Greetings to all. Today is the start of black history month, which for me is every single day. In this episode I talk about the importance of black education.
Duration:15mins
Listen to The “black education” episode by eddiestarblog #np on #SoundCloud
I must say that in a hypothetical world where Hillary actually won, there still would be some white backlash from people below the bible belt who would’ve been upset that Trump lost.
Kanye West says if he voted, he would’ve voted for Trump. West also says we need to get over racism, because he thinks racist is separate from racism. Twitter lost their damned minds and let him have it.
He went from this:
To This:
Stop complaining about Racism, but he went on this rant about being shut out of the fashion industry, because of his race. A few years back, talm bout! “We’re all slaves!!”
The industry changes people. If you voted for Trump as a black man, you are a sellout in my book. Trump ran a copy+paste version of ‘the southern strategy‘, which completely blamed minorities for the world’s problems, and resuscitated the ku klux klan back to life. He promoted the black brute myth, the latino’s are bringing this country down myth, and pandered to people below the bible belt. Hillary doesn’t give a damn about black folks either, but voting for an open racist like that is no bueno.
However, I must say that in a hypothetical world where Hillary actually won, there still would be some white backlash from people below the bible belt who would’ve been upset that Trump lost. Either way, someone has hell to pay for being a ‘n***er lover’ or other racial slur. I hope that if you live in a racially segregated town as a minority, you consider leaving to an interracial town. I just read a story in Louisiana somewhere, where this 8 year old boy got his arm broken.
In other news Sage Steele went in on a football player for kneeling, and caught hell on social media. She immediately went into victim mode and wrote a long post on Facebook about the criticism she faces for being bi-racial, and being married to a white man. She even threw her kids into it. Not everyone bought it on social media.
I have no issue with interracial relationships, but I’m not praising a white man for choosing a beautiful bi-racial woman. She wishes to live in a color-blind society while uplifting a white man for accepting her black side, but condemns black people for not living in a united color-blind world. I can really go in on this topic, but it would be too long to get into. The main point I will make is that white men have been choosing black women for a loooong time. Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of this beautiful country we live in, couldn’t get enough of that mulatto love. He fathered six kids with a woman named Sally Hemings, who was bi-racial also. White men have no problem getting busy with sistas, especially mulatto’s. One of the first interracial couples was Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. Sage Steele, reminds me so much of that damn character that was in that bar conversation on black unity.
On a positive note. This tweet below is the exact reason it is very important to educate our kids.
As you can see, this girl is maybe 15 or 16 years old max, but she is more intelligent than the damn teacher. The teacher is using all of these stormfront.com talking points that white supremacists use, and she shuts him down at every corner. He thinks he has her with the “How can you complain (about white supremacy) when our president is black?” and her rebuttal leaves him speechless. We need more young educated maniacs like this young woman in our school system. She should’ve been teaching the damn class instead of him. A lot of these teachers that come from different backgrounds view black children as inferior. Being at a predominately black school, most teachers automatically assume, because of statistics formed by the (racist) bell curve theory, that black kids under achieve because they are genetically inferior. That is a complete myth. If your child can memorize a song, they can retain information in a book. The U.S. education system has an implicit bias towards black kids. Our children are most likely to be misdiagnosed with ADHD, and stigmatized with behavior disorders due to these biases. It is truly up to us as a race to produce educational maniacs like this.
This is a question that many people within the Black community ask our leaders. The problem that some of us Black folk have, is that we expect an overnight turn around when it comes to the problems that plague our community. No politician or said “leader” will make any change that will completely mitigate the issues we have. The onus has unfortunately been placed on our athletes and billionaires, because they hold a high amount of capital that many Blacks beneath them don’t have. For this favored group, many of us will argue about what one has done for our community. The question that always gets tossed around whenever we get mad at each other is ultimately “What have you done for the Black community?”
Solution #1: Education
When I say education, I don’t solely mean schools. I am talking about self-improvement by all means. Challenging yourself to read daily about something that may enhance your life or give you a different perspective. Despite being a trash truck driver working 12-14 hours a day, I read as much as I possibly can. There are audiobooks that you can listen to if you are busy at work all day or traveling to school via public transportation. E-books are really awesome to me, because you can highlight important parts of the book and visual reading has a way of gluing information to your brain. Even if you could on focus on one book a month, that is way better than none. Reading exercises the brain, and gives you more context of the subject matter you choose to study. By improving your mind, you inadvertently improve your vocabulary in conversations without even recognizing it. I have denounced religion because of books, and figured out who I truly was as a man by reading. For you, it may bring you closer to your spiritual deity. The more that your mind improves, it improves the family members that interact with you on a daily basis.
