| In Florida, Working to Save Black Boys from Poor Schools, Violence, the Streets and Prisons | | Black males face tougher odds in school | | Hillsborough Assistant Superintendent Lewis Brinson assists a student with his tie at Benjamin Franklin Middle School on the first day of class. (Andy Jones/Staff) |
By SHERRI ACKERMAN
November 04, 2011 TAMPA -- At 14, Shawn Turner-McGee is a convicted felon, arrested last spring for pushing his teacher and grabbing her arms. He said it was a misunderstanding, one that he wrote a written apology for and served probation. Last month, Greco Middle School officials suspended the seventh-grader twice for shoving and provoking another boy in the hall. On Thursday, during his first week back on campus, Shawn was in trouble again following another scuffle and school lockdown. "I don't want him to be labeled a bad kid,'' said his mother, Christy Turner. "I want him to get his education.'' But it won't be easy. Shawn and other black males are among the most at-risk students in the district and the nation. Part of the blame may point to strict discipline policies, but progress could be coming through new diversion programs. And while the gap in graduation rates between black males and boys of other races may be narrowing, it's still an issue that leads to future consequences. "It's a serious problem,'' said Ross Anderson, a resource teacher and intervention specialist who works with young black males at Van Buren Middle School and Steinbrenner High. "We are losing a lot of boys.'' Losing them in school, where black male students in Hillsborough County are less likely to graduate than their white peers and more often suspended and expelled. Then to the street, where they face more incidents of violence and incarceration. Only 47 percent of America's black males graduate high school, according to a 2010 report by the Schott Foundation, a Cambridge, Mass.-based organization that funds programs to help public schools. In Florida, state Department of Education records show that 61 percent of black male students graduated high school in 2008. That number rose two years later to 68 percent with 75 percent of black males in Hillsborough graduating with classmates who started high school the same year. Compare that to 88 percent of white males matriculating in the county, and it shows the gap between black and white male students is closing, education leaders say. Adding more teachers and programs that target at-risk students and actively engaging parents seem to help. But there's still work to be done when it comes to keeping black boys in school. * * * * * Black males are twice as likely in Florida to face suspensions or expulsions than white and Hispanic males, a Tampa Tribune analysis found. In Hillsborough, black males are three times more likely to be suspended from school than white males and five times more likely to be expelled. A 2010 study by the civil rights advocate Southern Policy Law Center blames zero-tolerance disciplinary policies for the high rates. Despite two decades of the practice, the policies don't necessarily improve safety or learning, the law center said. In Hillsborough, which has zero tolerance for incidents like violence against teachers or bringing weapons to school, officials recognize the high rate of suspensions is a problem. Like other districts across the country, they're searching for solutions. One may be reducing the number of suspensions by influencing behavior, said Lewis Brinson, the district's assistant superintendent for principals. But sometimes, a suspension or expulsion is the only way to teach a child no matter the race right from wrong while ensuring other students are safe and able to learn, he said. Hillsborough uses additional resource teachers to provide afterschool tutoring, extra help in reading and math, and other support. The district also has embraced academic programs to keep struggling students on track. Anderson, the resource teacher, and other mentors are just one more way to reach out. * * * * * The former Verizon employee left the corporate world to teach, creating Men of Vision in 2005. He started the program with 21 boys at Sligh Middle School. Last year, 14 of the original members graduated from high school while four got their GED. The other three boys are foundering, said Anderson, whose program has grown to 125 boys at six schools. "I'm still working with them.'' With other teachers he has trained, Anderson works predominately with black males to motivate them in school and life. "A lot of these boys feel defeated,'' he said. Some don't have support at home. They start getting into trouble then assume their teacher or principal doesn't like them. If they get suspended from school, it can lead to a downward cycle, Anderson said. Parents have the option of putting their children in an alternative school program that keeps students from being penalized for the missed days and lets them make up assignments. But not everyone takes advantage of the program, said Anderson, who wants the district to make it mandatory. Once students get behind in their class work, it sets in motion a downward spiral, he said. Soon, they're living up to an expectation that they can't or won't succeed. He tells his boys, "Your school record is the first impression for a teacher or principal.'' If there are discipline referrals, suspensions, arrests, "a red flag goes up,'' he explains. "You get labeled.'' * * * * * That's what Christy Turner fears is happening to her son. "He's a good kid,'' the 30-year-old single mom said recently from her Temple Terrace apartment, where she cares for Shawn and his younger brother and sister. Shawn is on the track team and loves playing baseball. He comes