Understanding Science

Many scientists mistake science for sorcery… However, many murderous Jews, Christians, and Muslims mistake divinity as an outer power as opposed to being an inner one… The beauty of science is: we can constantly re-adapt what we've learned, so that we can continue to advance and develop our understanding of the relationships between any particular phenomena. Read full post

Is Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson a One- trick Pony?

Dear friends,

The more that I listen to Neil Degrasse Tyson, the more that I see him as a one-trick pony. While he talks a good game about the stars, he never reflects upon human beings and how we even get access to appreciating science, especially African Americans and Latinos who are, unfortunately, for the most part, trapped as both individuals and groups by the narcissistic spirit of their own self-indulgence called "religion" (with its childish illusion about a world-ruling personality named "God").

Even worse, Tyson's very trite and unoriginal remarks about how he let(s) his kids explore - circumventing the question that was asked to him - also shows how little he has thought about making them aware of the relationships between themselves, their parents, other people, and non-human phenomena. For example, he makes absolutely no reference in the question about American children failing in science and mathematics to the role of education, generally, in perpetuating "the market" that thrives upon war and cares nothing about life, human or nonhuman, or for that which is inanimate.

G. Djata Bumpus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiOwqDmacJo Read full post

Talk about School Segregation is a Red Herring

Dear friends,

While integration is important, at least to me, the enrichment of life in the community is of far more significance… Consequently, there is a tendency in African American communities, and a well-deserved hostility and resentment towards centuries of White Supremacy, to prepare our youth for adulthood on our own, as opposed to relying upon those who really have no vested interest in the progress of our communities other than being a place where they can make some money… Unfortunately, the argument about a system of apartheid here is a red herring… This is essentially true, because almost none of the people who are working within the charter school system, much less the traditional school system, have a clue or even desire to have one in a way that will make African American people work towards developing communities where neighbors relate to each other in a manner that make the youth also feel the same sentiment towards those who have yet to even come… But European American communities have exactly the same problem, as quite as it's kept.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/23/resegregation_of_american_students_new_report Read full post

Who Really Benefits from Testing in Schools? (originally posted 10/13)

"Alternatively, the states themselves could become major actors in the test-making industry. Though some states now use commercial "off-the-shelf" tests, states are increasingly developing their own tests or are customizing the commercial tests to better "align" them with their curricula standards. Georgia, for instance, uses Harcourt's Stanford Achievement Test for grades 3, 5, and 8, yet it uses its own state-developed tests in grades 4, 6, 8, 11, and 12. Many states now use such hybrid assessment systems" 

Dear friends, 

We saw it in Chicago recently, now Philadelphia is getting ready to start the new school year, but having a huge problem in figuring out how to fund the schools. 

At the heart of the problem, strangely enough, is the fact that, because of the No Child Left Behind Act that was originally instituted by Pres. George Bush and continued under Pres. Barack Obama, entire school systems are under the thumb of the Testing Industry. 

But who really benefits from all of this testing? Is it our students, or is it, perhaps, corporations, politicians, and lobbyists that are inflating their bank accounts with the many billions of dollars that this test-giving and evaluating enterprise (No Child Left Behind) brings? 

To be sure, in and of themselves, academic achievement tests provide no measure of one’s ability to perform well outside of the classroom. That fact is particularly true, since while we are able to measure that which is made up of matter, as far as I know, not even the most ingenious physicist or the most advanced technological instrument would be able to measure that which is immaterial - such as the human mind (or spirit). 

Surely, while we can’t measure it, we are able to make that which is immaterial tangible, especially in the form of art. However, the Testing Industry sees no use for that; therefore, our schools don’t either. Hence, the reduction, if not eradication, of all arts programs in our schools nationwide. 

Nevertheless, on the link below, is an article that shows the Testing Industry's booty. Please check it out. Cheers! 

G. Djata Bumpus http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/testing/companies.html

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On Mental Stamina

Dear friends,

To be sure, we always hear about physical stamina – like that which is gained by, say, working as a laborer on a construction job, or training for various sporting events, or, perhaps, running a marathon. However, we can "train" our minds as well,in ways that make our ability to think grow with more lasting force and energy (inner powers), if we also use our powers of discipline, patience, and concentration, in order to help us “think through” problems of whatever magnitude. As a matter of fact, in these days of the Internet, you can just type into your browser whatever question that you might have about almost anything,, and you will, at least, be able to find some semblance of an answer, or begin a process of linkage that will help you.. Besides, searching that way develops your mental stamina too.

By thinking through our problems, particularly when we are in situations that require special attention from us, whether they are confrontations with ourselves – like taking tests in education or employment, for example, or challenges regarding relationships with others (such as our loved ones, classmates, fellow workers, neighbors or even strangers), we can integrate our powers, as a whole, in a way that makes us feel good, and, in fact, more empowered, after the aforementioned confrontations, instead of feeling regret.

Now, there are a number of ways to develop greater mental stamina. Playing games like checkers or chess will enhance your mental stamina. There are a number of “mind” games on computers that can help you with that too. Another method is: Teaching both arithmetic and mathematics to yourself. Because mathematics is an abstract science, that means that you can apply its principles to any number of activities in your lives. (And its not as hard as it may sound.) In fact, the reason why so many people either complain about or find displeasure with mathematics and science is due to the fact that they have not developed their mental stamina better. It is certainly not an issue of them lacking "intelligence".

Please remember, in order to be able to introduce a lot of helpful ideas to your child(ren), grandchildren. or other young people in your life, while, simultaneously, gaining more ideas and skills yourself, you will need to maintain a high level of mental stamina. Don't be lazy! 

Moreover, please learn to “think through” your problems, whatever they may be. In the process, you will also learn to enjoy your own thoughts more and more. That will allow you to be able to distinguish peaceful times from more volatile moments - easier. Better yet, that will put you ore in control of when you want the peaceful ones. Dig?

Keep moving forward!

G. Djata Bumpus
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Black churches/Black History libraries

" ...where is a better place for Our children to learn to appreciate scholarship than the Black Church?"

Dear friends,

Black churches need to play a strong role in Our community building. The Black church is the oldest institution that We have. Beginning in the holds of enslavers' ships through chattel slavery, manumission, and the series of freedom movements that have led up to this point for African Americans, the Black church has been there.

Unfortunately, too often today, Black churches seem to betray the mission of Our predecessors. There are far too few activities that deal with Our liberation, such as church folks freeing captive workers (so-called slaves) during chattel slavery to helping out with marches and breakfast programs and such as they did in the Sixties and Seventies, and helping to lead the fight against apartheid in the Eighties. Too much concentration is on “being saved” and using the word “God” in every other sentence as some type of password. Many folks are even using religion as a narcotic - like heroin or cocaine; a common refrain from them is: "I'm high on Jesus!". (Please remember, Our spirituality should be a vitamin - not a drug.)