Without proper knowledge, you will be bamboozled by politicians, outwitted by sleazy salesmen, and jumping into situations without proper perspective. Back in slavery we had laws that prohibited slaves from reading. Couple centuries down the line, and you have a lot of brothers and sistas who refuse to pick up a book other than Steve Harvey’s dating book, or something trivial. In order to improve education for our children, we have to improve our own personal education. You don’t have to enroll at your local city college (which I recommend you doing, if you have the time and ambition to do) to get education. You can get free books at a library with a library card. I don’t care if you have a grown son/daughter living with you, or a toddler, reading should be essential in your house if you are black. It’s never too late to learn something new. We as blacks have been told that if you go to college, then everything will be awesome. Statistics are coming out that degrees don’t equal jobs. Go to school if you are pursuing a passion that will yield a positive return of investment. We live in an economy where you have Ph.D students working as baristas, and journalism majors struggling to make it in the industries they were amorous about. College is not for every kid, some kids are smart, but would be more useful inside of a trade school to apply that genius to a technical skill. I want my child to go to college like the next person, but I have my reservations on forcing my child to pick a college major to impress my friends/family. I would rather my child find a passion and pursue it. No degree will let me compromise my child’s future over selfish ambition. To read further on this topic, check out this book by Will Bennett:
To advance within the dominant society, we need proper guidance into how economics work. If you have no basic understanding of economics and how money works, you will be misled by many assumptions without concrete evidence. I want reparations for slavery on behalf of my African ancestors, but if im spending that money on European luxury instead of black businesses, what is the point. One of the best books I have read on economics that breaks down complex economics in layman terms, check out this book:
You as a Black person should know the basic fundamentals of money. You don’t have to sign up for some expensive course online. I found a book written by Jason Kelly at my local library, it was the world’s simplest book on finance tips. You can even find this book on eBay for dirt cheap as a used book.
If you only read these two books and nothing else, these two books will lead you in the right direction in current time.
As far as history goes, it is up to you what you wish to read. The greatest black person to ever live, in my honest opinion, can be no one other than Harriet Tubman. She put it down so hard for black people back in the day, she even was rumored to carry a pistol. Treason was not going to be an option if you rolled with “Minty”. I have read my history, therefore my child will be schooled on history, and how it repeats itself in different forms. Read Malcolm X in his prime, and the relevance of an old Harlem speech will send chills down your spine. It is almost like you are conjuring dead spirits that speak directly to you. You will see the contrast of groups led by Martin Luther King Jr., compared with today’s so called leaders.
Last but not least, we have to be more accountable for family members or friends that are incarcerated. We need to send them letters of encouragement, commissary money on birthdays and holidays. I know you may say that “If you did the crime, you do the time”, but it is far too many Black men in the system for us to turn our backs on them. I would suggest finding the prison wherever the family member or friend is located and research programs that they could sign up for. There ARE accredited programs that are financed by the state that inmates could participate in, depending on where you live and the facility where the inmate is detained, where many of them don’t know about the programs to be taken advantage of. A lot of the programs are trades. Print out this information and mail it to the inmate to let them know what their detention center offers. I have a cousin that I mailed over 20 books to. Books about business and fitness, magazine subscriptions, how to start a small business and write a business plan. So that way, when he/she gets out of prison, he knows how to write a business plan for the trade he/she learned behind bars. The reason it is important to provide facts on the obstacles facing him/her, is to cut down on jail recidivism. I let my relative know the obstacles facing him and send books about former convicts who found a way out of the system. If you can’t stand writing to a person, than at least send a book, or print an article. You never know what impact it may have.
If you feel that there is someone that you know may benefit from this post, please share on all social media platforms available. Feel free to drop comments below and give insight. We need to spread the word.
The issue I have with race in America, is that we cannot act as if race is not an issue because we may not face the same injustices. We are so inundated with the idea of individuality and responsibility, that we lost focus on the ugly realities of racism. Forgetting an issue and glossing over it, is not the same as getting rid of it. If you are diagnosed with a disease, and refuse to treat it, than you must either get on board with solutions, or suffer the dire effects. As Blacks, we need to figure out a salient process of making things happen. The reasons I am here nor there about these presidential candidates, is that they have no incentive to help the black community.
What is good wordpress family? It has been a minute since I have last posted. As for me I am still going through my dilemma that I previously spoke about. More importantly, there have been many issues that have been impacting the African American community. With the recent technology of body cameras and phone cameras, America is starting to see the racial ugliness that has been taboo come to the frontline. I could post on and on about the senseless killings that have been happening in the Black community, you can see these atrocities in graphic detail on Shaun King’s timeline.
