Let's talk about black girls
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
Much of our attention has been focused on our young black men, and rightly so, given the propensity in this culture for them to be shot in cold blood, killed and incarcerated. We've discussed President Obama's initiative for young black men, "My Brother's Keeper."
However, a new report, issued by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is important for us to pay attention to. Read the full report here.
Barriers Rooted in Race and Gender Bias Harm Educational Outcomes of African American Girls and Must Be Addressed, New Report Shows
Race and gender disparities in opportunity and academic achievement lead to high dropout rates, limited job opportunities, and increased risk of poverty
(Washington, D.C.) Due to pervasive, systemic barriers in education rooted in racial and gender bias and stereotypes, African American girls are faring worse than the national average for girls on almost every measure of academic achievement, according to a comprehensive report (executive summary) released today by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF). In sharp contrast to reports of the academic success of girls overall, African American girls are more likely than any other group of girls to get poor grades and be held back a grade.
The report, Unlocking Opportunity for African American Girls: A Call to Action for Educational Equity, outlines what are sometimes insurmountable barriers to staying in school and how poor educational outcomes result in limited job opportunities, lower lifetime earnings, and increased risk of economic insecurity for African American women. In 2013, 43 percent of African American women without a high school diploma were living in poverty, compared to nine percent of African American women with at least a bachelor’s degree.
The report examines roadblocks faced by both African American girls and boys—such as under-resourced schools—and emphasizes those that have a distinct impact on African American girls due to the intersection of gender and race stereotypes. These barriers include lack of access to college-and career-preparatory curricula in schools; limited access to athletics and other extracurricular activities; disproportionate and overly punitive disciplinary practices that exclude them from school for minor and subjective infractions, such as dress code violations and wearing natural hairstyles; discrimination against pregnant and parenting students; and pervasive sexual harassment and violence.
“Our educational policies and practices must open the doors of opportunity for all – regardless of race or gender. Only then will we fulfill the promise of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark ruling that invalidated legal segregation in America 60 years ago,” said Sherrilyn A. Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc. “The report’s findings,” Ifill added, “complement the important, ongoing work to improve educational outcomes for boys and men of color and provide additional information about the challenges facing African American children in education.”
An example of
punitive discipline:
In the 2011-12 school year, 12 percent of all African American female pre-K-12 students were suspended from school, six times the rate of white girls and more than any other group of girls and several groups of boys – despite research showing that African American children do not misbehave more frequently than their peers. The experience of Tiambrya Jenkins – a 16-year-old high school student in Rome, Georgia – illustrates the impact that overly punitive disciplinary practices can have on African American girls. Two years ago, when Jenkins was a straight-A student in ninth grade with a dream of becoming a nurse, she got into a fight after school with a white female classmate. Both girls were transferred to an alternative school as punishment. The white classmate returned to regular school after 90 days, but Jenkins was held at the alternative school for the entire school year.
“It was like being in prison,” said Jenkins. “The classrooms had no windows. There was an adult in the room, but there was almost no teaching. We’d just sit around and talk until the bell rang. A year later, I was finally sent back to my regular school. But, by then, my classmates were way ahead of me. Now, I’m flunking math, my favorite class. I’m slipping further behind day by day and doubt I’ll ever catch up.”
The story was also covered by NPR:
Q&A: The Mis-Education Of African-American Girls
The report shows that African-American girls are doing worse than the national average for girls on almost every measure of academic achievement. Globally, the United Nations has warned that gender inequality in education wastes vital human capital and stifles economic growth. As one of its Millennium Development Goals, the U.N. set an ambitious objective of eliminating the gender gap in education at all levels by 2015.
While reading I thought back to my junior high school experience, when, with 6 other black girls I was bused into a majority white school. All of us were selected to be in a special high achievement program to do three years in two.
When it came time to audition for New York's excellent special high schools, those of us who were black, who took off a day from school to audition, were put in detention and give "JD cards" (juvenile delinquency). This didn't happen to the white students. Only via the intervention of our parents, and the local NAACP branch were our records cleared.
Reading through the report a number of things we've discussed in the past stood out:
Stereotypes of African American girls and women date back to slavery — such as the view that African American women are “angry” or “aggressive,” and “promiscuous”
or “hyper-sexualized.” Such racial and gender stereotypes shape educators’ and administrators’ views of African American female students in critically harmful ways.
This implicit bias is rarely discussed or acknowledged, and therefore it goes virtually undetected. But addressing it is essential, as it can lead to the setting of lower
academic expectations for African American girls, significant discipline disparities and a higher rate of referrals to the juvenile justice system, all factors that push African American girls out of school.
We've read the reports on black girls being sent home because their hair is different - and dubbed "unacceptable".
Who can forget Melissa Harris Perry's message to Tiana Parker.
The report also discusses the very serious issues of sex-trafficking of young black and brown girls right here in the U.S. along with issues of sexual abuse and violence.
It isn't simply a laundry list of what is wrong.
