of mind to be anything we wanted to be. We are the living dreams of those who sacrificed and imagined what a better America would look like.

I think it is safe to say that the term radical is not widely used as revolutionary. Having said that, the term revolutionary has become so superficial that people think they are a revolutionary if and when they put their fist in the air. If we took time to appreciate the sacrifices of those who actually started to raise their fists, I don’t think many people would feel worthy to do so.

What does this mean for the black community? (i.e. does it change how you think about our history? how would collective definitions of “revolution” and “radical” impact our future?)

What all this means for the Black Community is that we need to have real discussions about first what radical means. For example, is it too radical to think that the federal government should apologize for slavery? Moreover, is it radical to think that we should completely change the way we fund K-12 public education that leaves inner-city schools with the least resources and the most problems? Is it radical to think that mentorship in the Black community should be a way of life and not something you do to spruce up your resume’? I could go on and on but I think on a fundamental level, we have convinced ourselves that all of the big battles have already been fought and won.

What’s more, what we think of as radical seems to be constantly minimized. Just about every time I was at a town hall meeting for the Black community, someone would always say that in order to build our community, we should make a point to speak to every Black person we see on campus. For some people this was a radical idea believe it or not. So what would help our efforts is to really dig when people claim to have radical ideas and use our rich history to test how radical this idea really is. Because I am sorry, but speaking to each other is not radical, that is required. But we do disservice to those who came before us when we either start with a defeatist attitude or we let our fear diminish the size and scope of our dreams.

How do these definitions apply to you and your profession and/or your contributions to the black community and society as a whole?

I’ll start with what I do. I work as the Michigan Field Organizer for the United States Student Association, the nation’s oldest and largest student association where our motto is, “Education is a right, not a privilege”. Right now I am doing voter registration/get out the vote work across various campuses and after the election I will be coordinating campaigns focused on increasing access to higher education. So for me, the work I do is directly tied to radical ideals and I have the opportunity to work on two issues where revolutionary action is needed; political and educational access.

However, the fatal flaw far too many of us make the assumption that our revolutionary work (if we do work at all) is confined to our college days and once we graduate, we put those things behind us. Working a corporate job does not give you a community service pass, nor does working a community service job give you the moral high ground. A word on folks holding down the corporate job; stop saying you are too busy. In college you held down two jobs, 16 credits, and managed to hold down 4 organizations. So just know that you make time for what is important. And if it is the case you literally have no time for anything other than your job, I would ask you two things. 1) Are you being efficient with your time? And 2) are you leading a life of significance or success?

Lastly, I would ask everyone to really ask themselves what it is they want to do that is revolutionary on a small scale and a large scale and draw up a backwards plan and see these goals through fruition. And the beautiful part is that you will need allies to help your goals. That is the true beauty of my people. For if anyone has ever been to a rally with a sizable amount of Black people intent on accomplishing one goal, you know exactly what I’m talking about. That is truly revolutionary.

Stay up fam,

Categories:
blackissues
revolutionary
blackthought

Education vNext, Part I: The Mental and The Cultural

The SuperSpade has dealt semi-tangentially with education at different points in time.  I thought [after having it suggested to me] that it’s be appropriate at this time, the beginning of the school year for most people, to give me perspectives on education going forward and it’s relevance and importance to our people, our community, and our future.

Many of my thoughts on this subject are included in this post.  My foundation for these thoughts/feelings is worth re-iterating: we have two-fold challenge that faces us on this issue.  We have mental & cultural issues in society at large and in minority communities that only value education as long as it has a payoff in dollars.  We also have institutional issues that not only create but perpetuate resource disparities between schools, creating challenges for students because not all schools are created equal. 

Though I do not believe that one of these is necessarily more important do the other, nor do I believe that we need to serialize the solving of these problems, I will address the mental & cultural challenges first. 

We [unfortunately] can many times only see value in things when their value is most easily measured in dollars and cents.  To put it bluntly, this is short-sighted and f*d up.  My closest mentor says it like this: “We need to flip ‘if it doesn’t make dollars then it doesn’t make sense’ to ‘if it only makes dollars then it doesn’t make sense.’”  What does that mean here?  That means that we must expand our actions and thoughts so that they are open to the notion that money is not the be all, end all.  One of the reasons that many people do not pursue education seriously or at all is because they are sure that they won’t make enough money from it.  Think about it.  Why do so many kids want to be doctors and lawyers (or more interestingly, why do some many parents want their kids to be doctors or lawyers)?  It ain’t because people admire and respect these profession so much (though they should).  It ain’t because every half-way articulate kid will make a good lawyer or detail-oriented kid a good doctor.  It is because both physicians and attorneys make lots of money, plain and simple.  What was the underlying theme behind every skit on Kanye West’s College Dropout album?  It was stupid to pursue [higher] education because you would be destined to be broke.  Now I am not naive enough to think that money does not exist, or wealthy enough to think that money is no object.  However, I am naive enough to believe that there is more to life than getting paid.  Why does this matter in this education discussion?  Ask somebody who hates their job, and they’ll tell you how happy their money does not make them.

We need to shift our perspective to things more personally and communally fulfilling than money.  This requires a change in how we look at ourselves and our own personal worth, as well as how we view our collective selves and collective worth.  I do not believe that individuals like Frederick Douglass and other slaves taught themselves how to read because they were trying to get paid.  Do you think slaveholders outlawed reading being taught to slaves because they were scared slaves would get rich off of it?  NO!!!  They did so because they knew, rather, they mentally and culturally embraced the value and power of being able to read.  I use reading here as a proxy for education in general; the notion is still the same.

How did we allow this anti-educational, anti-intellectual demon to pervade our hearts, minds, and spirits?  We got focused on the wrong stuff.  This is partly our doing, and it was partly done to us.  One cannot responsibly ignore the fact that when something is withheld from a person (e.g. freedom of expression, access to money), there is a tendency to over-indulge in that which was withheld upon receiving it.  That is part of the reason why when we ‘come up’ from being broke, we buy cars with big rims (whole ‘nother discussion).  My question is, why didn’t that sustainably occur when educational access was open to us?  We saw it happen in spurts in american history (post-Emancipation, post-Reconstruction, post-Civil Rights Movement, post-Affirmative Action), but the trends slowed to a crawl after these upticks.  Why is it that our thirst for material “wealth” outlasts our thirst for mental, or any other form of wealth?  Did we make that number one, or did someone else lie to us and tell us that was what was most important?  The answer is both.

What should we focus on instead?  We need to redefine what success means, what happiness means, what fulfillment means.  I challenge all ‘educated’ folks as well as those currently pursuing/seeking education to examine ourselves to find what our motivation(s) for education really were.  You may find that there was more to it than getting paid.  If that is not the case, are you happy with your decision?  If that is the case, I challenge you to share these motivations with students, telling them what fulfilled you.  Get a mentee and tell them why education was important to you outside of the financial payoff.  The message here is that we need to do a better job of communicating the non-financial benefits to education in order to make it more holistically attractive.

We also as a collective need to understand delayed gratification as opposed to the hedonistic, instant gratification that society embraces so readily.  Understanding that there is more to life than today, and that what you do today can have positive implications not only tomorrow but in the following decades as well.  The challenge is that some of the alternatives to education have instant gratification characteristics, especially when it comes to money.  What need’s to be communicated is that education’s financial benefits, although somewhat delayed, are real and sustainable, much more so than it’s alternatives.  We need to expand our perspectives.  This is challenging, but it can be done.  Try this: the next time you converse with a young person considering leaving school, ask them why they are leaving.  Then, ask them why they think it might benefit them if they stay.  As many times as I’ve done this, I’ve never had a conversation where the answer to these two questions did not overlap.  Why does that matter?  It matters because it says that many people on some level do at least know education is ‘good.’  Our goal then should be to remove all of the crap that makes it un attractive and that distracts students from it.  That means addressing institutional challenges to education…

This post is getting longer than I anticipated, so I will break here and deal with institutional challenges later.

One Love.  One II.

On repeal of the estate tax

One issue that has notoriously been underreported is the Senate debate over repeal of the estate tax. While many of us don’t expect to inherit anything in terms of economic wealth, this bill will have a major impact on our lives. Here’s why.

The estate tax is a tax on your right to transfer wealth and property at your death.

Before the Bush 2001 tax-cuts, the tax rates on estates ranged from 37% on the low end and 55% on the high end. However, the 2001 tax-cut has two components that essentially cancel the estate tax. For starters, before 2001, estate taxes would not be assessed unless a person’s estate exceeded $1 million dollars. The tax-cut however, does not require estate taxes to be filed unless the estate exceeds the amounts as shown below,

2005: First $1,500,000 in assets
2006-2008: First $2,000,000 in assets
2009: First $3,500,000 in assets

Beyond that, the tax-cuts also decrease the tax rates over time by the following rates,

2005: 47 percent
2006: 46 percent
2007- 2009: 45 percent

So you should see that not only more assets are exempt from taxation, but the few who do actually pay this tax are paying less of it. And in 2010, the estate taxes falls to 0% but there is a sunset provision that resets the estate tax provisions to pre-2001 levels. This is why Bush and his Republican colleagues in the Senate are currently trying to make permanent the repeal of the estate tax. It’s funny how this estate tax debate has been clouded by the gay marriage amendment and the death of Zarqawi.

Nevertheless, this week, the repeal of the estate tax was up for a test vote and once supporters of the bill realized they would be two shorts shy, Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona proposed a compromise that “would exempt the first $5 million of an individual’s estate, or $10 million of a couple’s, from taxation. Estates between $5 million and $30 million would be taxed at rates equal to capital gains, and the remainder would be taxed at 30 percent.” This idea is wrong-headed because Senator Kyl can’t repeal the tax entirely; he is trying to kill the estate tax with the death of a thousand cuts.

Why is this important?

The estate tax is important because it is a significant source of revenue for the federal government. As the Center on Budget for Policy Priorities points out,

“The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that this would reduce revenues by $290 billion through 2015, including $72 billion in 2015 alone. But this estimate essentially captures only the cost of four additional years of estate tax repeal; the revenues losses associated with 10 more years of repeal — for the period 2012 through 2021 — are much higher, about $745 billion. And when the associated $225 billion in higher interest payments on the debt are taken into account, the total cost of repealing the estate tax for a decade would be nearly $1 trillion.”

I suspect that many of the people who read this blog are under 35, but I could be wrong. In any event, if we were to fast forward nine years, many of you will be married, raising children, and probably taking care of your parents. Now let’s assume that the first figure of tax revenues being reduced by $290 billion through 2015 is true. The current national debt is upwards of $8.2 trillion dollars. It is so bad that Congress had to write legislation to raise the federal debt limit to $9 trillion dollars so we can keep living above our means. Now it’s hard for me to imagine that amount of money so percentages sometimes work better. “From 1975 to 2005, debt, as a percentage of GDP was once at 34.7%, now exceeds 60%.”

This is astonishing because foreign countries, China in particular, are financing our national debt, thereby furthering the allusion that everything is ok. And if you thought the price of gas was high, just wait until foreign countries decide to take on less of our debt.