home from school to homework and chores such as washing the dishes and cleaning the bathroom. He has to make his bed every morning. Mess up at home or at school, his mom said, and Shawn loses privileges like his cell phone, video games and his me-time. She tries to teach him right from wrong. It's a lesson Turner, a King High School dropout with two convictions for battery, has struggled with as well. "It's not a good life,'' she tells her son. "You lose a lot of stuff.'' Shawn gets that, he said last week outside Greco Middle School on Fowler Avenue. "I want to go somewhere in life,'' he said. "I want to be a lawyer.'' First, he has to survive middle school and that means learning to get along with others - or avoiding them. His mother plans to enroll him in Walton Academy next school year. She hopes the smaller charter school will provide a different atmosphere for her son. "I've got to stay away from the incidents,'' Shawn reminds himself. But turning the other cheek can be difficult - especially for teenage boys. "A lot of times, kids like this, they don't know how to walk away,'' said Brinson, a longtime educator and former principal. "We have to teach them they have a choice.'' Parents need to step up and become a partner with the district. "It takes all of us,'' Brinson said. "We can't write a kid off. "If we write a kid off at age 14, what are we saying?'' Senior researcher Buddy Jaudon and reporter Kevin Wiatrowski contributed to this report. |
| The Black Star Project Is Asking for Your Support for a Young Woman Who Died from Senseless Violence | | On Saturday, November 5, 2011, Chanda Thompson, the niece of Deborah member Charlene Davis became a victim of violence in Chicago. She, and two other young people, were shot to death on the corner of 87th and King Drive on the south side of Chicago. The Black Star Project is asking for your help by your donating $14.00 along with 100 other people to help pay for burial expenses for Ms. Thompson. We will provide you with a written receipt for the support you give. The family has managed all other cost. You may call 773.285.9600 for more information. | Chanda Thompson, niece of Charlene Davis |
Teen accused with killing three at South Side bakery held without bond
BY LAUREN FITZPATRICK
November 8, 2011
The young mother had just returned to the car with a cake for her 2-year-old daughter's birthday when shots rang out and blasted into the vehicle, prosecutors said Tuesday.
A male in black pants and black hoodie had run up to the car, reached in and kept firing, Assistant State's Attorney Jaime Santini said, killing Chanda Thompson, 21, the car's driver, Shawn Russell, 21, and the rear passenger, Cortez Champion, 21.
Firing the shots was Nicko Grayson, who at 17 has an extensive juvenile record and has served time in the county's juvenile detention facility, Santini said.
Thompson was hit in the neck and back, and the two men were shot in the head and back, as they sat in a parking lot in the 400 block of East 87th near A Piece of Cake Bakery shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday.
 | | Nicko Grayson |
Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil denied bail Tuesday to Grayson, wearing a black hoodie, after chiding him for not paying attention to the hearing.
"I have to consider the defendant's danger to himself and to the community," she said.
A witness reported seeing Grayson walking around the car and firing at the victims inside multiple times, Santini said. The witness allegedly watched Grayson reach inside and fire several more times, he said.
A second witness saw Grayson minutes before the shooting standing in a nearby alley, heard gunshots, and watched Grayson run back to the alley, where he got into a silver-colored car and fled.
The witness trailed the car for several blocks and saw Grayson and a second person run from it, Santini said.
A third witness told police Grayson ran from the parking lot of a restaurant with a gun in his hand. All three witnesses, Santini said, identified Grayson in a lineup.
Santini offered no motive for the shooting.
Grayson admitted to burglary and discharging a firearm in 2008, Santini said. He violated his probation from the gun case in 2009, then pleaded guilty twice in 2010 to residential burglary. He was paroled from juvenile custody in April.
He returns to court on Nov. 28. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| They have given up hope! Massive joblessness among disconnected Black youth leads to wanton violence, broken families, hyperincarceration and economic chaos in their communities! | | | Among Minorities, a New Wave of 'Disconnected Youth' By LAUREN WEBER
November 7, 2011 Men and women in their late teens and early 20s are struggling, but some are especially hard hit.
 According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, the unemployment rate last year among high-school dropouts between ages 16 and 24 was 29%-up from 17.7% in 2000 and seven points higher than that of their peers who finished high school but didn't go on to college.
The problem is particularly acute among Hispanics and African-Americans. Several studies have found that only about 50% of black and Hispanic students graduate from high school, compared with 75% of white students.
Up to 40% of the young people in these communities qualify as "disconnected youth," the term for young adults who are neither in school nor working, says David Dodson, president of MDC Inc., a research organization in Durham, N.C.
"They've given up hope," says Phillip Jackson, executive director of Chicago's Black Star Project, which helps African-American youth stay in school. He estimates that 75% to 80% of the young black men in Chicago are jobless.
