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Making Progress; Moving Forward!
Million Father March Parade
Listen to WVON on Labor Day
Fathers and Men, Our Children Need You!
Black Fathers As Good or Better
Rochester, Good Lord!
Simeon Electricity Shop Restored
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Attend One of the Best Back-to-School Parades in America
The 2014 
Million Father March Parade
Saturday, August 30, 2014, 11:00 am
45th to 51st and Cottage Grove
Chicago, Illinois
Call 773.285.9600 for more information.

On Labor Day

September 1, 2014

6:00 am to 9:00 am CST

Tune in to WVON 1690-AM to hear

Men and women from all parts of America talk about the
Million Father March 2014

in their city and 

the value of fathers in the lives 

of their children

  

including a special interview with 

Principal Kimberly Henderson 

of Mollison Elementary School

Chicago, Illinois 

as she discusses the exciting lessons and opportunities of the 2014-2015 school 

year for her students, parents and community 

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Monday, September 1, 2014

6:00 am central time

On WVON -1690 AM   

  

Join us at 7:00 am Eastern; 6:00 am Central; 5:00 am Mountain; 4:00 am Pacific; 3:00 am Alaskan; 2:00 am Hawaiian. Call-In number at 773-591-1690

  

Listen to The Black Star Project's

Internationally Acclaimed Radio Program

The Parent Revolution

Every Saturday on WVON 1690AM

  

 Click Here to Tune In. 

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The Black Star Project thanks the Board of Directors of The Field Foundation of Illinois, the Board of Directors of Woods Fund of Chicago, Illinois State Senator Jacqueline Collins, Illinois State Senator Kimberly A. Lightford, Chicago Alderman Will Burns and Melody Spann Cooper of WVON for their generous support for our parenting programs.
Fathers and Men! 
Our Children Need You!

To meet The Black Star Project at Mollison Elementary School on Tuesday Morning at 8:10 am, September 2, 2014, at 4415 South King Drive, Chicago, Illinois, to welcome back the students of Mollison and to sign up to give 10 hours of service to our children this school year.
Please call 773.285.9600 to let us know that you will be with us. 
 
CDC Study Shatters Myth 
about Black Fathers

Stacy M. Brown

August 13, 2014
 

(NNPA) - Terrence Morgan has heard the stories over and over. Black men are absent from their children's lives. An African American woman stands more likely to be a single mom than any other race.

 

Morgan, 33, who has two sons, ages 6 and 4, lives in Southeast next door to a close friend who only sees his child once a week.

 

"I just couldn't live peacefully without being active in my sons' lives," said Morgan, a medical assistant. "It's in the inner-cities, all over the news, Black men abandon their children or Black women have to struggle alone. That's just not me, though," he said.

 

A 2012 federal government survey revealed that 15 million American children live in households without fathers; a stark increase over a 1960 study that showed just 11 percent lived in homes without a dad.

 

However, by most measures, Black fathers have proven to be just as involved with their children as other dads in similar living conditions - or more so - according to the latest study released in July by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics in Atlanta.

 

In fact, in its coverage of the study, the Los Angeles Times noted that the results, "defy stereotypes about black fatherhood," because CDC officials found that African American dads are more involved with their children on a daily basis than fathers from any other racial group.

 

"Yes, there still are too many broken homes and too many fathers not living with their children, especially in the Black community. But it's high time to put this myth about the absent Black father to rest."

 

"In part, because I saw other fathers engaging their kids the same way."

The CDC's report further revealed that nearly half of Black fathers living apart from their young children said they played with them at least several times a week, 42 percent said they fed or dined with them that frequently, and 41 percent said they bathed, diapered or helped dress them as often - rates on par with or higher than those of other men living apart from their children.

 

Click Here to read Full Story

ROCHESTER, GOOD LORD!

At the end of the day, the only thing Rochester does well is reinforce a socioeconomic caste system that keeps young black men and women at the bottom. Thanks to the district, they will have a good chance of being known to the criminal justice system.
 

By Michael Holzman

August 26, 2014 

 

Michael Holzman

The Rochester City School District enrolls just under 30,000 students, 61 percent of whom are African American and 25 percent of whom are Latino. [There are approximate 10,000 school-aged white residents of the city, two-thirds of these are not enrolled in the city's public schools.] Eighty-five percent of the district's students are listed as "economically disadvantaged."

 

In 2012-13 there were approximately twice as many students enrolled in ninth grade as in 12th grade because of a "gate" assessment at ninth grade. 

 

This high ninth grade enrollment is common among schools and districts serving children living in poverty, nearly unknown in wealthy communities. The large number of children spending more than one year in ninth grade can both be attributed to a lack of academic achievement in earlier years and be said to be a factor leading to the absence of a high school diploma four years later.

 

In the 2011-12 school year, the turnover rate of teachers with fewer than five years of experience was 51 percent. The turnover rate of all teachers was 28 percent, double the state-wide average. In a typical Rochester school, comparatively few teachers are highly educated, few teachers new to teaching are in the classroom after their second year, few of any teachers after their fourth year.

