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Minority mentoring: True value of a hand up

June 20, 2011 By No Comments

By Tarice L.S. Gray
Special to the NNPA from thedefendersonline.com

Long before terms like workplace diversity, affirmative action, and inclusion became American standards, Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson conspired to change their game of baseball.

Rickey, then the president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, wanted two things for his team: a World Series Championship, and a racially-integrated ball club. In Jackie Robinson, Rickey found a man who was not only receptive to both ideas and also prepared to deal with those who didn’t want him in the game.
By the 1940s, no Black player had crossed Major League Baseball’s color line for nearly half a century – until Rickey, who embraced the philosophy of tough love, told Robinson he thought he was the man to do it. Rickey understood that on the diamond and in the public eye, Robinson would face extraordinary pressure; he would succeed or fail on the strength of his own ability. But Rickey was also determined to help him as much as possible — to prepare him to succeed by becoming his baseball mentor.

Like so many things about America’s mythic past time, the relationship of Rickey and Robinson dramatically illustrated in the broadest possible terms the impact a mentor can have on an individual and the larger society. That remains especially true for people of color in all fields of endeavor today.

Appropriately, one of the organizations that has used the techniques of mentoring to great effect is the Jackie Robinson Foundation, founded by Robinson’s widow, Rachel, a year after his death in 1972. Since then it has extended the ladder of upward mobility to thousands of the best and brightest young people in minority communities by awarding them generous four-year scholarships to college. But there’s a catch: JRF requires all their students to participate in their mentoring program.

As Della Britton Baeza, president and chief executive of the foundation, puts it. “They can’t just take our money.”

Despite their value, finding mentors still proves elusive to many who need them. A recent Harvard Business Review exploration of diversity in corporate America found that although big-business companies professed their commitment to seeking out and promoting top minority talent, many of those smart and capable employees of color often left their respective companies “frustrated.” Minority men and women who did excel had a “strong network” of mentors and sponsors that offered more than just instruction, they nurtured their careers. Their business journey was made successful by someone else lighting the way.
Karen Thompson understands the consequences of trying to get ahead without a mentor. Before joining NAACP Legal and Educational Defense Fund (LDF) as director of its, scholarship program, she was an associate at a respected law firm. Although she found success as an attorney, her road was tougher, she believes, because she did not have a mentor.

“It felt very lonely to me,” she said, “and I really felt like I taught myself how to be a good lawyer.” As she rose higher in the ranks, she saw less people like herself in the offices. Last year, Thompson moved to LDF as Director of its scholarship program and has made building the program’s mentoring component a major goal. Part of that effort involves the creation of something called an “ol’ boy, ol’ girl network” among the program’s alumni in order to ensure that they don’t have to navigate corporate waters alone. She said that commitment to mentoring needs to be ongoing, beyond undergraduate and graduate school into the workplace. The minority corporate veterans need continual guidance and feedback to help them reach their full potential.

Management Leadership for Tomorrow works to that end at the very top of the corporate structure. The mentoring-based organization, founded nearly a decade ago by John Rice, brother of Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, helps veteran workers reach the Corporate Suite, home of the top positions of Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and the like.
According to MLT, African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans collectively comprise roughly 30 percent of the U.S. population. But, they make up only three percent of senior leaders in corporations, non-profits and entrepreneurial ventures. Patricia Price, Managing Director for Executive Programs for MLT, said that their initiatives are designed to halt the revolving-door dynamic that drains companies of Black, Latino and Native American talent because these mid-level career workers feel their careers have hit a plateau. They believe the mentoring programs, often thought necessary only for adolescents and undergraduate and graduate students, need to be re-fashioned for people trying to climb the corporate ladder. Price said MLT wants to make sure when they get to a place where they are “comfortable” they keep going. “Ultimately, we’re trying to raise the number of leaders, in the country.”

One of the mentoring tools Price said minorities need to have in the corporate world harkens back to Robinson-Rickey relationship: the ability to smoothly respond to your critics. Price said, “being able to listen actively and respond reflectively instead of reactively to negative feedback [is one of the things] that’s very important to leaders.” She added that minorities tend to struggle with that kind of criticism because many feel singled-out and alone. Price also said too many African Americans become “shy” when it comes to hiring African American staff when they’re promoted to head company units or divisions. MLT urges them to embrace “similarity bias” – the practice of hiring people from similar backgrounds, including similar racial backgrounds, because that, too, is part of the mentoring dynamic. That philosophy also drives up the value of a committed minority mentor, or someone who gets it.

As Della Britton Baeza, of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, said “it’s all about somebody taking you under their wing, pulling you by your coat tail, and tough love.”

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Dr. King and the 1955-1956 Montgomery Bus boycott

January 12, 2011 By No Comments

By Charlene Crowell

Although America’s Declaration of Independence and Constitution are premised on the principles of democracy, the historical treatment of America’s citizens of color is replete with racial dichotomies. Even today, the vestiges of slavery, Civil War, Reconstruction, segregationist Jim Crow laws to the more recent federal laws for voting rights, fair housing, and community reinvestment – have yet to assure succeeding generations of African-Americans all of the freedoms afforded a citizen of the United States.