This says nothing of the amount we are paying for our activities in Iraq. Last I checked the war has cost us $320 billion dollars and the Senate is about to authorize more funding. But whatever happened to the pre-war claims that Iraq’s oil revenues would finance most of the war? Jim Hoagland of the Washington points out,

“Iraq’s oil production limps along below prewar levels. Sabotage and neglect hamper production. Corruption that is aided and abetted by neighboring Arab countries drains revenue. Forced to import $6 billion worth of refined petroleum products this year for the domestic market, the Baghdad government will spend the same amount to sustain its security forces in 2006, according to U.S. estimates.”

Speaking of war, I doubt if neo-conservatives know how to fight the war on terrorism with anything but military force so I doubt it Iraq is the last front. (read more money)

And then, there is the issue of healthcare. Once the baby boomers start to get older, they are going to put a huge financial strain on our healthcare system. This in turn will cause politicians to devote even more resources to healthcare so they can satisfy this demographic. What’s worse is that we can’t adequately handle the load we have now, so when a significant portion of the population needs access to healthcare and prescription drugs, it will be tantamount to an entire city, flushing their toilets at the same time. We have to plan ahead and the repealing or shrinking the estate tax will not help the situation.

Lastly, there is the environment because unfortunately, the earth is not getting any cooler and as a result, we will likely see more storms similar to or stronger than Hurricane Katrina. This no doubt will put further strains on the national budget.

So what I am I saying?

Between the national debt, the war on terror, healthcare, and stronger storms due to global warming, repealing the estate tax is one of the dumbest things Congress could be doing right now. Moreover, Republicans are generally regarded as more frugal than Democrats but this Congress takes the cake, the chicken, and the kool-aid! And whenever Bush is pressed on the budget, he excuses everything on the war on terror. So why does he push his annual tax cuts and why is he aiming to kill the estate tax? If the war on terror is such a burden, then why does the government need less money? Especially when we know that when the government has less revenues, education budgets get tighter, and there is an overall decrease of government investment in services and infrastructure. When Bush started the war on terror, he knew good and well that it would be finished during his Presidency. And like the war on terror, future administrations will have to deal with this tax cut until eventually, American’s will be forced to pay the bill. And when that time comes, there will be calls to sacrifice (in the form of higher taxes) to help keep the American Dream alive. I believe this will happen in our lifetime so do know that the decisions of today will affect you tomorrow.

But even after all of that, I still support the estate tax because there is already an industry of tax lawyers and accountants that do nothing but find ways for the rich to pay fewer taxes. Moreover, only less than 2% of the population pays this tax. My take is that if you are in the top 2% wealth bracket, you can sacrifice a little bit. Of course, I can’t tell people what to do with their money but passing on a huge inheritance to children is foolhardy because generally, the money will make these kids spoiled and less inclined to work. I think Warren Buffet said it best;
“Warren Buffet didn’t disinherit his children because he disapproved of their career choices or their character…His desire was to “force them to carve out their own place in the world.” He was determined to leave them “enough money so they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.”

So stay informed and be aware of how repealing the estate tax will affect you and your future,

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

Access to Higher Ed for H.S. dropouts

Many of us, who have matriculated through college and reaped the benefits thereof, are concerned that not enough of our peers have taken the advantages of gaining a higher education. This is especially troubling when you know of people who chose to drop out of high school because we all know how difficult it is to take care of yourself without a H.S. diploma. But if there was a way where you could go to college without graduating from high school, would you supportive or would you be skeptical? Karen Arenson of the New York Times tackles this issue and your answer might not be as straight-forward as you may think.

That’s right, “many colleges — public and private, two-year and four-year — will accept students who have not graduated from high school or earned equivalency degrees.” This seems like a win-win right? Schools collect on student loans and the students get a second chance to make things right. However, the growing interest in admitting those that have not graduated “is fueling a debate over whether the students should be in college at all and whether state financial aid should pay their way. In New York, the issue flared in a budget battle this spring.”

But to first put this issue in a national context,

“There are nearly 400,000 students, (who are attending college without a H.S. diploma)… accounting for 2 percent of all college students, 3 percent at community colleges and 4 percent at commercial, or profit-making, colleges, according to a survey by the United States Education Department in 2003-4. That is up from 1.4 percent of all college students four years earlier. The figures do not include home-schooled students.”

So we are looking at an increase of roughly 8% points in eight years, which is more likely to grow in the future as more students become aware of this opportunity.

Supporters of this practice believe that because access to college is a critical factor in determining later success, students who do not have a H.S. diploma should therefore be allowed to attend to college. On the other hand, some say that this is just another form of social promotion and perhaps de-motivates students to do their best in high school.

But if the schools didn’t accept these students, they wouldn’t be able to go right? Of course, but you have to realize that like most things in life, this issue comes down to money. And as Arenson points out,

“Many community colleges and two-year commercial colleges take these students, as do some less selective four-year colleges. At Interboro Institute, a large commercial college in Manhattan, 94 percent of the students last year did not have a high school diploma. Yet most received federal and state financial aid, up to $9,000 a student for the neediest.”

Now you know I had to look up the racial statistics for Interboro and I was so surprised to see that of the 2005-2006 class, 42.1% of the students were Black (non-Hispanic) and 41.8 were Hispanic (non-Black) bringing us to a (drumroll please) a student body that is over 80% Black and Hispanic. It is funny how people that want to abolish affirmative action in higher education tend focus their efforts on highly-selective institutions. But that’s a whole different post.

“At Interboro, the state recently found cheating by employees on the exam students have to pass to qualify for state and financial aid.” What’s that I hear, institutions of higher education mainly using Black and Brown people to get more money? “In the late 1980’s and early 90’s, federal investigators found many commercial colleges effectively sweeping unqualified students, many without high school credentials, from the streets into their classrooms to collect their financial aid. The students then dropped out and defaulted on their government loans.” The statistics show that even students that have some higher education do better financially than those that don’t, so who are both parties being pimped?

Either way, NY Governor George Pataki had enough of it has “tried to withdraw state tuition grants from students without high school diplomas this year. Mr. Pataki said the students should show their commitment to education and earn 24 college credits before the state gave them financial aid.” Of course, the federal government has all but walked out on financial aid by seeing to it that students expect loans more than they expect state grants and federal aid. Therefore, I think Pataki and the entrenched public school system should show their commitment to education so that all children have access to equal and quality education. It’s like you have kids going through horrible K-12 systems and then expect everything to honky dory once they graduate. So instead of washing our kids away when they graduate, let’s re-examine the K-12 experience so that students and parents have the confidence and the skills to do whatever they want in life.

Pataki agrees with me too, his spokesman, Scott Reif said this, “In too many cases, students fail to graduate from college because they were admitted to programs for which they were academically underprepared.” So if kids are unprepared, what is the point of dangling financial aid in front of students who you readily admit are often times academically underprepared. But instead of taking responsibility for our kid’s education, we blame it on the proverbial “they” that includes each and every one of us.

Getting back to Pataki, the New York State Legislature rejected the governor’s proposal and the state budget office estimated that it paid $29 million a year for 13,000 students who never graduated from high school to attend college. Now some would say that 29 million is a lot of money but in the grand scheme of things, it really is just a drop in the bucket compared to what we spend for health care and defense.

But that’s not really the point right? The goal is to keep open the doors of higher education so that once kids receive a quality K-12 education, the world is theirs for the taking. But does allowing students without a high school diploma attend college part of the solution or part of the problem. I admit I am on the fence but one idea I like is that “the government now requires that before students lacking high school credentials can qualify for financial aid, they have to pass a test approved by the federal Department of Education to show they have the “ability to benefit” from higher education.” Even though this may seem like another barrier, much like the ACT/SAT, I am afraid that without such parameters, students will lose some of the urgency in knowing that going through high school will greatly improve their chances for going to college.

Please let me know what you think because this post was very cathartic,

Stay up fam,

Brandon Q.

Why do they hate us?

Ever since 9/11, Americans all over have asked this fateful question, trying to understand why people would hijack airplanes and fly them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A severe rejection of wrong doings at the hands of the American government I think fuels such bewilderment amongst the American public. So as we witness the confrontation between Iran and the U.S., it might be a good time to shed some light on history that would help explain (not justify) the fiery remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad.

This post in inspired by a story I read in the Los Angeles Times entitled, U.S. history lesson: stop meddling, by Stephen Kinzer. In the article, Kinzer illustrates the negative long-term effects of American government ousting the governments of at least 14 countries around the world for the past 100 years. He does this to help inform what will probably be the effects of what will happen if and when the U.S. decides to forcibly intervene in Iran.

Before Iraq and Afghanistan, Kinzer states there were the Philippines, Panama, South Vietnam and Chile, among others. But while military interventions are easier to remember, the majority of US intervention involves “funding of rebel insurgencies, organized military coups, and encouraged popular nonviolent uprisings to overthrow foreign regimes – most recently in Yugslovia.” The sad reality is that “most of these interventions not only have brought great pain to the target countries but also, in the long run, weakened American security.” The long-run is an interesting idea isn’t it? But how do we think about the long-run in America? “We don’t have to pay down the deficit now, we can take care of it in the long run.” “Taking action to stop global warming would cost jobs so let’s take care of the earth in the long-run.” Fixing public education? Don’t get me started, but I digress.

Getting back to Kinzer’s article, he illustrates how America played a major role in changing the arc of history in Cuba. Kinzer states how,

“Cuba, half a world away from Iran, is a fine example. In 1898, the United States sent troops there to help rebels overthrow Spanish colonial rule. Once victory was secured, the U.S. reneged on its promise to allow Cuba to become independent and turned it into a protectorate. More than 60 years later, in his first speech as leader of the victorious Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro recalled that episode and made a promise. “This time,” he vowed, “it will not be like 1898, when the Americans came in and made themselves masters of the country.”

Isn’t it interesting how revolutionaries use history to justify their actions and how democratic countries use the future? Fidel Castro was born in 1926 so obviously, Castro, like other Revolutionaries, don’t have a short-term memory. So where most Americans miss the boat is not understanding that many terrorists see Americans as having blood on their hands from administrations that may be before their time. So rather than keep up their end of the bargain, the US has provided the fodder a dictator become a constant thorn in their sides for decades. Iran however, presents a more interesting case because in 1953, Iran was a baby democracy when they elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh and he was largely popular amongst Iranians. But as Kinzer points out, things became thorny between Iran and the US when,

“Mossadegh angered the West by nationalizing his country’s oil industry. President Eisenhower sent the CIA to depose him. The coup was successful, but it set the stage for future disaster.” “The CIA placed Mohammed Reza Pahlavi back on the Peacock Throne. His repressive rule led, 25 years later, to the Islamic Revolution. That revolution brought to power a clique of bitterly anti-Western mullahs who have spent the decades since working
intensely, and sometimes violently, to undermine U.S. interests around the world.”

Kinzer later added that, “Today, Latin America and the Middle East are the regions of the world in the most open political rebellion against U.S. policies. It is no coincidence that these are the regions where the U.S. has intervened most often. Resentment over intervention festers. It passes from generation to generation. Ultimately it produces a backlash.”