The report outlines recommendations for policymakers, schools, community members, and philanthropic organizations to improve educational and career outcomes, including the following:
Invest in early childhood education; reduce disparities in school resources; maintain transparency and accountability for the performance of all students;
Reduce reliance on overly punitive and exclusionary discipline practices in schools, such as suspensions and expulsions for minor offenses, and promote the use of alternative discipline practices, such as Restorative Justice, that encourage positive behavior and address trauma. Increase transparency in and accuracy of schools’ annually reported discipline data.
Increase access to and promote African American girls’ participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) courses;
Support pregnant students and those who are parents;
Reduce gender- and race-based bullying, harassment and violence, and train school staff to recognize and address signs of trauma in students;
Increase access to athletics and other after-school activities and programs;
Target philanthropic funding to provide social services and support systems that address the needs of African American girls, especially the most vulnerable – those who are low-income, in the child welfare system, victims of child sex trafficking, struggling to complete school, or in the juvenile justice system.
Maybe one day we will be able fulfill the words to this classic song, sung here by Nina Simone:
Young, gifted and black
Oh what a lovely precious dream
To be young, gifted and black
Open your heart to what I mean
In the whole world you know
There was a billion boys and girls
Who are young, gifted and black
And that's a fact!
You are young, gifted and black
We must begin to tell our young
There's a world waiting for you
Your's is the quest that's just begun
When you feel really low
Yeah, there's a great truth that you should know
When you're young, gifted and black
Your soul's intact
To be young, gifted and black
Oh how I long to know the truth
There are times when I look back
And I am haunted by my youth
Oh but my joy of today
Is that we can all be proud to say
To be young, gifted and black
Is where it's at
Is where it's at
Is where it's at
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The power shortages that have been holding Africa back are at last easing. Economist: Lighting a dark continent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE stylishly dressed men and women window-shopping in the air-conditioned cool of the Lagos Palms shopping mall speak of a Nigerian economy and middle class on the rise. But out the back, the stench of diesel fumes hanging heavily in the muggy tropical air is evidence of failings that are holding back Africa’s biggest economy: banks of diesel generators chug away to supply eye-wateringly expensive power because Nigeria’s rickety national grid is so unreliable.
Across Africa investors joke about living in a “bring-your-own-infrastructure” continent, in which firms must provide independent generators, water purification and even sewage treatment when building a factory or hotel. Of these the costliest is often power. Nigeria, which has a population three times larger than South Africa’s, generates just a tenth as much electricity.
Power from private generators costs $0.35 per kilowatt-hour or more, ten times more than electricity from the grid in most other countries. Analysts at Coronation, a South African asset manager, reckon electricity accounts for 6% of costs at Nigeria’s biggest banks (each branch needs a generator) and 10% of the costs of telephone companies (each cellphone mast must have its own power).
Even India’s ramshackle infrastructure looks good by comparison. Nigeria may produce roughly as much output per person as India, but it has only one-fifth the generating capacity per head, according to McKinsey, a consulting firm. China, meanwhile, is building new power plants so rapidly that it is adding the equivalent of an Africa to its grid every two years. The World Bank reckons that power shortages trim more than two percentage points from annual growth in GDP on average in Africa; in Nigeria the loss has been almost four percentage points a year.
After a drought in investment in new generating capacity lasting almost three decades, blooms of new power plants are now sprouting across sub-Saharan Africa like acacia seeds after a rainstorm. A tally by The Economist of announced power projects (under construction or at an advanced stage of planning) suggests that the region’s electricity-generating capacity will increase by more than half by the end of the decade.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As world leaders gathered last week for a global conference on climate change, an influential veteran diplomat from a small Caribbean island was among them. Miami Herald: Caribbean U.N. diplomat forged ambitious development agenda.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John William Ashe, once the ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations and now the outgoing president of the U.N. General Assembly, has been invited to participate in the U.N. Climate Summit ahead of a week of debate by leaders from almost 140 countries.
During his term, Ashe’s U.N. colleagues say, he moved the General Assembly closer to completing work on a forward-looking agenda for poverty reduction and economic growth through sustainable, environmentally conscious development. Some of them noted Ashe’s work as a mark of prominence for the Caribbean’s presence around the world.
“President Ashe has been extraordinary in addressing the concerns of small island states,” said Michael Mitchell, a Grenada national and senior advisor with the Joint Office for Commonwealth Permanent Missions to the United Nations, a grouping of small British Commonwealth nations. “His sense of professionalism in dealing with the diversity of the world representation is a credit to all Caribbean people.”
Mitchell was among more than 100 attendees at a reception for Ashe last week, when fellow ambassadors joined U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to wish the Antiguan well.
Of the theme Ashe chose for the last General Assembly session — “Post-2015 Development Agenda: Setting the Stage!” — Ban said: “He set the stage, he kept his word, and he’s leaving us just a few remaining points so that his successor can finalize this.”
At the official opening of the General Assembly’s 69th session, Ambassador Sam Kahamba Kutesa of Uganda, the incoming General Assembly president, said Ashe “worked tirelessly” on the development agenda and promised the final product would be “transformative, brings tangible benefits [and] leads to improved livelihoods for all.”