Also, having “fellowship” is another term that is being bandied about these days. I went to a church, quite recently, whose Sunday program sheet read at the bottom, after the hymns and prayers listed: Worship ends, Service begins. Unfortunately, and shamefully, this was not in a Black church.

Black preachers must imitate the life of the historical Jesus who fed the hungry and healed the sick - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The latter did not just sit around and pray. He "worked" for change. During 1963, in his now famous Letter From Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, in part:

"There was a time when the church was very powerful in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators"' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide. and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are.
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom, They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets..."

While Dr. King's "letter" was largely directed towards white/European American clergy, today, these words, very much, apply to most African American clerics across the nation, as well. That is a fact that should bring a feeling of shame to many who call themselves ecclesiastics. The Black Church has the power to change things! It is not up to "God" to make this world better. After all, if it is, then why does "He" need clerics

At any rate, Our church facilities should be open to Our youth, so that they can study Our history (with no membership or attendance at the particular church required). Resources like the great Charles Blockson collection, community activists, and college professors can contribute tremendously to making this happen.

A major problem with fighting against Our oppression and becoming a community lies with the fact that We are often Our own worst enemies, because of Our self-hatred. That is, from African American bank tellers who treat Us differently than other customers to drive-by shootings, both feelings and acts of self-hatred make it difficult for either African American men or women to form genuinely loving relationships of any kind, much less encourage Our youth to get along with each other. We must learn to love Ourselves and Our fellows.

Note: "Love", as it were, is only of any use as an "act of being" as opposed to a "state of being". That means that love is only effective as a verb - not a noun. In other words, in this society, love, as a "state of being", is a passive experience that we hear about through so many cheap songs on the radio and see on tv soap operas. However, as an "act of being", love means that people are "actively" loving towards one another. Consequently, love should be an active, not passive, practice of caring about, being concerned for, concentrating on, and feeling responsible towards not just Our mates, but Our work, and Our communities, as well. Besides, when love is passive, it doesn't last long, because it is just a "mood". To be sure, moods change, all of the time. Hence, the serial polygamy practiced by so many of those involved with the institution of marriage and other "love" relationships, in this country.

Still, the cultural institutions in Our society lend to the aforementioned self-hatred that is practiced amongst Us. Literature and images in schools, the arts, and, especially, the government- and corporate-controlled media deliberately perpetuate this indignity too. For example, showcasing groups like Men United For A Better Philadelphia are, apparently, made up of wonderful people. However, the idea that the violence among African American youth is largely the result of a lack of jobs and gun possession may be missing the point, which is: Lack of both social and historical conscience is at the bottom of Our dilemma.

That lack of conscience is no accident. The great Marcus Garvey pointed out: "This propaganda of dis-associating Western Negroes from Africa is not a new one. For many years white propagandists have been printing tons of literature to impress scattered Ethiopia, especially that portion within their civilization, with the idea that Africa is a despised place, inhabited by savages, and cannibals, where no civilized human being should go, especially black civilized human beings." - (please see Philosophy & Opinions of Marcus Garvey, edited by Amy Jacques-Garvey)

Additionally, in that context, long before Garvey, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois wrote: "The discovery of personal whiteness among the world's peoples is a very modern thing...The ancient world would have laughed at such a distinction...by emphasis and omission to make children believe that every great thought the world ever knew was a white man's thought, every great deed the world ever did was a white man’s deed..."darkies" are born beasts of burden...Such degrading of men by men is as old as man and the invention of no one race or people...It has been left, however, to Europe and to modern days to discover the eternal worldwide mark of meanness -color!" - "The Souls of White Folks",

Education, of course, is something that you get for yourself. It is NOT something that someone gives to you. Notwithstanding, the Black church should be the place where young people in Our community can get helpful knowledge and ideas, along with developing useful skills. The schools will, ultimately, follow, if Our churches show them the way. Our young should know that the adults of the community will provide the type of environment where their minds can develop in a manner that will make them be able to control their destinies. Therefore, for Our youth, We must all embrace the old Nigerian proverb that goes, “If you pick a good tree to climb, I will help lift you up.” Moreover, where is a better place for Our children to learn to appreciate scholarship than the Black Church?

G. Djata Bumpus
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Interview: Legendary scholar, activist, and author Lloyd Hogan turns 90 (1/23/13 - )

Dear friends,

It is with great honor and pride that I am having the opportunity to present an interview with a man who has been one of the most important teachers in my life, Professor Lloyd Hogan. Moreover, on today, his 90^th birthday, and considering all of the turmoil that still afflicts African American people, we are fortunate to still have his fresh, original thinking at hand Cheers!

Djatajabs: Hey Lloyd…Its been well over 30 years since my brother Eshu introduced us, after several years of him telling me that he had a professor who had become a close friend, at his alma mater, Hampshire College, with whom I would be certain to enjoy sharing ideas while, simultaneously, learning a great deal. To be sure, meeting you back then, and to this very day, has been one of the best things to ever happen, for me. Nevertheless, having been born in 1923, and considering your over 70 years in academia, from student scholar to professor, activist, and author, have there been changes for African American academicians, in both colleges and universities, generally, that have, correspondingly, benefited our people?

Lloyd: During the last 70 years much has changed for the better for African Americans in the institutions of higher learning (academia). In 1943, there were approximately 4 or 5 African American professors teaching in the "white" institutions. Academia had, perhaps, the most white segregated institutions in the U.S. It was so bad that in cities of the South where  African American colleges were located a stone's throw from their white counterparts, the white professors within the same fields kept theirdistance from their black colleagues.

Black students in the white institutions were the most deprived of scholarly camaraderie with their professors and fellow students. They were made to feel that they should be happy to be rubbing elbows with their superior consorts. At the same time, of course, the curricula were steeped in racially distorted nonsense which passed for substantiated knowledge. In short, white academia was subsisting in an atmosphere of distorted scholarship and social stagnation.

It is true that some institutions had exceedingly large black student

enrollments. Institutions like U of Chicago, Columbia U., and New York U. had black enrollments that surpassed most of the southern black colleges.

Closer scrutiny of these institutions revealed that these bloated enrollments were mostly of graduate students in the field of education. These were the southern professors and educational administrators from the black colleges who were studying towards graduate degrees, a condition which they could not pursue within southern institutions due to strictly enforced segregation laws.

