Blame It on the Rain…Blame It on Someone

I recently heard about a school district that thought they'd open the eyes of teachers in a particular school by firing all of the teachers at one particular school because of low performance scores by students of this school . They fired approximately 80 instructional personnel because they didn't take the suggestions of the administration. To be more specific, they didn't comply with some of the district's demands in order to try something different for the students. Here's what they suggested:

• Add an hour to each school day and make this extra hour instructional
  


• Add an hour weekly for tutoring outside of the regular hours worked
  


• Have teachers to eat lunch with the students daily to engage them more
  

I believe there were a few other suggestions they made, but these were the glaring ones that hit me over the head like a brick. THESE ARE GREAT IDEAS!!!!! Then comes the ignorant part…they want them to do these things with no extra pay involved.

A district spokesperson advised that these teachers needed to be more involved in the lives of their students so that they can find out what's going on with them and aide them in raising their test scores/grades. I know someone reading this will say, what's the problem? Why can't they just do it? What's wrong with having lunch with your students?

Being the husband of a teacher, I take exception to these suggestions, especially since they were asking these things of the teachers without any offer of remuneration. Teachers are already grossly underpaid for all that they do; and these idiots want more FOR FREE!!! Not only are they underpaid, but then every teacher I know spends money out of their own pocket for instructional needs and needs for kids that aren't provided from home. This is so prevalent that the IRS gives each teacher a line item deduction of about $2,500 without needing to substantiate these costs. [If you want to claim more than that you need receipts] Each year I ask HR Block if the laws have changed and I can finally claim the ISD on my taxes as a dependent. Not to mention the raggedy healthcare benefits they provide.

For a teacher to just cover themselves (health, vision and dental) the cost is approximately $1,000 a month in some school districts. A teacher is almost forced to marry someone in corporate just to have decent insurance at a reasonable cost. Someone help me understand why each ISD is negotiating insurance plans for their employees. Every town, city, village, hamlet will have schools and teachers. So, why aren't they put on the plan that the state employees are on? That would give them a larger pool of folks to bargain with and therefore get a lower price for more coverage. Oh yea, I forgot, the district wouldn't get the kickbacks they get from the carriers. Interesting how that happens.

I say it's time that parents get back involved with their kid's lives, education and moral well being. The education of a generation is not just the responsibility of the teachers in the classroom. It is the responsibility of the whole community, whether directly or indirectly. Parents have to talk to teachers; they have to prepare their kids for life today so they can be a success tomorrow. Blaming teachers for the failure of the parents and the kids, or even worse, the system isn't the answer. How about this, get those moronic windbags out of the administration office and put them back in the classroom and see if they can get the scores up. I doubt it…more often than not these people fit into one of two categories. Either they haven't been in the classroom for more than 10 years or they have never been I the classroom. Either way the kids will suffer. I'm normally never o the side f the union, but in this case, I agree with them for standing up for these teachers and encouraging them to ignore the suggestions that were made by people who won't do what they themselves suggested. Kids are a gift and should be nurtured, taught and molded to be productive men and women [one day]. While there are those that will be rotten regardless of what you teach, there are those that simply need a word of encouragement to make it through. Teacher everywhere had to stand up and cheer for these teachers saying NO, we won't be taken advantage of. I say they fire the superintendent and some of the school board members and see where that gets them. We need to revamp our whole mindset on education. Stop blaming teachers for underperforming kids who grow up in environments that are not conducive to learning and in households where education isn't fostered, encouraged or even a priority; having parents that could care less about their child being mediocre, much less excelling educationally. Stop blaming others for the poor decisions of kids and start holding them responsible for the direction in which they are headed. Why you ask? They can't learn if they're not given the opportunity to learn, or they aren't pushed to be better.

It's Just My Opinion, but I'm Not Wrong!

Are We Really Mad at the Right People?

The other day I was sent a link to a story on a fraternity party that took place at UC San Diego. When I read the header I got a little angry. It read, “UC San Diego party mocking Black History Month shows racism.” I was angry because again we have someone making fun of black folks and where we’ve come from, all the struggles we had to get where we are, all the lives lost in the civil rights movement to have this kind of garbage take place! In 2010?!?!?! As I read the story, my anger waned a bit, then as I continued to read I got angry again. I wasn’t angry at the silly white folk who had this party. I wasn’t angry at the school for not doing anything about it. I wasn’t angry at the fraternity rep for not acknowledging they’d done anything wrong.

By the last sentence I read I was angry at those who perpetuate the stereotypes they were making fun of. I was incensed about the fact that as I read the depictions I actually know people fit the description they were giving. I grew angry and started thinking about the post I put up last week and how it bothered me to even see people who try their level best t emulate the foolishness and ludicrous chicanery he promotes.