A backlash? To me this means that any meaningful negotiations between Iran and the “international community” has to address issues from past generations. But after you sort through all the historical mess, Iran and the US actually have similar goals that Kinzer points out, “Both want to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan, assure the free flow of Middle East oil and crush radical Sunni movements like the Taliban and Al Qaeda. What prevents talks from materializing is the deep resentment both sides feel over past interventions.”

So let’s stop drinking the kool-aid that the American government only has good intentions when it comes to regime change along with the notion that any country that is occupied by the U.S. should be grateful. And what is lost on many Americans is that they think that if they themselves did not do something wrong, then they should not be held responsible for the consequences. While this thinking is rational and plausible, many terrorists (not just Arabs) cite history from past generations as justification for their current behavior. What this tells me is that Americans claiming that they didn’t do anything wrong fails to account for the ramifications of past decisions by previous administrations. This is chess, not checkers.

Stay up fam,

Brandon

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
–George Santayana
Politics is war without bloodshed. War is politics with bloodshed.
–Huey Newton

Stockholm Syndrome & Knowledge of Self

I had a conversation with a close mentor Friday, and he and I were talking about personal accountability after I told him about my post on parental accountability. We talked about what could happen in a person’s mind to lead them to no longer take responsibility for themself. This is similar to sentiments of one of the individuals I met in New Orleans, who said “What kind of man won’t save himself? There’s got to be more to it than being bull-headed.“

He talked about the famous Stockholm Syndrome, saying that he felt Black folks in America had the most severe case of it on record. All of these statements/position caused me to think: Is the reason that people refuse to reclaim their sense of accountability that they are willingly dependent on their oppressors?

I struggle with this concept, and I’m sure others do as well, because the goal is harmony and togetherness. The goal (in my mind) is people, ALL people of ALL types, working together towards common interests that translate into individual benefits (e.g. working together to strengthen public education (common interest) resulting in better-educated children (individual benefit) who return their knowledge and talents back to the community (common interest)). However, there is a degree of basic personal responsibility that needs to be acknowledged here. We are personally responsible for the decisions we make in the midst of whatever circumstances we are faced with. My goal is to contribute to the creation of circumstances where choices that positively effect the individual and the community are clearly more attractive than their negative alternatives.

To me, willing dependence on oppressors is a negative decision. There is a difference between dependence and co-existence. Dependence says “I can’t do anything without you.” Co-existence says “Together we can do better for ourselves and for each other if we work together.” Dependence removes personal responsibility; co-existence embraces it.

Why is this distinction important? The psychological effects of institutional slavery and the racism that precluded it and remained afterwards created a false sense of dependency of Black people in America on non-Black people in this country. Whether or not this was the intention of the system is unclear to me, but that is what resulted. How did they do this? By effectively robbing people of their self-definition. Knowledge of self is the most enabling possession that a man or woman can have. With it comes clarity, purpose, direction, and a host of other positive things. A person cannot take responsibility for themselves if they do not know who they truly are. This goes back to what Brandon was talking about when he asked, who are you?

Now here is the crazy part: another reason we are not aware of who we truly are is because…we think we already know?!?!?!?! Meaning, since I already “know” the answer, I don’t bother asking the question. Consider a simple example: if I know that 1 + 1 = 3, why would I ask someone else what 1 + 1 equaled. Already you see the flaw here: what I know is a lie!!!!! Similarly, our people have been defined by this culture as inferior, subordinate, entertaining, uneducated, poor, ignorant second-class members of society that have both spoken and unspoken limits to their growth potential. THAT IS A LIE, just like 1 + 1 doesn’t equal 3.

We must move beyond the lies that have been fed to us by yesterday’s slave masters and today’s corporate media, elevating our consciousness to combine the knowledge of our past with the fullness of our future. It’s back to the basics everybody. The basic questions we need to understand and address are these:

Who are we?
This is explained above, but it is the core of the issue at hand. You cannot [properly] use a word unless you understand its definition. Likewise, I cannot properly use my person unless I have a level of understanding of myself.

What do we need to do and why?
What are the things that have been successful in the past and can be applied today. The second part here is important because not everything that worked yesterday can work today: some things apply, some things don’t. However, you cannot make that distinction unless you understand what happened yesterday. Cats that complain about marches being ineffective today should analyze why they were used and why they worked then. My mentor mentioned above stressed that action is generally born out of necessity. What were the motivations behind using marching as a form of demonstration for change? Undoubtedly, at least some of those motivations likely still are present today. Perhaps there are more efficient and/or effective ways to address those motivations today. Maybe we can take advantage of new media/resources that may not have been available in the 40s. The point here is, once we understand the why, the what may be easier to address.

How can we work together to do what we need to do?
If you have a team where every member understands the reason that they have been put together and acts with solidarity, you can accomplish great things. When individuals understand themselves, they can then understand where they fit into any sort of collective action. When the purpose of a collective action is clear, it is easier for people to align with it or participate in it. A good friend of mine told me that two things were important during any concrete conversation: definition and context. The definition part is the overall subject of this writing. The context part lies here, where we define how all of the pieces (people with knowledge of self) fit in relation to one another and to any sort of collective group or action.

Let’s talk about basics. Let’s talk about fundamentals, the things that effect everything we do. Thinking about the basics is what I’m trying to do at this point in my life. It can definitely help to simplify the complex. I say we embark on such a journey together, share our experiences, and support one another in this mental and emotional revolution.

Parental Accountability in Education

Riana at BlackAtMichigan has began a series on what I will refer to as Parental Accountability that she is calling “what the hell are we gonna do with these kids.” I left a comment, and it inspired thoughts in my own mind about how we can increase parental accountability, which I’d like to share here.

Perhaps we have approached this in the wrong way. This is not a new problem, but perhaps it warrants a new approach. I’m not a psychologist, but perhaps we are not addressing what causes parental apathy with regard to the education of their children. I don’t understand why previous generations seemed to value education both in the abstract and the practical, yet many today do not. Any thoughts on this? Is it because instant gratification has become the measuring stick for all actions/decisions? There are both immediate and future benefits to education, both personal and communal benefits, but why are the future/communal benefits often ignored?

I’m a bit confused. I’m open to suggestions and welcome the dialogue.

Past Lies, Present Implications

This site has not dealt with the situation at Duke University concerning the Black woman who was allegedly raped by members of the Duke Lacrosse team. Our silence is broken today, courtesy of the perspective of a valued reader and guest contributor, Sakara R.

Read, Learn, Respond.

–
Some of us may be too young to know the name Tawana Brawley- that is, until a 27-year-old black female student from North Carolina Central University
(http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/429338.html) stepped forward and alleged that she was brutally assaulted by at least 3 players of the elite lacrosse team at Duke University.

For those of you who may not know who Ms. Brawley is, she too, a young (15 at the time in the 1980’s) black woman from New York City, bravely stepped forward under the protective arms of Rev. Al Sharpton and relayed a horrific account of being abducted and brutally raped by 6 white police officers culminating in her being found bruised, bloodied, covered in human feces and dumped in the garbage.

For those of us who grew up never taking the Rev seriously (he’s never been a Dr. King, or even a Jesse Jackson for most of us) – but not necessarily knowing why –Tawana Brawley is the reason why; her claims of sexual assault were nothing more than a successful albeit disturbing method of grabbing everyone’s attention. The fallout of her hoax (Tawana Brawley has never wavered from her allegations) carried long-lasting ramifications certainly even she never conceived possible at the time: the Rev lost his credibility (and never apologized), and black women everywhere were infuriated, but not just because she lied.

We were infuriated because there is an unspoken reality to the lives of black women since before our first feet on the plantation- being raped and brutalized by white men of privilege who have gotten away without so much as a slap on the wrist. That white privilege is the very reason why women of color who have experienced such terror, never speak up. It’s one thing to be held against your will, to have your clothes ripped from your body while you scream in a way that is beyond animalistic, while you are spread apart, slapped in the face, punched into silence, and raped- forced to have sex, and in some cases, perform sexual acts on the aggressor…but it is something else entirely to not be believed- or to have the rapist’s reputation, namesake, or bank account casting you into shame and somehow distorting the facts – suddenly you’re a liar. Women have taken their own lives when faced with such blatant disregard –nothing is more sacred than the sanity within our own minds, and when we’re forced (again) away from that, when the truth is torn from us, there is nothing left.

That is the very reason why many of my sister friends, the majority of whom have experienced some sort of sexual abuse/assault in their lives (you all know someone who has, and if every woman you knew who has experienced sexual abuse/assault told you, you’d be jaw dropped and in disbelief at the numbers of victims), have called saying “I hope it’s true…I hope it’s true.”

Stop and think about that for a moment. What kind of society do we sisters live in where we as women are forced to “hope” that another sister has actually been raped? Where we “hope” she was dragged like an animal to its slaughter, into a small bathroom with three crazed, drunken white men, who ripped her fingernails from her, choked her, beat her in the face, likely forced her onto the sink, raise one of her legs so far up that it dislocated her hip, rape her not once, not twice, but three times, and then assault her with a broom handle as well? We feel this way because, though Tawana Brawley lied, her lie still lives in the bodies of every woman of color sexual assaulted, and the minds of every law official who investigates such cases; they look at us and wonder “is she lying?” We “hope” its true because, right, wrong or otherwise, if it is, and if the accused are found guilty, it will be justice for countless women who never had justice themselves. Do we want someone to be a rapist, or predator? No, but we recognize, whether we like it or not that sexual predators exist and need to be identified and severely punished; too often they just are not.

Quite simply, black America is holding it’s collective breath. We don’t know what the outcome will be. Either the student accusing the Duke elite was raped, or she wasn’t; it is absolutely that uncomplicated.

What are the influences that will make it easy? Nothing will make it easy – those who are privileged, ignorant and racist (and believe one black woman represents all black women), have a Tawana Bradley to point to and say “it’s probably all a lie”. And since we as women of color are not privileged and our voice is consistently oppressed, the fact that we have a history beyond 500 years of being abused by advantaged white men is not counted as a relevant consideration.

There are people who believe that because someone like Tawana Brawley ever existed, this is all likely to be a hoax – statistics don’t show that women of color overwhelmingly lie about being sexually assaulted/abused, in order to gain attention. There is no group of women that holds such title of stereotype. Still, an internet search of Tawana Brawley’s name is linked in every way to the current Duke case, and therefore the Duke case is linked to doubt.

There is no “black leader” stepping out on the edge to stand as the protector of this new alleged victim; a 27-year-old single mother of two children attending North Carolina Central University as a sophomore. Everyone seems to have an opinion as to whether or not she made wise decisions that fateful March night, or if working as an escort, or dancer is a good idea either, some prominent white men have even called her a “ho.” But here is another little-known fact in the lives of women: she isn’t the first and won’t likely be the last to engage in those professions to pay for her higher education – black, white or otherwise.

Jesse Jackson made a brief appearance on the news as his Rainbow Push Coalition dedicated itself to providing for all of the young mother’s college expenses going forward, and obviously there has been sharp criticism. Many have said that this was just a dumb idea on Jesse’s part; that he jumped the gun, should have waited to see what the courts decide, waited until the evidence was overwhelmingly in her favor. On the other hand, Jesse Jackson is no fool. He knows about Tawana Brawley – everyone does. So with those two facts on his side, he must have good cause to make that commitment. When asked if the money would still be committed if the accused were found not guilty, Jesse said yes. Again, he was accused of being out of his mind. However, I’ve heard quite a few people who seem to think that it’s helpful – one less “motive” for lying about being raped; college is paid for.