Following World War II, with the passage of the GI Bill of Rights, an

increased number of blacks gained admission to the northern white institutions. The largest gains were in the State-supported colleges and universities of the Midwest and Western States. But these enrollments did not result in a corresponding increase in graduation. At the same time a

smattering of institutions employed a relatively few Black professors.

It wasn't until the middle 1960's, when both black and white students began to demonstrate against the corrupted educational system that real progress ensued. As a consequence of black student demands, black studies departments or programs sprang up in a number of white colleges across the land. In many cases, it was a "copy-catting" response to which these institutions paid tribute. Once Harvard had set up a Department of Afro American Studies, the lesser institutions began to follow in lock-step imitation. This led to the employment of a good number of blacks and to the enrollment of significant number of blacks in PhD programs in black history and other black impacted fields of study. So that today it is no longer unusual to see a good number of black students and professors on the campuses of the former segregated white institutions of both north and south. Out of these advances have emerged some important scholarly works by black professors which have influenced the thought processes of people throughout the nation.

But it is time to call for caution. Having been trained by former segregated-minded white scholars it is to be expected that it will take time before there will come into being a truly independent, scholarly, and truthful black intelligentsia. Time and effort are the promoters.

There is a lesson here for current and future African American college and university students. For those who need college degrees as credentials for employment at higher than usual wages, go for it and try

to complete your studies to actual graduation. The degree is your ticket of assurance that you can be a trusted and loyal servant of the capitalists who are your potential employers. They can trust you to count their money, to protect their assets, and to participate with them in exercising control over their work force.

For the relatively few African Americans who want to remain in the knowledge production fields, be aware that much of what goes for knowledge is merely rationalizations of the efficacy and necessity for the existing capitalist social order in which you are now functioning.

The existing knowledge base is flawed and critically fractured. It needs radical revision from its basic formulations up through its fundamental study methodologies. You have important work to do to bring about a change in the approach to the creation of new knowledge. You are truth pioneers. If you don't accept this responsibility you will emerge from these institutions as petty cadets of your intellectual master purveyors of contrived understanding of real world phenomena. Go for it.

Djatajabs: We’ve just experienced the inauguration, for the second time, of Barack Obama, as the President of the United States of America…How do you feel about that, regarding the progress of African American people?

Lloyd: Obama's presidency has been a historical advance in the history of the United States. It certainly has given African Americans an invaluable public relations position. The first time, Obama could not have been elected without the votes of a substantial number of whites. These brave souls went to the polls in revolt against the incompetence of a president who was taking the country to economic and military demise. They were ecstatic about their accomplishment and showed up in person and in television parlors in the millions to witness his inauguration.

A few days later reality set in and they awoke from the dream state. It was as if they said to themselves "what were we thinking..." We should all have known that the President of the United States is the chief executive of the capitalist ruling class. As head functionary of  the capitalist political state his major task is to oversee the promulgation and enforcement of the rules of the capitalist game.

First and foremost among these rules is to insure the continuity of the system...and this means the urgency of preservation of private property rights of capitalists in the ownership of the wage worker's ability to work, which was purchased in market relations; preservation of the property rights of capitalists in the products of wage workers labor, which result from the capitalists use of his private property; preservation of capitalist property rights in the profits derived fromthe sale of his products; and finally preservation of the right of capitalists to reinvest their profits in such a manner as to repeat the process of capitalist activity over and over again without end. There is no way in which African American issues could have been brought to the forefront of Obama's administration in the face of the reality of his major task. As such, it wasn't too long into his tenure that Tea Party and other organizations began to oppose his every action within a posture of concealed and at times overt racist diatribes. Meantime, African Americans and other allies looked on in dismay to witness what appeared to be an administration incapable of any progressive accomplishment. The man is circumscribed by an exploitative political economic system. It is sufficient if he can survive and end his tenure with accomplishments such as a termination of two destructive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a semblance of a health care insurance plan, and with some growth in employment. He should be commended if he can pull off these modest goals.

Djatajabs: Now, apart from education and politics, I always remember, from years back, how important it was to you to have a fairly large garden, during the warm weather, but also, even today, you still have a small porch garden, at your home. What is the role of food for any population group, as it seeks to reproduce itself as a people, through

time?

Lloyd: It is true that I have always tried, whenever possible, to plant a kitchen garden. It is a conscious attempt to keep in touch with the reality of human existence. In my book, Principles of Black Political Economy, I argued that food production and consumption lie at the foundation of every conceivable political economy that has been known throughout the history of humankind. Since then I have been working on development of a theory of human population. A fundamental postulate of that theory is that in every human society two material crops must be produced to form its core. These are an annual crop of food and a corresponding annual crop of human babies. The annual crop of food constitutes the life-time supply for the corresponding annual crop of babies. I can't go into implications of this postulate in this discussion. However, suffice it to say that different social orders are distinguished by the specific way in which the food is made available to the babies over the course of their lifetimes.

That food is essential should be obvious. No person can exist

without ingesting into his/her person a daily dosage of food (including potable water and breathable air). Food is the elixir of human life. Although people consume many other things, food, nonetheless, must also be

an essential part of their consumption bundle.

In exploitative  societies, it is the robbery of the food from the mouth of babies that reduce the potential longevity of the average population member. It is no wonder that death among the poverty stricken comes easy; while death among the material well-off comes hard. The bread is snatched from the mouth of the poor and death easily prevails.

It is no wonder then that I always try to plant a garden. In these days, I am confined to a few planters on my apartment terrace where I concentrate on the standard herbs--thyme, rosemary. basil, oregano, sage, etc. I also work with peppers such as bhut jaloki, trinidad scorpion, habanero, scotch bonnet, etc. I engage in friendly struggle with Earth-mother.

Djatajabs: Is there a reason to for us to continue the African American experience in a so-called “post-racial” society? I mean, exactly what conditions must exist, in order for a group to become a distinct body for generations, and when is it favorable for them to do so?

Lloyd: I must state at the outset that "race" is a corrupt and corruptible concept. It immediately involves a superiorityinferiority configuration. It was invented by slave hunters and slave

masters to justify to their gods and their evil consciences the wanton control of other human beings as their private property.

"Post-racial" is a related term which has no essential meaning, but provides talking points for charlatans, television commentators, and the unthinking

layman.

African Americans are a distinctive population by dint of their long historical period of reproducing among themselves to the exclusion of all other people.

No individual African American consciously made the decision to be a member of this distinct population. The social and

political economic circumstances under which these people existed in North America are the decisive factors. Black slavery, black

sharecropping in a Jim Crow environment, and late coming to the wage labor class are the historical groundings which cemented African Americans as an identifiable sub-population within the larger U.S. population. As such, it will be an extremely long time in the future before these people will be physically and socially integrated into the larger U.S. population. One shouldn't make plans for this event any time soon.