"It leads to violence, broken families and hyperincarceration," for economic crimes that range from selling bootleg CDs to drug trafficking, he says.
The depressed job market means that competition for low-skill positions is fierce, as young dropouts compete with older and better-educated workers who are being pushed down the jobs ladder.
"It was hard enough for people without a high-school diploma before the downturn. Those folks are at the back of the line now," says Jonathan Bowles, director of the Center for an Urban Future in New York City.
Summer Forbes, 19 years old, dropped out of her Hartford, Conn., high school at 17. It "wasn't for me," she says. She spends her days hanging out with friends, completing the requirements for her diploma through an online program and checking Craigslist for job ads.
Two years ago, she managed to find a temporary job she liked at a day-care center. But when it ended in the summer of 2009, she found that she couldn't get back into the field without her certification for early-childhood education.
Since then, she has cycled through low-wage, often seasonal positions at retail stores, fast-food outlets and social-service organizations.
"I'm tired of waking up and worrying, worrying, worrying about where my next job is going to be," she says.
Andrew Sum, an economist at Northeastern University who studies disconnected youth, says dropouts will suffer a lifetime earnings loss of around $400,000 compared with high-school graduates.
There are costs to society as well. A 2004 study for the New Mexico Business Roundtable for Educational Excellence found that 10 years worth of male dropouts would pay $944 billion less in taxes over the course of their lifetimes than their high-school-graduate counterparts.
"This is the only group with no net contribution to the fiscal well-being of state and national government," says Mr. Sum. |
| National PTA's Chicago UFEI Team
and Black Star Community PTA (BSCPTA)
are coming to your neighborhood! | | | Black Star Community PTA on
Saturday, November 12, 2011
9:30am - Noon
at Thurgood Marshall Library
7506 South Racine Avenue Chicago, Illinois Topics: üStrengthening the Voice of Parents through Community PTAs üEnglewood Community Action Council Updates üNational PTA's Urban Family Engagement Initiative üDora's Beyond the Backpack Checklist |
| Join The Black Star Project's Million Fathers Club for a Day of Big Ten College Football FREE!!! | | | Calling All Fathers, Stepfathers, Foster Fathers, Grandfathers, Godfathers, Uncles, Brothers and Substantial Male Caregivers! You are invited to see Northwestern University Wildcats vs. Rice University Owls Saturday, November 12, 2011 Game Time 11:00 am at Ryan Field 1501 Central Street Evanston, Illinois  | | Northwestern defeated highly ranked Nebraska last week. |
The is a special game for Black Star members and supporters. The game starts at 1100 am on Saturday, November 12, 2011. You must pick up your tickets from Bruce by 10:30 am that morning at the stadium box office. Please call him at 773.285.9600 to RSVP for you and your young people. This is a fantastic opportunity to see two of the top football teams in America. Men, fathers and women of all races, ethnicities and faith backgrounds may and can attend this game. This event is open to everyone. We have a limited number of tickets available, so call now! If you would like to RSVP to attend this game, become a member of The Black Star Project or for more information, please call Bruce at 773.285.9600. |
| "Take a Young Black Man to Worship Day" On Sunday, November 20, 2011, if your faith-based institution is not inviting, embracing and supporting young Black men, WHY NOT? On this day, every Black man is a father. You have plenty time to organize a successful "Take a Young Black Man to Worship Day." Call Bruce at 773.285.9600 for an organizing kit or to register your faith-based organization. | | | Take a young Black man to worship at your church, mosque, temple, synagogue or place of worship in your home town on November 20, 2011. The Black Star Project's Million Father Movement is partnering with the most dynamic force in the Black community--the Black church. Black churches, mosques, temples and synagogues across the country are working together on "Take a Black Male to Worship Day," Sunday, November 20, 2011. Faith-based institutions throughout America are participating in this event. We are especially asking fathers, grandfathers, foster fathers, stepfathers, uncles, cousins, big brothers, mentors, deacons, trustees, male choir members, significant male caregivers and family friends to join The Black Star Project in this movement. Women and men of all ethnicities are also encouraged to "Take a Black Male to Worship Day." Please email blackstar1000@ameritech.net or call Bruce Walker at 773.285.9600 to bring this effort to your city, to receive a complete organizing kit or for guidance concerning this event. Participating faith-based institutions will be listed in our national directory. If your faith institution is not participating, why not?
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 in your congregation on Sunday, November 20, 2011, (or your day of worship near this date), please call Bruce Walker at 773.285.9600 for an organizing kit and to register or email blackstar1000@ameritech.net.