The alleged victim in this case never asked anyone to shine the spotlight on what she says happened and in fact the news was ignorant of the matter for weeks until a reporter came across a search warrant that peaked his interest. Students at Duke, hearing early on that a rape had occurred, complained loudly to its school administration that not enough was being done, and students at NCCU didn’t even know the woman was a member of their college community (http://www.afro.com/content/templates/?a=4840&z=1).

But other than the education support, we haven’t seen Jesse or anyone else on the news every day demanding justice is served; we’ve got DA Mike Nifong (http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/430653.html)
handling that all by himself. And while he’s working 18 hour days combing over evidence and hoping one of the 40+ attendees at the off-campus party steps forward as an act of contrition, he’s battling what has topped out at a dozen defense attorneys who are experts at securing verdicts of “not guilty,” even “not charged,” and have at their disposal money, and most of all, privilege. While Nifong is stuck with the evidence, the defense has the manipulation of public opinion. They’ve each received hefty retainers to devote every moment of their collective days, tearing up whatever information is out about the case; a simple way of tainting any jury pool against the alleged victim.

However, witness statements (an observant next door neighbor, http://www.newsobserver.com/100/story/424229.html), a time line that places her nowhere but the house rented by the lacrosse team captains, before going to the hospital by way of the nearby Kroger food’s parking lot and most important, a medical examination and rape kit that overwhelmingly point to physical as well as sexual assault, medical professionals who attended to her (and are specifically meticulous with this kind of evaluation) describe a level of emotional trauma and shock that could not be faked even an email from a teammate sent within an hour after the party broke up expressing a desire to want to have another party the following evening where he wanted to kill strippers and slice the skin from their flesh for sexual gratification lends itself towards “something happened that night” (http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/425834.html), are all pieces of evidence the DA stands by.

But, no one is stepping out on the edge; rather they’re talking to friends, colleagues and others and quietly thinking, “I hope it’s true.”

To make things all the more complicated, reporter DeWayne Wickham recounted in an April 17th article, an incident three years after the Tawana Brawley case, with shockingly similar details as the alleged Duke rape, where 6 white students at St. John’s University in New York were accused of raping a black student; 5 of them were members of the University’s lacrosse team. Though one of the accused agreed to testify against the others, those charged were found not guilty because the truth of her story was held in doubt
(http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/wickham/2006-04-17-wickham_x.htm).

In a warped way, it almost doesn’t matter if the current allegations against Duke’s students is true, and powerful black Americans and common black Americans know that. When you’re up against privilege, anything is possible. It often feels like (and isn’t far from the truth if not the truth itself) the elite can be caught on camera committing anything from a misdemeanor to felony murder and still get away with it. If that is the case, then what is the truth in this matter? Will we ever know it? When the blind scale of justice finally tips, what side will rise above the other, and why? What side will we be on?

- Sakara R.

Redefining Property Values

Anyone who knows me that I past and present segregated housing patterns along with white flight is a large factor in explaining various socio-economic problems that we see today. From education to jobs to healthcare, and wealth, your address alone can and does have a huge impact on a person’s life. But now, self-segregation is reaching new levels.

In the affluent, Orange County, CA thousands of people were mailed surveys after they responded to highway billboards announcing that a new planned community, Ladera Ranch, would be coming soon. For starters, I work in the market research industry and all of the survey questions are fact-based and don’t require any moral inquiries. But the survey that went out for Ladera Ranch had questions like, “Abortions should not be legal unless there’s a threat to life,” read another. And, “I have been born again in Jesus Christ.” There were questions about corporate greed, divorce, the merits of foreign travel.

And over the next several years, the results materialized across thousands of acres: For the more conservative-minded “Traditionalists,” Covenant Hills, where homes have classic architecture and big family rooms, was built. For the green and soul-searching “Cultural Creatives,” developers built Terramor, where Craftsman-style houses are fitted with photovoltaic cells and bamboo flooring.

At Ladera Ranch, now a thriving community of more than 16,000 people, various villages are tailored not simply to practical needs, but to what marketers call different “values subcultures.”

“We were trying to characterize the lens through which people see the world,” said Brooke Warrick, who heads Ladera’s marketing firm, American Lives. I think Brooke said it best, they are trying to characterize the lens through which people see the world. To be sure, I do agree that “It’s not that the builders and marketers actually care whether buyers are right-wing Bible belters or left-wing tree-huggers as much as they care about selling houses… They must also manufacture community itself, which has become an amenity people crave, right along with tray ceilings.”

The reason why I am so intrigued by this story is that I often think about housing patterns in strictlw racial and economic terms, but this values thing is interesting. For example, “the religiously oriented “Traditionalists,” who, it was assumed, would prefer the more classic architecture there, and more family-oriented activities, such as the annual Easter egg hunt.” “On the other hand, the “Cultural Creatives” tended to be more liberal-minded, environmentally oriented and “less into conspicuous consumption.”

Obviously, this is a heightened form of social engineering and while initially, I thought this entire project was a conservative ploy to find a new term for white flight but then I started thinking about a quote from Randall Robinson. He said, (and I am paraphrasing), “One thing I learned in life is that I stopped wanting to be around people who don’t want to be around me.” Obviously those people were reference to White people but he might be on to something. Because if we keep it real, many Blacks who isolate themselves from other Blacks (generally speaking) feel that they have made it to the extent that they are surrounded by White people in the suburbs. Little do they know is that unlike many countries in South America, money does not “whiten” your skin. And just like decades of past, once a suburb has reached a critical mass of Blacks and other minorities, the White people move further from the city. (All my Michigan people please see Southfield.)

Beyond that, I wonder how I would respond to a billboard to a planned community that had cute Black babies with bright smiles and bushy hair. Furthermore, wouldn’t it be nice to live comfortably around people who shared your views and values? This is an extreme example but if you are a Christian, you wouldn’t raise your family in a community of Satists right? I just don’t see what’s so wrong with wanting to live around people who are diverse, open-minded, intellectual, believe in social justice, and are spiritually grounded.

In other words, if I could raise my family around the men of H.E.A.D.S. I would be perfectly fine with that. Those brothers possess the traits like I described before and they are funny! And if you want to talk about the importance of diversity of ideas, you can get on the internet and go on a Reading Rainbow of different ideas across the moreal and political spectrum. Also, the people of Ladera Ranch are all together so if you wanted to go to conservative town, it is probably within walking distance and I am sure the school district is a great mixing pot of kids whose ideas are greatly influenced by their parents, hence, the ability to debate is honed at an early age.

In closing, choosing a house is one of the most major decisions you will ever make. As such, is it so bad to self-segregate based on values or would we be doing more harm than good? I’m still thinking.

Stay up fam,

Brandon

Who’s accountable for Education?

Michigan, my home state, is one with an elite educational system at the university level. University of Michigan (http://www.umich.edu/), Michigan State University (http://www.msu.edu/), Wayne State University (http://www.wayne.edu/), and others are great schools. Michigan also has a number of private colleges that serve the citizenry, such as Kalamazoo College (http://www.kzoo.edu/) and Lawrence Technological University (http://www.ltu.edu/). I’d like to talk about one private school in particular: Baker College (http://www.baker.edu/). Maybe I’m ignorant, but I think that a college should be able to graduate more that 19% of its students (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006604170386), but that’s exactly (well, the *exact* rate is 19.2%) the graduation rate at the particular institution. Why is this? How does this happen? Let us attempt to address these questions and others.

There are millions of possible reasons for a student to go to a college and not finish it by graduating. Some may argue the legitimacy of these claims, but they are what they are. Ones I’ve heard have been, but are not limited to:

1. “It was too expensive.”
2. “They didn’t have anything that really interested me.”
3. “I wanted to move back home.”
4. “I had a child.”
5. “School is not for me.”
6. “This is hard/I don’t feel like I can succeed here.”
7. “I’m not getting the support I need.”
8. “I don’t like the students/faculty/staff here.”

I list these here to say that there are plenty of reasons (or excuses, depending on your perspective) to start and not finish college. Some are personal, others financial, others institutional. I envision a world where we eliminate financial and institutional barriers to education, leaving only the psychological to be dealt with on an individual basis. My reasoning for this is that if a system exists to distribute education as a common good, it should then minimize things that inhibit the public to receive that goods’ benefits. The analogy is your local power company. If there is a power company that charges you for electricity, it is up to them to run wires in a way that is accessible to you as a paying customer. They should not run cable up to 1 mile away from your house and then expect you to connect that last mile. That is essentially what is asked of people who want to be educated and cannot afford to: it’s here and it’s great, so find a way to pay for it! My conservative friends may see this as calling for educational welfare, but I see it as common sense. It is criminal to dangle something that a person needs in front of them when they do not have the means to get it and you can just give it to them!

With all of that said, let’s take a look at some quotes from the article and go a bit deeper into what’s going on.

“In Michigan and many other states, ‘money is directed at getting people enrolled, rather than getting them degrees,’ said Joni Finney, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in California. ‘Michigan is getting the results it is paying for.’”

What this is describing is classic misappropriation: using a resource in the wrong way. This happens all the time in life with money, emotions, energy, and all sorts of things. A prime example or mis-spent money, as given to me by a good friend of mine today, was her description of a woman she saw who had purchased her three year old daughter a Louis Vuitton purse. If the reason for this being asinine are not apparent to you, please email me at TheSuperSpade@gmail.com for further explanation. Digressing from that, my point is that people do this, and the government does as well. This is normally the result of a lack of focus on what’s important. Instead of focusing on more pressing domestic issues like the situation in New Orleans, our current administration has prioritized these concerns below our interests in Iraq. As made painfully clear, misappropriation of anything leads to someone or something getting hurt, badly hurt. In the case of Baker, and the approach of the state of Michigan to higher education, the victims are students who have been able to enter into the collegiate ranks and then feel as though they’ve been left to fail. My conservative friends may see this as calling for educational welfare (yes, I did repeat this statement on purpose), but I retort by saying that anyone who needs help, or wants help, in any situation [including education], should be able to access it.

“One question is whether Michigan’s ultra-tight budget can afford to pay for students to try college rather than to finish college. Those who would like to see changes in higher education have said that Michigan should set graduation standards and allocate tax dollars based on specific results.”

Again, this is dealing with what the state’s focus is or should be. People who are really big on empirical evidence driving their decisions (often called technocrats) will find this data hard to ignore. But let me be clear in saying that it is not wrong to spend large sums of money to get kids into college. The suggestion made in the quote could be a valid one if it is instituted fairly. Unfortunately, ideas like this one have a history of being corrupted by personal bias and systemic prejudice. Therefore, such a system would have to have very careful oversight. That is highly unlikely given that Baker College is in the state that it is in due to lack of oversight.

“Baker Chief Executive Officer F. James Cummins said last week it’s misleading to judge the school on graduation rates because the college attracts many students with ‘formidable hurdles to retention.’”

