What About Raising Credit Scores of Working Class as Part of Debt Ceiling Debate

So let me get this right--poor, working, and middle class folk don't pay their bills or are slow paying, they are considered reckless and fiscally irresponsible credit risks therefore their credit scores drop and they aren't able to get any additional credit until they show six to 12 mos of timely payments or pay some thing off; US doesn't pay its bills, continue to show fiscal irresponsibility and the most viable option is to simply raise the debt ceiling. Wow! what a bargain if same strategy could "trickle down" to the masses.

I have an alternative solution to propose if some body could get it to the president and Congress for me that would be great:>) We the American people --those who are in the majority--you know the ones who actually make waaayyyyy less than $250,000/year. What if we give you the green light with our approval of raising the debt ceiling, forget about the issue that has gotten yall's panties in your craw--e.g. cutting the Big 3 (Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security) and protecting the insanely wealthy by offering them more tax breaks. I propose that we keep every thing as is and simply raise every working class and poor person's credit score to 800 (leave all the rules in place in terms of what constitutes a good credit rating); forgive the outstanding mortgage payments of the working class families whom you apparently forgot to come back and bail out after you bailed out wall street--you know the folk on main street. The American people will have more disposable income again, access to credit (and possibly less people will be reliant on Medicaid and social security to make ends meet); restraints will be lifted in terms of making purchases and more money will start moving through out the system and not just aggregated at the top and true economic stimulus will occur. Then the US can pay its bills.

Wait, I am not finished. Since Boehner and the "Repugs" as my girlfriend calls them want to see cuts in the big three while protecting the top 2 percenters--let's still have this debate say starting back around January or February of2012 when the 2012 election cycle is in high gear. Then it will be in its appropriate sphere of discussion and debate. Don't try and dress it up now as if it is truly about demonstrating to the American people that we have fiscally responsible and astute members of Congress in office now--its too late!

WWDKD: What Would Dr. King Do If He Were Alive Today?

Monday, April 4 2011 marked the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Shot and killed at the age of 39 while standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis TN by the infamous James Earl Ray. Dr. King is most often venerated for being the spokesperson for the Montgomery bus boycott (1955), spearheading the Selma-to-Montgomery march (1965) and of course delivering his famous “I Have A Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 at the historic March on Washington. There is a tendency, however, to keep Dr. King ‘s legacy nicely embalmed between 1955 and 1965 while paying very little attention to his stand against the Vietnam war, his conceptualization of the Poor People’s Campaign, and his support of labor rights and the sanitation workers in Memphis.
Dr. Cornell West describes most of the homage paid to Dr. King on his birth and death dates as “Santa Clausification” or the “sanitization.” In an interview with Tavis Smiley on PBS (January 12, 2007), Dr. West made this provocative statement:
“He [Dr. King] just becomes a nice little old man with a smile with toys in his bag, not a threat to anybody, as if his fundamental commitment to unconditional love and unarmed truth does not bring to bear certain kinds of pressure to a status quo. So the status quo feels so comfortable as though it's a convenient thing to do rather than acknowledge him as to what he was, what the FBI said, ‘The most dangerous man in America.’"
Professor James Cone, author of the book Martin & Malcolm & America articulated it this way:
"By making Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday, everybody claims him, even though they opposed him while he was alive. They have frozen King in 1963 with his 'I Have a Dream' speech. That is the one [speech] that can best be manipulated and misinterpreted.”
Towards the later years of his life, Dr. King’s world-wide public acclamation (remember he won the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 at the age of 35)—had waned to public disdain and contempt. Even those whom Dr. King considered among some of his closest allies began to abandon him and publicly denounce his strategies in the fight for poor people and his stand against the Vietnam War.
I can’t help but wonder—what if Dr. King were alive today? Would his answers to poverty, war, and human rights be the same? Would he have become a political insider or an elitist or would he still stand hand in hand with the “common folk” and still be considered “one of the most dangerous men in America?”
On the issue of America’s involvement in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and our trigger-happy world leaders who are quick to go to war with very little regard for the innocent victims -- mostly the poor, women and children—I think Dr. King’s answer would be the same as he stated in his “Beyond Vietnam” speech:
“We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. We must find new ways to speak for peace and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.”
On the issue of deepening poverty in the US which is now higher than it was in the 1960s when President Johnson declared a war on poverty, I think Dr. King would still say that it is a poverty of spirit that has led us back to this shameful place where many children and our elderly in America go to bed hungry amidst extravagant riches and often undeserved wealth (just ask the top 1 and 10%). Dr. King would probably refer back to a passage from his last book Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community and reiterate:
“We must work passionately and indefatigably to bridge the gulf between our scientific progress and our moral progress. One of the greatest problems of mankind is that we suffer from a poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually.”
And to President Obama, while expressing how proud he is of his great accomplishments and showing that there is hope for his dream becoming a reality, he would also express some discontent and remind the President that his word is his bond to the people who elected him and that people are counting on him not to be the great friend maker on the play ground but a drum major for justice. He would probably remind President Obama that:
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.”

