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Marva Collins Is Welcomed by the Elders
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Marva Collins, 'a natural force' in inner city
education, dies at 78
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This ABC News Photo provided by The Black Star Project
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By Mitch Dudek
June 25, 2015
In the late 1970s, former
Sun-Times reporter Zay Smith opened a curious letter from a West Side
teacher who felt compelled to respond to a story he'd just written that
detailed how little a group of high school kids knew about Shakespeare.
It read: "My children know who Shakespeare is, and they can recite passages. Come visit us any time." -- Signed: Marva Collins.
Smith got the nod from his
editor and headed to Garfield Park, where, tucked into the second floor
of a row house, Mrs. Collins ran a school that was accomplishing things
that were hard to believe.
"There
were little four-year olds reading better than a lot of high school
sophomores. All these little grade school kids," Smith recalled.
Smith wrote about what he
saw: a woman who - frustrated with Chicago Public Schools - left in
order to teach her back-to-basics brand and was working wonders with
children from the inner city.
Within months, Mrs. Collins
was featured on "60 Minutes." As her story grew, so did donations to
her cause. Enough for Mrs. Collins to build a school, Westside Prep, in
Garfield Park. The singer Prince visited Mrs. Collins, told her he
wished he'd attended a school like hers, and gave her $500,000.
Educators from around
country came to Chicago to learn her stripped down, back-to-basics
teaching methods that challenged black inner city youths with advanced
curriculum. President Ronald Reagan asked if she would be his secretary
of education. She turned him down. A made-for-television movie about her
life starred Cicely Tyson and Morgan Freeman.
Mrs. Collins died Wednesday in South Carolina where she was in hospice care. She was 78. Mrs.
Collins is also survived by her son, Patrick, and four grandchildren -
one of whom graduated in 2011 from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. She also had a daughter, Cynthia, who died in 2008.
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Join State Senator Hunter, State Senator Collins and State Representative Golar for a LIHEAP Townhall Meeting
Monday, June 29, 2015
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church
6248 South Stewart Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
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To Understand Black Americans Today,
You Must Read and Understand
Brainwashed
"Black
people are not dark-skinned white people," says advertising
visionary Tom Burrell. In fact, they are much more. They are survivors
of the Middle Passage and centuries of humiliation and deprivation, who
have excelled against the odds, constantly making a way out of "No way!"
At this pivotal point in history, the idea of black inferiority should
have had a "Going-Out-of-Business Sale." After all, Barack Obama has
reached America's Promised Land.
Yet, as Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black
Inferiority testifies, too
many in black America are still wandering in the wilderness. In this
powerful examination of "the greatest propaganda campaign of all
time"-the masterful marketing of black inferiority, aka the BI
Complex-Burrell poses ten disturbing questions that will make black
people look in the mirror and ask why, nearly 150 years after the
Emancipation Proclamation, so many blacks still think and act like
slaves. Burrell's acute awareness of the power of words and images to
shift, shape, and change the collective consciousness has led him to
connect the contemporary and historical dots that have brought us to
this crossroads.
Brainwashed is not a
reprimand-it is a call to action. It demands that we question our
self-defeating attitudes and behaviors. Racism is not the issue;
how we respond to media distortions and programmed self-hatred is the
issue. It's time to reverse the BI campaign with a globally based
initiative that harnesses the power of new media and the wisdom of
intergenerational coalitions. Provocative and
powerful, Brainwashed dares to expose the wounds so that we, at last,
can heal.
Click Here to see and hear Tom Burrell on Brainwashed
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Summer program seeks future black male education profs
June 25, 2015
Graduate students at the
UIC College of Education have an endgame in mind for the education of
African American males, beginning with a new summer program.
The Next Generation of
African American Male Educators, specifically Professors (NGAAME-P)
Summer Project is a two-week program for African American male high
school students who want to earn a PhD in education and teach another
generation of educators.
For inspiration, N-GAAME-P
was launched with a dedication to Benjamin Elijah Mays, a Morehouse
College president who once taught Martin Luther King, Jr.
Fifteen
selected students will participate in digital filmmaking, scholarly
reading, writing and discussion under the guidance of top education
scholars from around the country, including:
- Tyrone
Howard, professor of education, faculty director of Center X, and
director of the Black Male Institute, University of California at Los
Angeles;
- Marvin Lynn, dean of the School of Education, Indiana University-South Bend;
- Terrell
Strayhorn, professor of educational studies and director of the Center
for Higher Education Enterprise, Ohio State University.
"This
project is designed to reimagine the field of education and spark the
imaginations of African American males who want to become education
professors," said Marcus Croom, PhD Literacy, Language and Culture
student and an organizer of NGAAME-P.
"Each
young man selected for this project will complete NGAAME-P tasks
designed to help him voice, 'I got next' as a future education scholar.
They'll have an inside look at our doctoral program and begin developing
their own scholarly agenda."
Students
who complete NGAAME-P will receive assistance with applications to UIC
undergraduate programs in education and the UIC Honors College.
Scholarship opportunities may be available.
"Intentionality is critical for preparing the next generation of African American male education scholars," said Alfred Tatum, PhD, Dean of the College.
"I am optimistic that if we do this well the impact will be
far-reaching. I am also pleased that one of our doctoral students in the
College of Education is leading this effort."
The
NGAAME-P Summer Project will take place July 20-31, Monday through
Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the UIC Reading Clinic in UIC's
Education, Theatre, Music and Social Work Bldg., 1040 W. Harrison St.
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Quote of the Day
From The Black Star Learning Center
"Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through
argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can
understand."
- Colin Powell
(Quote shared by Stanley Jendresak)
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Three Ways to Prevent Summer Slide
Try these strategies to help your reader improve her reading during the summer and beyond.
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Photo provided by The Black Star Project
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Many children, especially
struggling readers, forget some of what they've learned or slip out of
practice during the summer months. Try these strategies to help your
reader improve her reading during the summer and beyond:
- Six books to summer success: Research shows that reading just
six books during the summer may keep a struggling reader from
regressing. When choosing the six, be sure that they are just right -
not too hard and not too easy. Take advantage of your local library. Ask
for help selecting books that match your child's age, interests, and
abilities. Libraries often run summer reading programs that motivate
kids to read, so find out what's available in your area. Also check our book lists for recommendations.
- Read something every day: Encourage your child to take advantage of every opportunity to read. Find them throughout the day:
- Morning: The newspaper - even if it is just the comics or today's weather.
- Daytime: Schedules,
TV guides, magazines, online resources, etc. For example, if your
daughter likes the food channel, help her look for a recipe on the
network's Web site - then cook it together for more reading practice.
- Evening: End
the day by having your child read to you from the book he is currently
reading (one of the six books, above). Have him rehearse a paragraph,
page, or chapter before reading to you. Rereading will help him be more
fluent - able to read at an appropriate speed, correctly, and with nice
expression.
- Keep reading aloud: Reading aloud benefits all children and
teens, especially those who struggle. One benefit is that you can read
books your child can't, so she will build listening comprehension skills
with grade-level and above books. This will increase her knowledge and
expand her experience with text, so that she will do better when she
reads on her own.
It's hard to keep up a
reading routine in a season packed with distractions and diversions.
These suggestions will fit into a busy schedule and make reading fun!
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Scholarship for Athletes with Asthma
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20th Anniversary
Million Man March 2015
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