Links: The Black Star Project's website:
Black Star Journal:
| | Emergency Summit on Urban Violence Convened by Three U.S. Congressmen |
The Odds Are Against Young Women Black Graduating from College. This Program Can Change the Odds to their Favor! Join us for a female version of ... "The Wall" Program Designed to Help Young Black Women Succeed in First Year of College At "The Wall" Young Black women will learn to: - Make good life decisions
- Create good study habits
- Balance social life and academic life
- Manage social and personal relationships
- Succeed in their first year of college
- Create a 4-year graduation plan
Join us for "The Wall" Teaching Young Black Women to Succeed in their First Year of College Saturday, July 27, 2013 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm 3509 South King Drive Chicago, Illinois FREE!!! - FREE!!! You Must RSVP to 773.285.9600 |
The Sheilah A. Doyle Foundation Offers Support for Bereavement at Comfort Zone Camps Giving children affected by homicide hope for a bright future! The Sheilah A. Doyle Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization that provides support and assistance to children ages 7-17 whose parent, legal guardian, or sibling fell victim to homicide. Through our partnership with Comfort Zone Camp and our college scholarship program we believe that we can transform a child's tragedy into a bright future.
Comfort Zone Camp is the nation's largest bereavement camp offering weekend camps to children who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, or primary caregiver. They provide camps today in Virginia, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and now Chicago. The organization has served more than 8000 children to date and have been in existence since 1998. The Sheilah A. Doyle Foundation partnered with Comfort Zone Camp in 2011 to bring children a camp specific to homicide loss. The camp weekend is available free of charge. The camp will be held at Camp Manitoqua in Frankfort, IL from Friday, September 13th, 2013 to Sunday, September 15th, 2013. The deadline for all camper application is Aug. 9, 2013. Click Here to Learn More about The Sheilah A. Doyle Foundation |
Black Parents in the South Favor Increased School Choice, Says New Survey The report surveyed 1,700 black voters in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi in March 2013. In each state, 85 percent to 89 percent of those surveyed wanted as many educational choices as possible. More than half of those surveyed in each state-55 percent to 57 percent-said they would send their child to an alternative to their assigned school, if given the choice. Across the four states, about half of the survey participants expressed support for charter schools. The more familiar they were with charter schools, the more likely voters were to support them, the survey found. And unsurprisingly, those who rated their regular public schools highly were less likely to indicate they would opt out if an alternative were available. Those who rated their regular public schools poorly were much more likely to say they would move their children to an alternate school if it were available. |
Pre-College Leadership and Impact Program
for Young Black Men at the
University of Illinois at Chicago | Young Black Men from Eagle Academy in New York City, New York |
In an effort to recruit African American males to UIC and the College of Education I am collaborating with the Youth Development program to host the inaugural Pre-College Leadership and Impact Program this summer. Marcus Croom (LLC doctoral student) and I will spend ten days in the dorms with the young males during this intensive program. I am currently seeking 20 high academically performing African American males to participate in the University of Illinois College of Education's inaugural Pre-College Leadership and Impact Program that will be hosted on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago from July 31st-August 9th. The Pre-College Leadership and Impact Program is for young males entering their junior or senior years in high school who have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. The young males will stay in a UIC dormitory during the ten-day program. Each young male will receive a $400 stipend for his participation. The Pre-College Leadership and Impact Program, under the direction of Dr. Alfred W. Tatum, will serve to nurture the next generation of African American male leaders. During week 1 of the program, the selected participants will develop leadership skills by engaging in a series of physical, intellectual, and creative exercises. During week 2 of the program, the participants will lead a group of elementary-aged African American males. The selected participants who will be referred to as Leader Candidates will engage in five days of leadership briefings focused on the following leadership frames: Day 1: Collaborative Leadership Day 2: Cultural Leadership Day 3: Community Leadership Day 4: Youth Leadership Day 5: Academic Leadership
This application deadline to participate in this program is July 26, 2013. Please disseminate and have interested folks reach out to me for an application. -- Alfred W. Tatum, Ph.D. Professor & Chair, Department of Curriculum & Instruction Director, UIC Reading Clinic University of Illinois at Chicago College of Education 1040 W. Harrison M/C 147 Chicago, IL 60607 (312) 413-3883 |
330 Cities Have Signed Up for the 2013 Million Father March!!! Click Here to See If Your City Has Signed Up. Every Father and Every Man in America Should Take A Child to School on the First Day of School for the Million Father March!!! This Is How We Make America Great!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------- Call 773.285.9600 and ask for Vince Cain to lead the effort in your city. Women should encourage and support men in this effort. Women can also take the lead. We have everything you need to create a successful Million Father March in your city. |
College yes, but boot camp first By Esther Cepeda July 18, 2013 | Esther Cepeda |