Marianne Williamson Asks "Where Does A Democrat Go?"

Fascinating article by Marianne Williamson questioning the moral compass, political foresight and social agenda of the current Democratic Party and its leadership.  I concur with her every word!!!! I have also posted a comment to her article at the Huffington Post.  What do you think?  Has the Democratic party lost its commitment to advancing a social agenda for everyday people?  Has the Dem. Party lost the moral compass that once guided and shaped its political platform? What about its connection to the people who gave them the majority in Congress and helped the world to realize the historical election of President Barack Obama? What say ye, the people on the street?

Click the link bellow to access Marianne's article:

Marianne-williamson Asks "Where Does A Democrat Go?"

Top News Stories of the Decade

After listening ad nauseam to the various cable "snooze" networks (snooze because most of them tend to sleep, either selectively or unwittingly, on news that truly matters), I couldn't stomach another list of the top news stories and newsmakers of the past decade that include the likes of Sarah Palin, Carrie Prejean, Chris Brown, Kanye West, Paris Hilton, the Octomom, Jon and Kate plus their eight, Levi Johnson, Tiger Woods,  the balloon-boy dad hoaxer, and the White House party crashers. The reality is that the sordid activities that placed these people on anyone's "top newsmakers" list had very little impact on the greater good of humanity and in no way made significant contributions to the advancement of our society. Understanding why so many hours of national media coverage were wasted on these people and their lives is beyond me.


Here are my picks for the more worthy top news stories of the decade.

1. The inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009.
I feel extremely blessed to say that my husband and I were among the fortunate hundreds of thousands of people who attended this historic event. We arrived on the Saturday before the Inauguration and were able to attend the free concert on the mall on Sunday and the N.C. Society Inaugural ball on Monday. The feeling in the air can best be described as euphoria of unity, love, hope, and pride all mixed together. If only that feeling had lasted until the end of President Obama's first term in office. Who would have predicted what would follow—outrageous Tea Partiers ascending on the nation's capital propagating hate and fear mongering; irate and obnoxious Congressman refusing to honor and reverence the position of our President as Commander in Chief yelling "you lie" or alleging that our President is an illegal alien; unscrupulous and imprudent decisions made by key Cabinet members who have repeatedly put the public's trust and faith in the President's ability to lead in jeopardy; and a constant roll call of critics and dissenters from all sides of the political isle (Republican, Democrat and Independent).

2. The death of Dr. John Hope Franklin on March 25, 2009
Dr. Franklin was the foremost historian and scholar whose life works included "From Slavery to Freedom" and chairing former President Bill Clinton's Commission on Race in America. Dr. Franklin used scientific thought and skilled documentation to record and bring to the forefront of the public conscious the truth about America's history of slavery and its precarious race relations between Blacks and Whites. Dr. Franklin's work was used to advance the civil rights movement and provided the necessary scholarship to win the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that outlawed public school segregation. Although he could have easily succumb to a life of self grandeur and untouchable elitism with his numerous accolades and honors i.e. becoming the first Black professor to hold an endowed chair at Duke as the James B. Duke professor emeritus of history, Dr. Franklin was a stately yet humble and inspiring man who gave so much more than he took to advance not himself but society as a whole.

