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Your 2015
Million Father March
By the Numbers
Click Here to See How Many Cities in Your State Participated
(Click on the image above for more information about the number of cities in each state.)
The Million Father March
was a huge success!
We thank the Million Father March Organizers who volunteered their time to organize, promote, and support theMillion Father March in their community and communities across the country! Thanks to them, the Million Father March made an impact nationwide! Fathers and male role models came together for a common purpose: their children's education.
What are people saying about the Million Father March?
"We are located in Miami and one father came from about 300 miles away, just to participate in the march!"
- Terry Thompson, PBS Coach at Carol City Middle School in Miami Gardens, Florida
"The march made our fathers feel important! The students felt great because this was the first time their father brought some of them to school. I feel like the relationship between our parents and teachers has been strengthened."
- Sharon Heidt, Parent Facilitator at Brock Elementary in Savannah, Georgia
"I received a phone call from a father the same day saying, "Mrs. Wills, I'm so happy that you all had the event today. When my son got home he said, 'Daddy, thanks so much for coming today, I had such a good day at school!' I was wondering if you all are going to have them monthly or AT LEAST every other month. I think we should so more dads can come!" My heart was full and happy!"
- Erin Wills, Principal of University Yes Academy in Detroit, Michigan
"More fathers are visiting the school and making suggestions for improvement. Fathers report that they feel much more comfortable calling or visiting the campus."
- Linda Soto, Principal of LBJ Middle School in Pharr, Texas
How do we keep up the momentum?
You can help to make sure that fathers are kept engaged year-round! Establish a Million Fathers Club in your community and donate to Black Star Project to support year-long efforts!
Support the future of the Million Father March!
The Million Father March depends on the support of people like you to ensure that this movement continues! Please give today to support the Million Father March!
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After The
Million Father March:
Create a
Million Fathers Club to Continue A Year of Father and Male Engagement in the Lives of Children
Events and Programs for 2015 - 2016
- August - September 2015 - Million Father March (Back-To-School Events)
- October 2015 -The Million Fathers Club and Men Help Prepare Students for the World of Work, Co-operative Economics, Entrepreneurship and Business Development with the Student Motivation and Career Development Mentor Program (Organizing Guide Available)
- October 2015 -Fathers and Men Join and Attend PTA, School Council and School Board Meetings regularly
- November 2015- Fathers and Men Volunteer at Schools as Janitors, Painters, Field Trip Chaperones, Hall Monitors, Sports Coaches or Mentors for at Least 10 Hours this Year
- November 2015- Fathers Pick Up Child's Grade Reports and Meet with Teachers
- December 2015- The Million Fathers Club Teaches Students the History and Culture of Their Ethnic Group either at Home, at School or at the Library
- January 2015 -The Million Fathers Club and Men Lead Mentoring Activities in Schools for MLK Mentor Day for Boys and Young Men. Women Should Also be Invited to Mentor Girls and Young Women. (Organizing Guide Available)
- February 2015- The Million Fathers Clubs and Mothers Organize Daddy Daughter Dances for Valentine's Day (Organizing Guide Available)
- February 2015- Fathers Pick Up Child's Grade Reports and Meet with Teachers
- March 2015 -The Million Fathers Club and Your School Organize Real Men Read Days for Fathers and their Younger Children in Schools (Organizing Guide Available)
- April 2015 -The Million Fathers Club Invites Fathers and Men to help Prepare Older Students for College, with College Fairs, College Visits and College Workshop Sessions. (Organizing Guide Available)
- May 2015 - The Million Fathers Club Supports Mothers for Mother Son Dances, near Mother's Day (Organizing Guide Available)
- May - June 2016 - Fathers Take a Day Off of Work to Go to School on the Last Day to Personally and Individually Thank the Principal, Teachers, Lunchroom Staff, Janitorial Staff, and Security Staff for Helping their Children Learn this Year
June 2016 - The Million Fathers Club Plans an Event at a Church, Mosque or Synagogue with
Take A Child to Worship Day on Father's Day Event (Organizing Guide Available)
- July 2016 -Fathers Plan A Million Fathers Club Event at a Baseball Game or the Zoo or a Museum. (Organizing Guide Available)
Click Here to Sign Up for the Million Fathers Club
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Sunday University
Sunday, September 27, 2016
Technology and Entrepreneurship
with Riana Lynn
Google - Code 2040 Entrepreneur in Residence
Riana Lynn is emerging as a young leader in food+health entrepreneurship with a passion for technology, access, and bringing people together. From her grandmother's garden to the White House South Lawn and through the local and international agricultural pipelines she was inspired to develop innovative supply chain management tools and create FoodTrace.