Things are starting to feel like the 1960’s all over again, with tensions flaring over Trump vs. Hilary Clinton, police brutality, racial tensions are becoming the norm on social media. If you follow some of the trending hashtags on twitter, you can easily see the ocean of internet trolls making racially insensitive remarks. For some people, it has even costed them their job. I am on neither candidate’s side. Whoever wins the election, wins the election. There has been deception on both sides of the politics game. Fear-mongering has become rampant throughout both sides of the media. There seems to be this tacit implication that Hilary Clinton has the poor black vote, the converse can be said about Trump, easily winning the poor white vote below the bible belt. Donald Trump is an overt racist, and Hilary Clinton will do anything to gain a vote. Im still reminded of the super-predator remark that was aimed at young black men in the early 1990’s.
I have been reading books like crazy about African-American history and I am finally “woke” to the injustices that happens to my race as a whole. I cannot 100 percent say that I am behind the “BLACK LIVES MATTER” movement as well. The whole movement is great as a vehicle to get the message out, but I feel that digital hashtag protests are not the solution. I have read the mission statement from the original website, and there is a lot of intersectionality going on. If you choose to fight for a cause, it should mirror the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement stood up for injustices that made it to the supreme court and caused incredible changes. BLM is a movement that is strategically flawed. When a non-black person hears “BLACK LIVES MATTER”, they immediately digest the meaning as saying their lives matter less. This title automatically causes a person of a different race to become defensive. The naming of the movement is wrong, if you wish to have laws change in the courtroom. Imagine if the civil rights movement chose to go by a moniker such as “STOP KILLING BLACKS!”. I am quite certain that circumstances may have turned out different. While I support the families of victims who suffer from police brutality, I cannot support a movement that only feels a keyboard will cause change.
So, what are the solutions Eddie? To be honest, there are no solutions, this is a process. Solutions happen overnight, processes take time. Racism is insidious and exists in every human being, whether you admit to it or not. How we respond to these emotions and stereotypes, makes a huge difference. Racism is a quagmire that will exist as long as humans exist. Stopping racism is like trying to stop dishonesty. There is no qualitative approach that will make it change. Movies and T.V shows, continue to show Blacks in an inferior state. If most black men you see on television are either rappers, athletes, or actors portraying drug dealers and slaves – what will you automatically perceive the obnoxious black kid, wearing a hoodie with sagging pants as? How will you view the dark skinned black man with a lean muscular build, dreadlocks and tattoos as? You aren’t technically racist if you hold these thoughts in your mind, but rarely in public spaces would you vocally admit these things, because that would be deemed “politically incorrect”, it is nevertheless true. The fear of black men has existed since slave insurrections of the past. To rationalize these claims, many right-wing advocates will easily point to the ill-savagery of black on black crime. Which would be asinine to deny, however, Black on Black crime is an issue that police can’t resolve themselves. This is the rapist blaming the rape-victim for being sexually promiscuous. Not the act of rape itself. The protests have always happened in black neighborhoods. Go to any funeral of any victim of these senseless gang-related or happenstance crimes, there will be a pastor or bishop screaming at the pulpit for the “young brothers and sisters to get saved, and get their act together, come to Jesus, while the lord has blessed you with another day”. How many mothers, fathers, uncle’s, aunt’s, and strong upstanding black people who told their kids how to conduct themselves when police approach the vehicle? How many black mothers and fathers told their kids not to hang around with “those boys and that crowd, cause I’ve heard about them”? What are the working class citizen black families to do, once their child is a victim of violence? Jump in between the bullets of the murderer and victim, while being 11 miles away at their second job? This is an impossible and unrealistic feat. Being poor in a poverty stricken community, you will confront a reality of desperation and violence. In any country, city, or community where you find poverty, you will find violence, it is synonymous. Blacks are among the poorest race in the nation. Another retort to black on black crime is what about before it existed? Before black on black crime, there were justifiable lynchings of black men who tried to own businesses, accidentally gaze at a white woman, or loiter past 9 p.m. in sundown towns. There were people who looked at Emmett Till and said, “that boy should’ve never whistled at no white woman.” And the justifications for police executions in broad daylight on camera, still happen to this day.
The issue I have with race in America, is that we cannot act as if race is not an issue because we may not face the same injustices. We are so inundated with the idea of individuality and responsibility, that we lost focus on the ugly realities of racism. Forgetting an issue and glossing over it, is not the same as getting rid of it. If you are diagnosed with a disease, and refuse to treat it, than you must either get on board with solutions, or suffer the dire effects. As Blacks, we need to figure out a salient process of making things happen. The reasons I am here nor there about these presidential candidates, is that they have no incentive to help the black community. Mass incarceration is real, jail recidivism, police brutality, predatory loans, poverty, lack of home ownership, lack of businesses within our community, lack of black support of black businesses, lack of business loans, weak and fluctuating job employment, and inferior educational standards are issues that all need to be addressed. If black people keep voting for candidates who can do a popular dance move, rather than implement laws that will immediately impact African Americans, what is the point of voting. Yes, we should vote for local figures in our community, vote on laws and measures that may impact our community, but the voting out of fear, has no merit in my books. There has to be an incentive for a candidate to wish to do something for the said community. The LGBTQ community are making enormous strides and are forming super-pac’s to make sure change happens. The Latino community has done the same. The black elite aren’t concerned with the black issues enough to stick together and form a super-pac that will help the less fortunate. They may tweet, or even publicly declare how they will sit down with police officers and have dialogue, some may even tell the black community that we need to “fix” our selves before receiving help, but most of them are invested in retaining the wealth they have earned. Many of them will blame the same communities they come from as victims of their own destruction. Many of their non-black friends will tell them, “look at you man, you are a prime example of someone who started from nothing, and made something happen. You are an example of America and how far we have come.”, buying into this, they easily forget where they come from, and the tactic of using tokenism to hide the hideous realities of black America.
