Links: The Black Star Project's website:
Black Star Jounral:
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Back to School or Back to Hell?
Why America's education system continues failing Black students
"Black parents and Black communities are
ultimately responsible for the education of Black children. Not
teachers! Not schools! Not elected officials! We are responsible! If our
children are being destroyed in American schools, it is only because we
allow it,"
- Phillip Jackson, The Black Star Project
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Picture by The Black Star Project |
By Starla Muhammad-Staff Writer
Sep 10, 2012
(FinalCall.com) -
Faulty equipment, fights in the hallways, overcrowded classrooms,
failing grades, security guards, scarce resources and high suspension
rates. This is not the description of a school in some Third World war
torn country. It is the unfortunate yet glaring reality facing thousands
of Black, Latino and poor children the United States educational
system.
A gap remains in
graduation rates between Black and White males with only 47 percent of
Black males graduating high school compared to 78 percent of White males
according to the Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black
Males.
Data collected in
2009-2010 by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights,
says Black students were three and a half times more likely to be
suspended or expelled than White students and 70 percent of students
involved in school related arrests or referred to law enforcement were
Black or Latino.
One in five Black boys
and one in 10 Black girls received an out of school suspension according
to department data. Black students are less likely to have access to
college preparatory classes but are quick to be ushered into special
education classes. Black and Latino schools are grossly underfunded
compared to majority-White schools.
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The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan Visits the University of Islam School (photo provided by The Black Star Project). |
A visionary when it came
to the deficiencies he saw in America's educational system and how the
consequences effected Black children, The Honorable Elijah Muhammad and
his followers pulled their children out of public schools and began
teaching them in what was considered a controversial and bold move back
in the 1930s and 40s.
Phillip Jackson of the
Black Star Project and the force behind the Million Father March, which
aims to encourage fathers to take their children to school on the first
day of school recently blogged that the proper education of Black
children is the responsibility of the community. If Black parents and
communities in America are willing to allow Black children to be
destroyed in American schools, "then we deserve what we get," he notes.
"Black parents and
Black communities are ultimately responsible for the education of Black
children. Not teachers! Not schools! Not elected officials! We are
responsible! If our children are being destroyed in American schools, it
is only because we allow it," wrote Mr. Jackson.
Read More... |
OAKLAND New charter school aims to help black boys overcome daunting odds
By Jill Tucker
September 4, 2012
In the first hour of the first day of school Tuesday, the sixth-grade Oakland boy was sure he was in trouble for goofing off.
His teacher, Peter Wilson,
had stopped his lesson in mid-sentence and turned his attention to the
African American preteen, who now wore an uh-oh expression as he braced
for a rebuke.
"Did you eat breakfast
this morning?" Wilson asked quietly as the confused boy shook his head
no. "Your actions are telling me you're hungry."
The teacher, also
African American, then promised to bring fruit and granola bars the next
day and returned to teaching. The boy's behavior immediately improved.
That might not have
been the result at other Oakland middle schools, where a third of black
males were suspended at least once last year.
But at the 100 Black
Men Community School, a new all-male public charter school, educators
and organizers say they refuse to accept those odds - or any of the
other statistics associated with black boys that include higher dropout
rates, lower test scores and disproportionate placement in special education programs.
The school, started and
financially supported by the Bay Area chapter of the 100 Black Men
nonprofit organization, is open to all male students, but it was created
specifically for issues facing black boys - including difficult family
lives, street culture, community violence and lack of male role models
outside professional sports and the music industry.
Read More... |
THE CHESTERFIELD COMMUNITY COUNCIL'S
Silas Purnell College Expo
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Tuley Park, 90th and King Drive
Chicago, Illinois
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ADMISSION: FREE
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Come
and meet representatives from Historically Black Colleges and
Universities nationwide and colleges and universities throughout
Illinois.
For more information, call the Chesterfield Community Council at (773) 651-3958 or visit: www.chesterfieldcommunitycouncil.org. |
Join
The DuSable Museum
of African American History
and
The Black Star Project
for
Peace Talks
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The South (Suburbs) of Chicago
Will Rise, Again!
Parents,
Mayors, Village Presidents, School Board Presidents, School Board
Members, Teachers, Superintendents, Principals, Faith Leaders, Community
Members, Students or any one interested in the education all children
should join The Black Star Project
at the
Community Mennonite
Early Learning Center
3215 West 162nd Street
in Markham, Illinois
on
Thursday, September 20, 2012
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
We will discuss bringing the programs of The Black Star Project to the South Suburbs, including the Million
Fathers Club, Saturday University, Parent University, Destination
College, Real Men Read, Student Motivation Mentoring Programs, SES
Tutoring Services, "Peace In The Hood" Violence Prevention,
Community-based PTA's and much more. For more information, please call 773.285.9600.
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Invited
suburbs include Markham, Harvey, Dixmoor, Country Club Hills, Lansing,
University Park, Riverdale, Dolton, Blue Island, Crete, Sauk Village,
South Holland, Richton Park, Park Forest, Hazel Crest, Chicago Heights,
Calumet City, Homewood, Flossmore, Lynwood, Matteson, Ford Heights,
Olympia Fields, Robbins, Glenwood, East Hazel Crest, Phoenix, Burnham |
Murder, Mayhem, Music and
Young Black Men in America
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Lil JoJo Dead: Teen Chicago Rapper Joseph Coleman Fatally Shot, Police Investigate Chief Keef's Tweets
(Concious People Must Protect and Support Lupe Fiasco)
09/06/2012
Chicago police are looking at up-and-coming rapper Chief Keef's
tweets after a rival rapper was gunned down in the city's Englewood
neighborhood.
After an aspiring teenage
rapper was fatally shot in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood Tuesday,
police are investigating whether the boy's rivalry with another area
rapper was to blame for the slaying.
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Joseph "Lil JoJo" Coleman |
Joseph Coleman, better known by his stage name "Lil JoJo," was shot in the back when a car pulled up while he was riding a bicycle in the 6900 block of South Princeton Avenue on the city's South Side around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Chief Keef, who signed to Interscope Records this summer, previously was sentenced to house arrest after he was arrested and charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon last December.
Keef also targeted Lupe Fiasco in recent weeks after the fellow Chicago rapper said in an interview that the violence of Keef's and other young artists' lyrics was disheartening, according to NBC.
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Lupe Fiasco |
The area where Coleman was
gunned down is located about a block from where the family of
Oscar-winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson was murdered in 2008. It is also located in one of the two districts that Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy this week held up as an example of where the city's gang-fighting, anti-violence initiatives are proving effective.
Read More...
Click Here to Hear Chief Keef with 3Hunna (explicit).
Click Here to Hear Lupe Fiasco with Bitch Bad (explicit) - positive.
Click Here to Hear Lupe Fiasco talk about "Ghost" in his community. (It is critical to watch this interview)
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Please
call Interscope Records at (310) 865-1000 to let them know that you are
against violence encouraged by or perpetrated by some of their artist,
especially the violence by young Black men against other young Black
men. |
Saturday
University is one of the newest and most effective educational concepts
in America for educating students of color. It is family- and
community-driven education at its best. As many/most Black children in
American schools are failing academically, the only way to successfully
educate them is with the support and actions of their parents, families
and communities. Register now for the free Chicago-area Saturday
University beginning now.
We have 15 free Saturday Universities
operating in and around Chicago and south suburbs. Please call
773.285.9600 to register your child for free academic enhancement or for more information about bringing the Saturday University to your community. We need teachers and tutors for our sites. Please call 773.285.9600 to volunteer. |
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