I must also remind you that African Americans have been physically integrated with a segment of the white population for quite a long time, in the past. If one observes these people closely it becomes, at once, obvious that they have shed a decisive identifying African attribute.

Blackness as a color that is characteristic of African people has almost disappeared from African Americans. They span all colors of the rainbow. Their blood has been tainted with the venom of the vermin slave masters who forcibly injected their polluted seeds into black slave women's wombs. The rape of black womanhood now appears visibly in the panorama of colors among black people. But the power of blackness is such that one droplet of black blood still marks the offspring as black.

The message to African Americans is to savor that history and the cultural entanglements which surround it. There is no escape. After all, it is out of the struggles of African Americans for liberation from all the restrictions they faced throughout their history which made the important democratic advances in the U.S. at large. The nation owes these people a great debt of gratitude for whatever semblance of democracy now prevails. African American struggle and developing U.S. democracy are synonymous events.

Djatajabs: What relationships do you think need to exist between African American men and women for the prospects of our future growth as a people?

Lloyd: I have no substantive knowledge of interpersonal relationships. My only advice to any African American in this regard is to remember that

people are highly specialized and exotic formations of the Earth's

surface. As such they have an obligation far beyond themselves to preserve and improve the species of which they are an essential part.

Be good to each other...love the other better than you love yourself...never do to the other what you would not want done to you, while at the same time always defending the right of the other to do whatever he/she proposes to do. But since the Earth-mother is the source of our being, then preservation and improvement of her is a number 1 activity. That is

all I have to contribute to this most important topic.

Djatajabs: Thanks for sharing your wisdom today, as you have been doing for three generations, Lloyd…and Happy 90^th!...Much Love!

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Economic Development for African American Youth in Philly & elsewhere

“African Americans, as a people, are legendary for collecting baubles, but we never save. We have never been taught to, as the children of the wealthier have.”

Dear friends,

Planning for the future, without setting goals for the economic development of our youth, is something that may help specific individuals, or even corporations, but it won't change the standard of living for residents of any particular community, much less represent an honest attempt to prepare for their future.

Yet, strangely enough, we never hear mention of our youth, even from so-called progressives, at least not outside of them as recipients of food stamps or health care. From all of the Streets, to the Goodes (won’t bother to mention Ed Rendell), to the Blackwells, to the Fattahs, to, yes, Michael Nutter combined, not a single one of these politicians in the African American community of Philadelphia has ever had so much as a single useful thought about how to empower their constituents economically or otherwise, much less the children of the latter.

Still, how can anyone pretend to be thinking about the future, without having programs that are directly geared towards young people? Our youth need to think about their economic future.

To be sure, African Americans, as a people, are legendary for collecting baubles, but we never save. We have never been taught to, as the children of the wealthier have. Consequently, a good goal for young people to save towards is their college education.

Business groups like the African American Chamber of Commerce can play a giant role in monitoring such a program. Surely, an organization like NEEED (Networking for Equal Education and Economic Development) can help a great deal in the effort.

Of course, in order to save money, you have to make it first. As far as a program for youth to earn then save a few bucks is concerned, one of the major problems for African Americans is: Our, historically, poor sense of how to spend our money. Only the wealthy in this country are taught about wealth. The rest of the citizens (many European Americans included) have little or no idea of even what wealth is, let alone how to either acquire or keep it. Unfortunately, with this, African Americans have been the worst. And even worse than that is the fact that just as we are beginning to gain some sense of the possibilities of saving, investing, acquiring property, and so forth, the train has just about left the station.

It used to be that if a person invested in an IRA from the time they were 19 until they were 25, they could see that grow into enough to retire on even if they never invested another cent. Now, with interest rates so low in banks and investments so "iffy", you have to keep investing, certainly, much longer, to make it worthwhile.

Additionally, the question then arises, how do African Americans tend to spend money anyway, when they are 19-25 years old, much less younger than that? It is then, perhaps, more meaningful to develop as a standard that all youth are expected to have a college fund started by the time they enter Middle School. Never mind this stuff about parents saving for your child’s education. That’s the way that I worked it with all three of my kids and they all have done quite well.

Now, it may start out small, but it is the continual growth that makes a difference. Imagine for example in 6 years, from 7th-12th grade, a student saves $5 per week-the first year, $10 /wk-the second year, $15/wk-the third year, and so forth. Even without interest, that student will have a substantial chunk of money with which to enter college. The real benefit is: They will develop a mentality that puts planning for the future and the assumption that we are all college bound, in the forefront.

At any rate, people who realize that they have a future may be less likely to squander it with petty and larcenous thinking like drug-dealing and prostitution. By the way, while we are on the subject, the worst thing about the drug-dealing mentality is that drug-dealing has no future and people who are involved in it have no vision of the future. After all, no one can say with any degree of either logic or sanity, "I am going to deal drugs for a few years to earn money for college and then, after college, get a good job and raise a family." Even the strippers - who often, claim to be putting themselves through college, by dancing up and down a pole - make more sense than that. (That is, at least, their profession is legal and has a fair amount of history to it.)

One idea that is kind of similar has already been tried in, I believe, West Philly is a kind of “Sweep my steps, please?” program. At ten dollars ($10) per week, for a specified pre-teen or teenager (must be enrolled in school) to come by so many times per week and sweep your steps. No teenager should be allowed to sweep more than ten sets of steps per week. (Let us try to be democratic.) Businesses - including realtors, as well as both homeowners and renters, could be sponsors. Also, concerned adults who simply want to contribute, by sending $10 per week to the specific bank designated to monitor the funds.

This can become a great community cultural institution, lasting for generations. Some kids may feel, initially, that drug-dealing brings in more cash. However, it (drug-dealing) really does not bring in even $10 per week that they can save, for most kids. In other words, after they end up paying the bigger dealers and spending (on baubles) the peanuts that are left extremely quickly (if not before they have even paid the former his money back), they have no money.

Imagine if a hard-working youngster got a (Sweep My Steps) sponsor from the community who would put that money in an interest-bearing account as part of a stipend for the chores represented by "Step-Sweeping." The student will get $10 for his or her College fund. Of course, the student is aware that it is his or her responsibility to maintain a connection with the sponsor who keeps that account growing. What is more, this is the type of activity, if gotten off the ground, that could get matching funds rather than grants. Both businesses and individuals, knowing that the money is going to an account that cannot be touched except by an accepting college or an entity of that sort, would feel much better about their donations and more willing to make what is clearly an investment in the larger community.

