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| | Dr. Carl Bell's Keys to Reducing Violence and Re-Engaging Youth to Society | | | Dr. Carl C. Bell, M.D., F.A.P.A., FA.C.P. President & CEO Community Mental Health Center of Chicago  For over 30 years, Dr. Bell has practiced psychiatry. As an internationally recognized lecturer and author, he has given numerous presentations on mental wellness, violence prevention, and traumatic stress caused by violence. Most recently, he has participated as the Principle Investigator with CHAMP, an HIV/AIDS youth prevention research project in South Africa. He is the author of The Sanity of Survival: Reflections on Community Mental Health and Wellness and co-author of Suicide and Homicide Among Adolescents. Dr. Bell is also a clinical professor of psychiatry and public health at the University of Illinois School of Medicine. In recognition of his efforts to reduce violence, he became the first recipient of the American Psychiatric Foundation's Minority Service Award in 2004. He is also the recipient of the American Psychiatric Association's Presidential Award.
Dr. Carl C. Bell's Seven Principles for Changing At-Risk Behavior and Cultivating Resiliency Among Youth
1. Rebuilding the Village/Reweaving the social fabric/Recreating a sense of community
Reestablishing a sense of community by bringing together churches, schools, and families to create networks, organize resources and establish programs that provide support, safety and security for our youth. A sense of community also reinforces cultural identity.
2. Providing access to ancient and modern technology to provide practical systems for the application of knowledge
Providing models, tools, skills and techniques to facilitate implementation of the concept or program (for example, mentoring, multi-family groups, how to cultivate resiliency and wellness, and manualized family interventions).
3. Providing a sense of connectedness
Creating situations, programs and relationships that foster a sense of connection, attachment, and belonging to a larger group or a common goal. This counters feelings of alienation, helps provide feelings of security, and increases self-esteem. Again, reestablishing the village reinforces cultural identity and can be a platform for the delivery of cultural education. Well thought out rites of passage (e.g. the belt system of progression in Japanese martial arts) programs have been very effective in actualizing this principle.
4. Providing opportunity to learn social & emotional skills
Providing social and emotional skills that people need to interact and communicate with each other. This not only increases self-esteem but effectiveness in relationships as well. These include parenting skills, refusal skills, negotiating skills, the capacity to remain calm in a crisis, and more.
5. Providing opportunities to increasing self-esteem
A. Giving our children a sense of power (self-efficacy) by showing them they can do things for themselves and positively influence their own lives. For example, adopting healthy behaviors creates both a sense of wellness and an outcome of wellness.
B. Providing a sense of models to help our young make sense of the world and teaching them how things work. Mentoring is a very powerful model that can be used to achieve this. A strong cultural value system is another.
C. Creating a sense of specialness and uniqueness as an individual or group. Clearly, knowing and respecting your culture gives you a sense of power by virtue of being connected to something valuable and strong.
D. Creating a sense of connectedness - encouraging bonding and connection to a culture, group or an idea. Teaching them their history and cultural significance creates a sense of power from being associated with a rich and powerful legacy. Spirituality is another powerful influence in encouraging connectedness.
6. Providing an adult protective shield
Providing an adult protective shield and monitoring speaks to providing supervision, discipline, and a caring adult presence. These foster a sense of safety and security. The concept of the village with multiple adult figures taking responsibility for the nurture and well-being of the village children is a concept that connects us to our culture and our spirituality. Wellness is also important in this respect. A child can be severely stressed by the illness of a caretaking adult, so it is in the best interest of the adult to adopt behaviors that promote wellness, both personally, and as a model for children to emulate.
7. Minimizing trauma
Minimizing trauma - Developing an individual's spirituality, a person's sense of self-efficacy, helping create a sense of safety, and providing stress management skills as well as psychological first aid (see attached) to encourage a sense of self-mastery and turn helplessness into helpfulness are all examples of putting this principle into action. You may contact Dr. Bell at: Carl C. Bell, M.D.
President/C.E.O. Community Mental Health Council
8704 S. Constance
Chicago, IL 60617
(773) 734 - 4033 x 204 (office)
www.thecouncil-online.org | | Join the National "Take a Black Male to Worship" Day on Sunday, March 1, 2009 | | Phillip Jackson, executive director of The Black Star Project, delivered the Men's Day message at First Wesley Academy UMC in Harvey, Illinois on Sunday, December 14, 2008, as the kick-off of "Take a Black Male to Worship" day. Please call Rev. Catherine Jackson at 773.285.9600 or email blackstar1000@ameritech.net if you would like for your church, mosque, synagogue or other faith-based organization to participate in this national effort to support Black males on or about March 1, 2009.
  Phillip Jackson congratulates Rev. Charles Woolery on a great job of organizing the men of First Wesley Academy to work in the vineyards of young Black males in the city of Harvey, Illinois. The churches listed below participated in The Black Star Project's "Take a Black Male to Worship" initiative on Sunday, December 21, 2008, or on their nearest day of worship. If your faith institution did not participate, why not?
City Name of Church or Association Pastor or Representative Buffalo, New York Zion Missionary Baptist Church Gregory Brice Chicago, Illinois Pastors of the Englewood Community Apostle Ulyesses Ruff, Sr. Chicago, Illinois Gospel Temple Church of God and Christ Eleder Sidney Grandberry Chicago, Illinois True Vine of Holiness Missionary Baptist Rev. Dr. Henderson Hill
Chicago, Illinois Cathedral Missionary Baptist Church Rev. Otis L. Anderson Jr. Chicago. Illinois God Seed Ministries Pastor Glenn Bone
Chicago, Illinois Cathedral of Love Church Rev. Daniel Allen
Chicago, Illinois Inspirational Deliverance C.O.G.I.C. Evangelist Shirley Hughes
Chicago, Illinois New Memorial Missionary Baptist Church Rev. Roosevelt Walker, Jr. Chicago, Illinois St. Mark Church Rev. Ed Harris
Chicago, Illinois ABBA Church of Renewal Faith Rev. Sharyon Cosey
Chicago, Illinois Stone Temple Baptist Church Rev. Derrick M. Fitzpatrick
Chicago, Illinois New Pentecostal House of Glory Pastor Lafayette E. Young Sr.
