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Is the Free Ride Over for NYC Students?

The Editors — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:08:58 +0000

By Doug Miller Richard Brodsky, the legislator who chairs the New York State Assembly’s committee overseeing the operations of the MTA, says that while its officials have a legitimate gripe about funding its operating budget, the agency is floating phony numbers in its threat to eliminate free and reduced fares for New York City school kids.

The Carrot or the Big Mac: Michelle Obama’s Crusade

The Editors — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:25:12 +0000

By C. Nicole Mason A few weeks ago, I was visiting with a friend and she relayed a troubling story to me. She had visited family down south and threw a slumber party for her nieces and nephews. As a part of her duties for the evening, she fixed dinner and provided the treats. To the usual fare of ice cream and pizza, she added a vegetable tray of carrots and celery. While chowing down, her nephew turned to her and asked what it was he was eating that tasted so good. It was a carrot.

The Missionary’s Position

The Editors — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:38:11 +0000

By Esther Armah Ten white faces, bewildered and confused, emerge on the small screen. They are Americans from a Baptist missionary church in Idaho, arrested and accused of illegally taking 33 children out of Haiti, across the border to the Dominican Republic. Twenty of those children, it has been revealed, are not orphans. The SOS Children’s Villages, the group now caring for them, say they have parents.

Reflections of a Black Pioneer: Two Cases of Integrative Leadership

The Editors — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:53:17 +0000

By Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. The unprecedented election of President Barack Obama has provided a dramatic spotlight on the issues of race in America. One aspect of significance is that it represents an important step in the process of racial integration in our nation. His election was the result of the collective decisions by a multi racial and multi ethnic electorate. Both as a U.S. Senator from Illinois and as President, Obama has been what might be called an "Integrative Black Pioneer."

No Word for ‘Prison’

The Editors — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:05:14 +0000

By Eisa Nefertari Ulen
What does a woman do after coming-of -age in Birmingham in the 1950s, after losing two friends in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four little girls in the 1960s, after helping free her very high-profile sister from the clutches of the FBI’s Most Wanted List during the height of Black Power in the 1970s? What does she do after advocating for the end to Apartheid in the 1980s, after working as a Civil Rights trial lawyer through the 1990s?

Blinded by ‘The Blind Side’?

The Editors — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:13:03 +0000

By Paula Woods This must the year for abused black children in Hollywood movies. First there was Precious, the Lee Daniels-directed megahit, in which a 16-year old Harlem girl rises above illiteracy and multiple forms of parental abuse to reclaim her children and her future. Now there is The Blind Side, in which a 16-year old Memphis boy rises above parental neglect and a low grade point average to discover his innate athleticism and claim his future as a football star for Ole Miss and the Baltimore Ravens.

Chancellor School Students: Having a Ball

The Editors — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:12:31 +0000

By Doug Miller The seventh-and eighth-graders were part of a nationwide art project involving 60 community groups and schools around the country that produced nearly 700 hand-decorated ornaments—red and gold balls—for the Obamas to hang on the White House tree.

Add Another Problem Experts Blame Black Single Mothers for ‘Food Insecurity’

The Editors — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:17:02 +0000

By Makani Themba Nixon A recent Cornell University study finds that half of all US children and 90 percent of black children will eat food paid for by food stamps at some point in their childhoods. You, like the good folk at Cornell, may think this is dire and even shocking news. And for good reason, as the co-authors of the study write in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine that food stamp use is an important indicator of poverty and food insecurity.

Fathers, Field ‘Studies’ and Failure: What Really Helps Black Kids Learn

The Editors — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:06:42 +0000

By TaRessa Stovall “Why don’t you guys study like the kids from Africa?” This is the question posed by a white male high school teacher to his “virtually all African-American” 12th grade English class, where not a single student raised their hand when asked if they have a father living at home.

Fighting for Clean Water in Inner-City Schools

The Editors — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:49:56 +0000

By Makani Themba-Nixon Many children of color are trapped in underfunded schools where parents must fight for the most basic of needs: lighting, bathroom doors, books and even water. Yes, water.