So a simple slogan like, "If you make money fast, then you’ll spend it fast...If you make money slow, then you’ll spend it slow.", may eventually convince youngsters to realize that there is no future in drug-dealing. After all, young folks should understand that, if they get caught selling drugs (and they will, because addicts snitch to the cops just for reasons like the dealer will not give the latter drugs on credit), while in jail, they (young drug dealers) will not make any money. Therefore, the potential $500 for their college funds that they could make, with only one sponsor, from one year of the “Sweep” program, is far more than what they could make during that same amount of time while in jail or a youth detention center (which is, basically, nothing).

Ultimately, in order to make any kind of work-related initiative happen, we must, as it has been said, convince young people that "Work is a reward!". In other words, it is the work itself that is the reward, not any money or prizes received for one's efforts.

Unfortunately, so much currency (no pun intended) is given to the idea of "reward" as receiving either Nobel, a Pulitzer, a Grammy, an Oscar, or Lottery prize that youth do not understand that the greatest rewards they will receive in life are far more mundane, coming from the joy that they create through their experiences with other people, non-human animals, and even - things, often with no one standing nearby giving applause.

Moreover, work is a "power" that one should hold as great value. Whether it is working at MacDonald's or as a messenger for an attorney, our youth should consider appreciating the fact that their ability to get up in the morning, go to school and a job moves them forward - in the direction of controlling their own lives (destinies). What could be more empowering, than the ability to work, through study (mind) and labor (body)? And, who does not love the feeling of being powerful?

Note: To be sure, the idea of appreciating our own ability to work has been one that has often escaped youth throughout human history. After all, it is hard as a young person to hear that the satisfaction of a job well done is its own reward, when s/he sees the inequities of the distribution of the harvesting of the "fruits" of labor all around us. That is, those who do the least work, make the most money. Therefore, it is one of those notions that would be fine if everyone believed it, but hard to swallow when you know others are getting away with doing so little. Hence, it is the unfairness that eats away at our resolve to do our best in a society that, on top of the aforementioned, finds humor in its own inadequacy (as revealed in so many Hollywood productions like the Bad News Bears). Still, we must push forward in getting our youth to appreciate work.

Finally, after saving, what happens to the money, if the student does not go to college? Let it be available to the student when s/he is ready. It may go towards tuition in a trade school. It may be usable as down-payment on property. It should not be available as cash or to buy a car or pay rent. The point is that it is about moving the person forward.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Equality of Intellugence - Intellectual Emancipation

"Everybody wants to know something."

Dear friends,

I believe that there is an Equality of Intelligence (Intellectual Emancipation) among all humans, as, first of all, everybody wants to know something. If that were not the case, then gossip newspapers and TV shows like the National Inquirer and Entertainment Tonight would have been out of business long ago. With that in mind, the issue of what one learns or the speed at which s/he consumes any particular amount of information is solely based upon that person's interests, in terms of what s/he wants to know.

That's another reason that I protest grading in education (e.g., A through F). Because it shows nothing about what someone actually knows or how competent s/he is, it merely makes the excuse for how people are sorted out and classified for later use by those who sponsor our government and its agents/politicians, all of whom are legitimized, not by the vote, but trough the threat capacity of both the police and military.

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

How and Why the Testing Industry itself Cheats - NOT Our Students!

"Once I attended a range-finding meeting with other test-scoring experts and English professors from around the country, the bunch of us trying to figure out how to score writing samples for a national test. After that group of experienced test scorers and esteemed writing teachers had hammered out some consensus regarding the writing rubric and writing samples we'd been reviewing, we were told we were scoring "wrong." We test-scoring experts and writing teachers were told our scoring wasn't matching the predictions of the omniscient psychometricians (statisticians/testing gurus), and we were told we had to match those predictions even though the pyschometricians had never actually seen the student responses." -

Dear friends,

We often hear “news” stories about both school principals and/or teachers either submitting phony test results or actually helping students “cheat”, in order to prevent their schools from being penalized for having poor test scores. Well, it seems that the actual cheating starts long before the tests are even distributed to the schools.

Still, at what point will our unscrupulous federal politicians and the corporations who sponsor them decide to stop the charade that is the Testing Industry and allow the aforementioned school principals and teachers to exercise their passions and educate our children?

On the link below, please see the article by Todd Farley. He is the author of "Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry.". Farley's opinions have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post and Education Week. Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/for-profit-standardized-testing-industry-cant-be-trusted/1230845 Read full post

Philadelphia School Lay-offs Uncalled For!

In the midst of thousands of school lay-offs, and now threats of schools in Philly not even opening in September, why won;'t the media conglomerate that owns the two major newspapers print this letter below?
***********************
Dear Editor: 

 Regarding the article called, “More than 3,700 school employees are being laid off” by Martha Woodall, posted 6/8/13, I feel that these type of "fiscal" matters are the result of the manner in which educational institutions are not only structured in relation to the communities that they serve, but, also, the structure of the employment and how it is regulated, much less why, what for, and how the children learn. 

This is horrendous! 

 Why was the information in this article put out in such an abstract manner? I mean, one would think that the writer would talk about the entire budget of the city and where cuts are going. Apparently, something is happening to the economy of both the city and state, and is being reflected in the services to people. 

 I remember my now deceased, dear friend Michael Todd Pearlman, a computer science teacher at the Masterman School, fighting vigorously, throughout the Nineties, while, simultaneously, fighting against bone marrow cancer - and still teaching. As well, Mike was actively involved in the PFT, trying to get smaller class sizes, in the already over-crowded Philly schoolrooms, as part of the PFT’s main focus. Unfortunately, he passed in late-2001. 

Yet, had the class size move been successful, the notion of “attendance” stats being an excuse to close schools and lay-off workers would be a moot point. Moreover, to SRC, I must ask: Why are we even going on a year-to-year basis with the economics of schooling? Let’s face it. If the city's children are important to us, then why are they not enough of a priority that there is, at least, a 5- years plan in place, with money protected in a way that is commensurate with the importance of children and their education? 

I guess that this is part of the Some Children Left Behind Act. Eh?

 G. Djata Bumpus
http://articles.philly.com/2013-06-09/news/39836011_1_teacher-layoffs-city-schools-jerry-jordan Read full post

Eshu Bumpus critiquing an essay by Djata Bumpus

Yo D,

I thought it was good. I'm glad that it will continue with a part2 and/or 3 because you didn't get a chance to develop the idea of, " 2) That you know what it’s like to be alone and accomplish goals on your own. "

I think this is essential because there is so much violence that people become inured to that has little to do with hitting. As children, people should be given support and encouragement to think highly of themselves and their futures. This should involve helping the child discover and appreciate "Their powers" in a multitude of ways.

