Black Men in 100 Cities Mentor Black Young Men and Boys; The Honorable Minister Farrakhan Speaks on Education; Will You Host A Daddy/Daughter Dance 2012?; See Red Tails -- The Great American Film; Canada Looks At African American Father Absence

100 Cities Are Mentoring Black Young Men and Boys During January and February 2012 Join the Black Male Achievement Movement and encourage strong, positive Black men from around the country and the world to work for Black Male Achievement. Join the Black Male Achievement Movement  during January and February 2012, as we mentor tens of thousands of Black boys and young men across America.  Young Black men from Urban Prep Academy in Chicago. The path to positive manhood!!! Common at Eagle Academy in New York City. The path to positive manhood!!!   A Morehouse College Graduation in Atlanta, Georgia The path to positive manhood!!! Young Black men dressed for sucess. Become a mentor of young Black men and boys!    To become one of the the Servant Leaders in your city planning and directing this effort, please call 773.285.9600. We will provide you with an organizing kit that will help you step-by-step to create, manage or support an outstanding mentoring program in your city.  We will also provide technical assistance and ongoing support. Schools, faith-based organizations, fraternities, Masonic organizations, veterans associations, community-based organizations, affinity organizations, military service personnel, social service agencies, companies and corporations will participate in this effort.  Most mentoring events will occur on January 31, 2012.  The last event will occur on February 29, 2012.  Please see cities that are expected to participate as of January 11, 2012:      Albany, New York Atlanta Georgia Aurora, Colorado Baltimore, Maryland Baton Rouge, Louisiana Blandensburg, Maryland Boston, Massachusetts Buffalo, New York Carbondale, Illinois  Chicago, Illinois - South Side Chicago, Illinois - West Side  Chicago, Illinois - South Suburbs Cincinnati, Ohio Colorado Springs, Colorado Columbia, Missouri Columbus, Georgia Dallas, Texas Danbury, Connecticut Danville, Illinois Delray Beach, Florida Detroit, Michigan Denver, Colorado Dolton, Illinois Durham, North Carolina East Chicago, Indiana East Orange, New Jersey Englewood, Colorado Flint, Michigan Flossmoor, Illinois Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fredricksberg, Virginia Gary, Indiana Gilbert, Arizona Hammond, Indiana Hartford, Connecticut Harvey, Illinois Hillside, Illinois Houston, Texas Hyattsville, Maryland Indianapolis, Indiana  Irvington, New Jersey Jackson, Mississippi Kansas City, Missouri Kenesaw, Georgia Lenoir, North Carolina Lexington, Kentucky Lithonia, Michigan Los Angeles, California Louisville, Kentucky Macon, Georgia Manassas, Virginia Markham, Illinois Matteson, Illinois Mentor, Ohio Milwaukee, Wisconsin Minneapolis, Minnesota Munster, Indiana  Nashville, Tennessee New Orleans, Louisiana New York City, New York - Manhattan New York City, New York - The Bronx New York City, New York - Brooklyn New York City, New York - Queens New York City, New York - Long Island New York City, New York - Harlem Newark, New Jersey Oakland, California Oak Park, Illinois Omaha, Nebraska Palmdale, California Peoria, Illinois  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix, Arizona Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Richmond, California Richmond, Virginia Riverdale, Illinois San Bernardino, California San Francisco, California Santan Valley, AZ Seattle, Washington Shelbyville, Indiana  Southaven, Mississippi Spotsylvania County, Virginia St. Louis, Missouri St. Paul, Minnesota St. Petersburg, Florida Tampa, Florida Thomasville, Georgia Toledo, Ohio Tougaloo, Mississippi Tshwane, Botswana Tuscaloosa, Alabama  University Park, Illinois Upper Marboro, Maryland Vicksburg, Mississippi  Washington, D.C. Waukegan, Illinois White Plains, New York Yazoo City, Mississippi     This event was inspired by the life and life principles of Muhammad Ali (Rumble Young Man, Rumble!).  The Black Male Achievement Movement was born in Louisville, Kentucky in September 2011.  Guidance, support and encouragement for this movement is provided by Open Society Foundations' Campaign for Black Male Achievement.  The National CARES Mentoring Movement and Mentoring U.S.A have signed on as national supporters.  For more information, please call 773.285.9600.   Click Here to see the Fathers Incorporated PSA on mentoring.    Click Here to see the Mentoring USA PSA on mentoring. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan Speaks to College Students About Education, Black People and the Future at Chicago State University Wednesday, January 25, 2012 6:00 pm (Doors Open at 5:00 pm) Jacoby Dickens Center 9500 South on King Drive Chicago, Illinois Colleges and Universities Invited: Art Institute of Chicago Aurora University Benedictine University Bradley University Chicago State University City Colleges or Chicago Columbia College Concordia University DePaul University DeVry University Dominican University East/West University Eastern Illinois University Elmhurst College Governors State University Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois State University Illinois Wesleyan University Jacob H. Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies (NEIU) Lake Forest College Loyola University Chicago National-Louis University Northeastern Illinois University Northern Illinois University North Park University Northwestern University Robert Morris College Roosevelt University Saint Xavier University Southern Illinois University - Carbondale Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville University of Chicago University of Illinois Champaign Urbana University of Illinois Chicago University of Illinois Springfield Western Illinois University See Red Tails Today!!! When George Lucas, director and producer of Star Wars, cannot get a film about Black American war heros produced, financed and distributed without paying his own money, what does that say about America?  