As our nation marks the annual tribute to Martin Luther King, now is a moment to recall how a youthful but principled leader emerged at a time when this nation was directly challenged to honor its promises of citizenship. Neither age nor long-standing community roots were required to effect meaningful and lasting change. Today’s youth need to know and adults need to be reminded that at 25 King began what would become his first successful and peaceful protest: the yearlong Montgomery bus boycott.

In fall 1954, King began his service as pastor to Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Shortly after his arrival in Montgomery, he met a ministerial colleague who would become his life-long deputy – the Rev. Ralph Abernathy. Explaining the notable differences in Montgomery’s black churches, Abernathy advised King, “At my church, you may talk about Jesus. You may preach about Jesus from the pulpit. But at Dexter, they would prefer that you not mention his name.”

Despite this advice, King pursued innovative ideas for his pastorate. At his first sermon at Dexter Avenue, he presented two dozen written recommendations that would reorganize the church’s committees and bank accounts. The list also included a requirement for every member of Dexter to be a registered voter. In 1954, less than 5 percent of Alabama Negroes were registered to vote. With his recommendations accepted, the church moved forward with the formal installation services that took place Oct. 31, 1954.

A few months later on March 2, 1955, Claudette Colvin, a student at Montgomery’s Booker T. Washington High School, was arrested by city police for refusing to give up a bus seat to a white passenger. Later that year, another black female, Mary Louise Smith, was also arrested for the same offense. In neither of these instances was the Montgomery NAACP prompted to action or protest. The local chapter seemed to feel that the backgrounds of Colvin or Smith would not withstand scrutiny of white prosecutors. In those days in Alabama, the first 10 seats on Montgomery buses were always reserved for whites. If the white section filled up, the colored section was made smaller. But, on Thursday evening, Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a local seamstress and secretary of the Montgomery NAACP decided to ride home on the Cleveland Avenue bus from her job at a downtown Montgomery department store. When the white section filled up, the bus driver asked four blacks to move. Three other black passengers complied with the order. Parks refused, and the driver called the police. Twelve years earlier, Parks was evicted by the same driver on another bus. Recalling the events of that day, Parks said, “I didn’t consider myself breaking any segregation laws. I just felt resigned to give what I could to protest against the way I was being treated.”

The one phone call she was allowed from jail led to the response of another local NAACP official, E. D. Nixon. A Pullman porter by trade, Nixon aided the release of Parks on a $100 bond. Her trial was set for Dec. 5, 1955. The following day, King received a phone call from Nixon. As he recounted the events of the previous evening, Nixon told King, “We have taken this thing too long already. We got to boycott the buses, make it clear to the white folks that we ain’t taking this type of treatment any longer.” King agreed and offered Dexter Avenue Baptist Church as a meeting place for community leaders. By consensus, they would decide the best course of action. Almost 50 ministers and civic leaders attended the meeting.

They agreed that the bus boycott would begin on the following Monday, Dec. 5. Some 52,000 flyers were printed and distributed to announce the boycott. The now famous Montgomery boycott actually borrowed some of its strategy from an earlier, but little-known, effort. In 1953, the Rev. T. J. Jemison, then secretary of the National Baptist Convention, organized a bus boycott in Baton Rouge, La. After local Louisiana officials banned the use of cut-rate and unlicensed taxi service, Jemison organized a car pool to provide alternative transportation. That effort lasted only two weeks.

On Dec. 5, 1955, King, the newly appointed president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), delivered his first speech on the bus boycott. An overflow crowd of thousands at Holt Street Baptist spilled out of the church and into the streets. Outdoor loudspeakers were set up to enable all in attendance to hear the first address of the young and emerging leader. With little time to prepare his remarks, King’s spell-binding oratory and Baptist cadence captured the spirit of an angry Montgomery Black community. “There comes a time my friends, when people get tired of being thrown across the abyss of humiliation, where they experience the bleakness of nagging despair. There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July, and left standing amidst the piercing chill of an Alpine November.” “I want it to be known,” King continued, “that we’re going to work with grim and bold determination – to gain justice on the buses in this city. And, we are not wrong. We are not wrong in what we are doing. If we are wrong – the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong – God Almighty is wrong! And, we are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream!” A series of negotiating sessions began in early December as well. The protesters had three specific goals:  Treat Negroes with greater courtesy; Hire Negro drivers for Negro routes; and Desegregate bus seating. In response, white negotiators insisted on racially segregated seating and active negotiations soon stalled. With the Christmas shopping season fast approaching, King proposed that instead of traditional gift shopping, Montgomery Negroes should rally to the original meaning of the season and refuse to shop at all. Monies set aside for gifts was proposed to be divided three ways among savings account, charity donations, and gifts to the MIA.

By January 1956, Montgomery’s bus company advised city commissioners that the loss of revenues had led to the likelihood of bankruptcy. In reaction, the mayor and White Citizens Council called for white residents to stop using their private cars and ride city buses instead. When fare revenues did not improve, a fare hike was approved. That same month, the city’s daily paper, the Montgomery Advertiser, began running news reports on the bus boycott. The first article, printed January 10 suggested that a White Lutheran minister was responsible for nearly 350 daily care rides and raising $7,000 to support the ongoing protest. However a follow-up report on January 19 appeared with the headline, “Rev. King is Boycott Boss.”