They can create and be loved for what they create. They can achieve and be loved for what they achieve and even what they try to achieve. 

I believe it is nothing short of violence when a certain child is deemed a failure when it is the system that is failing the child. It is nothing short of violence when resources that could be used  to help families are diverted to feed the pockets of greedy, already absurdly wealthy individuals or corporations  or when people can't get nutritious food. It is violence that brings a young girl to a mentality that makes her say, "I like my man with a little thug in him."

If a person has no sense of responsibility to others, they will never really learn how to love. It is through the development of their powers and the sense of the value of those powers that a person begins to see their own potential to change their environment for the better, not only for themselves but for the ones they love or may come to love.

E

Read full post

Bill Cosby disconnects with African American Youth

"(He) conjured up the Mission Hill Extension Housing Projects of Roxbury (Boston) in me ..."






Dear friends,

On the link below is a story about a recent incident in Philly where both acting and comedy legend Bill Cosby spoke to the student body at Germantown High School in Philly. Apparently, he was quite disappointed with the whole institution, by the end  of the "ordeal".

Yet, I'm aware of his past speeches around the country where he scolds mostly African American audience single Moms and belittles them with terms such as his references to them being "the lower echelon". Huh?

In any case, I spoke at a disciplinary high school in Philly, to a crowded auditorium, back in the late-Seventies, when I was still actively engaged in professional boxing. One could hear "a rat piss on cotton", if you'll pardon the expression, as I spoke. Afterwards, the staff and teachers told me how amazed they were, because normally the kids acted like they did with Cos - gabbing and uninterested. But Bill has his own issues of relating to African Americans. He's far removed from the Black community about which he so often lambastes.

Actually, he and I once had a brief altercation behind the Four Seasons Hotel in Center City, back in '83, before he, a former resident of the Richard Allen Housing Projects in North Philly,  made a disrespectful gesture to me (placing his finger over his mouth as I spoke) that conjured up the Mission Hill Extension Housing Projects of Roxbury (Boston) in me At that point, looking straight into my eyes, Bill Cosby very intelligently made a turn-around spin that was faster than James Brown, Davy Ruffin, and Michael Jackson combined. He then quickly race-walked away from the situation. By the way, at the time, we were both wearing tuxedos and were the special guests of a mutual friend, then Temple University President Peter Liacouras, at an annual black-tie affair.

Finally, the students aren't as dumb as Cosby would like to think they are. As you'll notice on the link below, he was talking down to them.. They don't need that!. Instead, they need wisdom. It's hard for one to fin much of that, find that, if most of one's life has been spent on stage and screen entertaining people. In other words, one has to be out and about engaging/interacting with real people and their varied circumstances in the real world. Moreover, to me, Bill Cosby seems to be a poor choice for helping young people grow.

G. Djata Bumpus

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/54686 Read full post

Education and disturbing Job ads (originally posted 5/10/10)

“The other day, I saw a post on a friend's Facebook page that, at least to me, pointed out a real contradiction between the cries of many politicians for ‘education reform’ and ‘employment opportunities’. “

Dear friends,

The other day, I saw a post on a friend's Facebook page that, at least to me, pointed out a real contradiction between the cries of many politicians for “education reform” and “employment opportunities”.

The article was about employment ads that, basically, state: unemployed applicants will not be considered.

In other words, many employers are telling people who are out of work, for whatever reasons, that folks who are unemployed need not bother applying for the aforementioned employers’ jobs.

Now, actually, it had always been my experience that employers normally hire those who already have a job anyway. Therefore, I didn't understand why folks, including the author of the article, were so shocked about a practice that has always existed.

At any rate, apparently, in these Tea Party days, employers have "come out of the closet", as it were, and are stating publicly, “Get lost!” to millions of people.

Nevertheless, with all of the phony talk and legislation about
“No child left behind", isn't it funny that, for example, young people who have diligently gone and gotten their education, in hopes of contributing to the commonweal and being compensated for it, so that they can continue to share their skills with the rest of society, are locked out from the git-go? In other words, what’s the point of pretentious laws and statutes like the under-funded "No child left behind", if eager job applicants are discriminated against when they try to get opportunities to reveal the inner, personal powers that they enhanced through their education?

Yet, interestingly enough, the same politicians who say that they want "education reform" are happy to see these spurned job-seekers just mentioned go to war and defend the property rights of these pols’ sponsors (multi-national corporations and other big businesses). Also, you can bet on it that those same discriminating employers second the motion by politicians that young people be fodder for both the politicians' and corporations' benefit. Go figure.

Please check out the article on the link below.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/04/disturbing-job-ads-the-un_n_600665.html?ref=fb&src=sp#sb=997897,b=facebook Read full post

El Presidente and Afghanistan

"More troops on Afghanistan mean more lives lost. As the African proverb goes: Never surround your enemy on all four sides..."

Dear friends,

In the midst of deciding whether to add more US troops to the alleged "war on terror" that is presently focused on Afghanistan, with what in that country should El Presidente be more concerned? After all, as is proven by the story on the link below, females of the population are not even considered to be, much less treated like - human beings.

Perhaps, instead of a "war on terror", El Presidente should think about ending the war on terror and begin a battle for upliftment of the human species. He can get things started by promoting already proven programs like, for example, "forest gardening", where new eco-systems can be used to fight hunger and provide people around the world access to healthy bodies which will allow them to build. Forget about space programs. Use the money to help people around the world be able to make themselves more self-sufficient. Besides, we have already flown to the moon, made machines to travel on the ground, sea, and space, and developed many more types of technological Utopias like telephones and televisions. As has been pointed out by others before me, it is time that we start making human Utopias. We can end hunger and homelessness immediately, if we end greed. There is enough work and play for everyone, if we develop value judgments in human societies, so that people do not feel that they must hoard everything for themselves, because they feel so unworthy otherwise.

Relating back to the "war", let us not forget: When the greedy and imbecilic pair that is made up of Bush and Cheney ordered the invasion of Iraq, one of the first things that they did when our troops got in was to disband the Iraqi Army. That, of course, forced the now unemployed soldiers to join the "insurgency". The outcome of that is now quite obvious, as the US military has been forced to get out of Iraq. To be sure, Halliburton and others made out like bandits, but thousands of Americans died, and exponentially more of our soldiers were left without limbs. And for what? They did not even get the oil.