The post-2015 development agenda to eradicate poverty builds on an eight-point plan for U.N. members, known as the Millennium Development Goals. With a deadline of Dec. 31, 2015, few nations are expected to meet all eight goals, according to the latest report on the plan’s progress.
President of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly John Ashe, from Antigua and Barbuda, speaks during the 68th United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday Sept. 24, 2013.ANDREW BURTON/AP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not so sure about the show, but the premise is interesting. How exactly does one define being black in America? The Grio: ABC’s Black-ish: When “keeping it real” goes wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That’s the cultural question that is nearly as old as The Middle Passage and the Civil Rights era themselves. Despite the real and measurable accomplishments of the group to whom this query pertains, the question also happens to be one that has yet to be answered with any degree of finality, or even satisfaction.
For this, we need only look to Black-ish, the latest entrant into the genre of urban comedy that debuts Wednesday night on ABC.
The fledgling sitcom follows the intrepid exploits of one Andre Johnson (played by veteran comedian Anthony Anderson), an advertising executive married to a physician. The plot basically centers on the trials, travails and existential angst of educated black professional couple who are increasingly preoccupied by the possibility they are losing their sense of “blackness.” Hence the title’s attempt to convey ethnic ambiguity.
Andre’s dilemma, to the extent it can be called that, is a kid born of the struggle who has “arrived” — at least in the economic, professional and social sense. You see, he’s worried that he may have done too well. Even worse, his kids have little to no trace of urban affectations (junior wants to truncate his name to “Andy”, have a bar-mitzvah and –horrors! – try out for field hockey rather than basketball). Throw in the more grounded wife and dad, played by Tracy Ellis-Ross and Lawrence Fishburne, respectively, and let the laughs and life lessons commence.
Early reviews have been cautiously flattering, if not entirely effusive. Over at The New York Times — perhaps mindful of the furor it generated recently by politely panning Viola Davis — one reviewer thinks Black-ish has the potential to be “something substantial” in the interminable dialogue on race relations (which, in case nobody’s noticed, appears to be getting better and not worse).
Inevitable comparisons to The Cosby Show aside, the Johnsons clearly ain’t the Huxtables, whose timeless genius was to be completely comfortable in their upper class trappings while not betraying a hint of anguish about being sufficiently black. It’s one of the reasons why the show’s popularity endures three decades after the first episode. The Cosbys were unapologetically successful, obviously black and nobody – least of all the protagonists themselves – made a big deal about it.
ABC's Black-ish promotional image
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disparities between the percentage of black residents and the number of black elected officials are facts of life in scores of American cities, particularly in the South. New York Times: Mostly Black Cities Mostly White City Halls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since moving to this small city on the eastern flank of Atlanta’s suburban sprawl, Lorna Francis, a hairdresser and a single mother, has found a handsome brick house to rent on a well-groomed cul-de-sac. She has found a good public school for her teenage daughter.
Something Ms. Francis, who is black, has not found is time to register and vote. She was unaware that the most recent mayoral election was held last November.
“Life’s been busy — I’ve been trying to make that money,” Ms. Francis said one morning this month from her two-car garage, where she was micromanaging a particularly complex hairdo for a regular client. “And honestly, I only vote in major elections.”
That kind of disengagement is one of the many reasons that only one of the six elected positions in this municipality of 15,000 is held by an African-American, even as a wave of new black residents has radiated out from nearby Atlanta, creating a black majority here for the first time in the city’s 160-year history.
Disparities between the percentage of black residents and the number of black elected officials are facts of life in scores of American cities, particularly in the South. The unrest that followed the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., has emphasized how much local elections can matter, and prompted a push there for increased black voter participation.
The disparities result from many factors: voter apathy, especially in low-visibility local elections; the civic disconnect of a transient population; the low financial rewards and long hours demanded of local officeholders; and voting systems, including odd-year elections, that are often structured in a way that discourages broad interest in local races.
Cleveland Stroud, the only black Council member in Conyers, Ga., says whites have represented their changing constituency well. Credit Audra Melton for The New York Times
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Voices and Soul
by Justice Putnam
Black Kos Poetry Editor
When all seems hopeless, when the hyena cackle of defeat is biting at pant cuffs and frayed nerves; when the crushing weight of today is laying low; when the heat stroke of burned out ambitions are sweating inside an oppressive solitary cage, a cage that is bolted in a boxcar rattling along this penal colony rail road earth; it is important to remember...
destiny
under volcanoes & timeless years within watch
and low tones. Around corners, in deep caves among
misunderstood and sometimes meaningless sounds.
Cut beggars, outlaw pimps & whores. Resurrect work.
Check your distance blue. Come earthrise men
deepblack and ready, come sunbaked women rootculture on the move.
Just do what you're supposed to do, what you say you gonta do
not the impossible, not the unimaginative,
not copy clothed as original and surely
not bitter songs in european melodies. Take hold
do the necessary, the possible, the correctly simple
talk of mission & interpret destiny
put land and selfhood on the minds of our people
do the expected, do what all people do
reverse destruction. Capture tomorrows
-- Haki Madhubuti
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to the Black Kos Community Front Porch