Those who want to educate their children rather than wait for others to educate their children should join The Black Star Project in this effort at 773.285.9600 or visit our educational programs at www.blackstarproject.org. |
If "Occupy Wall Street" can be organized and executed in 3 days and if the Arab Spring can be launched in 4 days, how many days will it take for Black men to take control of the destiny of Black people in America and around the world? Join the November 12th Movement of Black men in action! | | A Campaign for Black Male
Achievement, Improvement and Action
Rumble Young Man, Rumble!  Saturday, November 12, 2011 9:00 am to 3:00 pm Your City, Your Space, Your Leadership In cities across America, Black males are being called to Achievement, Improvement and Action. In each city, 25 men from 25 organizations will meet for 6 hours and then engage in an key actions to improve their communities and our country. These solutions and actions will be shared with men and organizations throughout America. One of the key features of this day will be a 10 a city video conference role call introducing 250 Black men who are doing the work to each other and to America. Each session in each city will: - Contribute to a national solution on the issues of Black men
- Create a clearing house of Black male achievement, improvement and action organizations in that city
- Connect the people of that city to Black male improvement and achievement agencies in that city
- Connect the work of Black male improvement and achievement organizations in other cities across America
- Connect men and elders with youth and women in their communities
- Get Black men into action improving their children, families, communities and cities
- Chronicle achievement and improvement of Black men and Black people in your community and across the county
- Seek funding and resources to support organizations doing this work
 | | Picture from the Million Man March in 1996 organized by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan |
Planning the Day: Choose a Theme Choose a Space Choose a Day Choose a Facilitator/Moderator Choose a Scribe/Recorder Choose an Action Choose 25 participants Choose a Keynote Speaker or Expert Panel Choose Youth Participants or Women Partners Choose a Date for Next Meeting Themes and Topics for Black men to choose for their session/city:
1) Globalization and Black Men 2) Entrepreneurship/Economics/Business/Personal Finance and Black Men 3) Health/Nutrition/Emotional Wellness and Black Men 4) Education and Black Men 5) Relationships - Male/Male - Male/Female - Young/Old - Light Skin/Dark Skin -Black Men and Other Races/Ethnicities 6) Crime, Incarceration, the New Jim Crow and Black Men 7) Strengthing Families, Building Communities and Creating Institutions and Black Men 8) Mentoring, Networking and Black Men 9) Fatherhood, Father Absence and Black Men 10) Spirituality, Religiosity, Faith and Black Men 11) History, Culture and Black Men 12) Other Themes "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see! Rumble young man, rumble!" These cities have signed on to host A Campaign for Black Male Achievement, Improvement and Action summit on November 12, 2011. Will you host a summit in your city? 1) Albany, New York
2) Altanta, Georgia
3) Baltimore, Maryland
4) Baton Rouge, Louisiana
5) Cincinnati, Ohio
6) Detroit, Michigan
7) Houston, Texas 8) Jackson, Mississippi 9) Los Angeles, California 10) Louisville, Kentucky 11) Milwaukee, Wisconsin 12) New York City, New York (The Bronx) 13) New York City, New York (Manhattan) 14) Newark, New Jersey 15) Omaha, Nebraska 16) Peoria, Illinois 17) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 18) Phoenix, Arizona 19) San Bernardino, California 20) Washington, D.C. These sessions are inspired by work done in Louisville, Kentucky in September of 2011 organized by Open Society Foundations. This work is being done in honor of Muhammad Ali. Please call 773.285.9600 to sign up your city and to get an organizing kit to create A Campaign for Black Male Achievement, Improvement and Action Summit in your city. All cities participating will be listed. |
| School Closings "The reason you involve the community is not to make closings palatable. The reason you involve the community is because you want to make better decisions." Mary Filardo executive director of the Washington-based 21st Century School Fund | | | Study Warns of Limited Savings from Closing Schools
By Christina A. Samuels
November 1, 2011
Closing schools doesn't save very much money in the context of an urban district's budget, and selling or leasing surplus school buildings tends to be difficult because they're often old and in struggling neighborhoods, a recent report from a Philadelphia research group says. On the positive side, however, the study finds that students appear to make it through a school closure with minimal effects on their academic progress. And it says school districts can help generate some acceptance for a downsizing plan by involving the community early and establishing clear reasons for why certain schools must close. The report, released Oct. 19, was written by the Philadelphia Research Initiative to foreshadow what the 154,000-student Philadelphia district can expect over the next few years as it plans to close a number of schools because of declining enrollments. The district currently has 70,000 empty seats, according to the report. School administrators have not decided which schools to close and how many, but internal school documents published in June by the website Philadelphia Public School Notebook listed 26 schools that could be shut down. The report looks at school closings in Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Mo., Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and the District of Columbia. Each of those districts has closed at least 20 schools in the past decade, and most of the buildings have been shuttered in the recent past. For example, Pittsburgh, with around 25,300 students, went through a "right-sizing" effort that closed 22 schools in 2006. The district is now discussing closing seven more schools. The 17,400-student Kansas City district closed 29 schools-nearly half of its school buildings-in 2010. A Matter of Context