Ok, so Baker takes on students that have challenges. That is admirable. In fact, all you need to get into Baker is a diploma. But stories like this make me question Baker’s policy for accepting any and everyone. Are they really doing it because they believe education is a basic right and need? Are they doing it because they genuinely believe that any student who graduated from high school can graduate from college? Are they doing it because they get a truckload of money from the state for each student they take? The motivation is difficult to discern and is probably some combination of these three and others. On its face, Cummin’s statement may have merit. Compare it to what Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point (haven’t read it yet, but I plan to) and Blink (interesting book, worth a read) calls The Pitbull Paradox. This basically says that Pit Bulls bite more people in part because they are more ferocious, but also because they are even-tempered; what people often overlook is the even-tempered part. Similarly, Cummins is saying that we graduate less students because we take on the students that lots of students in general and lots of students with “formidable retention hurdles.” The engineer in me says that his argument maybe has a hair of merit. The human that dominates me says that Cummins is looking for a cop-out to explain his schools poor performance. I’d like to hear what you all think and if I’m being unfair.

“‘I’m not happy with it,’ Cummins said. ‘I’d like to see it north of 30%.’”

This is just sad because of the low expectations. I’m no educator, but I’d like to think that if I ran what could be referred to as an educational institution, I’d be able to ensure the successful completion of at least half of my students. Cummins here is saying that he wants to step up from 1 in 5 students graduating to 1 in 3. Improvement is improvement, I’ll give him that. I think it is time to take big steps and not baby steps.

One Love. One II.
–
Garlin Gilchrist II
http://www.thesuperspade.com/

Sent using Windows Mobile 5.0

Insight: Bite your tongue!?!

““Some freedoms of speech make me nervous.”- Saul Williams
It’s invoked all the time, debated regularly, and thought to be fundamental to this nation: freedom of speech. If you watch the headlines swoop by on CNN or listen to talk radio, you know that freedom of speech is a pretty dangerous topic these days. A couple of recent stories have made me wonder how free we are to say things, especially considering the Right’s well crafted attempt to limit vocal descent.

The other night I found myself watching a CSPAN broadcast of David Horowitz at Duke University. Now I knew what to expect, disparaging comments to the audience, indictment of the Left, conspiracy theories about higher education shutting out conservatives, largely the same fair he’s been serving since he introduced his Academic Rights campaign a few years ago. But while watching, it dawned on me, that this man, who had never spent any time teaching, even less time researching, and most of his time making noise was going to affect my ability to speak in the classroom.

Since I’ve been blogging I’ve made clear that I’m not a journalist. I make no faux-appeal to objectivity but since I’ve been teaching I’ve attempted to fill the criterion of semi-objective instructor. Now I say semi-objective because I’d be lying to you if I said I do not have ideological leaning and that I didn’t attempt to present multiple perspectives to both challenge students and throw them off the scent of my leanings. I’ve always taken this as part of good critical pedagogy. But with the arrival of the Campus Watch and even more evidence that freedom of speech is not protected during instruction, I wonder how much longer I’ll be able to express myself.

A small example, several times a year I give a guest lecture on Race and Ethnicity. One of the first things I do is have students point to their neighbor and say, “You’re a racist.” I then have them repeat the process so that everyone has pointed at someone and been pointed at. Then I tell them, “Now that we’ve all been called a racist and called someone a racist, we can put away our racist fingers and stop keep a tally of who is racist.” The idea behind the exercise is to begin to de-stigmatize the concept of racism. I often find most people think of racism as simply riding on horseback and burning crosses, while avoiding the subtle ways we contribute to systems of oppression. But at the end of my lecture last week, I kept getting a question that hadn’t really bothered me much in the past, but this time around it did. “Why are you calling me a racist?” which is usually coupled with “Why use the term racist?” In the past, I’ve simply gone into a discussion of racism as sickness that we all have to deal with and that labeling it properly is the first step to healing it. But as I talked, I found it necessary to insert, “it’s my belief that…” Now one could say that I naturally imply that all things are my belief, but saying it out loud was troubling. I was not concerned that students knew I had an “agenda”. Instead I was concerned that they wouldn’t understand that what I presented for 50 minutes was scientific and grounded.

I believe the education I provide about social inequality should make you uncomfortable, should make you challenge your prior thinking, and should make you realize that at the age of 18, 21, or 35 that you don’t have the world figured out. I realize we’re now in the middle of a well crafted movement to once again have our voices limited, but this time through more savvy, okay semi-savvy means. David Horowitz and his cronies are hell-bent on getting rid of ideologues and the disciplines that support them (humanities and some social sciences). I’ve heard him repeatedly make claims that instructors in these disciplines simply advance their perspective uncritically. In my own teaching this couldn’t be further from the truth, but I wonder in a couple of years will my name make it into his next book, or will I be subject to a witch-hunt for my blog, or have my job called for because I asked students to take responsibility for the systems of oppression that they participate in?

A Poverty of the Mind

It has been requested that I post my thoughts on “A Poverty of the Mind,” an opinion piece in the NY Times that was put out in response to the story that was the subject of “Is the Black Man in America doomed?” piece. “A Poverty of the Mind” speaks to what the author, Orlando Patterson, sees as what Black men have done/are doing to put themselves in the position that they are in. This position, like any other, has both merits and flaws. We can talk about both here.

Responsibility for one’s self is a basic truth of life. To ignore this responsibility is to completely victimize yourself or put yourself completely at the mercy of another. During different parts of life, there are differing levels of this self-responsibility. Children at birth do not have this responsibility. As they grow and mature, the responsibility is passed onto them, for some at a faster pace than others? At some [arbitrary] point, it all rests on them (where this point is is up for discussion, as I cannot pinpoint it exactly).

The question becomes, how do you measure how well you are doing in your own self-responsibility? I say it depends on your situation and your needs. Part of the answer to this question is in found in the “cultural explanations” that Patterson suggests. He says that “a cultural explanation of black male self-destructiveness addresses not simply the immediate connection between their attitudes and behavior and the undesired outcomes, but explores the origins and changing nature of these attitudes, perhaps over generations, in their brutalized past. It is impossible to understand the predatory sexuality and irresponsible fathering behavior of young black men without going back deep into their collective past.”

This is the truth. This exploration of cultural history will answer a lot of questions about origins of attitudes. However, I don’t think that it will reveal that Black men have a disposition that makes them more vulnerable to lies and images from the media as a result of their culture. I do think, though, that he will find that media assualt on the psyche combined with availability of the mind due to lack of activity (school, work) combined with an affinity towards a certain type of music may result in certain things seeming more attractive, accessible, and attainable: more “cool.” It is the combination that creates this. What I caution people not to do is look at cultural history in a vacuum. Environments and circumstances help to shape culture. Likewise, culture alters environments and circumstances. To examine one without the other is not meaningful, and Patterson says that we have only be looking at the environment and not the culture. Fair enough, but I do not want to see us move to the opposite extreme. Using the two together, we can identify ways to change both culture and environment in ways beneficial to our people. He makes the assertion that it may be easier to change culture. If that is true, then we can make cultural changes while at the same time changing our social, political, and economic environments (more on this below).

There are things that are in my mind unquestionably irresponsible: promiscuity and predatory sex, laziness in regard to challenging yourself and your mind, willful ignorance. I don’t see listening to 50 Cent or aspiring for a career in professional athletics as ignorant or irresponsible in and of itself. The ignorance comes in at the point where the mindset is “This is all I know. This is my only option, my only way out, my only way to survive or succeed.” That ignorance can be combatted by making other options visible. How do we do that? Mentorship. Mentorship, mentorship, mentorship. Personal relationships change everything. Culture, environment, mindset, everything. How can one mentor change an entire neighborhood? Long and short, easy and difficult journeys, all start with one step.

A flaw in Patterson’s approach, however, is demonstrated by the [in or out of context] words of Detroit Mackenzie High School Principal Bernard Bonam who said that the students “didn’t give a doggone thing about their education…”. The danger with this is that it is based on his assumptions on the motivations of certain student behaviors. To Bonam, the student’s culture in anti-education. Well, I’m no anthropologist, but I do know that part of culture has to do with the environment in which that culture exists. As Brandon said, why is he blaming students for the sorry state of Mackenzie? Did their culture force the school to not buy books? NO!!! My challenge to him, conservatives, and to anyone who takes solely this position is this: how many people have you talked to in the group that you are judging about their feelings on their situation? How diverse of a set of people did you reach? This is important because assumptions are dangerous. This is the problem with the whole “I’ve talked to students (or Black people or any ‘group’) and they said this…” line that people try to throw out. They often times have not talked to the people they needed to talk to to gain understanding.

I do agree with the author that many times socioeconomic factors only tell part of the story. However, I do not so readily discount these factors because of this. I see them fitting into a holistic approach to addressing these issues our people face: psychological, economic, and political. I do not agree with the “we have to solve this first before we can talk about that” approach to addressing our predicament. I believe that Black people, the most dynamic people on the planet, can do more than one thing at a time. We can address psychological, economic, social, political, and any other thing we need to solve by working together. Since everyone may or may not be skilled in or passionate about addressing political issues, should the political activists sit on the bench until they are tagged in by those expert in the psychological? NO!!! Solve problems in parallel, not in series. Nothings stops us from addressing broad issues while at the same time addressing personal ones. I can mentor a young man and help him find a job while dealing with my own personal insecurities. I can encourage a young girl to pursue her passion in art while at the same time organizing local town hall meetings on political issues of relevance to people of color. I can be a mentee of a more experienced entrepreneur while mentoring one who is less experienced than I.

Me and Orlando Patterson agree that people need to be responsible for themselves. Beyond that, I believe in collective responsibility for each other. I work towards a world where societal pressures, laws, or policies do not hurt us because of our strength of attitude and confidence. I work towards a world where giving into temptation does not result in plight because the system is able to sustain us and keep us from falling. In that world everyone helps themselves, and everyone helps everyone else. That is what community is to me. Perhaps Mr. Patterson and I can agree on that.

Stand up!!!

That’s exactly what happened today at MacKenzie High School, (a Detroit Public School) when reportedly 200 students “marched up and down Wyoming, many chanting “No books, no school.” The students complained they have to share books in the classroom and can’t take them home. They also were upset about a new uniform policy implemented last fall and said bathrooms have toilets overflowing with feces and some students urinate in hallways.”

I’m not sure if you can sense it but there is a rumbling going on that is slowly making its presence felt. Young people are protesting in France, the Palestinians voted Hamas into power, Latinos are mobilizing like wild fire over the current immigration reform bills before Congress, and now students in my beloved hometown are stepping up demanding better resources. What makes me so proud is that these students were not “led” by old school civil rights leaders and as a result, they couldn’t be used as a backdrop.

Going beyond the picture
You are probably surprised that we posted a picture to accompany this post because you have never seen us do so in the past, but there is a point to be made that words alone can’t express. We are not permanently changing the format but if you read this story without the picture you might miss the significance. The young lady speaking, Christina LedBetter, is holding a bottle of Sprite and what I presume to be her talking notes. Now compare that image to what you normally see of so-called Black leaders; memorized talking points and catch phrases along with a bottle of water.(that they never use by the way.) My point is that she was being herself and she wasn’t being coached or managed. I’m not saying the students looked like bums but how many of you would get on camera fighting for justice if you were not looking right? And please don’t say yes too soon.