On a tip from Carl Rowan, one of the few Black journalists of that time, King was alerted in late January to a Sunday news article that was to announce the end the boycott. The article was to claim that Negroes would return to the buses the following business day. King advised Rowan that he knew of nothing in that regard. For more than a year, Montgomery’s 30,000 Black residents walked, hitchhiked, bicycled, taxied, and used every means of transportation except the city buses. Black taxi companies reduced regular rates to the same 10 cents charged by the bus company. As time went on, cab fares returned to the regular 45 cents. On Feb. 1, 1956, the Montgomery Improvement Association filed a lawsuit in federal district court. Four months later, on June 2nd, the federal court declared that segregated bus seating was unconstitutional. Later, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ruling. On Dec. 20, 1956, the order to integrate buses was served on Montgomery’s officials. In the year of the boycott, the transit company reportedly lost $250,000 in revenues. Moreover, the city lost thousands of additional dollars in taxes. Montgomery retail merchants estimated their losses to be in the millions.

The boycott and its success won King as much widespread appreciation as it did resentment. In a Dec. 1954 letter to his son, the elder King prophetically advised, “You see, young man, you are becoming very popular. As I told you, you must be very much in prayer. Persons like you are the ones the devil turns all of his forces loose to destroy.”

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Protest draws attention to flawed Ga. penal system

December 30, 2010 By No Comments

By Robert Rooks and Edward Dubose

Twelve days ago, a group of men located in different cities around Georgia began a massive, coordinated, peaceful protest in support of justice and human rights. They used the principles of modern-day, non-violence protest that Mahatma Gandhi implemented while leading the Indian independence movement and Martin Luther King Jr. utilized in the struggle for civil rights. These men have refused to work or eat so that their voices might be heard on issues such as improved health care, better educational opportunities, nutritional meals, and – yes – fair parole decisions.

These protesters are wards of the Georgia Department of Corrections – prisoners of different races and religions who nevertheless banded together across ethnic and geographical lines in support of a common cause. They are petitioning for civil treatment and opportunities for personal betterment in an institutional system that is supposedly designed to not only contain but also to reform and improve. They are human beings with human rights, guaranteed to them by many international covenants to which the U.S. is a party. One of these is the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which states, “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.” (ICCPR, Article 10) The rights of prisoners – the exact points around which the inmates in Georgia have raised concern – are further laid out by the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, approved by the U.N. in 1957.

Unfortunately, there have been credible stories that guards have responded violently to these non-violent protests. At least four prisons have been placed on lockdown. According to reports from prisoner advocates, guards have allegedly used violent measures to force the men back to work. The reports include stories of beatings, guards destroying prisoners’ property, withholding heat and hot water and denying access to family members.

If the prisoners cannot speak up for themselves through non-violent measures, someone needs to speak up for them. That is why last week a coalition including the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP approached the Georgia Department of Corrections for information – information on the allegations of abuse, but also information on the conditions that caused prisoners anguish in the first place.

On Monday, the DOC allowed a fact-finding team composed of NAACP envoys and other prisoner rights advocates of advocates to visit Macon State Prison in order to interview inmates, assess living conditions and explore concerns that led to the strike. The delegation was able to confirm some of the concerns that the prisoners expressed, and will continue to engage to bring justice for the prisoners.

There are good reasons that the Georgia Department of Corrections should take the prisoners’ concerns seriously. Providing educational opportunities and fair parole has been shown to reduce recidivism and ensure that people who have paid their debt to society can return to their communities and become responsible citizens. This is an economic and social win-win for a state with an incarceration rate 16 percent higher than the national average and an annual taxpayer cost of $17,505 per inmate.

Prisoners may lose some rights when they are judged guilty and receive a jail sentence – by no means a subjective process in our penal system – but they are still human beings with legitimate needs. It is inspiring to see incarcerated men practicing non-violence, and encouraging for the redemptive power of the criminal justice system. We just need to ensure that prisoners are given the chance to redeem themselves.

Robert Rooks is the director of NAACP Criminal Justice Programs. Edward Dubose is president of the NAACP Georgia State Conference.

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Jobs remain No. 1 priority for One Nation marchers

October 6, 2010 By No Comments

By James Wright

(NNPA) Hundreds of thousands of people from across the country converged upon Washington, D.C., to participate in a rally to let the U.S. Congress and the White House know that job creation and fixing the ailing economy should be the number one priority.

The One Nation Working Together rally at the Lincoln Memorial was designed to counter the Tea Party movement’s rally in Washington in August and to caution Americans that a Republican-controlled Congress would turn back the hands of time. Members from various progressive organizations and unions traveled by bus, train, airplane, and on foot to let national leaders in Washington know that political squabbling will do little to heal people’s economic pain in the aftermath of one of the longest recessions since World War II.

“I came here to support the cause of the march,” Derrick Griffin, 43, said. “Our leaders here in D.C. should be about saving jobs and trying to put forth the change we voted for in 2008,” the Fort Washington, Md., resident said.

Event organizers estimated that 175,000 people gathered on a slightly breezy, but clear day to show a united front. They came from all walks of life and economic circumstances. Participants included the employed and unemployed, union workers and environmentalists, civil rights leaders and civic leaders, war veterans and peace activists, student leaders and those from the gay, lesbian, transgender community.

Speakers at the event included the Rev. Jesse Jackson of the Rainbow/Push Coalition, National Urban League President Marc Morial, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network – all of whom stressed the need for jobs and emphasized the urgency of the situation.