Let me make myself perfectly clear…yes I believe it was insensitive of these college kids to have this party and promote it as though it had something to do with black history month [kind of like the students from Tarleton State did a few years ago for MLK weekend]. I was aggravated at that and more. However, how mad can I be when they were actually emulating, imitating and acting like people I know. It’s not like they had on black face and were doing the chicken George saying we act like that. They were talking about people who make up words [like conversate] and talk loudly like that makes you listen to them more intently. They mocked folks who make it their business to make noises, such as ‘hmmg!’, or smack their lips, and make other angry noises, grunts, and faces. They made sport of the same ignorance that people like me don’t tolerate and try to avoid.

Back in the day I used to get uncomfortable when my white friends would make a statement like, “…you know, you’re not like them.” I’d commence to start acting like I’m ghetto as hell to prove my blackness. Today, I carry statements like that as a badge of honor. THANK YOU for recognizing that I’m not like them! You see, for too long our community has uplifted the negative and looked at the positive as ‘acting white’. We’ve treated folk who use an SAT vocabulary as though something is wrong with them and made fun of the kids who make good grades. I’m here to tell you, it’s not acting white, it’s acting right and it’s high time we realize it.

Stop getting mad at the people who make fun of the people that make you look bad. You need to make fun of they asses too; rather than glorifying and lifting them up. They’re ignorant, slothful, trifling, irresponsible, and whole litany of other terms I shan’t delve into right now. I’ll only get mad at white folk making fun of me and people like me. Chris Rock said it best “…it ain’t the black folk doing all the stupid stuff, robbing, stealing, raping; it’s them niggers. Just making good black folks look bad!” I challenge you to dialogue with the white folks who sponsored this party (or some like them). I would venture to make a bet that they were just ‘having a little fun.’ And no one was supposed to be hurt, insulted, or take offense. I’d even bet that there may have been a couple of brown and black faces in the crowd at the party. We need to stop jumping to condemn every event that takes place as though it’s racism.

This wasn’t racism, it was a case of some dumb college kids making fun of a group of people who can do better, but choose not to so they need to be made fun of. I know somebody is going to be mad at me when they read this, but I really don’t care. Examine the whole scenario and come talk to me afterwards. Besides, if you haven’t already realized it yet by the tagline at the end of every posting…I don’t care if you don’t agree. You want a case of modern day racism, Google Johnson & Wales University in Denver. They just did an interview with some students from there on their local Fox channel. That’s racism…not this garbage. Have a great day.

It’s Just My opinion, but I’m not wrong

We got to do better...than this mess!!!

My topic and many of the things I’ll say in this post will not be popular with some. They will even make some folks outright mad. A few days ago, my brother presented a post that contained some excerpts from a speech that he delivered at the joint founders day for the two most prolific organizations in ALL of Greekdom. In his speech he challenged us as brothers to do better. He challenged us to make better choices and plan for our future. He said a lot of stuff and made a lot of challenges that we need to take heed to. I, on the other hand, will be addressing one young man and those like him that are contributing to the problem we have in our community [not just the black community].

You see the picture so you know who it is. The other day heard a story on CNN that advised that Lil Wayne’s sentencing was being delayed due to him having to go to the dentist to get the jewelry he has imbedded in his mouth removed prior to going to jail. What? He needs to go to the dentis? What kind of crap is this? This little dud’s persona and the image he projects is an irritant to me and has been since the first time I saw him. This was just another nail in the board. This moron believes that his body, including his face, is a palette for jailhouse quality tattoos (even though he can afford nicer ones); he doesn’t believe in wearing clothes that are his size, or a belt to keep his pants on his waist where they belong (no, I’m not Gen Platt); he lives a life that is so boisterously ridiculous that it’s pathetic. Yes, I’m harping on him, not because he’s the only one that aggravates me, but because he’s the one that’s in the news this week. This idiot knew he was going to jail when he went to court furthermore, he knew that he needed to take that crap out of his mouth before he showed up. Hell, he knew that before he put it in his mouth in the first place. I’m glad I wasn’t the judge…he’d be in jail, in general population and wearing the same jacket he’s wearing in the picture above. I could care less if somebody beat him out of his teeth, maybe after that he’d make better life decisions and think twice about what he does, who he hangs with and how he’s perceived by society.

What bothers me is how many successful, intelligent folks love this dude. He crosses socioeconomic and racial lines. This is really what bothers me! He’s shown himself to be a rather intelligent brother. I was impressed, last football season when he did a guest host spot on on ESPN football program one Sunday morning and wasn’t reading from a script, but was speaking from the knowledge he gathered from the information they sent him to prep for the show. One of the other hosts of the show was impressed by, not only his knowledge, but by the amount of highlighting in the 100’s of pages they sent him (he left it in his dressing room). You see, this is another case of an intelligent brother who’s using what he has for a reason other than what God intended him to. If he can figure out how to get grown men to emulate him as well as kids. If he can have grown women in their late 40’s to swoon over him and shiver at the mention of his name. If he can make hits that have him being sought for collaborations by almost everyone in the game (crossing lines of musical genre). If he can do all of these thing, I KNOW he can figure out how to make a positive impact on the youth that he impacts. I KNOW he can do better than getting two women, neither of which he’s married to, pregnant simultaneously. I KNOW he can figure out how to be the positive influence on society that we need.

