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Making Progress; Moving Forward! Black Youth in Peril Only 10% of Black Boys Read Proficiently Books Over Ball Daddy Daughter Dance 2014 People of Color 10 Times More Likely to Be Shot than Whites Cooley High on Broadway in Bronzeville Links:The Black Star Project's website: blackstarproject.org Black Star Journal: blackstarjournal.org Become a Member: Click Here Event Calendar: Click Here Like us on Facebook: Black Youth in Peril:  The Narrative of Jada Williams  13 year old Jada Williams persecuted by White teachers and Rochester (N.Y.)  Public School system for daring  to make a comparison of the modern education system to the old slavery system    "The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery." - From The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave  Jada Williams (photo provided by The Black Star Project) BY JASON MUHAMMAD - GUEST COLUMNIST  MAY 2, 2012       As we continue to see evidence of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan's warning that Black youth are in peril, we also see the danger is not always physical. Such is the case of Jada Williams, a 13-year-old 8th grader from Rochester, New York. Jada was recently forced to endure the chastisement of her teachers, principal, and other school administrators for her response to a district-wide activity where students were asked to read The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, and write a brief essay explaining what the narrative meant to them. Because of the essay she submitted, Jada was forced to leave school and was ultimately transferred to another school in order to protect her from further mistreatment. Jada composed a powerful essay comparing her own educational experiences with those of Frederick Douglass. Like him, she lamented that her peers did not like to read, and how difficult it was to obtain a decent education. According to the girl and her family, the following day teacher Jennifer Robie-Shoemaker approached Jada and stated that she was offended by what Jada wrote.  When Jada asked her why she was offended, Robie-Shoemaker stated that Jada had used the term "White teachers," according to the family.  Robie-Shoemaker's response was, "Don't talk about my colleague like that! Have you ever had a Black teacher?  That evening Jada's mother said she also received phone calls from the school's assistant principal, and Jada's social studies teacher saying the girl was misbehaving in class. The mother says she immediately called for a parent-teacher conference, feeling something did not seem right. The next day, Mrs. Williams, the assistant principal, Jada's social studies teacher, the school's parent liaison, and Robie-Shoemaker met. "The teacher (Robie-Shoemaker) kept saying that Jada was angry and that something was wrong with her, and that she needed to see a counselor," Mrs. Williams recalled. "They were trying to make it sound like something was wrong with Jada." "Teachers that had never called before began calling and saying that Jada was angry," Mrs. Williams said. "They were using the same language that Mrs. Robie-Shoemaker was using." "The people from the school kept saying how much they loved Jada," Mrs. Williams recalled. "But I told them, 'I don't need you to love her, I need for you to educate her.'"  ("Just like Frederick Douglass, Jada Williams was hunted like a run-away slave.  Her White teachers were angry that she had gotten "off the plantation" with her thinking and  talked about Black students holding White teachers accountable for teaching them to read. So they decided to hunt her down. Just like Harriet Tubman, Jada Williams tried to lead her classmates to educational freedom.  Just like Rosa Parks, Jada Williams struck the first blow for freedom by standing up!  Why do 13-year- old girls have to fight battles that Black adults won't?" - Phillip Jackson, The Black Star Project)     Click Here to Read Full Story  Click Here to Listen to the Full Essay and you decide if Jada Williams should have been forced out of school for wanting Black students to learn how to read. (Jason Muhammad is a member of the Nation of Islam in Rochester, New York.) In America, only 10% of 8th-grade Black boys can read proficiently* ****************************************************************** "If you teach that nigger how to read, there will be no keeping him! It will forever unfit him to be a slave! He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master." These are the words of Master Auld to his wife, who was teaching Frederick Douglass, a slave, to read. This passage is taken from an essay written by Jada Williams, 13, Rochester, New York. Click Here to see and hear Jada Williams read her essay.  She was shortly-after forced our of school for wanting Black children to learn to read. Click Here to learn more about Jada Williams. ****************************************************************** 2011 Reading Levels of 8th-Grade  Black Males from the Lowest-Performing  Large American School Districts*  City\Percentage of 8th-Grade Black Males Proficient in Reading*  Milwaukee - 3% Cleveland - 3% Detroit - 5% Washington (D.C.) - 6% San Diego - 7% Dallas - 7% Baltimore City - 7% Chicago - 9% Jefferson County, (KY) - 9% Atlanta - 9% Los Angeles - 9% Philadelphia - 9% Austin - 9% Houston - 9% Hillsborough County (FL) - 9% Boston - 10% Miami-Dade - 11% Charlotte - 12% New York City - 13%  ****************************************************************** It was illegal to teach slaves to read.  Slaves were beaten and killed if they could read.  New schools for former slaves were destroyed as an attempt to stop them from learning.  Did it work? There is no plan that we know of in any of the above cities or from the U.S. Department of Education to change the fact that 90% of 8th-grade of Black boys in America cannot read proficiently.  Black people in each of the above cities should call 773.285.9600 to become part of a plan to teach Black boys to read.  * Source: Minority Students and Public Education by Dr. Michael Holzman. This information was extracted from the U.S. Department of Education's National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for 2011.   