A next level sourcing platform, FoodTrace is paving the way with software solutions to solve our biggest food industry problems. Her story and accomplishments have been featured in Inc.com, Wired Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, TheGrio 100, and other local and national publications. She graduated with a B.S. in Biology and African American Studies, along with a minor in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she taught herself how to code and was a top-ranked performer in Discus and Javelin before pursuing a Masters at Northwestern University.
While getting her hands dirty in the White House Kitchen Garden, her work included major policy initiatives such as Small Business and Jobs, STEM, and Public Health. Riana currently serves as the Google - Code 2040 Entrepreneur in Residence. A native of the Chicago area, Riana is a young politico, a restaurant enthusiast, a world traveler, and an innovative fruit connoisseur!
2:30 pm to 4:00 pm
after church, mosque or temple
at
The Black Star Project
3509 South King Drive
Chicago, Illinois
FREE!!!
Please call 773.285.9600 to RSVP, for more information or to create a Sunday University in your city.
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Attend a Workshop on
Radiant Health and Living
by Dr. Paul L. Hannah on Saturday, September 26, 2015, 9:00 am to 12:00 noon.
The best investment that you can make in life is in your health! Learn that
Health Is Wealth and
How to Keep It for a Life Time. Whether you are 17 years old or 97 years old, there are things that you can do, now, to add to the quality and quantity of your life. Dr. Hannah is a medical doctor and a healer who teaches people to take their health into their own hands. Dr. Hannah also teachers Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Nutrition, Balance, Harmony, and Martial Applications. Please join him with an open mind!
The investment/cost is
$97.00 for this session.
at
The Black Star Project
3509 South King Drive, Suite 2B
Chicago, Illinois
Please call 773.285.9600 to RSVP or for more information.
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Calling All Fathers, Stepfathers, Foster Fathers, Grandfathers, Godfathers, Uncles, Brothers,
Male Caregivers, Black Star Members,
Mentors and Supporters!
Join
The Black Star Project's
Million Fathers Club
for
Major League Baseball
Tuesday, September 29, 2015 and Thursday, October 1, 2015
7:10 pm both nights
see the
The Chicago White Sox
vs.
Kansas City Royals
U.S. Cellular Field
333 West 35th Street
Free for Black Star Members
(Up to 4 tickets per member -
First Come First Served)
***************************
Please call 773.285.9600 to RSVPor for more information about these games. Men and women of all races, ethnicities and faith backgrounds may and should attend this event with their children.
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Minority Teachers Quitting: Big Government Death Grip to Blame
By Nick SanchezSeptember 18, 2015
Minority teachers are quitting in droves across nine major cities, and education experts are asking why.
In a new report, "The State of Teacher Diversity in American Education," the Albert Shanker Institute found that in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., the number of black teachers fell significantly from 2002 to 2012.
"There is this huge heralded success in the growth of recruitment rates for minority teachers but they've been undermined by these high quit rates," Richard Ingersoll, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and contributor to the report, told NBC News. "My own conclusion is that we will not really close that gap until we go beyond recruitment and look at retention."
The distribution of black and Hispanic teachers across low- and high-income schools is one of the chief factors contributing to the attrition rate.
"Minority teachers are disproportionately employed in predominantly urban, predominantly poor, and predominantly high minority schools," Ingersoll said. "But such schools are not as attractive workplaces . . . and because minority teachers are the ones teaching at these schools, they have higher quit rates."
