Economic Justice or Boycott!; Justice or Else!; Men In Washington,D.C. Support Students in Million Father March; Study: Black Boys Struggleto Learn in Segregated Schools

Economic Justice or Boycott! Justice or Else!!! Million Father March in Washington, D.C. Study: Black Boys Learn Less in Segregated Schools Links: The Black Star Project's website: blackstarproject.org Black Star Journal: blackstarjournal.org Become a Member: Click Here Make a donation: Like us on Facebook: Follow us on Twitter: "Because America is the modern home of capitalism, one of the only things she understands is dollars. Unfortunately, that's also one of the things that Blacks in America don't grasp!" - Phillip Jackson -------------------------------------------------------- The time is ripe for economic justice - #BoycottChristmas BY CHARLENE MUHAMMAD - NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT September 17, 2015 In his call for 'Justice Or Else,' the 20th Anniversary gathering of the Million Man March on October 10, in Washington, D.C., the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan also called for a boycott of Christmas. Leading experts and economists agree the time is now and the time is ripe for the Muslim leader's clarion call for economic justice, they told The Final Call. "Absolutely, the timing is perfect! I think that Black people in America are reaching another level of consciousness," said Dr. George Fraser, CEO of FraserNet Inc., which works to increase opportunities, wealth and jobs for Blacks. "From a timing standpoint, from a psychological moment, I think yes, the timing is precisely right. But I think the timing is always right, but it's up to the elders," said the marketing guru. The Black community needs leadership and he feels it's up to people like him, Minister Farrakhan and others who have generations of consciousness to guide the younger generations, he said. Minister Farrakhan in various cities around the country leading up to October's gathering said the plan for economic success had been laid out by Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King shortly before he was assassinated. Redistribute the pain Blacks suffer because of injustices in America, particularly the extrajudicial law enforcement and vigilante killings of their men, women and children, he pointed out. "You're either going to treat us right, or we're going to withdraw from you our economic support. ... We intend to boycott Christmas but not Jesus," Minister Farrakhan said during a one-hour interview on September 10 with Roland Martin, host of TV One's show News One. "We choose not to spend dollars on Black Friday, Black Saturday, Black Sunday, Black Monday. We are not going to spend our money for the rest of that year with those companies that we have traditionally spent our money on," the Minister added. Philip Jackson, executive director of Chicago-based Black Star Project said the battle for economic justice should have been fought a long time ago. "The Minister's call for an economic boycott is something that can gain respect for our community in ways that nothing else can," Mr. Jackson said. Among programs his organization offers Black and Latino youth are presentations on finance and economics. Because America is the modern home of capitalism, one of the only things she understands is dollars, he said. Unfortunately, that's also one of the things that Blacks in America don't grasp, he continued. So much so, collectively they lack an understanding of the power of money, how to multiply it, and how to use the power of dollars to get what they need in their schools and communities to help their children, seniors and themselves, said Mr. Jackson, a long-time community activist and convener of the Million Father March, in which Black men take children to the first day of school. "Black America is projected to have $1 trillion in earning power in 2015. That $1 trillion in earning power we allow this country to use against us, when in reality, if we harvest that $1 trillion in earning power, in spending power, in budget power, we wouldn't have to ask anybody for a job," said Mr. Jackson, echoing Minister Farrakhan. "His (Minister Farrakhan's) picking the holiday season as a time to exert that pressure is perfect. That's when America counts our dollars before we spend them," he said. And as a matter of course, he continued, other communities throughout America already do what Minister Farrakhan's asking. "Chinese people shop with Chinese people. Korean people shop with Korean people. Pakistani people shop with Pakistani people. ... The people who are not doing what the Minister is asking for is us. We take our dollars and what that means is we take our power and we literally give it away," said Mr. Jackson. Click Here to Read Full Story In Washington, D.C., Fist Bumps And Fatherly Support During A Special Morning Outside Ballou High By Patrick Madden September 16, 2015 Ballou High School in Southeast D.C. is located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the nation's capital. With the academic year just underway, students were greeted outside the school Tuesday by a surprise: Fathers, grandfathers, and other men from the neighborhood came out to show their support. "Good morning young brother, we are here for you!" exclaimed Tyrone Parker to one student as he walked by. Parker and more than a dozen other men were lined up in two columns outside the school. Students were met with high-fives, fist-bumps and lots of encouraging words. For Parker, when the call went out for men in the community to help out, Parker couldn't resist. "I thought it was an extraordinary opportunity. It keeps us young," joked Parker, who works at the Alliance of Concerned Men. "There's no better place to start than the schools. If we start in the schools, we can help them from going into the streets." Trayon White, who works in the D.C. Attorney General's office and ran for the D.C. Council last year, was also on hand to greet students. He says it's important in communities where many children are raised in single-parent households to help out. "They don't see a lot of men in the community wearing suits, getting up every morning, going to work, coming home, so it's a good chance for us, the motto: Who do we want our young men to become?" Some of the students seemed a little taken aback at first. But as they made their way through the columns of well-wishers, it was all smiles. "The morning is always rough coming to school," says Malik Burrell, a 17-year-old senior at Ballou. "So just to have a little bit of energy, a little bit of excitement added to the day, makes it easier to go class and be productive." Added Burrell: "Just to see a lot of leaders, African-American male leaders in the community coming to support the Ballou family is really nice." It's part of the Million Father March, a national effort to get African-American men more engaged in their children's education. Many schools are holding different community-driven events, like having fathers walk their children on the first day of school. According to organizers, more than 500 cities across the U.S. are taking part this year. Ballou High School principal Yetunde Reeves says events like these are important because schools need the support of the larger community to succeed. "We are not just this building in isolation," says Reeves. "We can't do everything that our young people need. They need people beyond the educators to actually push the value of education in the building and the society." The study referenced below is flawed. The only way that Black children in the 1920's, 30's 40's, 50's and 60's learned anything was sitting next to other Black children with Black teachers and Black principals. To say that it can't be done in 2015 is incorrect. Any study that says Black boys cannot get a good education sitting next to other Black boys (in "high density" schools) was poorly constructed, ill-researched and is a waste of taxpayers' money. The title below is incomplete. It should read: "Black Males Struggle in Schools that Don't Care About Them, Don't Expect Anything From Them and Won't Invest In Them" Phillip Jackson - The Black Star Project --------------------------------------------- Black males struggle in segregated schools By Lyndsey Layton September 24, 2015 A new study using federal data finds that black students who attend schools that have a majority of black students score lower on achievement tests than black students who go to school with fewer other black students. The findings held true after researchers accounted for family income, level of parent education and other factors they thought might impact how students perform on tests. And they were particularly strong for black males - test scores for black female students were fairly consistent whether they attended schools with many other black students or schools with relatively few, researchers found. The study, conducted for the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics by the American Institutes for Research, analyzed the test scores of 100,000 eighth-graders on the 2011 math portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as NAEP. The overall black-white achievement gap on the NAEP 2013 math test for eighth-graders was 31 points - equivalent to three years of schooling. That gap has not changed from 2007 to 2013. Researchers looked at how black students performed on the test and the demographic makeup of their schools. A "high density" black school was defined as a school where at least 60 percent of the students are black. Nationally, these schools were concentrated in Southern and Midwestern cities, researchers found. Other researchers have found that teachers in schools with large numbers of black students tend to expect less of them, which may result in less engagement on the part of both teachers and students. Click Here to Read Full Story Click Here to Read the Study Quote of the Day From The Black Star Learning Center "I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often." - Brian Tracy (Quote shared by Stanley Jendresak)

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