This movie will inspired generations of young Black boys, help America appreciate young Black men and improve race relations in America!  Don't miss it! As a matter of principle, every Black American and every American should see "Red Tails" in its first week at the box office beginning Friday, January 20, 2012.  This movie is not just about war...it is about history and it is about the future of America!  Take your family!  Take your church!  Take your school!  Take your block club!  Take your homeless shelter or your halfway house.  This is a great American story!  Are we great Americans?     Click Here to hear George Lucas tell why no one would finance or distribute this movie from one of the world's most renown movie directors.   Click Here to see a trailer of Red Tails!!! Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Life by Praying The Devil Back To Hell   Join us on Monday, January 23, 2012, 6:30 pm at 3509 South King Drive in Chicago to "Pray The Devil Back To Hell!!! If the women of Liberia can end violence by praying and acting, so can we!  We must pray and we must act, now!!! On Good Friday in 1963, 53 blacks, led by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., marched into downtown Birmingham to protest the existing segregation laws. All were arrested.    Join us for the film - Pray The Devil Back to Hell!  on Monday, January 23, 2012 Film: 6:30 pm  Discussion and Prayer: 7:30 pm at  The Black Star Project 3509 South King Drive, Suite 2B Chicago, Illinois $5.00 for members - $10:00 for non-members.     Being sick and tired of being sick and tired of youth violence in America is not enough!  You must pray and you must act. On Monday, January 23, 2012, the men and women of Chicago will gather to see the powerful movement and documentary of women that brought peace to war torn Liberia, Pray The Devil Back To Hell.  And the men and women of Chicago will work to pray the devil of violence and despair that is in Chicago back to Hell! Join them.  Men and women across America can join this movement to Pray the Devil (of violence) Back to Hell in your city or town by calling 773.285.9600.  Click Here to view a trailer of the documentary.  Those who have attended previous showings of this documentary will be admitted free. When Fathers Are Their Daughters First Date, Every Other Man After That Must Measure Up! Men and women across America should/can plan and host a Daddy/Daughter Dance for Valentines Day. Call us at 773.285.9600 for an organizing kit to host a Daddy/Daughter Dance in your community or in your city.  Men in Chicago can register now for our February 11, 2012 Daddy/Daughter Dance by calling 773.285.9600.  Canada and American Scholars Look at  The Fatherless African-American Family   The Fatherless African-American Family January 13, 2012   In aboriginal families across Canada, and in African American families in the U.S., too many children know only one parent. On tomorrow's show, we'll bring you our Town Hall, Fathers without fathers: Aboriginal men in Canada. It's not an issue we talk about much but in the U.S., it's much studied and there are efforts to encourage dads to come home. Today we're looking south to the African-American experience and the stark contrast in homes with and without fathers.   Last night in Whitehorse, The Current held a special Town Hall, called Father's without Fathers, Aboriginal Men in Canada. We aired a sample, hearing from Joe Migwans, of the Skookum Jim Friendship Centre in Whitehorse. You can hear from him tomorrow, when we devote the entire program to the Town Hall.   In Canada, 70 per cent of all single family aboriginal homes are headed by women. We've known that for some time. But few people have asked - where exactly are the men? Why aren't the fathers at home? In the United States, research also shows a troubling trend of fatherless families - especially among African Americans.   In the U.S., 64 percent of black children live in homes without a father. That's nearly 2 out of 3 kids. However, the will to do something about it goes as high as the Oval office. We aired a clip with then Senator Barack Obama addressing the congregation at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, on June 15, 2008 - father's day. Today, President Obama is behind a national initiative to bring fathers back home.   Our next guest would agree that the absence of fathers in the African-American community is of national importance. Phillip Jackson is the executive director of the Chicago-based Black Star Project, an organization working to improve the quality of life in Black and Latino communities. He was in Chicago.   We'll bring this discussion of fathers north, and focus on aboriginal fathers tomorrow on The Current when we air our Town hall recorded in Whitehorse last night, Fathers Without Fathers - Aboriginal Men in Canada. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Click Here to listen to the interview with Phillip Jackson (starts at the 2 minute 38 second mark) on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Can Students Teach Teachers How to Teach Better?    Teacher Training, Taught by Students    By WINNIE HU January 14, 2011 Eyka Stephens, a trainer in a program for teachers, dancing with a student, Roquan Greene, at Brick Avon Academy in Newark. (Photo by Richard Perry/The New York Times) Syidah O'Bryant scribbled notes in a composition book, trying to keep up with a lesson about why teenagers are so sleepy in the morning.    