TCR Talks: Revin Fellows wants more young people to hit the books, not the streets Revin Fellows started Books over Balls to encourage youth to make education a bigger focus in their lives. [Photo by Michelle Kanaar] Latricia Polk, intern, The Chicago Reporter  January 13, 2014 Revin Fellows was raised in the Chatham neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. On his way to play basketball at the Chatham YMCA, he would often pass the neighborhood drug dealers, who encouraged him to stay focused on his education. "In our community the protection and the encouragement came from low-level guys standing on the corners," Fellows says.  The 54-year-old former athlete went on to earn a bachelor's degree in physical education and health from Aurora University and has devoted much of his life to mentoring youth in poor neighborhoods. He helped start Book over Balls, a non-profit organization that mentors Chicago's youth and stresses education over violence.  The Chicago Reporter (TCR) talked recently with Fellows about sports, education and making a difference: What is Books Over Balls about? We use basketball as a motivation to bring young men back to getting their education with organized basketball tournaments like Battle for the Rim. In which communities does the organization work? We work with kids from South Shore, Austin and Englewood. We try to work with kids from all over Chicago and other organizations. What are some of the methods you use to reach the youth? You have to be honest with them and keep it positive with them, and you have to show them that you are for real, and we did that with our basketball showcase. How has Book over Balls made a difference? We were able to get 80 young men off the streets and into the gym. This past August we teamed up with NBA star Will Bynum's Elite Basketball Camp and had kids signing the Non-Violence Task Force Bill with Gov. Pat Quinn and State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford in pledging to stay away from violence. Why is this work important to you? It's a passion. When I was younger I had guy's mentoring me and helping me stay out of trouble. I'm trying to influence what they gave me. Click Here to Read Full Interview . Daughters Grab Your Fathers for  The 5th Annual Valentines Day  2014 Daddy Daughter Dance Saturday, February 8, 2014 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm at The Black Star Ballroom 3509 South King Drive Chicago, Illinois     Young women 4- to 14-years old are invited to dress up and show their fathers a good time at The Black Star Project's 5th Annual Daddy Daughter Dance.  Cost $30.00 per couple and $5.00 per extra young lady.  Please call 773.285.9600 to register your couple or to get a free organizing kit to bring theDaddy Daughter Dance to your city.  This event is sponsored byThe Black Star Project's Million Fathers Club.  Attire: Dress To Impress Music - Dancing - Food - Fun - Crafts - Pictures!!! Data: Black Chicagoans at higher risk of being shot by police Nine out of every 10 police-involved shootings involves a person of color  [Photo illustration by Burlingham/Shutterstock] By Angela Caputo January 23, 2014 Chicago police have long been criticized for interpreting the Constitution in different ways depending on which neighborhood they patrol. People living in a white neighborhood, or a wealthy one, are rarely stopped or frisked. Replace "white" and "wealthy" with "brown" and "poor," and the odds increase.  "All of a sudden, you're a suspect," civil rights attorney Craig Futterman says.    More confrontations with police heighten the chances of a deadly encounter--particularly for people of color.    New data released Wednesday by the City of Chicago Independent Police Review Authority show African Americans are 10 times more likely to be shot by a Chicago police officer than a white person.    As we've reported before, the city has paid out millions to settle related lawsuits. Yet, rarely are members of the police force found culpable. Even when a life is lost.  Click Here to Read Full Story The Black Star Project Supports  Broadway in Bronzeville The Black Star Project Supports  African Night and Young People Organizing for Progress on  Saturday, February 1, 2014 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm K.L.E.O. Center - 119 East Garfield Chicago, Illinois   Support 1 Church, 1 Job, 1 Young Black Man Working In Your Community  Churches Across America Should  Provide Jobs for Young Black Men.  You cannot fix the problems of young Black men if they don't have constructive employment.   Churches can change this... In times of economic strain, our whole community suffers from the complications of unemployment. In an effort to develop a new model of community outreach and economic sustainability, The Black Star Project is launching the 1 Church, 1 Job, 1 Young Black Man Working program.   These are the employment facts for young Black men in America: Young Black men have the highest unemployment rate of any group in the country. Unofficially, some academics believe that only 8 out of 100 young Black men have jobs. White adult felons are more likely to have jobs than young Black men without criminal records. Upper-middle class Black youth are less likely to have jobs than low-income White youth. The Black Star Project is offering the opportunity for your church or faith organization to participate in this program. Each church or faith organization can: Take up a special collection of $100.00 per week Hired a young, African American male to work in the church, temple synagogue or mosque for 10 hours per week, or Refer the young man to a local not-for-profit or business to work  Pay the young man minimum wage to $10.00 per hour for 10 hours per week  Ensure that each young man gains valuable work experience Ensure that each young man has valuable mentoring experience To get your church involved in 1 Church, 1 Job, 1 Young Black Man Working or for more information about this program, please call 773.285.9600. Please Click Here for more information.