More troops in Afghanistan mean more lives lost. As the African proverb goes: Never surround your enemy on all four sides. What that warns is: If you don't provide room for escape, then there will be no later opportunity to reconcile. That means that your enemy must then fight to the death - NOW. This happened in both Vietnam and Iraq. It will happen in Afghanistan too, if our President plays the fool and continues to do the bidding for the military/industrial complex. And the "Conservatives" and their scummy Congressional ilk will laugh their way to the banks, not really caring who wins in 201o - or 2012, for that matter (especially since they can always manipulate the government-- and corpoorate-controlled mass communications media).

Nevertheless, as I mentioned up top, on the link below, please check out a piece that I have saved since early this year, knowing what was likely to happen.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/22/acid.attacks/index.html Read full post

School bullying in the headlines (originally posted 4/9/10)

“…we are all sickened by the notion of an “anti-bullying” law. Both the thought of it and any subsequent actions are useless! Let’s be serious. At what point is a person being bullied or vice versa – that is, at what point is a person bullying another?”

Dear friends,

The obituary reads, in part, “Phoebe leaves behind her mother Anne Obrien Prince, father Jeremy Prince, sisters Lauren, Tessa and Bridget and brother Simon.” Recent reports, regarding the unfortunate suicide of the former South Hadley, Mass. high school freshman Phoebe Prince seem, mostly, to be concentrating on alleged “bullies”, while disregarding the fact that Prince had an older sibling (a senior, at that) attending the exact the same school.

Apparently, Phoebe couldn’t appeal to this older sister for help. What was going on in the Prince household that such a lack of connection between siblings was happening, much less allowed? I mean, two siblings may have their differences; however, they will still defend each other against outsiders.

And what of the claim by an aunt from Northampton, Mass. that school administrators had been warned earlier in the school year of the now dead girl’s vulnerability to bullies? Does that aunt’s claim suggest that Phoebe Prince was some kind of “bully magnet”? If that is true, then it also means that she had learned to engage in masochistic behavior that would either draw bullies to her, or make people want to bully her. Duh. The question then would seem to be, “With what kind of people was she living?” As a matter of fact, was she being bullied at home by one or more of her four siblings too? It happens.

Additionally, not only to me, but to several other educators, as well, with whom I’ve connected about this whole mess, we are all sickened by the notion of an “anti-bullying” law. Both the thought of it and any subsequent actions are useless! Let’s be serious. At what point is a person being bullied or vice versa – that is, at what point is a person bullying another? Children can be cruel. Therefore, what law will stop that! Moreover, from where do kids learn to be cruel?

Finally, what’s all of the talk about a lawsuit? Who will pay? Our cash-strapped school system? It’s an easy payday for lawyers. Any trial will be a field day for even the most inept defense attorney. In any case, will any lawyer complain? After all, it’s the client’s money. Right?

On the link below is a piece that I sent back in 2009 to the Philadelphia Daily News about school violence. Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://articles.philly.com/2009-12-29/news/25270484_1_school-safety-safe-place-students
Read full post

African American child in Ohio used to spread lie about Slavery in North America

“Both Indian and Negro, besides white servants were bound out to a master for a term of years and received no wages. Of these there were a few in the Pilgrim group.” - Commonwealth History of Massachusetts, Vol.1

Dear friends,

Aside from the fact that a European American or so-called "white" kid could have just as easily been depicted as a "slave", since everyone watching knows that it's only a skit. Consequently it is a pretty uninformed teacher who thinks that only African Americans have a slave past here. Additionally, the notion that using an African American child in Ohio to play a captive worker or so-called slave in a classroom play of some sort, for the purpose of providing himself and his classmates with a more realistic account of North American history is a hideous assault on the truth.

After all, a voluminous amount of literature proves otherwise. For example, in British settlements like Massachusetts Bay Colony, Charlotte M. Waters wrote, "The colonies were used too as dumping ground for prisoners and undesirables generally, in spite of protests from the colonists. Criminals, prisoners of war, and inconvenient Irish were thus got rid of. Royalist prisoners after Worcester shared the fate with 2,000 Irish girls and boys deported by order of the Government. Kidnapping was not uncommon. Such emigrants were sold by auction..." (Waters, An Economic History of England).

Indentured servitude is the name applied to Europeans, particularly the early British settlers, who traded both their human and civil rights to British merchants, usually for a term of four years, in order to gain access to North America, mbecause these indentured servants were unable to feed themselves in their European homelands.

In the Commonwealth History of Massachusetts, Vol.1 it is pointed out about early New Englanders including the famous "Pilgrim" group that landed at Cape Cod, that there was a small servile population. The official document reads: “Both Indian and Negro, besides white servants were bound out to a master for a term of years and received no wages. Of these there were a few in the Pilgrim group.” Huh? The school books lie when they said the Pilgrims came here for religious freedom. If they did, then why were some of them temporary slaves? The so-called Pilgrims came here to get loot. Plain and simple. As a matter of fact, the Pilgrims came then left. They didn’t settle here. Therefore, anyone who says that they had relatives on the Mayflower is a liar, just as the lying mother or grandmother who told them that nonsense.

At any rate, the following passage was written by a priest who wanted to see for himself exactly what European peoples had to go through on the ships that transported them to British North America. This particular six months-long voyage took place around 26 years before the start of the War of Independence (about ten generations ago). "...during the voyage on these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of sea-sickness, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy, cancer, mouth-rot, and the like, all of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water, so that many die miserably. Add to this want of provisions, hunger, thirst, frost, heat, dampness, anxiety, want, afflictions and lamentations, together with other trouble, as c.v. the lice abound so frightfully, especially on sick people, that they can be scraped off the body...Children from 1 to 7 years rarely survive the voyage; and many a time parents are compelled to see their children miserably suffer and die from hunger, thirst, and sickness, and then to see them cast into the water." (English Historical Documents, Vol. 9, edited by Merrill Jensen)

Although the above passage resembles the description of an enslaver's ship leaving Africa, obviously, it is not. To be sure, being in bondage was nothing new to any Europeans, especially the British. For instance, during the so-called early Saxon period - this began presumably around 1600 years or 49 generations ago and was supposed to have lasted for about 400 years or sixteen generations. Edward P. Cheyney points out, "In many ways England had gone back to much the same state of barbarism as that in which it had been before the Roman conquest...Gregory, a Roman deacon, in going to the market place and seeing some boys with white skins, fair faces, and fine hair exposed (naked) by a merchant for sale as slaves, was struck with their beauty and asked their race - he was told they were Angles." - (Cheney, A Short History of England)

In the so-called 'later' Saxon period, which has been said to have begun about 1200 years or 48 generations ago - lasting for, perhaps, 200 years: "There were many slaves, some being born bondmen, others captured in war and sold into slavery, and still others reduced to slavery for debt or for crime." (Cheyney, op. cit.)