And do you see the tall brother standing behind her? His arms are crossed and his face, like the others is serious and I think it is symbolic of the fact that Black men have less of a problem being supportive of Black woman than what most would think. Beyond that, their faces convey a sense of urgency that I don’t see very often. And if the students have been reading all the negative statistics about Black youth and their bleak chances of achieving their educational/career goals, then they knew that they need a quality education right here, right now. And just like our forefathers before us, these students are taking control of their destiny and demanding a quality education. So before you continue, take a minute to let this image sink into your conscious so you are aware of what’s at stake.

The preparation
What I think people forget about most the civil rights movement is the preparation and sacrifice that people never saw or heard about. As such, I am proud of the preparation it took these students to get over 200 students to walk out of class. 200 people are not a clique. This event took thoughtfulness, determination, and effective communication because you know some people were on the fence, but was won over by the peer pressure to stand up for justice. Just imagine what will happen when they improve their organizing skills and present a whole new paradigm for correcting the system.

The sorry principal
Principal Bernard Bonam, I don’t know you very well but even if the newspaper took you of context, but you never should have said, “They don’t give a doggone thing about their education… and many of the problems are caused by students themselves, such as those who toss their textbooks out windows onto the schools greenhouse or others who stuff toilet paper into the toilet.” And people wonder why so many Black people are not pleased with the state of public education. For starters, you have to take people at their word and if the group was chanting, “No books, no school,” then that shows me pretty clearly they care about their education. But how many times do people have to say that schools don’t have enough textbooks, classes are overcrowded, the maintenance is shotty, and there is too much administration and not enough education. The students had enough and they demonstrated. But here is the real problem, why should kids ever have to protest to get enough books?!?! I mean fa real fa real. Could you imagine your wealthy suburban high school having kids march talk about “No books, no school?” That sounds silly right? Well if it sounds silly for suburban students then why in the hell doesn’t it seem silly for inner-city students?

Which brings me back to Principal Bonam, why are you blaming the students for the school’s issues? I’m not denying that there are some troublemakers but here’s a new rule that might help you. Get out of your office and get in the hallways and the classrooms. If you know kids are throwing their books out the window, how in the world can you say that you have an adequate number of books? Lock the windows!!!!! And then you tell me it is not in the budget. What about your budget? Open up your wallet, sell some candy, I don’t care, but don’t just wallow in what’s wrong, offer some solutions and ask yourself, “What can I do to make the situation better?”

This question also applies to the person reading this post because even though you may not work in the education field, we all have learned some things along the way that make us extremely valuable in being a resource and inspiration to our youth. Markell Donaldson, a Mackenzie sophomore, said “If we don’t walk out, we won’t get recognized.” Let’s wrap our hearts around all the Markells in this country so they know that the community is there to serve them in school so they don’t have to walk out.

Big Superspade shoutout to all the students that organized today, I applaud your integrity and willingness to stand up for what’s right. We stand with you in the constant fight for justice.

Stay up fam,

Brandon

A good Black man?

Can someone tell me the difference between a Black man and a “good” Black man? After seeing two articles this past week talk about the plight of Black men in the New York Times and how marriage is for White people in the Washington Post, that phrase is rearing its ugly head again.

Let me begin by saying that for this post, the phrase “good Black man” will be limited to love interests of Black women. Which makes me wonder, why don’t we hear the phrase, I want “a good Black woman?” That doesn’t sound right does it? I digress, but if you are Black man/woman, I would venture to say that your answer to my original question would allude to some socioeconomic factor in some way or form.

And this is what I hate the most. You got people who are 25, who are 2 or 3 years removed from undergrad that are appalled at the idea of seriously dating/marrying a person who also does not have at least an undergraduate degree. What happened in two years that you are so all that that you couldn’t see yourself dating someone who doesn’t have a B.A.? The same goes for salaries and the list goes on. Now I’m not saying that people shouldn’t have any standards but it seems that being with a person who makes you happy is an afterthought after we sift through religion, family, age, education, income, FUTURE POTENTIAL, friends, geography, etc. You get my point.

I believe there is someone out there for everybody but the problem I see in the Black community is that too many of us are either trying to marry a clone of ourselves or we get so caught up in the idea of a “good” Black woman/man that we don’t act like ourselves when we come across one, however defined.

We have to stop buying into the notion of a good Black man because it makes the brothers who are think they are successful more arrogant and it makes the sisters feel like, “What’s the fuss?” And then you have sisters crossing over to date other races or feeling a sense of hopelessness such that they will never find a “good” Black man. Ladies, let me tell you this, the brother out there who is looking for you right now may not be a “good” Black man, but if he is good for you, THEN WHO CARES!!! Fellas, we have a host of other issues but I will get to you later. But seriously fam, the constant filtering of love via status and self is killing our future families.

In closing I will repeat my question; what is the difference between a Black man and a good Black man?

Stay up fam,
Brandon

Is the Black Man in America doomed?

The NY Times says that Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia say that we are close. In “Plight Deepens for Black Men, Studies Warn,” Erik Eckholm goes over many statistics that show how the un/undereducated Black man is the rule and not the exception, and how that is leading them down a path from which recovery may prove difficult.

(Random thought: Before digging into this topic, I’d like to first note the irony in Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia doing studies about Black men. Princeton has 8.2% Black students, Harvard has 8% Black students, and Columbia has 5.3% Black students. I just find it interesting when I hear/read authoritative on Black people written by non-Black people. Now, I am in no way saying that the message is worthless because of the messenger, but I am saying that it is in some ways disheartening. I digress…)

With that said, the story and the studies it references raises some important facts. I applaud the approaches to measuring joblessness that include the incarcerated as well as those not looking for legal work. Though it is an interesting theory, I do not agree with the implication that child support law enforcement have contributed to joblessness.

There are some concrete steps that I see that can be taken to address this rampant joblessness.

The first set is psychological. For starters, many associate unemployment with vagrancy. I believe that in many cases it is a myth. Vagrancy, laziness, triflingness, whatever you want to call it does occur, but I think that’s less common than it is perceived. Evidence for this can be seen in the fact that many individuals who are not seeking work are “working” illegal occupations; you can’t be lazy and stay out of jail. The second psychological step is to remove the stigma of the man or woman who has come home from prison. What is tripped out is how many people show a lot of “love” to people when they get out of jail (remember Chris Rock saying people got more love coming out of jail than coming home from college), but they don’t get a lot of love from business owners (including Black business owners) when they are looking for legitimate work. This is part of the reason why people who come home are so likely to commit and be caught in the midst of illegal activity within 6 months of their release and end up right back in corrections system. What needs to happen here: People need to have positive attitudes towards their people. Do not confuse a positive attitude with stupidity, but instead confuse it with educated optimism. There is nothing wrong with giving someone a conditional hire. Do not confuse conditional with opportunity to humiliate. People are amazing in the sense that they will excel when people show faith in them. The article quotes a brother who says he and his peers suffer from a “general state of hopelessness.” Hopelessness is overcome by having faith in yourself and others having faith in you. Think about it, when was the last time you felt like you could do something when people were constantly putting you down saying you “never did it before” or that you were “incapable” of doing it? We need to invest psychologically in our brethren.

Secondly, there are opportunities to educate outside of traditional school. Ideally, everyone would matriculate through elementary, middle, high school, undergrad, grad, doctorate, post-doc, etc. In cases where that has not happened, that does not mean that education should not be an option. What can be done here: Maybe we can encourage young men/women to seek opportunities that they feel are more practical. What I mean by that is this: usually people leave school because they do not see immediate benefit. I more than anyone wish to eradicate instant gratification ideology from the world, but in the mean time, I feel like we can use it to demonstrate both immediate and future benefits gained from education. For example, why not identify trades/talents that students have in say, 8th grade. In their high school (9th thru 12th grade years), why not provide access to training in their fields of interest (e.g. web design, auto repair, cosmetolgoy, medical assistant, whatever)? Why not provide access to the training and tie performance in “regular” school together with the vocational training? Meaning, we should reward high performance in the vocational education equally. That way, there is recognition (who doesn’t like that?) for those that excel in economics and those who excel in electrician training. We should embrace Adult Education and Professional Certification programs. If/when people demonstrate hunger and willingness to work, then they deserve to have a chance taken on them (see above).

Re-entry. The article calls out programs that focus on prison re-entry. The same attention needs to be paid to juvenile re-entry. Programs like Detroit’s Partners for Success are great examples of taking a proactive approach to confronting the issues the will be present in the lives of young men/women when they leave the system. We talk a lot about this on the site, and some of the posts on the subject can be read here. Keys to successful re-entry are showing confidence and providing opportunities.

Those sound a lot like the keys to life in general.

My School, My Decision

This leg of my trip lands me in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The news for this day comes courtesy of The Milwaukee Community Journal, Wisconsin’s largest Black newspaper.

The headline reads, “Gov. Doyle signs bill expanding choice.” It specifically refers to reforms to the Milwaukee Parental Choice program, which allows for qualified families to receive financial help to send their children to private schools in the city of Milwaukee. We will use this story to discuss the idea of “school choice” programs in Milwaukee and other places around the country.

I went to public preschool, kindergarten, and 1st & 2nd grade at public schools in Detroit. After my family moved to Farmington, I attended 3rd thru 12th grades at public schools in Farmington. I then graduated from the University of Michigan, a public university. I say all that to provide full disclosure that I am a product of public education.

Most understand differences between public and private education. Generally, private schools offer smaller class sizes [than their public counterparts], more specialized/focused curricula, more Advanced Placement opportunities, etc. Most of these differences exist due to the simple fact that you must pay tuition to attend private school. Most understand that all public school systems are not created equal. There were definite differences in the Detroit and Farmington systems in terms of access to resources, quality of facilities, and parental/community participation. These differences exist for any number of reasons, which I will not list here. The characteristics of private schools as described above are ones that most families would desire for their school-aged children.

In order to address these differences, the concept of “school choice” was born. It essentially says that the government, acknowledging inequalities between public and private schools, will subsidize a student’s tuition to a private school, if the student and family meet a set of criteria [that differs depending on the location].

This begs the following: how does one define “public education?” Does it mean government provided/sanctioned/sponsored? Does it mean funded by tax revenue? Does it mean comprised of students from the community surrounding the school? In my opinion, your answer to this question helps to frame your views on school choice.

“School choice” is making the private schools in effect semi-public, if you believe that public equals funded by tax revenue, since most “school choice” programs are not ones that you pay to participate in. It also “public-izes” them if you believe that public equals government-sponsored, in the sense that the government has a set of [private] schools for which it chooses to subsidize the cost of attendance.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle’s expansion bill increases the number of students allowed to participate, increases funding towards smaller class sizes via the SAGE Program, adjustments to student eligibility requirements, and other things. The issue I have with this particular plan has to do with how the smaller class size monies are handled. The article says that $25 million will be raised, $8 million of which will go to the public schools. What is happening with the other $17 million? Why is it not earmarked for the same purpose?