The crowd congregated on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and fanned out onto the grounds of the Washington Monument. There were throngs of people on both sides of the Reflecting Pool as well as those who hunkered down around the World War II Memorial.

Political and civil rights organizations set up tables that displayed their wares and various organizations passed out literature. Throughout the four-hour event, organizations joined in by marching around the grounds for their respective causes while others listened to the speakers.

Most of the marchers donned colored Tee-shirts that announced their cause or organization and sat together throughout the event. For example, members of the Communications Workers of America donned red Tee-shirts with white printed messages on both the front and back of their shirts. The group congregated on the south side of the Reflecting Pool.

The marchers may have been from different parts of the country, but the common thread among all who attended focused on their financial pain and the lack of jobs. Jeffrey Dunkin, 53, traveled from New York City to attend the march and to show support for fellow New Yorkers who are suffering in his home town. “I want to help people that have lost their jobs,” said Dunkin, who lives in Brooklyn. “Things do not look good in New York City and I know a lot of unemployed people. I hope this march will help secure more jobs for the unemployed because things are not looking good.”

Deborah Maxwell, president of the New Hanover County, N.C. NAACP, said she and about 20 others from her branch, primarily residents of Wilmington, traveled to Washington to call for more action from the federal government.

“It is important that we fight for jobs, justice, and education and that is why we decided to come from Wilmington to [Washington, D.C.],” said Maxwell, 54, and a resident of Wilmington. “Some of us have come at a sacrifice because [we] are still dealing with issues regarding the recent floods. Still, others are in distress because of job loss,” said Maxwell, adding two of her members recently lost their jobs working for the local government and their job prospects are grim despite Wilmington’s strong tourism economy.

Maxwell isn’t alone. Individuals from other states also feel the sting of the recession.

Harrisburg’s situation mirrors that of the District of Columbia in terms of firing teachers and school personnel. Harrisburg is the capital of the Keystone State and its 47,472 population is 54 percent Black. The Harrisburg school district consists of 8,401 students and approximately 1,200 faculty and staff.

Trea Buck, a high school science teacher in Harrisburg, said that 57 teachers have been laid off since the 2010-2011 school year started. “I am here for my fallen brethren. Our school system has had to undergo a lot of cuts,” said Buck, 39, and a resident of Harrisburg. “Teachers who were emergency certified were cut and many of us will have to be furloughed at some point. Plus, our school system administration was cut in half,” he said.

Buck joined a large group of National Education Association members at the Reflecting Pool during the rally. Buck said that she traveled to Washington to advocate not only for her fellow colleagues, but for the next generation. “What are we going to do for the children,” she said, “How are these cuts going to support our future?”

A weak economy and a struggling school system have plagued Detroit for years. Members of the Metro Detroit Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta traveled to the District to voice their opinions during the rally.

“We came to show our support for President Obama and to stand up for jobs, justice, and education,” Mardi Woods, president of the chapter, said. “We also have a get out the vote effort to make sure our voices are heard on Nov. 2.”

Woods, 42, and a resident of Farmington Hills, Mich., outside of Detroit, said that the Motor City has been hit hard by a high rate of home foreclosures and job layoffs. She said that the layoffs, particularly in the school system, have adversely affected her members. “Many of our members are educators and Deltas are at the table when these things happen,” she said.

The Detroit Public School system laid-off nearly 1,000 school personnel last August due to budgetary problems. However, the action was stopped when money was located due to retirements. The school system has 84,000 non-charter school students and about 15,000 administrators, faculty and staff. The entire school system has a total of 138,000 students enrolled in both public and charter schools.

Robert Bobb, who served as the city administrator of Washington, D.C. from 2002-2006 and was an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the D.C. Board of Education, is the current emergency financial director for Detroit Public Schools. Bobb was appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-MI, in 2009 to manage the school system’s muddled finances. The massive layoffs were proposed by Bobb last spring because of declining enrollment and the costs of running the system.

Woods said she supports Bobb “because he is trying to do the right thing for the children of Detroit.”

A number of youth groups also attended the rally. They contend that young people care about what is going on in the country. Leilani Irvin, a senior political science major at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., said that young people have been particularly hurt by the struggling economy. “I know of many of my former school mates, who graduated in May, are still looking for jobs,” Irvin, 21, said. “This is a crisis with youth. I read where 27 percent of college graduates cannot find a job and I don’t think my employment prospects for the spring will be better.”

There is a belief that the retired are not affected by the economic downturn, but Kenneth Davis, a retired autoworker from Detroit disagrees. “I came to this march because too many people are suffering,” Davis, 54, said. “As a member of the United Auto Workers Union, those of us who receive retirement benefits had to give up our dental [coverage]. That is not right that we are giving up concessions to the auto companies while their profits are going up.”

Davis said that he received an e-mail recently that said Chrysler’s profits were up 65 percent from last year. He said that he knows of fellow retirees who are experiencing economic difficulties, such as foreclosures. At one time, they could get help from the union “but that is not possible now because everyone needs help,” Davis said.

Many of the participants could not get close enough to the front of the Lincoln Memorial or even close enough to the four Jumbotrons to hear the speakers. Martina Beauford of Baltimore, Md., saw the crowds huddled near the front of the Lincoln Memorial from her bench close by the Washington Monument and decided to stay put. While she could not hear what was going on, she felt the vibe that was coming from the event. “I am here to make a statement on everything that is going on with people’s pay, health benefits and lack of job security,” Beauford, 42, said. “This is my first march and I like it because it is exciting and different.”