Apparently, neither whiteness nor Anglo-Saxonism had been invented yet. Another thing proven in Cheyney's last passage - "some being born bondmen" - is that hereditary slavery was not invented by Europeans for Africans as is often claimed by uninformed European American social theorists and a few of their gullible African American counterparts.

Nevertheless, in a few respects, the way that Black captive workers (so-called slaves) were treated in New England was quite different than their Southern counterparts. For one, the concentration of work was, usually, on small farms as opposed to huge plantations. As well, while many were skilled artisans, a number of the Northern captive workers were trained to do things like operating grocery stores, printing presses, and other businesses (see Lorenzo Greene's timeless work, The Negro In Colonial New England). Factually speaking, there was hardly a single occupation that African Americans did not hold in either colonial or post-colonial periods.

In 1656, a Black man named Bus-Bus bought a slave named Angola from a Mrs. Kearney, in the Dorchester section of Boston. In the same book mentioned above Greene pointed out:: "...slaveholding was a class rather than a racial institution is suggested by the fact that at least one Negro family owned slaves in colonial New England, "...he continued, "while six Negro slaveholders were reported from Connecticut" in the first Federal census 202 years or eight generations ago (Greene, ibid.)

Finally, in The Myth Of Black Capitalism, based upon the research of the noted historian John Hope Franklin, author Earl Ofari (now Hutchinson added to his surname) noted that by around 1830 there were an estimated 3, 777 African American slavemasters in the United States. It is believed that some of these folks were merely "buying" their brethren out of bondage and were registered as slave owners. However, there were a number of those who actually held slaves for profit. Some of them held so many captives that they were the envy of their "white" counterparts.

Let’s stop teaching garbage to children and start telling the truth. Then African Americans and European Americans alike can see what these crooks in both government and corporations are about really.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/03/04/2011-03-04_bad_lesson_ohio_elementary_school_in_trouble_after_black_student_made_to_play_sl.html
Read full post

Sandy Banks on a community-building ceremony

There’s an African proverb that goes, " To live together is to have a common fate."

Dear friends,

Almost all of the problems in our society are based upon the fact that, generally-speaking, we have no sense of “community” anywhere in this country. This is largely due to the simple fact that: in this market-driven, possession-oriented society of ours, people do not think in terms of “we”.

Now, that notion may sound like a platitude; however, such a seemingly trite proclamation is very necessary, because those who control the “market” make a point to have people think only of themselves, even within their individual households, not just our society at large.

There’s an African proverb that goes, " To live together is to have a common fate." In other words, as a community, in the grand scheme of things, as it were, we need each other, regardless of the extent to which we are physically-able or whatever social differences that we have - like gender and age, for example. But if people, in any specific community, share a common fate, as mentioned earlier, then it only seems fair that all parties involved should have a voice in their destinies. Unfortunately, for all of America’s brave words of "freedom and democracy", when do our children ever experience either of these lofty ideals, particularly, democracy?

What young people actually feel is that they are controlled, having little or no input, regarding decisions that directly affect their existences. That, to be sure, makes them feel powerless.

As a consequence, they become angry and frustrated. Moreover, in their feeling of powerlessness, quite intelligently, they rebel. Yet, the problem with much of the rebellion of our youth, particularly in inner cities is: young folks often protest in ways that are self-destructive. Of course, this is largely due to the types of options available to them.

Consequently, we should no longer ignore the anger and frustration that our youth must necessarily express in a negative way, if we do not provide them with opportunities to make good choices, through positive support.

The participation of our youth, in both the decision-making and application processes of building our communities, will help young people to look inside of themselves and resolve the anger, fear, sadness, and frustration which results from their feeling of powerlessness here-to-mentioned. As well, they will then discover their inner powers, through the personal strength of positive energy and group support.

Mastering skills in most activities, whether for business or pleasure, requires using energy in a positive way, relying upon focus and concentration - each being human powers just as energy itself is. We must help our youth develop these skills. Therefore, for instance, affording young folks educational opportunities through scholarship programs, is a great method for enhancing the progress of our communities.

In any case, with the piece on the link below, through an incredible journalist, Sandy Banks of the Los Angeles Times, we get a chance to have a vicarious experience that shows how each of us can help young people build progressive and productive futures for our communities. Enjoy!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/me-banks15-20100615,0,5203647,full.column
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Jen Armstrong on Student Loan Reform

"It has now been passed and signed by our president."

Dear friends,

Just last week, award-winning journalist Jen Armstrong of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote about a bill that was attached to the Health Care Reform bill being on the verge of passage itself. It has now been passed and signed by our president. Jen's prophetic piece is on the link below. Cheers!

G, Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/features/20100323_Jenice_Armstrong__Student_loan_bill.html
Read full post

WANTED: Young Black Males - and females

To be Teachers

Dear friends,

The info below was e-mailed to me very recently. I checked it out. It is real. Therefore, regardless of your age, gender or ethnicity, if you know any African American high schoolers, please pass this information on to him - or her. Cool? Peace.

G. Djata Bumpus

******************************
Black Male Teachers

Do you know any Black males who are seniors in high school who want to go to college out of state for 'FREE' ? Several Black Colleges are looking for future black male teachers and will send them to universities/colleges for 4 years FREE.

The 'Call Me MISTER' program is an effort to address the critical shortage of African American male teachers particularly among South Carolina 's lowest performing public schools. Program participants are selected from among under-served, socio-economically disadvantaged and educationally at-risk communities.

The Call Me MISTER program combines the special strengths and resources of Clemson University with the individualized instructional programs offered by four historically black colleges in South Carolina : Benedict College , Claflin University , Morris College and South Carolina State University. To provide even greater opportunity and access, students have the option of first attending one of our two-year partner colleges before transferring to one of the four-year institutions to complete their baccalaureate degree. In addition, the project has limited enrollment in the middle school Master of Art in Teaching program. Please click on the participating schools on the menu to the left to learn more about these schools' programs.

* Anderson University <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/anderson.html> * Benedict College <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/benedict.html> * Claflin University <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/claflin.html> * Clemson University <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/clemson.html> * College of Charleston <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/coc.html> * Morris College <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/morris.html> * South Carolina State University <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/southcarolinastate.html> * Greenville Technical College <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/greenvilletech.html> * Midlands Technical College <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/midlands.html> * Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/orangeburgcalhountechhtml> * Tri-County Technical College <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/tricountytech.html> * Trident Technical College <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/schools/tridenttech.html>
The project provides:
Tuition for admitted students pursuing approved programs of study at participating colleges.
An academic support system to help assure their success. A cohort system for social and cultural support.
Visit http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/index.htm <http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/index.htm> for more details and the online application or call (800) 640-2657.

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