Cosby’s Best Intentions: How Did “About Our Children” Miss its Mark?

The Editors — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:13:56 +0000

By Amy L. Alexander In “About Our Children,” a two hour-long town hall style talk program broadcast Sunday, September 20, we beheld an unusually calm discussion of a perpetually hot topic—the welter of social, economic, moral, and educational challenges affecting parents and children in America. Broadcast on MSNBC, a cable network infamous for high-volume political rhetoric, “About Our Children” boasted an impressive pedigree.

Fresh Food for All: Emergency Food Organizations and the Food Justice Movement in NYC

The Editors — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:57:36 +0000

By Chinyere Osuala Just Food, a non-profit organization that advocates a just and sustainable food system in New York City, hosted a site visit on Tuesday to the Farm at Miller’s Crossing in Hudson, N.Y. to bring staff, volunteers, and clients of inner-city emergency food organizations in touch with the farms that provide them with fresh fruits and vegetables, weekly, through Just Food’s Fresh Food For All Program.

Now Blog This: Cyber-News Leading Positive Coverage of African Americans

The Editors — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:25:41 +0000

By Jackie Jones The blogosphere is where black achievement can be touted and become the engine that drives mainstream media to take notice and young African Americans hold the key to it in the palm of their collective hand.

Mama, Don’t Be So Mean: A Look at Black Parenting Today

The Editors — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:52:56 +0000

By Eisa Ulen Yesterday, as I walked with my husband and son to the park, I heard a sister from across the busy Brooklyn street. "Come on!" she yelled and flipped her ponytail. "Sh**!" Two things I knew before even looking her way: 1) This sister was a sister. 2) She was cursing her own child. I looked her way, and in one glance confirmed both assumptions were correct.

‘Do We Not Bleed?’ Sticks and Stones and Needless Tragedy

The Editors — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:36:13 +0000

By Rev. Susan Newman On Easter Monday, April 13, when many children were enjoying a holiday from school and still eating chocolate bunnies, 11 year old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover of Springfield, Massachusetts, was being eulogized.

Choosing to Make the World Safer for Our Daughters

The Editors — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:47:04 +0000

By Asha Bandele As the drama between music superstars Chris Brown and Rihanna unfolds in the headlines, I remember the year 2006 and some boy-on-girl violence that hit uncomfortably close to home.

Is That Your Child? Mothers Talk About Rearing Biracial Children

The Editors — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:53:39 +0000

By Marion Kilson and Florence Ladd Our new book, Is That Your Child?: Mothers Talk About Rearing Biracial Children, is based on interviews with black and white mothers of biracial children. The book opens with our interview with each other, charts the challenges and rewards of rearing biracial children, and profiles black and white mothers with distinctive biracial parenting experiences. It concludes with suggestions for positive parenting strategies, which are relevant to all varieties of biracial combinations.

Judges Paid to Jail Kids; More Hispanics Locked Up

The Editors — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:58:59 +0000

By The Editors Amy Goodman of Democracy Now TV/radio news writes of two Pennsylvania judges who pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks from the builders and owners of private prison facilities who profited from the imprisonment of some 2,000 children

Mother to Son: President Obama’s Gift to You

The Editors — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:33:08 +0000

By TaRessa Stovall: Like many others, I was intoxicated by the magical moment when the election of Barack Obama was announced. The first coherent thought that emerged from the joyous whirlwind of my mind was: What does my son, Calvin, think of this? What is he feeling? What will this mean for his future? And then: Dear [...]

Many Children Who Survived Katrina Still Suffering

The Editors — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:42:48 +0000

The news about many of the tens of thousands of children growing up in post-Katrina Louisiana continues to be daunting: lingering health problems; gaps in education that are hard or impossible to fill; unstable living situations; and behavioral issues arising from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders. Educators and doctors say that the key to giving these children a [...]