3. The confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on August 6, 2009.
Not only has this awesome woman defied all odds--making it out of a Bronx housing project as a young Latina girl being reared by a single mom, earning a scholarship to Stanford, graduating at the top of her class, finishing law school with honors and serving with distinction as a judge, Justice Sotomayor is a role model for all women and young people who face similar and even greater challenges. She withstood the harsh and at times demeaning grillings of the predominantly White-elite-male controlled confirmation hearings, kept her poise and dignity and remained calm and cool under pressure and came out victorious. She proved that women can be just as smart as men and remain calm under pressure without given up the characteristics that make us human and keep us connected to humanity.

4. Death of Senator Ted Kennedy on August 26, 2009.
Marked the end of the Kennedy men from the "Camelot" era and America's "Royal Family." Senator Ted Kennedy's life was a testament to how perhaps the best path to redemption is a life committed to public service and remembering "to whom much is given much is required." He also was a testament to that the Lord will and can restore the years that the locus have eaten and cause a person to ascend the hurt and regrets of a past marred by unbearable losses and irreversible mistakes.

5. Murder of Five Year Old Shaniya Davis who was sold as sex slave November 11 2009.
Again, sad and tragic. Who in the heck is watching out for helpless children? Drug addicted mother needed help? Yes, and. Father wanted to give mother another chance. Yea, and. Department of Social Services overburdened? Yea, and. Nothing excuses this heinous crime and no one should be let off the hook. The mother, the sick man who would even want to have sex with a five year old, the DSS workers who neglected to consider this mother a high-risk case even after other reported incidences of severe child neglect and abuse were documented. It is clear that we need stronger and harsher penalties for child predators and people who abuse and neglect children. I think that life without the possibility of parole for child molesters and abuses is a good place to start.

6. The four children found dead in a Southeast DC home in January 2008.
Sad and tragic case that speaks more to the break down in community than the apparent mental illness of the mother who stayed in the home while her children's bodies decayed. Didn't anybody miss the children, who were between the ages of 5 and 17? What about the school officials? Why is it business as usual for children to go absent from school for extended periods of time or out of view of neighbors and NOBODY notice?

7. Murder of UNC--Chapel Hill student Eve Carson March 5, 2008.
Take the perpetrators in numbers 5 and 6 above and replace them with the fate Eve Carson suffered; now that somehow seems just. Eve Carson by all accounts was a wonderful soul--an angel on earth seeking ways to give back unselfishly, with a commitment to dedicate her life to advancing the greater good of humanity. She was a light whose "candle burned out long before her legend ever will" (Sir Elton John). The perpetrators however epitomize what happens to young black males who for a multitude of reasons become hardened to the core and void of empathy and any moral conviction. We have to remember that there is very little evidence to suggest that violent and heinous criminals are born; most of them turn out to be products of their environment and society.

8. The Devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005
"'Bring me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to be free' and when calamity strikes we will watch them die and sit in anguish waiting for us to send relief" best describes the response of the US government to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. On August 28th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina swept through the gulf coast of the United States with calamitous effect resulting in the deaths of more than 1,800 people, displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and more then $81 billion dollars in damages to private and public properties. This event unlike any other, revealed to the rest of the world America's dirty little secret--its woeful neglect of its poor and underprivileged.

9. Death of Michael Jackson on June 25, 2009; Death of Ray Charles on June 11, 2004; Death of Richard Pryor on December 10, 2005; Death of Luciano Pavarotti on September 6 2007; and Death of Rodney Dangerfield in 2004)
Legends and geniuses who did what they did in ways that no one else could and probably ever will. Michael Jackson was the GREATEST musical genius to ever breathe bar none.