Beauford, a Maryland Department of Corrections employee said she felt a connection with everyone at the rally. “We are all hurting,” she said. “This is why it is important for all of us to come together because everyone in all 50 states is hurting.”

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A hasty and embarrassing rush to judgment by the White House and NAACP

July 22, 2010 By No Comments

By Ruth Ferguson
NDG Editor

The election of President Barack Obama was heralded as the beginning of a post-racial era in America. Perhaps the White House did not get that memo. Once again, the Administration’s hyper-sensitivity to appear fair to all was on full display with their overreaction to a conservative media driven attack on an African American federal employee.

Monday Fox News broadcast a short clip showing former USDA’s director of rural development in Georgia Shirley Sherrod indicating she was less inclined to provide assistance to a White farmer facing foreclosure. As this spread across the Internet it prompted a swift reaction from the White House and the NAACP.

The White House’s reaction was so swift and harsh that Sherrod was informed via a telephone call with the USDA’s deputy undersecretary to pull her car over and submit her resignation via Blackberry. Sherrod complied.

The NAACP eventually joined the party by issuing a statement indicating they applauded Sherrod decision to resign. Saying they had no tolerance for discrimination of any sort. Sherrod’s comments were made at an NAACP event.

Now, we would like to hope the President and his staff is busy trying to figure out how to put millions of Americans back to work, keeping their eye on BP’s efforts to stop the Gulf oil leak and managing two wars. However, surely someone could have taken the time to watch the entire video rather than rely on the “fair and balanced” job we all know Fox does.

Had someone bothered to watch the entire video – which was filmed in 1986 by the way – they would have discovered that Sherrod shared the true lesson she learned. Sherrod did in fact help the White farmer and said it lead her to realize that is it not a black and white issue but a poor issue.

This entire incident was retaliation by supporters of the Tea Party – which clearly includes the Fox Network – for the fact the NAACP’s outcry lead to the ouster of a prominent Tea Party official recently.

To the credit of the president of the NAACP, Benjamin Jealous, the organization did issue an apology and retracted their earlier statement once the full facts came to light.

In the NAACP’s released comments they suggested this incident should be a “teachable moment for activists and journalists.” Given the fact the Secretary of the USDA thus far has refused to reinstate Sherrod, one might suggest it is a teachable moment for President Obama and his staff as well

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Erasing Civil Rights: Rewriting History

May 20, 2010 By 1 Comment

By Benjamin Todd Jealous
NAACP President

In Arizona, they just passed a law that would make the study of the role of African Americans, Latinos, Asian American and Native Americans illegal. They banned “ethnic studies” ignoring the reason those studies were created: that for too long history books have left out people of color from the central narrative of our nation’s history.

Texas wants to rewrite their history books to do the same thing. This year, they want to change the record on slavery, celebrate the Confederacy and shed a positive light on Jim Crow laws. .If the proposed textbook changes happen, children won’t learn about civil rights icons like Malcom X, or Sam McCollough, who gave his life for Texas independence. And they won’t learn that Texas seceded from the Union to fight for the Confederacy in the Civil War.

In many ways, as Texas goes, so goes the nation. Standards in Texas influence the contents of history books used in schools around the country meaning the numbers of miseducated children could grow exponentially.

Texas students must compete for college seats and jobs with students from other states, who will arrive equipped with a more complete and mainstream education.

Advanced Placement exams, which let students earn nationally recognized college credit while in high school, are not tailored to any particular state’s ideology. Similarly, International Baccalaureate exams are benchmarked to world-class university standards.

By narrowing our students’ exposure, we cut them off from opportunities for accelerated learning, and free college credits that will be recognized around the country and the world.

Every voter on a referendum should know how our Constitution and laws have evolved to expand civil rights to all citizens. Yet the Texas board’s current proposals would minimize those brave men and women’s contributions to our national story.

To make informed decisions about the limits of government power, students must known about its past abuses, such as those perpetrated by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Yet the proposed standards would gloss over such injustices. Students who have studied poll taxes and their abolition will have a better perspective on when taxation is used inappropriately.

All of these are questions confronting today’s voters, including those high school students who have turned eighteen. In order to exercise the rights and responsibilities conferred to them by their fellow citizens to safeguard their families and communities, students today or tomorrow need a strong grounding in our nation’s full history.

We are – and have always been – a nation of immigrants, which has folded various strands into our collective story. So it is vital for those citizens who will work alongside diverse peers to have an accurate understanding of their coworkers’ background and culture. Minimizing or misrepresenting African-American and Latino culture and history can lead to distorted beliefs regarding our fellow Americans.

What’s more, it can lead students from those ethnic groups to have a skewed picture of themselves and their place in the world. Studies of high school dropout rates out have shown that students became disengaged with classes because what they were learning didn’t seem relevant to their lives. And in a 2006 national study, more students cited disengagement and disinterest in their lessons as a factor in leaving school than those who reported serious academic challenges.

When, according to conservative estimates from the US Department of Education, Texas loses about one in every four high school students before graduation, can we really afford to drive any more young people from the schoolhouse door?

