Links:The Black Star Project's website:
Black Star Journal:
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The Shame of Black America Isn't that Our Boys Can't Read; The Shame Is that We Do Little To Help Them Learn To Read!!!
How did we, Black people, allow this to occur on our watch? And what will we do about it?
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%
About 10% of 8th-grade Black males in the United States read at or
above a proficient level.* For those of us who are math challenged,
that means, on average, that if you count any 100 young Black
men, only 10 of them read at a proficient level. In Milwaukee and
Cleveland, only 3 out of 100 young Black men read at or above a
proficient level. I (Phillip Jackson) have challenged Black
people to tell me that these statistics are not accurate, but so far, no
challenges. In fact, only silence!
* Source: Minority Students and Public Education by Dr. Michael Holzman
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Break the cycle: Teach Black boys to read well by the 4th grade. How?
1) Read to Black boys between birth and 10 years old.
2) Emphasize the value of education--not sports, not entertainment, not games--when Black boys are 2 to 12 years old.
3) Give Black boys books for their birthdays, holidays, and to reward them for jobs well done.
4) Enroll Black boys in a Saturday University Reading Academy at your church, park district, library or school.
(Call The Black Star Project at 773.285.9600 for assistance setting up your Saturday University)
5) Have Black boys between the ages of 5 and 15 years old read aloud to you for at least 30 minutes a week.
6) Monitor and regulate the content of media your Black boys consume.
7) Immerse Black boys in positive, education-based peer groups.
8) Find a mentor or a mentoring group for your young Black men.
9) Include culture, spirituality, history, economics, languages and critical thinking in the education of Black boys.
10) Ask the White House to support The Black Star Plan to to teach Black boys to read well by 4th grade.
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Click Here to Ask The White House to Support The Black Star Plan to Teach Black Boys to Read Well by 4th Grade.
Click Here to learn about the Institute for Black Male Achievement's Life Outcomes for Black Men and Boys Across America.
Please call 773.285.9600 to participate in The Black Star Project's Saturday University Reading Academies for Black boys.
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More Than 50 People
Attended Information Session
at The Black Star Project
on Thursday, September 18, 2014
Information Session was conducted by
Maurice King, Vice President,
(center with orange tie)
I.B.E.W. Local Union No. 134
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The rate for union electricians is
currently $44.00 an hour for work and about $72.00 an hour for work and
benefits. Applicants must have a high school diploma and be able to pass
a drug test.
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Click Here to Learn How IBEW Helped Save Simeon High School Electrical Training Program
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National Congress of Black Women
Metro Chicago Chapter
presents
College for Youth Program
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Governors State University
1 University Parkway
University Park, Illinois
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(In Philadelphia, the question is educate or incarcerate? The answer is close 24 schools and build a $400 million prison)
Philadelphia Failure Mills
By Michael Holzman
September 15, 2014
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Michael Hoilzman
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In Philadelphia, as in Milwaukee and Rochester,
young people, especially young African American men, are caught between
a school system that will not educate them and a criminalizing legal
system that will not leave them alone.
Eighty
percent of Philadelphia's Black families have incomes below the average
for White families in the city. The poverty rate for Black families in
Philadelphia is two and a half times that of White families.
At
the other end of the income spectrum, more than a quarter of
Philadelphia's White families have incomes over $100,000 per year, as
compared to just 10 percent of Black families.
It
is unlikely that there is much inter-generational family income or
wealth upward mobility in Philadelphia's Black community. There is, on
the contrary, much inter-generational downward mobility in both income
and wealth. Black Philadelphia does not participate in the same society as White Philadelphia.
It is a caste apart. There are two forces creating and enforcing the caste boundaries in Philadelphia: the criminal justice system and the school system.
The
State of Pennsylvania incarcerates African Americans at nine times the
rate at which White residents of the state are incarcerated.
Statewide, nearly 30 percent of those incarcerations are for violations
of drug laws. The drug laws are a primary vehicle for the enforcement
of the lower caste position of the Black community:
they are dramatically differentially enforced, even though it is
well-established that the level of illicit drug use is similar in the
Black and White communities.
The
School District of Philadelphia is the partner of the criminal justice
system in this endeavor. Approximately three-quarters of all in-school
and out-of-school suspensions and arrests are of Black students.
It is not only the students who are gone from the classrooms: 35
percent of the district's teachers are absent ten days or more each year
and just 38 percent meet all state licensing and certification
requirements.
A consequence of these and other failures
of the school system is an estimated high school graduation rate of 45
percent for Black students and 63 percent for White students in the
2011-12 school year, both far below national averages. In Philadelphia
as in Milwaukee, Rochester and similar educational disaster areas.
The Philadelphia public schools do not educate any group of their students as well as national averages for each group. However,
the values of the Pennsylvania state government run in the other
direction. It has begun building a new $400 million prison outside
Philadelphia.
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Mentoring From The Inside Out
By Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt
There are men in need of
human repair from a supernatural mechanic if you will. This book, while
focused on mentoring, also centers on developing men through spiritual
reflection, essays of insight and encouragement - as well as thought
provoking questions. Over the years of running youth development
programs and ministering to men it has become clear that most broken
vessels (mentor) cannot always "heal" broken vessels (mentee). So the
opportunity for earnest readers of this book exists on two levels:
namely to grow as men and then as mentors.
Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt
provides vital leadership to youth, young adults and professionals in
both the sacred and secular institutions and communities in New York and
around the country. He recently retired as vice president of The Fund
for the City of New York after serving over two decades. Dr. Wyatt is
founder of Strategic Destiny: Designing Futures Through Faith and Facts.
He is currently on the staff of The Greater Allen Cathedral of New
York. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt has mentored thousands ranging from young people
in foster care and juvenile detention facilities as well as
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Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt.
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adults in prison or receiving their PhD. He serves as an advisor and
consultant to government, colleges, community based organizations
education intermediaries, foundations and the faith community.
Dr. Wyatt, married 38 years to Ouida Wyatt, co-published their first book Soul Be Free, Poems Prose Prayers.
He is a sought after speaker in his role as youth developer,
organizational capacity builder and public theologian. He attended
Howard University, Columbia Teacher's College, The Ackerman Institute
for Family Therapy, Columbia Institute for Nonprofit Management and New
York Theological Seminary where he earned his D.Min. Rev. Dr. Wyatt
recently joined the Board of Trustees of New York Theological Seminary.
Click Here to Purchase a Copy of Mentoring from the Inside Out
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Join The Black Star Project
at
The Brookfield Zoo For A Free Day with You and the Family
Call 773.285.9600 for more information.
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The Black Star Project's
Girls Mentoring Program
Invites Young Girls 9- to 14-Years Old to Join the Brilliant, Brainy and Beautiful Young Women of The Black Star Project for Mentoring, Tutoring and Homework Help
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Bring Your Girls 9- to 14-Years Old
Saturdays
11:00 am to 1:00 pm
The Black Star Project
3509 South King Drive
Chicago, Illinois
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Parents
should call 773.285.9600 for more information or to enroll their
daughters, granddaughters or nieces into our Girls Mentor Program.
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