10. Election of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States
I don't have words to describe the shameful moments of history under his presidency. The best things he contributed was providing credible evidence that legacy admittances into Ivy League universities is REAL; proving that you really don't have to be smart to be president, just surround yourself with smart sycophants; and if you tell the American people a lie long enough (even with a smirk on your face) we tend to believe it e.g. Sadam Hussein IS manufacturing weapons of mass destruction, Bin Laden IS the mastermind behind 911, and it IS necessary to infringe on the American people’s civil liberties and ABSOLUTELY critical to invest billions of taxpayers' dollars to fund homeland security (which to this day is a joke). I am sure I missed many more incredible lies that make up this President's legacy.

11. Terrorist Attacks on American Soil on September 11, 2001(911)
A dark day in America yet a reminder that we are not invincible and if you make enemies in the world they are bound to come after you and loved ones and some are just brazen enough to come into your own home. I remember the bumper stickers that read "God Bless America" showing up all over the place. The one that was most befitting however was the one that showed up on occasion that read "America Bless God." It is perhaps our sense of entitlement and hubris and reckless exploitation and disregard for our neighbors around the world that perpetuates hate directed towards us and places our nation at high risk of terrorist attacks. We bless God when we seek to resolve world conflicts through peaceful means and not by brandishing our military power as our preferred and only means of defense.

12. Jena Six Case in 2006/2007
This case was a sobering reminder that perhaps the conclusions of The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders' report (known as the Kerner Commission) established in 1967 by President Lyndon B. Johnson was to investigate the causes of the 1967 race riots in the United States are still relevant and a reality. We have two (now maybe three if you include Hispanic/Latino immigrants) societies, one black, one white--separate and unequal. Today however class is a powerful factor that is creating an even greater schism between the lived realities of race/ethnic groups which is most notable in our legal/judicial systems and schools.

13. Congressional probe of mega ministers and televangelists in 2007
In 2007 Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee create quite a stir when he called for the investigation and audit of six mega televangelists and their ministries: Paula White, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn. Others would be added included Joel Osteen. While I am not in a position to question their legitimate "calling" by God to preach his word, actually some of them are pretty good, I am ever so mindful of several key scriptures that would call into question their outlandish lifestyles and extravagant profiteering that many of them seem perfectly comfortable enjoying. There are several others that could and probably should be added to this list. I do believe that God desires as He says in His word that we prosper even as our souls prosper however many of today's mega ministries have taken this scripture to another level that borders on the side of profane secularism. They have proven that preaching can be lucrative and that even among "evangelists" money and power can become intoxicating and lead to absolute corruption. The sad fact of the matter is that many of these ministers lead people who are either living in poverty or are not far from it. What we need are more pastors and mega ministers like like Pastor Rick Warren, the author of the Purpose Driven Life who reports that he and his wife reverse tithe--living off 10% of his earnings and tithing the rest. Now that would be an impressive sign of which God these mega ministers are serving--Jehovah or mammon.

14. The deaths of Lady Bird Johnson (July 11, 2007), civil rights heroine Ms. Rosa Parks (October 24, 2005) and the first lady of the civil rights movement, Mrs. Coretta Scott King (January 30, 2006).
These women proved that you don't have to proclaim that you are a feminist in order to fight for the liberation, equality and just treatment of women and all people. They were courageous and dignified women of great moral conviction and resolve to fight for what is right without compromise.

Text of President Obama's Speech to School Children

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School Event

Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009
 

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today. 

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.   

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year. 

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. 

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox. 

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve. 

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. 

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. 

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide. 

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future. 

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy. 

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country. 

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in. 

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse. 

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right. 

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying. 

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. 

That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America. 

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall. 

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. 

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it. 

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things. 

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK.  Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." 

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying. 

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in. 

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals. 

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. 

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?  