If learning about Ceasar Chavez or Thurgood Marshall will inspire a student to study government or law, we cannot afford to pass up that opportunity. If learning about Hendrick Arnold’s role as a guide and spy during the Texas revolution inspires young people to military service, who are we to deny them their dreams?

Our future is at stake when the State Board votes on May 21. Will we decide to prepare our youth for success in the 21st Century or let nostalgia for the 19th hobble our graduates and leave large groups of students behind? Rewriting history is not promoting patriotism, it is institutionalizing ignorance.

And it’s an indulgence that Texas and the country cannot afford. Anyone who is passionate about the accuracy of the state and nation’s historical record should be appalled at these proposals and should let it be known. Our children are entitled to broad exposure to all the facts of American history, government and economic theory.

We urge the State Board to vote down these proposed changes, take some more time to set out broad guidelines ensuring all students are equipped to compete and thrive, then follow the thoughtful recommendations of their fellow Texans who are educators, economists and historians.

I will be in Austin when the board convenes to join the Texas State Conference of the NAACP to raise our voices for accuracy and fairness. Join me and fax a letter opposing changing the text books to the state board at 512-322-0757. Tell them that erasing civil rights from history is wrong. Tell them to make sure our children get the world class education they deserve not a racially biased and ideological revision of our history.

Benjamin Todd Jealous is President and CEO of the NAACP.

Filed Under: Education, Lead Story, National, Op Ed Tagged With: , , ,

Roslyn M. Brock elected to lead the NAACP

February 22, 2010 By 1 Comment

(NDG Wire) The NAACP named Roslyn M. Brock as Chair of the Board of Directors at its Annual Board Meeting on February 20 at the New York Hilton.

Brock, 44, became the youngest ever and fourth woman to serve as Chair of the NAACP’s Board of Directors. A highly qualified candidate, her NAACP resumé boasts more than 25 years of service to the NAACP in many capacities, including as a youth board member, Youth and College State Conference President, board member, and Vice Chair to the Board of Directors. Brock also created the annual NAACP Leadership 500 Summit, and has served as Chair of the Board Convention Planning Committee.

“As the NAACP ushers in a new generation, it is a great honor to be elected Chairman of the Board of this esteemed Association,” said NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock. “We are blessed with the opportunity to lead the fight for civil and human rights into another century, and I am honored to help the NAACP issue the clarion call while ensuring the future legacy of this great organization.”

Roslyn M. Brock, the newest leader of the NAACP

“We’re looking at a generational shift in our communities,” continued Brock. “We have a 48 year old President in the White House, an NAACP President who was 35 at the time of his election, and a 44 year old Board Chair. The wisdom of those who stood the test of time got us to this point, and the youth will lead the future success of our movement.”

She officially announced her candidacy last August after her predecessor Julian Bond declared his retirement from the Chairman position. Bond endorsed Brock’s candidacy, citing her experience in many facets of the Association as well as her youth as assets she will bring to the Chair position.

“The time has come for me to step down as Chairman of the Board and I cannot think of a better person to pass the torch to than Roslyn M. Brock. Ms. Brock understands first-hand how important youth are to the success of the NAACP. She was introduced to the NAACP 25 years ago when she served the NAACP as a youth board member and Youth and College Division State Conference President. She represents the next generation of civil rights leaders,” said NAACP Chairman Emeritus Julian Bond.

“I am proud to be standing with Roslyn M. Brock as the new Chairman of the NAACP Board, and I thank Julian Bond for his twelve years of service,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “Today we have elected the youngest Chairman in the history of the NAACP. This historic election, at the beginning of our second century marks a generational shift in the civil and human rights movement. Ms. Brock is fierce advocate for social justice, who is squarely focused on addressing the crises of today and winning the victories of tomorrow.”

In addition to her service with the NAACP, Brock serves as Vice President at Bon Secours Health Care in Marriottsville, MD. She is the chief spokesperson for Bon Secours on government relations, advocacy and public policy. Prior to working at Bon Secours, Brock worked 10 years in health programs at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan.

She graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Union University; earned a master’s degree in health services administration from George Washington University, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Master of Divinity degree from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Theology at Virginia Union University.

“I have enjoyed my time as Chairman of the Board and the people with whom I have worked with over the past decade. I will continue to treasure this as a singular experience and continue to be active in the NAACP as a member of the National Board of Directors,” concluded Bond.

“There will never be another Julian Bond, and there will never be another Myrlie Evers-Williams. Those of that stature in the civil rights movement have made untold contributions, sacrificed and invested in us, and it is up to us to take it the rest of the way,” concluded Brock. “We need to lead and leave it better than we found it…that’s the huge challenge.”

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National March on Small Town: Fight is on for Walmart Line-Cutter Facing 15 Years

November 5, 2009 By 1 Comment

By Pharoh Martin
(NNPA) – Because of a trip to Walmart three years ago, Heather Ellis is now fighting for her life. The 24-year-old former college student is facing felony charges that could get her up to 15 years in prison after being arrested for an incident that stemmed from her cutting a line at a Walmart in Kennet, Missouri.

The case is garnering national attention because of the racial underpinnings and perceived multiple injustices involved. It goes to trial Nov. 18. On November 16, the Your Black World Coalition, NAACP, American Civil Liberties Union, National Action Network, and Southern Christian Leadership Conference plan to converge on the small town of Kennett to protest and heighten the publicity.

