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We don't disagree at all. I think all of those things are great. I try to be a role model in my community and its a struggle.
I think your ideas are great, but it kind of goes back to the initial paragraph in the article. I'll explain.
Think about what its going to take to improve the schools. To have after school programs and sports programs, etc. It's going to take money. There's no money in those neighborhoods. And compounding the fact that there's no wealth, there's inferior schools, high addiction rates, violence, etc.
Which goes back to the point in the article in many ways.
Those kids didn't get a choice of where to grow up. They didn't get a choice of who their parents were. What school they went to. What their neighborhood was like.
They were simply born.
These kids didn't get to choose where they grew up. They are not responsible for what their parents did before they had them. They are simply born, and start to learn through the environment they grow up in.
"I try to be a role model in my community and its a struggle."
I respect you for that.
I am ALL for spending as much money as it takes.
However, as we have seen money is NOT always the answer.
Wash, D.C and Baltimore lead the list for the MOST spent per student in the Country and are at the bottom of the success chart.
The money HAS to be spent more WISELY.
"Think about what its going to take to improve the schools. To have after school programs and sports programs, etc. It's going to take money. There's no money in those neighborhoods."
I don't know about where you live but, every place I have lived schools are in a "district" which is usually controlled by a county, city and state.
EVERY school gets the SAME amount of money per student.
I don't know, I admit I am NOT familular with every school in the country, of a school that does NOT have sports teams. Not talking about elementary schools of course.
Until black people are lifted up by role models and leaders who show them all that has actually been accomplished by black people in this country, nothing will change.
REAL "black pride": Show young people how there are scores of AA business leaders, lawyers, police, doctors, politicians, scientists, astronauts, physicists. Instead of learning that George Washington Carver had an instrumental role in developing peanut butter (if that's even true), focus on how American corporations like American Express and McDonalds have been headed by black men... in Mcdonalds case, by a black man who literally worked his way up the chain.
You can't feed a population a steady diet of victimology and "woe is me" and then expect they will aspire to anything greater. The examples are already there, however, for black youth to aspire to:
Edit: BTW, I was never told life is fair. Who tells their kids that? I grew up quite poor... 5 of us in 800 sq. ft. 2 br house poor, mom working long hours to support us as dad became disabled from a construction job poor. I don't ever recall "not" going to college being an option for me. I had very diverse neighbors, mostly working class and working poor folks. I went to a school that shipped in black students from other parts of the county to racially balance the schools. We all had the same opportunities presented to us, K-12.
And luckily, in this country, with academic scholarships, pell grants and financial need scholarships, my parents didn't have to pay a dime for my college. (My grad school was on me, and is a burden of student loans, but undergrad was free). Minorities have additional grants available to them. By a quirk in Florida statutes, I would actually even qualify as a minority owned business to access the benefits of same if I ever wanted to start a business. This country does a lot - more than probably most others - to address imbalances. But you can only lead a horse to water. You can't make it drink.
"I try to be a role model in my community and its a struggle."
I respect you for that.
I am ALL for spending as much money as it takes.
However, as we have seen money is NOT always the answer.
Wash, D.C and Baltimore lead the list for the MOST spent per student in the Country and are at the bottom of the success chart.
The money HAS to be spent more WISELY.
"Think about what its going to take to improve the schools. To have after school programs and sports programs, etc. It's going to take money. There's no money in those neighborhoods."
I don't know about where you live but, every place I have lived schools are in a "district" which is usually controlled by a county, city and state.
EVERY school gets the SAME amount of money per student.
I don't know, I admit I am NOT familular with every school in the country, of a school that does NOT have sports teams. Not talking about elementary schools of course.
What is your opinion on Charter schools?
I definitely agree with you. 110% I believe before we can fund programs like your mentioning, we have to get the corruption and greed out of those positions of power. I think we need a clean sweep to show the Politicians exactly who's in charge. Otherwise we're simply rotating heads within the same system. And I mean both parties.
I'm ok with charter schools and specialized schools. I think they're great. I think public schools should be taken care of 1st, but I think additional education options are always good for some students and parents.
I'll admit, I'm not the education expert. So i don't know of all of the problems and issues with our current system, but I would definitely support anyone addressing the issues.
Just about what we discussed, a lot of inner city schools don't have sports teams. I think that's so sad. They need those programs more than anyone and there should also be more after school programs and "safe havens" for kids and teenagers to be kids and teenagers.
We spend so much and worry so much about defense, that we forget about so many of the basics imo.
Until black people are lifted up by role models and leaders who show them all that has actually been accomplished by black people in this country, nothing will change.
REAL "black pride": Show young people how there are scores of AA business leaders, lawyers, police, doctors, politicians, scientists, astronauts, physicists. Instead of learning that George Washington Carver had an instrumental role in developing peanut butter (if that's even true), focus on how American corporations like American Express and McDonalds have been headed by black men... in Mcdonalds case, by a black man who literally worked his way up the chain.
You can't feed a population a steady diet of victimology and "woe is me" and then expect they will aspire to anything greater. The examples are already there, however, for black youth to aspire to:
Edit: BTW, I was never told life is fair. Who tells their kids that? I grew up quite poor... 5 of us in 800 sq. ft. 2 br house poor, mom working long hours to support us as dad became disabled from a construction job poor. I don't ever recall "not" going to college being an option for me. I had very diverse neighbors, mostly working class and working poor folks. I went to a school that shipped in black students from other parts of the county to racially balance the schools. We all had the same opportunities presented to us, K-12.
And luckily, in this country, with academic scholarships, pell grants and financial need scholarships, my parents didn't have to pay a dime for my college. (My grad school was on me, and is a burden of student loans, but undergrad was free). Minorities have additional grants available to them. By a quirk in Florida statutes, I would actually even qualify as a minority owned business to access the benefits of same if I ever wanted to start a business. This country does a lot - more than probably most others - to address imbalances. But you can only lead a horse to water. You can't make it drink.
I agree with what you said.
The group in the OP and The Movement have a lot of entrepreneurs, motivational speakers, community organizations, faith groups, etc in it that push a different message than what your hearing in the media.
During the Ferguson protest, the site was hacked and #BlackLivesMatter was resurrected and the narrative was controlled from there. The 2 Movements are very different in their narrative and who is allowed to lead. There's Native Groups, Asian Groups, Hispanics, Africans.. There's a lot of different races and people from different backgrounds leading #TheMovement.
That's what the media DOESN'T want you to hear. Using certain tag words and race can get them a lot of $$.
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