For some young people, July is a month for getting in a few last weeks of relaxation before enrolling in college. For others, it's also the lead-up to what could be one of the worst experiences of their lives. The luckiest of this latter group are steeling themselves against all that could go wrong. Here in Chicago, young men who got into college but are otherwise unprepared to navigate the environment of a university campus are attending a five-week, first-year-of-college boot camp called "The Wall." It's the brainchild of the Black Star Project, an organization that harnesses the power of parental and neighborhood involvement to drive academic excellence in the city's black and Hispanic communities. In their e-blast, the organization minces no words about how perilous college can be for young black and Hispanic men who have grown up on blood-spattered streets and graduate from college at far lower rates than white males: "It is estimated that 67 percent of young black men who start college return home as dropouts in their first year of being on a college campus. Some families send collegestheir honor students and get ex-felons in return. Young black men get caught up in the traps of freedom, women, drugs, sports, parties, fraternities, et cetera without guidance or support and they flunk out of college." Phillip Jackson, the executive director of the Black Star Project, told me that parents, in a last-ditch effort to protect their boys before they enter a world that is scary and unknown, drag their sons to the afternoon-long Saturday sessions. These parents have heard the horror stories of their neighbors' kids calling home from a college town's jail three months after leaving home and want to avoid the nightmare. "We're telling them things that their parents don't know or won't tell them and that the dean at the school won't tell them: 'This is how young black men get arrested on a college campus, this is how young black men get trapped by women who go to college to find a man, this is the environment of the small, rural town where your campus is located, where you're going to have a target on your back,'" said Jackson. |
The World's Largest Trunk Party Association in partnership with Congressman Danny K Davis, Secretary of State Jesse White, Alderman Carrie M. Austin, Alderman Emma Mitts, Impact Family Center & Community Recovery Network Cordially invite you to attend
The 2013 World's Largest Trunk Party Saturday, July 27, 2013
1:00 - 3:00pm
Food, Fun & Entertainment
University of Illinois
Physical Education Building
901 West Roosevelt Road
Chicago, Illinois
Get the accessories you need to prepare for your life on a college campus. Please RSVP to: worldslargesttrunkpartyassoc@gmail.com |
VOICES How Should Philanthropy Respond to Obama's Speech on Black Men and Boys? By Shawn Dove, U.S. Programs - Open Society Foundations July 21, 2013 How do we as a nation now heal from the open wound caused by the Zimmerman verdict? Words from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr's last book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, offer guidance: "We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now." I've watched more than ten times now President Obama's speech responding to America's Trayvon Martin moment. With each viewing, I am increasingly inspired by our president's courageous depiction of the challenges black men and boys face in a society that too often perceives them as criminals and ignores their potential to be productive contributors to this great nation. In his 20-minute speech, the president pulled off the societal scab of racial pain and fear covering America in the week after a jury deemed George Zimmerman not guilty of killing unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Much of what the president said resonated with me, particularly as a black man, the father of young twin black boys, and the manager of Open Society Foundations Campaign for Black Male Achievement. What was perhaps most compelling was how he helped the country understand the pain black communities were experiencing by weaving explanations of the complex policies that create the disproportionate prison population of African American men with his personal experiences of being racially profiled. What also resonated with me was the return to the question, "Where do we go from here?" which I evoked in a post last week. What should philanthropy do? I would like to offer the following ideas as points of departure as philanthropy collectively forges its next steps. Here are five things to ponder and perhaps address by the August 24 fifty-year anniversary of the March on Washington. - Philanthropy should understand that the president's seminal speech on black men and boys requires an urgent response by the philanthropic community.
- Philanthropy should understand that it cannot over-invest in law enforcement and criminal justice strategies while under-investing in family and youth development, community-building, organizing, and educational equity strategies.
- Philanthropy should ramp up and sustain investments in strengthening the field of black male achievement, which is currently grossly under-resourced.
- Philanthropy should increase investments in strategic communications and messaging efforts, such as the effort led by former Knight Foundation vice president, Trabian Shorters--Black Male Engagement--which organizes and supports a network of black males who are already demonstrating that they are assets to their communities.
- Philanthropy should realize that what America truly needs to adequately respond to the challenge at hand is not another convening, but the creation of a Corporation for Black Male Achievement - a catalytic enterprise that could lead the implementation of a Marshall-like Plan that could finally change the paradigm for black men and boys in America.
Click Here to learn more about the Campaign for Black Male Achievement |
OUR LOVE IS THE HEALING WATER...FOR THEM. Please help our struggling young. No amount is too small for you to contribute. I'm reaching out to you again on our fragile children's behalf. As you know, building the National CARES Mentoring Movement has been my unceasing passion since 2005, when, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, I founded it as a project of Essence Communications while I was the magazine's chief editor. When I learned then that a staggering 86 percent of Black fourth graders were reading below grade level, I asked myself two questions: How could this be, and What am I prepared to do about it? You can make a difference in the lives of our children right now by clicking here and donating. Or, if you prefer, please mail your donation to us at 5 Penn Plaza, 23rd floor, New York, NY 10001. Our work at CARES is equipping under-resourced Black children with the shift in consciousness and undergirding they need to discover the limitless possibilities within themselves; and we are surrounding our youngsters with a community of adults who support and sustain, challenge and champion, value and validate their minds, hearts and spirits. To date, we have connected over 125,000 mentors with more than 130,000 children, and we are currently designing and piloting culturally rich curricula for mentors and academic tutors in 15 locales. We can no longer be satisfied that our own children--ones raised with every opportunity--are doing well, while ever so near their peers are languishing. Combining our spiritual and financial resources--and our willingness--we have all we need to secure a generation--if we stand together. Please link arms and aims with me and my National CARES Mentoring Movement family as we do our part in building what Dr. King asked us to build: The Beloved Community. For the children, Susan L. Taylor Founder and CEO
Click Here to donate to National CARES Mentoring Movement Click Here to learn more about National CARES Mentoring Movement |
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