I generally disagree with the “school choice” model. I see it as an easy, cop-out method employed by state and local governments to avoid acknowledging, confronting, and addressing issues in challenged schools within public districts. To me, public education means government funded thru tax dollars. That means that if I pay taxes, I should be granted premium educational opportunities AT NO ADDITIONAL COST. The reason some feel “forced” to enroll their kids in private schools that they may or may not be able to afford is because of the failure of the government to provide this basic service. As opposed to facing this, “school choice” lets them off with zero accountability.

So how do we “fix” public education? I believe the solution is two-fold. First, IN OUR MINDS education must shift from a desired luxury to a practical necessity. I am by no means a psychologist, but I do believe that people treat their wants and needs differently. If we embraced a MINDSET that said education was essential for survival, then there would be less apathy towards it and negativity associated with it (e.g. No more being labeled as “talking white”). We see tangible examples of education’s practicality and necessity in the job market, where more and more occupations require higher and higher levels of formal education.

The second, which occurs in parallel to the first, is a change in what we see as the purpose of education. My mentor Calvin Mackie says, “if it only makes dollars, it doesn’t make sense.” Applied here, this means that if we view education only as a means to attain financial “success,” then we do not really value/understand it. This is an underlying motivation behind alarmingly high dropout rates in high school and college. People feel like the same money they could make in X years by becoming educated can be made in X days by leaving school and working/hustling immediately. If knowledge and education went beyond pathways to paychecks, maybe this would not be such a disturbing trend. How can we change this?

By changing the way we talk about education.
Make knowledge the priority over practicality (read: profitability) of an area of study.

By changing the way we talk about and define success.
Is wisdom, health and experience more important than money? Some would argue yes, others no. This does not mean that money has no practical value. It does mean that it should be a tool and not a goal.

By changing the way we educate.
Emphasize personal, practical aspects of subjects as opposed to standardized ideas. Encourage people to think critically by creating their own interpretations and challenge them to defend them. This is basically what happens in college. I argue that it should be applied upstream.

On the other side, school choice introduces competition to the public school monopoly that exists in many places. Can this “free market” approach to education be the jolt that public schools need to get it together? I don’t necessarily think so, but I am quite open to persuasion.

Am I wrong?
What am I missing?
How do you feel?

–
Garlin Gilchrist II

http://www.TheSuperSpade.com

Sent using Windows Mobile 5.0

Why I love Black folks

You know what I hate sometimes? It is when high fallutin’ Black folk forget their roots. And you know what I’m talking about, the Black folk who get a little education and all of a sudden they are Cornel West and have a ready answer for any and all of the ills Black people encounter. But what I fear sometimes is that in all our intellectuality (yes that is a word and an example of the terminology you often find in high fallutin’ Black folk) we forget the basic things that make us love and appreciate our people.

Black history is so replete with Black people not only overcoming extraordinary circumstances but being the absolute best at everything they put their hands to. My history sustains me and is a constant source of inspiration.

I love how Black skin glistens in the summertime.

I grew up in the hood on the Westside of Detroit off of 7 Mile and I also went to private school when my parents could afford it. So to all the hardcore cats I grew up with and looked up to, thank you for not letting me get caught up in foolishness.

It’s amazing how Black people can talk to each other without talking and know exactly what the other person is saying.

I always chuckle when I learn that a Black man who is a junior has “Junebug” as a nickname.

And don’t the sisters get upset when the brothers get real particular about their feet? “Let me see them toes girl!” Blame Boomerang.

God must have invented Spades on the seventh day of creating the world, when he was chillin’ because I can’t think of any other game that brings Black folk together like Spades. And let me give a special shot out to my people who don’t re-nig.

To my beautiful sisters, the little pouch in your stomach is fine so please don’t try to work it off. A brother needs something to hold.

I love it when I am at a BBQ manning the grill because as I finish cooking the last tray of meat, a beautiful Black woman asks me what I want on my plate. And then she is so sweet because she will hook a brother up with the big piece of chicken. Let’s go!

I smile when I feel the pressure to see every new Black movie no matter how good or bad it will be. Because if we don’t support our movies, who will?

Isn’t it funny how Black folk can start bobbing their head to a song during the interlude and catch the beat right on time?

And I know the brothers remember trying to freestyle during lunchtime or having like 12 dudes at a table all making beats with their fists and knuckles, resulting in a fierce rhythm that made you thicken the wrinkles in your forehead.

I love the universal pound/dap that most Black men know like the back of their hands.

And a big thank you goes out to all of the Black singers and musicians from the church that moved me to tears by allowing God to move through your instruments and your voice.

I could go and on but sometimes, you just have to say it plain. But I want to know why you love Black people.

Stay up fam,

Brandon

The State of Your Union

Tonight was the continuation of an American tradition in which the elected executive stands before the whole of the remaining two branches of government and delivers their thoughts and visions on and for the Nation. It is a good opportunity to listen to what the president has to say about America: what do do they care about? What do they want to do? What have they done?

G. W. Bush had a few main points tonight, which included:

1. Isolationism = Defeatism
2. Democracy everywhere is the future
3. Building on existing domestic momentum

That is what he said. Here is what it actually means. We will approach this line-by-line, with parallel translation of rhetoric.

G. W. Started out paying respect to Coretta Scott King, who passed on today. That was a good move, but it was also probably the highlight of the night.

“Act in a spirit of goodwill and respect.”
G. W. Used this in reference to the heated, partisan tone of recent Washington debates (Patriot Act Extension, Alito Confirmation Hearings, Domestic Spying Inquiries). What this really means is “Democrats need to stop making noise. Get down or lay down.” It means that conservatives don’t want any disagreement, regardless of its merit (more on this below).

“Isolationism leads to danger and defeat.”
This is how G. W. Began his foreign policy section. This is a challenge to those of us who feel that domestic matters outweigh foreign affairs. Isolationist is conservative code for “having one’s priorities in logical order.” Is it “danger and defeat” if you care more about someone else’s house than your own family’s well-being? Of course not: it’s stupid.

“We seek the end of tyranny in the world…democracies replace resentment with hope…”
This was how G. W. Justified his *Offensive Democracy* foreign policy approach. Research has shown that “fighting them there so they don’t fight us here” holds as much water as a spider web. What does tyranny mean? It can be summed up in two words: unchecked leadership. America was designed to protect against such a thing, but with all three branches compromised, that protection has disappeared. As for democracy replacing resentment, is there resentment in American democracy? That’s another spider web full of Kool-Aid.

Mentioned Zimbabwe among non-democracies
The African continent made an appearance this year. The last time the Earth’s source was mentioned by G. W. was when he lied about Iraq getting weapons of mass destruction from Niger. I don’t think this mention will stir as much reaction.

“Terrorists chose the weapon of fear”
This is the first nominee for Line of the Night. BushCo has pedaled fear and propaganda in order to justify their foolish, selfish policies, including [but not limited to] the Patriot Act and the Domestic Spying program and the so-called “War on Terror.”

“The US will not retreat from the world, and we will never surrender to evil”
More code for “isolationism” being bad. See above.

“Clear plan for victory” in Iraq
This is the second nominee for Line of the Night. All I can say about this is this: when the “clear plan” is made “clear” by not “clearly” defining success, then is it really that “clear?”

“Iraq: 3 years to sovereignty…we are winning”
Sovereignty? G. W. Still hasn’t figured out what sovereignty means. What government is sovereign when it is supported, financed, and protected by another government. And “we are winning?” See above for an explanation on why you can’t win when you don’t know what winning means or looks like.

“The road of victory is the road that will take our troops home”
This is a feeble attempt at defining winning. Any idiot knows that when a “war” is “over,” the troops will come home. This is simply an empty, rhetorical, admission of the obvious.

Responsible Criticism vs. Defeatism
G. W. has touched on this before. Responsible criticism might as well mean total, blind agreement. Anything less is defeatism in the eyes of conservatives.

“Keep our word…stand behind the American military”
The “keep our word” part is the same as the “stay the course” B.S. that we’ve been hearing since the election of 2004. It means “I [and my backers] am too damn hard-headed to see my flawed actions and decisions of the past, and I refuse to change my tactics in spite of my mistakes.” It is an unfortunate reality that we meddled in and broke Iraq. Oh well in my opinion. I would much rather see resources expended in the Gulf Coast than the Persian Gulf.

“Raising up a democracy requires the rule of law…”
The timing of this statement is matched only by its irony. We are amid scandal and corruption in Washington, yet the President is calling for “the rule of law” in other nations. Apparently Americans can be above the law. Well, Americans WITH MONEY (read: Republicans) can be above the law.

America wants to be “the closest of friends with a free and democratic Iran”
This is laughable considering that we will likely be invading Iran in the near future. Whether they were free or democratic, they would get invaded.

Patriot Act: “same tools used to fight drugs and crime”
This is how G. W. introduced his case for renewal of the controversial Patriot Act. There is plenty on this blog that makes our opposition to this clear. Black people should fear and reject anything similar to the “tools used to fight drugs and crime” that have led to such grave injustices as racial profiling, disproportionate Black male incarceration, and systematic Black disenfranchisement.

Spying: “appropriate members of Congress kept informed”
More attempts to justify “Terrorism Surveillance.” What defines “appropriate?” Why wasn’t the “appropriate,” appointed FISA Court informed?

“Roosevelt, Kennedy rejected isolation and retreat”
Sprinkle of rhetoric here about why “isolationism” is bad. We’ve already covered why that’s just plain dumb.

“I urge the Congress to act responsibly and make the tax cuts permanent.”
This oxymoron is the third nominee for Line of the Night. This means the the legislature should “responsibly” withhold money from important domestic affairs to reward the wealthy. Permanent tax cuts would be as irresponsible as permanent tax increases. Since one cannot predict future occurrences, tax policy should be periodically, organically evaluated.

The Special-Interest problem can be tackled with the Line-Item Veto
Never seen a President that didn’t want a Line-Item Veto, so that’s nothing new. The question is, would he really, really do something about lobbyists if he had one? I doubt it.

“Keeping America competitive requires affordable Health Care…Strengthen Health Spending Accounts…Make coverage portable”
The first and third phrases sound decent enough to me, given that I want the ultimate in affordable, portable coverage: Universal Health Care. The second phrase is one that I have a problem with. This point, nestled between two decent ideas, is part of G. W.’s Ownership Society message. The problem is that 45 million Americans don’t have Health care and cannot afford it, another would not be able to afford or understand HSAs as proposed. The beauty of Universal Health Care is that is based on a simple notion: you need health care, you get it, period. HSAs are no more than funnels leading to the pockets of HMOs and Insurance companies. Do not be fooled.

“America is addicted to oil…Advanced Energy Initiative…Replace 75% of Middle Eastern oil dependence by 2025″
This is actually a good idea. Increase research in ethanol and zero-emission coal power is a good thing. However, I can’t imagine BushCo’s oil buddies letting this kind of thing actually result in lower oil consumption.

“American Competitiveness Initiative”
Again, another good idea in theory. Doubling our commitment to natural sciences, permanent research tax credits, encouraging more math & science in secondary education, all good stuff. I just hope they don’t use No Child Left Behind as the model for implementation.