Cleveland, Ohio St. James AME Church Mr. Steven Sims
Detroit, Michigan Liberty Baptist Church Rev. Steve Bland
Harvey, Illinois First Wesley Academy UMC Rev. Charles Woolery
High Point, N.C. Temple Memorial Baptist Church Rev. Thomas A. Bannister
Kansas City, Kansas Cross Roads Christian Cathedral Pastor P. T. Hood
Los Angeles, Calif. Higher Order of Discipline Ministries De'Niece Williams
Mooresville, N. C. St. Paul United Methodist Church Rev. Donald McCoy
Rockford, Illinois Liberty Baptist Church Rev. Herbert Johnson, Jr.
Take a Black boy or a young Black man between 2 and 32 years old to worship on Sunday, March 1, 2009. Take them to any service--morning, afternoon or evening, to your church, mosque synagogue or preferred place of worship because the battle to save Black boys is also, and especially, a spiritual battle. This is a national program open to all faiths and denominations.
We have been told that some men and some faith leaders do not know where to find Black boys. Too many Black boys are on street corners, at night clubs, affiliated (rolling) with street organizations and in prisons and jails. Many others are struggling in elementary and high schools or are working low-wage jobs. It is easy to find Black boys who need guidance and support, but it is hard to find Black men who will take an interest in these Black boys. The harvest of Black boys in America is plentiful, but the laborers--Black men who are willing to work with these boys--are few. Please ask your faith leader to ensure that your faith-based institution participates in this event. If you wish to participate in or lead the effort in your city or at your faith-based institution on Sunday, March 1, 2009, or your day of worship near this date, please call Rev. Catherine Jackson at 773.285.9600 for an organizing kit. | Attend the New Schools Expo at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois - Saturday, January 31, 2009 Black Parents Must Become Active Managers in their Children's Educational Lives Please call 1-888-7-MYCHOICE for more information or visit "Those who control the education of the children, control the future of that race." - Phillip Jackson, The Black Star Project | | | | Phillip Jackson, executive director of The Black Star Project, will keynote the Illinois Women in Educational Leadership for Diversity Conference
| |  Friday-Saturday, January 30-31, 2009 Bradley University - Robert H. Michel Student Center - Peoria, Illinois
With this conference we plan to promote a statewide dialogue about best leadership practices to enhance academic learning in diverse environments. We seek to understand policy implications at the local, state and national levels that affect all stakeholders in diverse settings. And we hope that from this dialogue will emerge effective leadership practices to build inclusive learning communities where diversity is valued, respected and promoted.
| U of I Summer "Science of Chocolate" Internships Available to Teens Unravel the mysteries of chocolate and learn about agriculture, science and food marketing | |   URBANA - Science-minded high-school students should consider applying for a 15-day summer internship at the University of Illinois, especially if they're interested in chocolate. "Our goal is to introduce the students to many aspects of food science through the study of chocolate. We will teach them to monitor quality changes in chocolate and use scientific principles to investigate changes in chocolate during storage," said Nicki Engeseth, an associate professor of food chemistry in the U of I Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Interns will tour the U of I Center for Microanalysis of Materials where U of I food scientists have used nanotechnology to analyze grain size, crystal structure, and roughness parameters of chocolate, all factors that studies have shown influence taste, texture, and the release of flavor compounds, the scientist said. "The students will also learn about the history of chocolate, including fair-trade issues that are relevant today. We'll cover its production all the way from its beginning in the cacao pod to the final product, either milk, white, or dark chocolate, and talk about the differences between them," she said. "Nutritionists and food scientists are also interested in the health benefits of chocolate," she said. "We will demonstrate a nutritional intervention study on the effects of consuming chocolate comparing students to illustrate how such studies are conducted and analyzed." Engeseth's laboratory also contains tools for making chocolate, including conching, tempering, and molding machines. In the teaching laboratory, students will learn why chocolate behaves as it does during food preparation and compete in an Iron Chef competition. Also planned are a field trip to a local chocolatier to learn how the experts mold some of their more fanciful and fun chocolate creations as well as participation in a sensory panel in which students will evaluate such qualities as flavor, mouth-feel, and graininess, record their impressions, and relate these to other instrumental analyses. As part of the project, Engeseth and Melissa Tisoncik, a graduate student in her laboratory, will conduct a short workshop for high-school science teachers, giving them hands-on experience so they can bring some of the activities back to their own classrooms. Six interns will be chosen to participate in the program. Housing and meals will be provided through support from a USDA CSREES-sponsored integrated grant proposal, but students will need to arrange their own transportation to and from the university, Engeseth said. Interested students should apply by March 2, 2009, and a decision will be reached by March 23, 2009, according to Engeseth. For more information, interested students should contact Melissa Tisoncik at uiuc.chocolate@gmail.com. Source: Nicki Engeseth, (217) 244-6788, engeseth@illinois.edu
News writer: Phyllis Picklesimer | | | | | | | | The Black Star Project | 3473 South King Drive, Box 464 | Chicago | IL | 60616 |  |
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