It’s the likes of him and those he influences that causes all black men to be put in a category that we don’t belong in as soon as we walk in the door. We’re either a thug, a rapper or a miscreant. No matter whether we’re dressed like him, somebody’s jailhouse girlfriend, or in a bidness suit, we’re looked at the same. It’s high time that black men stopped perpetuating these stereotypes and started forging new ones! It’s high time we stop selling ourselves short and our future down the river so that we can have millions in the bank and have idiotic capitalistic morons justifying it for us. I know someone will post a response stating that it’s not his responsibility to raise other people’s kids. Somebody else won’t post, but will think that he’s not a role model. Then there’s the one who’ll say that I’m just old and I don’t understand young folk and their music. On the first two counts I can answer with one question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?…Yes, I am” made famous between Nino Brown and the Cash Money Brothers in New Jack City, but a true dialogue nonetheless. We are all responsible for one another’s kids, for the influence we have on them (whether we accept it not) and we ought to all endeavor to make as positive impact on the next generation that we can. I’m not saying that we all need to be parts of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, not everyone is cut out for that. We all do have a part to play. Those who go to BBBS need someone to point out in society to tll the kids they can grow up to be like. Those who teach in the classroom ought to have some sort of success story to share with the kids about someone they can strive to emulate. As for those who will simply state that I’m old and I don’t understand the music of this younger generation, I simply state, if making responsible decisions and wanting to make a positive impact on the community in which I live, and the world as a whole make me old, I’ll wear that label with pride. They just need to realize the label they’re placing on themselves when they relegate everything I’ve put forth to such a simplistic explanation.

It’s Just My Opinion, but I’m Not Wrong!

“African American is a bogus, p.c., made-up term. I mean, that’s not a race.”

This was a quote from Glenn Beck…you know who he is so I won’t insult you with a litany of reasons why I shouldn’t agree with him. The only thing about this statement I disagree with it that it’s PC…it ain’t PC if I don’t want to be called that. However in this instance, I believe I do. When discussing the topic of race identification in the shadows of the impending 2010 U.S. Census. I made a similar statement to a colleague. Much to the chagrin of some black activists (yes I said black) the paperwork will include “Black,” “African-American” and “Negro” as three of the available choices on its forms for us to choose from. I don’t know which is more sad or disheartening, the fact that there are three different categories for black folk or the fact that the reason for this is because some black folk would get mad if there weren’t. If you’re actually from African and you became a US citizen, then you’re African American. If you can’t name a person in your family who was born in Africa (even 4 generations back) than stop claiming a continent that weren’t born on, have never visited and that you know nothing of. It’s divisive and ignorant of us to keep delitigimizing our American birthright. I’m American, I was born American, I only know America, and I shan’t insult my American heritage by claiming something other than my American heritage. [Even if I know that my parent’s lineage hails from Haiti and Portugal]

If you know me, you know that I’m one that thinks it is dumb as all outdoors for us to be changing what we call ourselves every 4 years, yet we do it. I believe it is even more stupid to get mad at non-black folk who call us what we used to be called before we decided we wanted our quadrennial name change. It’s almost like trying to learn street slang, once you think you have the hang of it, everything changes. As a people, we’ve created a quandary of our own making. I think it’s high time we stop blaming everything on white folk and having them walk on egg shells because they don’t want to offend (even unwittingly). I’m one of the least politically correct people I know. Most who know me get the gist of my conversation without taking offense because they know none was intended. I shan’t ponder every word to make sure that I don’t say something that offends someone for some obscure reason.

I recently read an article that asked the question as to whether or not the census should be using this term. The author of the article went on to berate the census for using the term and called it antiquated. I also read the transcript from an NPR interview with a college professor who inferred that the ‘learned’ black folk preferred the African American term and the ‘negro’ term is mostly used by older black folk who don’t know any better. While I concur that what you choose to be called depends on who you are, where you were reared, and in large part, how insecure you really are, I resent this guy basically relating the inference that because I refuse to be called something that I’m not (African American) I’m not as intelligent as those who insist on it. I understand that the term ‘negro’ has fallen by the wayside as of late; I know that ‘colored’ is taboo; and I shan’t EVER be referred to as ‘nigger/niggah/nikka/nigga or any other derivation of this word without protest. However, for us to be truly unified and stop looking foolish as hell we need to decide who we are what we want to be called and stick with it! In the meantime quit whining, griping and crying about the census listing names that we call ourselves, define ourselves as and use, or may have used far and wide. It’s their job to count folks, NOT define them. That being said, I’d be interested to see the results of this census and what they finally use as a category to catch all these divides, confused, disillusioned black folk. Wake up, stop being so sensitive and find something really worth fighting about to get behind. While you’re at it, realize who you are AND where you’re from. Until then, we can’t really say we’re teaching our kids to have pride in their heritage, cause they don’t know what it is.

It’s Just My Opinion, But I’m Not Wrong!