 

Statewide, 31 percent of New York students reach the National Assessment of Educational Progress Proficient (grade level) status in eighth grade reading, and four percent reach the Advanced level. White students score at Proficient or above 46 percent of the time; black New York State students reach Proficient or above 18 percent of the time. The New York State Department of Education believes that the new Common Core tests begun in 2013 are now aligned with NAEP.

 

In the 2014 administration of these tests, 5.7 percent of all Rochester eighth grade students scored at grade level in reading, level 3 or above (up from 5.6 percent the previous year). This was the lowest percentage at grade level of any of the state's large cities. Among white students, 12 percent reached level 3 and 8 percent reached level 4. Among black students, four percent reached level 3 and none reached level 4 (due to rounding, the combined levels 3 and 4 totaled five percent). For black male students, 3 percent reached level 3 and none reached level 4. The failure of the district to teach its black students to read and write by eighth grade is nearly total. Monroe High School is one of Rochester's dropout factories.

 

It appears likely that only about one or two dozen male black Rochester school district graduates go on to receive Associate's degrees each year and something on the same order, at most, receive Bachelor's degrees. If we compare these educational outcomes for African American residents of Rochester to those for White residents of Monroe County (including Rochester) we can see that nearly four times the proportion of the latter as the former have attained education to the Bachelor's degree level or above and that the proportions reverse for the populations without high school diplomas. It is not too much to say that a college education for Rochester residents is a white privilege.

 

The Rochester school district brings relatively few of its black students to grade level in reading in eighth grade. It graduates just over a quarter of them. A few dozen earn Associate's degrees, a relatively few Bachelor's degrees and above. Without those qualifications their opportunities for successful careers are quite limited, their chances of economic mobility beyond the station in life of their parents scant.

 

At the end of the day, the only thing Rochester does well is reinforce a socioeconomic caste system that keeps young black men and women at the bottom. Thanks to the district, they will have a good chance of being known to the criminal justice system.

 

Click Here to Read Full Story

Simeon Electricity Shop 
Program Restored
State Senator Jacqueline Collins told CPS officials "if the program was not reinstated they should not come to Springfield asking for more money".
Simeon Vocational Career Academy Local School Council Meeting
By J. Coyden Palmer 
August 23, 2014

 

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) officials announced Wednesday afternoon they will be reinstating the Electricity Shop Program at Simeon Vocational Career Academy after weeks of being under duress from community leaders, Black politicians, students and the Black media. According to the release, CPS will be partnering with Local Union 134, which has committed to offer jobs to students who complete the three-year electricity program at Simeon, the only program of its kind in the District. 

 

"We are looking forward to helping train and recruit the next generation of electricians," said Terry Allen, Business Manager for IBEW 134. "IBEW is committed to offering employment towards apprenticeship and helping Chicago's next generation workforce find job security and a path to the middle class."

In a Crusader exclusive on July 17, the newspaper broke the story when it learned the program had been terminated via the program's teacher Latisa Kindred. CPS officials said the decision was made by Simeon principal Sheldon House. 

"We are grateful for this partnership with IBEW that will provide our students with an opportunity to continue to learn valuable skills," said CPS CEO Dr. Barbara Byrd-Bennett in a press release.

State Senator Jacqueline Collins, along with State Rep. Mary Flowers, LaShawn Ford and State Senator Donnie Trotter, pushed for the program to be reinstated. Collins told CPS officials if the program was not reinstated they should not come to Springfield asking for more money. She said this situation shows what can happen when citizens, local community news outlets and elected officials work together. 

"We're glad CPS took the advice of the Simeon alumni, students and parents and reinstated the program," Collins told the Crusader via telephone Wednesday evening. "This is a lesson of what can be accomplished when the community works in conjunction with their legislators for a program that benefits us all." 

Kindred thanked the Crusader for notifying the public what was taking place and believes without the news story last month; the results would have been a lot different. She said she is excited to get back into the classroom and work with her students.

The three-year program will have the capacity to enroll 28 students each year, beginning in a student's sophomore year. Students enrolled in the program last year are eligible to return. The electricity program is one of more than 40 different Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, which offers industry-focused coursework for high school students to pursue, in addition to required core courses.


Click Here to Read Full Story 


Note: Electricians in IBEW 134 will earn $50.00 per hour in the next three years. 
Help Send the Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word to The White House by Clicking Here.

As America struggles with death of several more young Black men by the hands of police in the past week and the death of hundreds of young Black men at the hands of other misguided young Black men, the Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word have risen above America!
Top Row - Michael Brown, killed in Ferguson, Missouri; Eric Garner, killed in New York City, New York; and Trayvon Martin, killed in Sanford, Florida.  Bottom Row - Jonathan Ferrell, killed in Charlotte, North Carolina; Oscar Grant, killed in Oakland, California; and Jordan Davis, killed in Jacksonville, Florida.
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Listen to the Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word use spoken word to move America forward and to make America better.  Listen especially at the 6 minute 30 second mark where they speak the famous quotations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  They deserve a national stage. Please help them get it by clicking on here and recommending that they visit The White House with their strong message of brotherhood, struggle, overcoming the streets of America, and the celebration, joys and accomplishments of being a young Black man in America.
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Click Here to See and Listen to the Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word.
Click Here to recommend that the Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word visit The White House with their strong message of hope for America.