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

 

Courtesy of the White House 

 

Eradicating Educational Disparities Is the Civil Rights Fight of the 21st Century

Contrary to what the current educational data on Black children’s achievement suggest, the African American community has always placed a high value on education. From slaves who were beaten for sneaking away to hidden sanctuaries on slave plantations to learn and teach others to read to the Little Rock Nine who suffered physical and verbal abuse to integrate schools following the Brown v. Board decision African Americans have overcome many obstacles and paid a high price to receive an education. Today, this legacy is in serious peril.
President Obama and the President of the NAACP Ben Jealous agree that eradicating educational disparities between Black (and Brown) and White children is the premier Civil Rights fight of 21st Century. In his speech to the NAACP’s 100th Anniversary convention, President Obama spoke these truths:

“…more than half a century after Brown v. Board, the dream of a world-class education is still being deferred all across the country. African American students are lagging behind white classmates in reading and math -- an achievement gap that is growing in states that once led the way in the civil rights movement. Over half of all African American students are dropping out of school in some places. There are overcrowded classrooms, and crumbling schools, and corridors of shame in America filled with poor children -- not just black children, brown and white children as well. The state of our schools is not an African American problem; it is an American problem because if Black and Brown children cannot compete, then America cannot compete. Innovative programs and expanded opportunities will not, in and of themselves, make a difference if each of us, as parents and as community leaders, fail to do our part by encouraging excellence in our children…Government programs alone won't get our children to the Promised Land. We need a new mind set, a new set of attitudes -- because one of the most durable and destructive legacies of discrimination is the way we've internalized a sense of limitation…We've got to say to our children, yes, if you're African American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that somebody in a wealthy suburb does not have to face. But that's not a reason to get bad grades, that's not a reason to cut class, that’s not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school. No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands -- you cannot forget that. That's what we have to teach all of our children. No excuses …To parents we can't tell our kids to do well in school and then fail to support them when they get home. For our kids to excel, we have to accept our responsibility to help them learn. That means putting away the Xbox, putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour. It means attending those parent-teacher conferences and reading to our children and helping them with their homework. And by the way, it means we need to be there for our neighbor's sons and daughters.”

On general principle, it’s hard to argue against the President’s appeal to individual responsibility. Like many who are counted among the so-called “Black intelligentsia” or as Michael Eric Dyson refers to them, the “Afristocracy,” which are made up of black professionals and the Black elite (i.e. Bill Cosby, Dr. Alvin Pouissant and Juan Williams to mention the more familiar voices) the President promotes the tenets of the “culture of poverty” theory which shifts the brunt of the responsibility of African American youth’s failure—socially and educationally—to the parents, home environment and individual behavior while downplaying or ignoring the more persistent and pernicious structural influences that block opportunity and encumber achievement. They focus on the outcomes or the symptoms of the problems that have manifested into individual behaviors as opposed to the systemic and structural influences that create and reproduce urban blight, broken families, crime and violence, teen pregnancy, drug use and drug selling, cultural indignities and vulgarities in music and language, and children uneducated and undisciplined. Most of us know that personal responsibility or individual effort alone cannot solve the problems that are plaguing our schools and preventing Black and Brown children from succeeding in our schools.
If we are truly committed to improving the educational achievement of ALL children and equipping them to live out the American dream as competitive and productive global citizens, we have to take an honest assessment of the processes and mechanisms whereby education is used to reproduce social inequality in larger society and create a permanent underclass made up largely of Black and Hispanic/Latino people. We must get back to practicing the principle of collective responsibility. Every adult--whether you have a child in the school system or not, whether you are among the affluent or impoverished, whether you live in the “hood” or in a gated community---should make it a priority to take an active role in helping to improve the academic outcomes of African American and poor children. From mentoring and tutoring a child who is not your own, helping a young single parent rear his or her child correctly, regularly attending local school board meetings to joining and working with the local NAACP—no act is too small or insignificant. The making of history runs on a parallel track with the present. When the final record is written about this generation the question will be where were you and what role did you play in helping to advance the Civil Rights agenda of your era, not how well you knew or how proud you were of the work that others did who went before you.