In Washington D.C., the number of white teachers more than doubled from 16 to 39 percent, and the number of black teachers decreased from 77 to 49 percent.
Ingersoll suggested that big, top-down government "turnaround" programs often imposed on failing schools often disempowers teachers, which in turn drives up their quit rates.
"With accountability, often you have a standardized curriculum that's scripted and sometimes micromanaged," he said, The Washington Post reported. "There are certainly some positives, but the downside is it drives teachers nuts..... What I always suggest is that we hold people accountable for results but then get out of their way. It's not the way we treat teachers in these large urban districts."
Click Here to Read the Full Report on The State of Teacher Diversity in Education by the Albert Shanker Institute
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Does the race of your
child's teacher matter?
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune
September 10, 2015
When children in California walked into their classrooms at the start of the school year, odds are they saw a white person at the head of the room. And odds are, when they looked around at their classmates, they saw a lot of Latino, Asian and Black students.
Despite efforts to increase the diversity of the state's teaching ranks, minority teachers remain almost as underrepresented in public schools as they were 10 years ago, according to an assessment of California Department of Education data.
And a growing body of research suggests this can negatively impact minority students' success in a significant way.
While 54 percent of students in California public schools are Latino, only 19 percent of teachers are. The numbers are better for other minority students in the state, though they, too, remain underrepresented by teachers.
And though Los Angeles County has a much larger percentage of Latino, Asian and Black teachers than the state, the large population of minority students means they are still underrepresented.
Particular school districts in Los Angeles County, many of which have faced rapid shifts in demographics, have even stronger disparities. In Arcadia Unified, for example, only 15 percent of students are white, but 73 percent of teachers and 88 percent of administrators are.
"This isn't just a few percentage points' difference. These are huge gaps," said Ulrich Boser, author of a report by the Center for American Progress aimed at increasing the number of teachers of color in classrooms across the country.
Research shows that when minority students have a teacher of the same background, it fosters increased engagement, confidence, trust and comfort in the classroom. And they are also provided a valuable role model. The effects aren't just subjective.
Other well-cited research has produced similar results, including one study that showed when students were matched with teachers of their own race, academic achievement increased by 3-4 percentage points, according to the Center for American Progress report.
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Black Girls CODE!!!
'Disrupting' Tech's Diversity Problem With A Code Camp For Girls Of Color
Eric Westervelt
August 17, 2015
Silicon Valley is great at disrupting business norms - except when it comes to its own racial and gender diversity problem. In an open letter last week, the Rev. Jesse Jackson sounded the alarm yet again. He urged tech giants and startups to speed up the hiring of more African-Americans and Latinos- "to change the face of technology so that its leadership, workforce and business partnerships mirror the world in which we live."
One nonprofit group, Black Girls CODE, isn't waiting around for more diversity reports. The group is taking action with regular weekend coding seminars for girls of color. And this summer, it's held boot camps where young girls learn the basics of tech design and development.
"I wanna make games, stuff like that," says Natalia Cox, one of the girls at Black Girls CODE's camp. "Tech is gonna take over the world. I wanna be a part of that!" The 13-year-old from San Jose, Calif., says she hopes to work in the tech field one day.
"Organizations like this help bring more people into the pipeline just as much as a diversity board at a large corporation," says Keisha Michelle Richardson, who volunteered to mentor young girls at a camp session in San Francisco. Richardson is entrepreneur and senior software engineer at Westfield Labs.
In addition to brainstorming and prototyping app ideas, the campers take field trips to leading tech companies. "I like to point out to the girls, 'Look around, do you see people who look like you here?' " says Lake Raymond, the summer camp and after-school coordinator for Black Girls CODE.
Outside of management, software developers and hardware engineers are often among the highest-paid jobs in the industry. Estimates are that fewer than 13 percent of computer engineers in the Valley are female. Far fewer are African-American women, it's estimated, but few companies have released hard data breaking down the numbers by race and gender.
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