At the time of this writing, my daughter is only the tender age of 3. Me and my wife are currently debating whether we should put our daughter in a private school. Being a child raised in the public school system, I was vehemently opposed to my daughter going to a public school. My wife grew up in a private school system. She is ambivalent, as to what is the best decision. According to my wife, she liked going to a private school, but feels like there are good public schools in the area that we already reside in.
In my mind, I picture a good private school full of angels who have never committed a sin. The kids all wear white uniforms and plaid skirts, never swear or do drugs, they are the prime example of what a child should be. My wife told me that I am naive as a virgin. She told me that most private school kids behave just as bad, if not worse, depending on what school you go to. Prescription drugs are a thing in private school, and some private schools don’t rank as good in certain subjects.
One day, me and my wife decided to check out the local school ratings by checking Great Schools. Our local public school had very high rankings and the local private school located across the street was ranked lower. I always take reviews with a grain of salt, due to the fact that competition may attempt to incapacitate one another. However, the catholic school had complaints of bullying, while another parent griped about how their child is struggling in high school with math and science.
The pros of private school are the fact that private schools tend to be a tight knit community. Classes are usually smaller, which means a child can get the proper attention he or she deserves. Most of the parents are like minded individuals who want the best for their child. You get to feel more involved by participating in school events, which ultimately makes you feel as if your opinion truly matters. Private schools provide an environment and culture that is conducive to learning; if you know your parents are paying for your school, you inherently feel a sense of responsibility to not disappoint them. If your friends are doing well in classes, you know that you have to perform equally well in order to stay in school. Uniforms eliminate the unneeded facade of a fashion show.
The cons of a private school are that you have to pay a good chunk of money for your child to attend these schools. If you wish for your child to be secular, at a religious school, you will certainly have to pay more. Uniforms, books, and other accessories are not included with tuition. Neither are the penalties for not participating at the private school events. Fundraisers are separate as well. The money adds up and there are no guarantees on how your child will adapt to a rigid environment. In the private high schools, a lot of kids are into more complex drugs: adderall, percocet, vicodin, cocaine, and marijuana. Here is the link to what I am stating. Though the statistics from the studies back up my claims, the results are anecdotal.
The pros of a good public school are that there is usually a healthy mix of diversity. A child will meet other races and become comfortable around different cultures. The bulk of the kids who attend the public school, will be local kids who live around the neighborhood. Being a local kid around the neighborhood, most of the kids in the neighborhood will know who your child is. No obligations of tuition, book fees, and participation penalties; any funds that are contributed are ancillary and optional. A lot of teachers and aides must be state certified in public schools, for some private schools that is not the case. Many local county and state programs work with public schools on after-school programs, which provides kids with extra-curricular activities. Many of these programs include transportation to and from school to assist parents.
The cons of a bad public school are limitless. Drugs and gang violence are common. Sexual activity among teenage girls are higher, and the environment of constant danger is imminent. Many of the teachers are lackluster, because the school which has a bad reputation, is usually seen as a punishment, or as a mean of “paying dues”. Imagine trying to teach a classroom full of kids who are addicted to cell phones, and cannot stop talking about the last episode of “Empire”(Fox) or another housewife reality show. That is nearly impossible to do, especially with a bunch of kids who don’t value education. These are schools who test so poorly that the staff has a high turnaround rate. Teachers can barely build a rapport with the students, before being re-assigned or flat out quitting. This is obviously the worse option.
My wife and me are still debating on what decision to choose. My mother-in-law is adamant on us putting our child in a private school. I am leaning towards placing my child in a public school, and involving my child in extra-curricular activities to expose her to different avenues in life. I feel that this is what most people fail to do as parents. You never expose your child to the different elements of life, and then when the child becomes 18, they are expected to automatically know what they are going to be. The decision also depends on your child’s personality. My child has an alpha personality that could handle public school. Your child may be mild mannered and stoic. Private school may be a better choice. Or, you may choose the school that is the opposite of your child’s temperament. At any rate, I hope the decision that I make is the best decision for my child.
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