Work with Black churches to fight AIDS
Black folks came up again at the end. This marks the first time I had ever heard a White Republican cite statistics on AIDS in Black America. While I am happy about that (it is a step in the right direction), I am worried that the Black church path is a flawed one. BushCo has coaxed the Black church into supporting him on issues such as abortion and gay marriage, and he may be at it again. I would not trust these guys, as a fear that they are more concerned with gaining votes that saving Black lives.

There you have it.

Please share your thoughts and reactions to the speech and my reactions.

–
GDGII
www.TheSuperSpade.com

Sent using Windows Mobile 5.0

The 65% Solution to Funding Public Education

I read a great article today in the Christian Science Monitor discussing the implications of the 65 % percent solution by which school districts would be required to spend at least 65 cents on every dollar goes directly into the classroom - on books and teacher pay – by the end of 2008.

A great public school education doesn’t require a school district to spend exorbitant amounts of money on books and teacher pay, but let’s face it, money talks. And Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com came up with this idea and he found out how much of a difference pennies appear to make in different school outcomes. After Byrne “crunched data from the NCES, he found that the five states with the highest student standardized test scores (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Minnesota, and Connecticut) on average spent 64.1 percent in the classroom. The five worst- scoring states (Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, New Mexico, and the District of Columbia) on average spent 59.5 percent in the classroom. Georgia ranked 13th, spending about 63 cents on every dollar.”

Of course, school funding is complex, not every city has the same tax base, too much bureaucracy, ya di ya di yah. Joydeep Roy, of the Economic Policy Institute said, “I have not seen any solid evidence as to, if all other things are equal, that a school district spending 70 percent in the classroom as opposed to a school district spending 60 percent has higher performance”. Maybe Roy hasn’t seen any solid evidence because “the average US school district now spends 81 percent of its budget on personnel, including teachers, support staff, and administrators,” so that by the time you get to the students, there is no more money left to spare.

And you know the giant education bureaucracy that cries for more funding? This plan will give them the tools that they need to actually do their job. And once you do that, we can really start to talk about accountability and seeing results. How can you expect accountability when you have teachers that don’t have books? Please someone, tell me. That’s like someone telling you to do your job without a computer and then you get chastised for slow productivity. And granted, there are bad teachers in America but I am inclined to believe that the majority of them are highly qualified and genuinely want to help their students achieve. But teachers are people too and they deserve higher pay that is commensurate with the vital service they provide by educating your snot-nosed kids.

And what burns me is that some “education researchers are not sure whether the plan will work”. I mean for real, is anybody really sure? If there was a student achievement genie, don’t you think we would have rubbed that oil lamp by now? It’s almost like some educational researchers enjoy being voyeurs of the educational system more than getting their wing-tipped shoes dirty and working with people who have fresh ideas.
In any event, 17 states have passed legislation that meet the sixty-five percent threshold including Texas, Georgia, and Kansas. Byrnes goal is to have all fifty states adopt similar legislation and my hope is that the states that have passes this legislation will see improvement in the achievement of their students. And hopefully this will in turn inspire or shame the other 33 states into getting on board.

Because for as much as politicians, pundits, corporations, and the public-at-large, you could get skate by in America with an average education and still manage to live comfortably. And now that our economy is being squeezed by globalization, pensions are drying up left and right, increasingly high-skilled labor is being out-sourced, and just going to college is not enough. Therefore, parents are realizing more than ever that tired adages about education just won’t cut it anymore. Because if Mommy and Daddy are living longer but don’t have enough saved in retirement for themselves, guess who won’t be able to pay for their children’s college education? And before you talk about scholarships, unless you have a full ride, college is still financially stressful if you have scholarships.

But I digress. I am a firm supporter of the 65% solution and will be monitoring its progress as more data is collected. Funding K-12 education is not easy but at least we should start with every student having enough resources to make it in this world. Isn’t it funny how most of the people that say, “we have to have janitors and burger flippers,” are not the janitors and burger flippers. So if you are one of those people who don’t understand why all students deserve an equal opportunity to succeed, talk to this lady who said, “The 65 percent solution is the equivalent of a chicken in every pot,” says a disapproving Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform (CER).

God forbid every student could get a piece of chicken. People die in poor countries because of starvation and people die in this country because they eat too much. In short, education is like food and should not be delivered disproportionately based on where you live.

Shout out to Patrick Byrnes for adding fresh ideas to help improve school funding in America.

Stay up fam,

Brandon

God helps those who help themselves

As I rushed in and out of department stores this week, the ringing bells of the Salvation Army volunteers made me ponder about the title of this post. In the recent budget bill, the Senate passed a $602 billion bill that cuts funds for health, education and labor programs on the same day the Senate approved two separate rounds of cuts to health care programs for the poor.
Whenever there is a drive to make cuts in the budget, there is never any debate about where the cuts will come from; social services. And I believe there is one philosophical ideal that makes these types of cuts socially acceptable; God helps those who helps themselves.

I readily admit that the previous quote sounds plausible but not only is it selfish, it is nowhere in the Bible. In fact, a national survey conducted by the Barna Research Group found that when Christians were asked if the expression ‘God helps those who help themselves’ was in the Bible’, only 38% of all Christians correctly stated that that phrase cannot be found anywhere in the Scriptures. Forty-two percent thought that this was a Biblical quotation, and 20% had no idea. So lets assume for arguments’ sake that half of the people who had no idea actually believed that the quote was in the Bible, that would mean a clear majority of Christians believes that the quote was in the Bible. But what is the big deal?

A lack of compassion will lead people to believe that those who are less fortunate must have done something wrong in order to deserve God’s lack of compassion. And perhaps more troubling is the idea that because one is financially stable, God is smiling on you and your family. When this type of flawed thinking is applied to local, state, and national policies, the poor are always demonized for not doing their part to contribute to society. The reality is that not everyone who is in financial straits can pull themselves up by their boot straps. And the people who are comfortably living the middle class life, they should know that no one in succeeds at anything by themselves. For those of you who have not read Black Wealth, White Wealth, by Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro, you will understand the huge pull that history has on people’s life choices. And like so many people of the middle class have experienced in 2005, there is not a huge barrier that separates them from those in the unemployment line.

In closing, the erroneous phrase that God who helps those who help themselves only adds to the disdain and indifference that so many middle class people show to the poor. And for all of the Bible loving people who walk past the poor without ever giving the change in their pocket, I urge them to read Leviticus 25:35-36 (NIV) which reads, “If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you. Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countrymen may continue to live among you…” And for the people who need things in black and white, consider the consequences of helping the poor and not helping the poor:

For those who bless the poor, God promises to bless them (Ps 41:1-3; 112; Prov. 14:21; 19:17, 22:9, 14:31, 28:27; Isaiah 58:6-10).

But, He promises to judge those who oppress the poor (Deut 27:19, Prov. 17:5, 21:13, 22:16, 28:27; Isaiah 10:1-4; Eze 18:12-13, 16:49).

Therefore, there are two things that would make life a whole lot better in America. How about people actually read the Bible or whatever is the religious text of their religion. And while we’re at it, why don’t we look at holding elected officials accountable for enacting policies that earn God’s disrespect.

Stay up fam,

Brandon

Today’s Irresponsible Cuts

The Senate bill to cut $40 billion dollars out of the budget takes a third of that $40 billion from students. I’m imagining that this is how the debate went:

BushCo & Republican Majority:
“We need some money. Like $40 billion. Where are we gonna get it?”

Democratic Minority & people with brains:
“Rich people? Corporate cronies that already give gifts? Why not cash in on those relationships in a way that benefits real people?

BushCo & Republican Majority:
“You guys are stupid. Let’s rob students. That will be much easier.”

Unchecked power in our three-headed political hydra leads to ridiculous results for the lives of the citizens. This example is no different. In the bill, students will be forced to pay higher interest rates on their already increasingly expensive student loans, and banks will get less government subsidies to provide these loans [at lower rates].

This is a HUGE deal. To make this more clear, lets put things in perspective.

- The majority of students in college are there with the help of some form of financial aid
- Student Loan debt can now be used as a reason to withold social security moneys

Now, let’s get stupid about this: American busines leaders are saying that our students are not able to compete on the international stage due to the shortcomings or our educational system (e.g. a speech from Bill Gates, linked here. The government [usually] listens to big busness and rich people, so who better to listen to than the richest man in the world who runs the biggest software company in the world? If No Child Left Behind wasn’t B.S., maybe we wouldn’t have this problem). As a result, the goverment should be doing everything in its power to strengthen its public education institutions on the primary, secondary, and collegiate levels. Well, how do you strengthen a college? Not by placing barriers to entry to it!!!! If I want something to be better, I don’t cut off it’s resources. What’s is the strongest resource of any college: it’s students.

Maybe I’m crazy because there are certain things I view as untochable as far as cuts in spending go:

- Education
- Health Care
- Legal Protection

Since I feel this way, I can’t be a fan of this budget bill, which cut other social programs that help the poor, including Medicaid and Welfare.

Debt Security

The New York Times has a story talking about how Student Debt is now Collectible by Social Security.

Since the overwhelming majority of college graduates leave school with both a diploma and debt, something must be done. This can possibly add to the litany of reasons for individuals to be more proactive in the acquisition of funds for education. This can be done in a few ways, three of which I will list here:

1. Work (part/full-time or work-study) during school
2. Actively and continuously pursue scholarship and grant monies
3. INVEST

B posted about how other government/corporate safety nets are disappearing like Michael Jackson’s melanin, and this is another example. The notion of future uncertainty can often inspire immediate action. If you don’t incur debt, you don’t have to repay debt. That way, maybe the little bit of Social Security or corporate sponsored pension that may/may not exist will not be vulnerable. Think of it as a G.W. style pre-emptive defensive maneuver.

Paying for what you Believe

The Supreme Court heard arguments on Military College Recruiting yesterday. The issue, described in the articles, centers on law schools and other colleges being required to give Military recruiters the same prominence and support as private employers if they accept Federal Aid. This sounds like nothing new. We see similar things happening with No Child Left Behind.

There is no such thing as free ANYTHING, especially not money, extra especially not FEDERAL money. One day, people will understand that. Until then, expect the ignorant to be continually fleeced, but I digress from this until some future post.

What is interesting about the college recruitment case is the argument that schools are using to argue against this practice. Part of what they are arguing that since the military has its “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy, it is at odds with the college’s practice of not discriminating against openly gay students. They don’t want to be associated directly with the military because of this as it gives the impression that they are compromising on their position of support for openly gay men and women.

That is total B.S. News Hour with Jim Lehrer sums that up with one line, taken from the audio of the hearing, which I will now paraphrase:

“If they have such a problem, why are they accepting the money?”

This is the age-old question that can be applied to many of life’s situations, including but not limited to:

“If you believe in unionization, why do you shop at Wal-Mart?”
“If you can’t stand him, why do you let him buy you dinner?”

There is sacrifice involved with believing in something. Can instant-gratification-driven consumer culture thwart our desire to actually ACT on principle? The colleges obviously are not able to do this; the money is too important. Can we do it individually? We can’t expect change to happen on that level until it happens on a personal level.