Here’s what happened: On Jan. 6, 2007, Ellis and her cousin were sent on a midnight run to Walmart by her parents to pick up some items. With her cousin already standing in line near the register, Ellis tried to join him at the front of the line. That’s when the clerk accused Ellis of cutting in front of other customers.
Customers behind objected and verbally accosted the then 21-year-old, according to Ellis’ father Rev. Nathanial Ellis in an interview with the NNPA News Service. One White customer physically pushed the former college student. Ellis tried to explain that she was joining her cousin who was already in line and told the lady not to push her again. She was subsequently pushed again. The cashier would later refuse to ring Ellis up even after everybody else in line went through.

“The cashier stalled my daughter long enough for the night manager to come up,” Rev. Ellis explained. “My daughter paid with cash but she asked my daughter for an I.D. [Heather] said that she didn’t need an ID because she paid with cash.”

Upon legal advise, his daughter has declined press interviews.

As Ellis and the cashier were going back and forth about the ID issue a Walmart night manager approached. She yelled frantically for Ellis to leave the store immediately before she called the police and have her removed for trespassing, Rev. Ellis recounted the story as told by his daughter.

Ellis did not leave right away because she was waiting for the change from her purchase. In the midst of the argument and the manager yelling, Rev. Ellis holds that the night manager then charged at Ellis over a remark his daughter made and a scuffle ensued. The police was called, which was according to store policy, according to Walmart.

“When there is a disturbance of this nature at one of our stores, our associates are encouraged to contact law enforcement and let the authorities determine how to proceed,” said Walmart spokesperson Lorenzo Lopez.

The four police officers who responded escorted Ellis out of the store. Rev. Ellis alleges that the officers hurled racial insults at his daughter as she was exiting the premises and then once outside, arrested her for trespassing.

Officer A. W. Fisher allegedly grabbed Ellis violently once she spoke up about her treatment from the police.
After getting a call from Ellis’ 15-year-old cousin that accompanied her, Ellis’ aunt showed up to the scene to a brutal scene of multiple police officers wrangling her young niece.

“She said to my wife, ‘Mama, they dragged me by my hair and slammed me into the metal door,’” Rev. Ellis recounts.

Rev. Ellis says that his daughter’s wrists were bloody from being cuffed too tight and that she had injuries that required medical attention from being choked, dragged and wrestled.

Ellis was initially charged in 2007 with four misdemeanors, including assaulting on a police officer, resisting arrest, trespassing and destroying police property. The charges were subsequently dropped – or so the family thought.

“When we went they said the charges were no longer in the system. They threw it out. The secretary showed my wife that they threw out the charges and that they were no longer in the system,” Rev. Ellis said. However, Ellis had refused to sign the plea bargain that had been offered.

Thinking that she was in the clear Ellis went back to school in New Orleans, where she was a student at Xavier University. A month later the Ellis family found out by a records check by a friend that a felony arrest warrant for Ellis had turned up.

The family says the prosecutor upgraded the misdemeanors to three Class C felonies because Ellis refused to accept a guilty plea deal. She did not want to cop a plea to something that she felt she was not guilty of.

The Ellis family feels that the prosecutor wants to make an example out of their daughter.

The pending felony charges have cost Ellis job offers and a shot at going to medical school.

The community has expressed its outrage with rallies and protests, which led to threats from the Ku Klux Klan.

A police officer delivered a card to the family from the Klan and Heather’s father believes that the officer’s delivery of the card was part of a broader plot to intimidate the family.

“After the first march we had, a policeman in uniform in his car, who holds the rank of major, drove up to my sister-in-law’s house and called her outside. He told her that he had something to give her. He gave it to her. She said, “‘We’re not intimidated. We will still march on.’” He just drove away laughing.” He said that the officer also gave his other sister-in-law a card as well.

He said the brown cards with red writing read, “You’ve just been paid a social visit by the Ku Klux Klan. The next visit will not be social.”

There haven’t been any further threats since that day, he says.

The prosecutor on the case doubts Rev. Ellis’ story.

“There were no threats by the Ku Klux Klan to the family,” contends Stephen Sokoloff, Dunklin County prosecuting attorney in charge of prosecuting Heather’s case. “Somebody threw some cards on the street where they were going to have a march. The police picked them up. The police major handed the card to one of the family members who he has known for 35 to 40 years and just told her that they found these cards on the street. It was just a matter to alert them because, quite frankly, if he hadn’t I think there would’ve been a problem as well.”

Kennett is a sleepy southeast Missouri town that rests in the state’s conservative “Boothill region”. It has a White population of over 90 percent so, African-Americans are an extreme minority at less than 9 percent. There is a long pattern of racial injustice in this area, according to civil rights advocates.

“I have spoken with the family and other residents of the Kennett community, and the truth is that there does not appear to be justice for African-Americans in this town,” said prominent Syracuse University professor Dr. Boyce Watkins in a press statement. “This requires that the prosecutor be made to realize that his power is not omnipotent and that he cannot destroy lives at his own discretion.”

Dunklin, a rural county just four miles from the Arkansas border and where Kennett is located, was where then presidential candidate Barack Obama had one of his worst showings in the primaries.