Usually Ms. O'Bryant, an eighth-grade social studies teacher, is the one talking. But on Tuesday, it was her student, Kare Spencer, 14.   "She's the boss of me; she's teaching me," Ms. O'Bryant said.   In a role reversal, Ms. O'Bryant and other teachers at Brick Avon Academy are getting pointers from their students this year as part of an unusual teacher training program at 19 low-performing Newark schools.   The lesson learned by Ms. O'Bryant? "It makes you think about really hearing the kids," she said. "You can learn from them. They have their own language."   The training program, which is supported by a federal grant, is being run by the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, a nonprofit group based in Syosset, N.Y. During a daylong workshop, teachers were instructed by the group's trainer, Eyka Stephens, to watch their students teach mock lessons, study their methods and language, and discuss together what works (and what does not).   The half-dozen students who participated told their teachers that they learned better when they could move around, interact with classmates and use computers and the Internet - prompting Ms. O'Bryant to joke that she should find a way to give tests on Facebook.   But afterward, the teachers said they saw ways to incorporate the students' ideas into their teaching methods. Wanda Davis, 53, a science teacher, said that she planned to have her students stretch before tests, and play a musical-chair-like game she had learned at the training session, in which students paired off when she called "stop," as a way, she said, "to build a sense of community in the classroom."   "The more they can tell you about what interests them, what motivates them, the more you can gear the lesson to their needs," she said.   The idea of using students to help teachers sharpen their skills came from the National Urban Alliance's trainers, who, while working with Newark's teachers, observed how easily students on the playground seemed to teach one another the latest dances or games.   "It's just so natural for them," said the group's chief of staff, Ahmes Askia, who oversees the Newark program. "Their friends get it, and they get it almost effortlessly, so we're saying to the teachers: use that in the classroom."   The idea is getting some traction. Joint student-teacher training has spread to schools in San Francisco; Bridgeport, Conn.; and East Allen County in Indiana.   In Greene County in Georgia, high school students assigned to attend school on a Saturday because they had been tardy were recruited to participate in a teacher training session. In Yonkers, the school district included 250 students in "learning labs" for teachers last summer, as a way to give teachers ideas to improve techniques and to give students enrichment - in subjects like science, math and technology - despite budget cuts.   And Eric Cooper, president of the National Urban Alliance, said his group had received inquiries from education foundations and state education departments.   Newark, which is searching for a new superintendent amid renewed efforts to turn around its failing schools and improve student achievement, will soon have more students involved in teacher training. The Newark Teachers Union plans to include high school students in a professional development program on Saturday that it and a foundation are sponsoring.   Joseph Del Grosso, the union president, said he learned the value of student input as a fourth-grade teacher in Newark in the late 1970s. While he received high marks from administrators, he said, students complained that they did not understand his math lessons.   "The one thing about elementary school kids is that they're very honest," he recalled. "It made me feel bad, but I figured I needed to do better."   Mr. Del Grosso said he sought help from other math teachers, started using more visual aids to illustrate abstract concepts and even incorporated chess into math lessons. It worked, he said - to the point where some students started beating him at chess.   At Brick Avon Academy, a low-performing school that was turned over to a group of former Teach for America teachers to run this year, the training workshops have invigorated the staff and the students. The training is required for teachers in the sixth through eighth grades; students are selected at random.   Assata M. Wilson, 13, an eighth grader, said she felt important because her teachers wanted to hear what she had to say. Too often in class, she said, there was no time for that. "They're teaching us, so it helps them to know how we're thinking," she said.   Daniel Lu, a special-education teacher, said that the workshops provided him with a road map to give students more independence while keeping them on task.   "As a teacher, it's really hard to give up control of your classroom," he said. "I think we have to trust our students more to work together."   For Ms. O'Bryant, 35, the workshops have reinforced her belief that students can learn best when they are teaching one another. When she is the only one running lessons, she said, students sometimes tune out or do not pick up the material, no matter how many times she repeats it.   "When we went to school, we would sit down and listen," she said. "Now you've leveled the playing field. It's not always what Ms. O'Bryant says." In New York and New Jersey, Celebrate Great Fathers with Fathers Incorporated   Click on http://www.eventbee.com/v/2012tiesneverbroken for Ticket Information.