Closing schools does save money, but in districts whose budgets add up to hundreds of millions of dollars or more, the final savings are relatively small, said Larry Eichel, the program director for the Philadelphia Research Initiative, which is a project of the Pew Charitable Trusts. Philadelphia's current annual budget, for example, is $2.8 billion "The savings are under a million dollars per school," Mr. Eichel said. "That's real money, but not money that changes anything fundamentally." The biggest chunk of district money is spent on teachers, and those staff members typically are still needed, just at different locations. A district also has to pay for some maintenance on shuttered buildings so they don't become neighborhood eyesores. And districts should not expect a windfall from selling their old buildings. Those facilities are undesirable to businesses for some of the same reasons that districts decided to close them: The buildings are often located in areas that are losing population. Also, they tend to be in poor condition, and it may be hard to convert them to other purposes, Mr. Eichel said. The study found examples of repurposing, however. In Milwaukee, a former middle school was bought last year for $600,000 to be converted into senior housing. In Chicago, several closed schools have been converted to charter schools. Impact on Learning
In examining the academic performance of students in schools slated to be closed, the report focused on a study by the Consortium on Chicago School Research that looked at students whose schools were closed between 2001 and 2006. That study found that student performance fell at schools that were slated to be shut down and remained low for the rest of the school year. A year later, though, the academic performance of those displaced students had rebounded to preclosure levels. The Pew report also cites a study led by researchers from the RAND Corp. that examined achievement from students from closed schools in a "midsized urban district in the Northeast." Though the district was not named, the paper noted that the district closed 22 schools in the 2005-06 school year, which corresponds with Pittsburgh's experience. That paper said students in the district whose schools were closed did see a drop in their reading and math scores, but researchers found the effect could be mitigated or eliminated if the students were moved to schools that were higher-performing than the ones they left behind. The Pew report offers several tools that districts can use to reduce the pain of closing schools. For example, it suggests that outside experts can bring a level of objectivity to the proceedings. Seeking community support early is also essential, the report notes. It says that the 45,000-student District of Columbia school system committed a misstep by moving too quickly to close schools in the face of a 30 percent decline in enrollment. Under the leadership of then-Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, the school system announced that closures were coming in September 2007, and the final vote to close 23 schools came, after much controversy, four months later. Mary Filardo, the executive director of the Washington-based 21st Century School Fund, studies school facilities issues and agrees that the system in Washington moved too quickly to shut down schools. Too many school districts distrust the public when it comes to closure decisions, she said. Taking It to the Public
"The reason you involve the community is not to make [closings] palatable," she said. "The reason you involve the community is because you want to make better decisions." She added that people whose children attend school in such urban areas often "are working-class or low-income. They know about making tough decisions and struggling" and can understand the necessity for some closings. As District of Columbia school officials learned, making a misstep in school closings can cause political fallout. The community uproar over the closings in Washington was one of the ingredients that led last year to the primary-election defeat of then-Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, who had selected Ms. Rhee, and to the chancellor's departure. And after community members in Chicago protested that school- closure decisions were being made in secret, the Illinois legislature passed a law in August that governs how that 409,000-student system can make facilities decisions. "The political fallout is from not having a trusting relationship with your public," Ms. Filardo said. Being Transparent
But involving the public can be a delicate balancing act, said Nancy R. Kodman, the executive director for academic and operations integration for Pittsburgh schools. Just introducing the problem to the community, she said, leads to people saying, "You don't have any solutions? You don't have any ideas?" But a full plan is criticized for being drawn up in secret. "You lessen that by being as transparent as you can," Ms. Kodman said. When Pittsburgh closed more than 20 schools, she said, the district talked with the public about what it was hoping to achieve. Academic improvement was put forward as the top goal, and to eliminate some political horse-trading, the closures were considered as a group, in a single up-or-down vote by the school board. While many urban districts are struggling with how to handle excess space, Ms. Filardo noted that Seattle is dealing with overcrowded classrooms, thanks to unexpected population growth. The Seattle Times reported in October that in one school, a 4th grade class is meeting in a hallway, and many classes are meeting in portables. An infusion of about 1,500 more students than expected is prompting the district to reopen some schools that it had closed, over community objection, in the past few years. |
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