“This young lady was going to go to medical school to be a doctor. She has never been in any trouble, said Rev. Jesse Bonner, president of the neighboring Sikeston, Mo. chapter of the NAACP. “I thought it was evident that [the NAACP] get involved in this because a lot of things of this sort have been going on in the “Boothill” area of the state. It is real racial.”

According to Rev. Ellis, the attorney that they first hired for Heather’s case tried to talk their daughter into taking a plea deal offered by Sokoloff. But she refused. They say their former lawyer had close ties to the prosecutor and he didn’t show that he had their daughter’s best interests in mind.

“We found out later that he was friends with the prosecutor,” Rev. Ellis said. “They used to play golf together. My wife asked him if there was a conflict of interest and he said no.”

They fired him. They are on their third lawyer after their second one withdrew himself from the case over differences with the family on how Ellis should be represented.

Her current attorney is Scott Rosenblum, one of Saint Louis’ best defense lawyers. His office did not respond to a request for an interview. Meanwhile, Rev. Ellis contends that Walmart or the prosecutor’s release of the store’s video of the incident would exonerate his daughter.

Sokoloff argued his opposite perspective in a letter to Buffalo State College journalism professor Michael Niman, who had written on the case for the Progressive Populist.

“Ms. Ellis can be very clearly seen in the video shoving the merchandise of the next customer in line back from the register and trying to place her own in front of it,” Sokoloff wrote in his letter. “The video also clearly shows her cursing at the officers as they followed her out of the store, it also clearly shows that there was no excessive force used in the arrest and that Ms. Ellis was not lifted off the ground. Further despite your report that there were no injured victims, one officer sustained a split lip from a punch thrown by the ‘innocent’ Ms. Ellis and another bruised shin where she kicked him. Further, the E.R. records of Ms. Ellis’ visit show no visible injuries. “

However, Sokoloff would not go into details about the case when reached by the NNPA News Service.

“I don’t release evidence to the media,” the prosecutor said by telephone about the contents of the video. “It’s totally inappropriate and improper to be doing that. In fact, there are rules against that. I don’t try my cases in the media. I don’t think it’s appropriate. I prefer to let the evidence speak for itself. Yes, the video will be played for the jury, of course.”

John Chasnoff, program director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri, has seen the footage that Sokoloff filed as evidence. He, along with the Ellis family, said that the video shows nothing to support the prosecutor’s charge.

“We see things that are emblematic in that part of the state,” Chassnoff said. “We see a long history of racial tension. We’re always interested in cases of police misconduct and this case fits that pattern of misconduct that we’ve seen around the country.”

Sokoloff contends that the original misdemeanor charges were never dropped, contrary to what the Ellis family believed. He said that different facts about the case spread within the media and by Ellis advocates were products of “absolute lies and misinformation.”

Sokoloff said that the charges were initially filed as misdemeanors and the plea offer Ellis refused involved a deferred prosecution on those charges. It would have resulted in a dismissal with informal supervision for a period of two years, after which, the charges would’ve been completely dismissed permanently.

“She fired her [first] lawyer, the second lawyer withdrew, she missed court appearances,” he explained. “It became apparent to me that she was not taking the matter seriously. That’s when we amended it to include the two felony assault on law enforcement charges.”

Each felony charge carries a sentence of up to seven years of county jail time or a fine.

He said that the felony charges were there all along as far as the evidence was concerned but they were trying to get the case resolved without having to file those charges.

The prosecution says that police report states that one officer received a split lip and the other officer received a bruised shin.

“We’re not talking about serious injuries here,” he says about Heather’s felony charge. “She is not charged with any serious assault. But they are felonies because they are police officers and they were performing their duty. Under Missouri law, that makes it an automatic felony,” he explains.

Elliott Millner, a legal consultant with a Black news website, Your Black World, and co-organizer of an upcoming rally for Ellis, does not buy Sokoloff’s explanation.

“That’s not true because if assaulting an officer, no matter what happens, becomes an automatic felony then why is there misdemeanor assault of an officer? Why is there class A, B, C up to a felony assault of an officer? He has discretion as a prosecutor to look at the situation, look at the background, look at the person. It’s excessive,” Millner asserts.

Millner continues, “Even if you look at it color neutrally, a case where someone who has no prior record does that warrant her potentially getting sent to prison for however many years for a busted lip that they can’t proved happened because there are no pictures of any busted lip? There is no evidence of any of that.”
Sokoloff says he will try the case in court while Ellis’ family is trying it in the media.

“I cannot begin to explain why this case has gotten so much media attention,” Sokoloff said. “I am absolutely mystified other than the defendant seems to want to make it a big deal.”

Ellis admits that they are using the media as a tool to get their story out but only because Americans everywhere need to hear what is happening in Kennett, he said.

“What we’re disputing and alleging is that the assault against the police officers did not happen. If anyone was assaulted it was Heather Ellis,” Millner said. “There were witnesses that observed the abuse that she received. These officers that claimed to sustain injuries did not have to get any medical [attention], Heather Ellis did. We’re disputing the entire police version of events.”

Miller said that Heather’s case is just a catalyst for a longstanding pattern of racially-biased legal injustice that has been going on in that region for some time.

Sokoloff doesn’t budge.

“Just because the defendant makes a big deal of the case isn’t going to cause me dismiss the charges when there isn’t a basis for it,” Sokoloff said. “Quite frankly, the most time and effort that’s been involved in this is the injury caused from the media.”

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