Our Time PressThe Local Paper with the Global View

by  Stanley Kinard

Black History First
The challenge with writing this column once a month is that it becomes difficult to focus on one area with so many issues, events and tragedies. This month I have decided to tackle three issues that are undermining the development of our children and community. First is the lack of African history and culture being taught in our schools. Second is the direct correlation this has with the Black- on- Black crime in our communities and third is the desecration of the Black church and its pulpit to promote political agendas and policies on Dr. King’s birthday.
This column has consistently advocated for the teaching of African History and Culture in schools. Our most brilliant educators Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and Dr. John Henry Clarke gave us a lifetime of scholarly research. Their work expressed the necessity of African history and culture being the educational priority for African people. As we begin another celebration of Black History Month, we are only engaging in acts of ancestral treason, unless we implement and commit to align with the goals, of our ancestors regarding passing  on of our history and culture. African history and culture in schools must be our primary educational goal. Every principal, teacher and preacher must embrace this idea, if not, they don’t have the best interest’s of our children at heart. Our ancestral principles will assist us in rebuilding our community and stop the psychological and physical killing of our most important commodity-our youth.
There has been a lot of media coverage recently regarding the police killing of an innocent black male, Timothy Stansbury, Jr., in Bedford-Stuyvesant. During that same weekend, another black male, Blake Samel Harper, was shot at a party in East New York, allegedly by another black person. There was very little media coverage of this event and hardly any outrage from our community. I know the parents of this young man. While they have been active in working with youth in our community, this epidemic of Black- on- Black crime still reached out to touch their family.  If we do not value Black life, no one else will. Black- on- Black crime is the absence of self- love and the lack of knowledge of African culture that helps to perpetuate this epidemic of us killing ourselves and allowing others to kill us with no response.
While all of this is happening, the mayor and the chancellor implemented a policy allowing for cops to police 12 schools in our community, virtually turning them into prison camps. At the same time, the mayor, the speaker of the city council and various legislative leaders were being graciously invited into the pulpits of Black churches to speak on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. These men who support the criminalization of our youth by policing them in schools instead of educating them, had free access to our community’s greatest asset and most sacred place- the pulpit of the Black church. I remember as a boy growing up in the church that the pulpit was a sacred place. Now it has become sacrilegious, people whose policies are destroying our communities can get up to speak and be applauded. When is the day that Black political leaders are invited into the White church? By the way, I am supportive of Charles Barron’s candidacy for mayor and his platform that “white men have too much power.” We do not need to further empower them with the Black church. This takes me back to my initial
demand calling for African history and culture to be taught in schools. If there were more culture there would be less crime. The real violence in schools is the psychological violence that begins in grade school, where our children are being miseducated about their history.
A final demand of the Black community must be the elimination of the winter break where schools are shut down for an entire week during Black History Month . This is a racist policy that makes no educational sense.
To address some of these issues, there will be a Black Educators Summit to be held at Boys and Girls High School on Saturday, February 21, 2004. This event will begin at 9am. This has been a very difficult year for us in the Black community with the elimination of school boards, the forced curriculum and now cops in schools. Our call must become “Black History First.” It is only then that a real dialogue regarding education reform can take place.
Also, on February 29th, at 3pm, the Chief Bey African Music and Dance Festival will take place at Boys and Girls High School. Chief Bey is a cultural icon that gave us the African drum in America. Although he is facing some health challenges, he continues to inspire our faith in culture and tradition. The community is asked to come out and show your support for this great man. A minimum contribution of $2 0 is requested for this event.

By David Kene

On January 24, Medgar Evers College hosted a two-hour Open House, to inaugurate its continuing educational program last month.
Of  the hundreds of people that poured in as window shoppers and left as registered students; a group of no less than  20-replaced by fresh inquisitors consistently huddled around the business development section table, just one of the 12 section tables.
Petuna Selby, professor of the medical billing course and the table’s host, seemed overwhelmed. “At first, they came all together at once, I felt like I was hosting a workshop-but I’m a teacher so I don’t mind much, I just get a bit thirsty,” says instructor Selby, reaching for her bottled water.
Such was the scene as students bartered questions for answers with professors before going to the negotiation table-paying up front and in full. Amongst the most common concerns  “Can these classes actually land me a good paying job?” to which Instructor Selby replied “You have to get your foot in the door. I first went through a temp agency, that’s how I started.”
For Peter Williams, vice president of the Medgar Evers Continuing Educational Program (MEECP), “it’s all about allowing individuals to develop  new skills and pursue their interests in various areas: computer science, graphic design, paralegal studies , medical billing and a host of other disciplines. So this is for someone who has finished school or one interested in a career change. It’s for opportunity or just for personal interest-like our home repair classes. Course costs are reasonable. They’re not accredited classes, but you do receive a certificate.”
True to that statement, Dr. Carlysle George, instructor of the QuickBooks accounting and bookkeeping course says, “This class is for students and professionals familiar with bookkeeping and accounting practices. My class will teach the general basics of QuickBooks computer application that will soon replace the manual process of accounting.
You will need to take the prerequisites or have equivalent experience for this class.”
Not all classes are as elite.
Courses  range from thirty dollars like the three- hour IKEA Survival Course: How to Choose and Use Hand and Power Tools to The Medical Billing Certificate Program course, which in total costs $1,635 for the twenty four hours of class.
When asked what program he was interested in Washington Alewis,  a class shopper, pointed out the day care table saying, “I have a lot of friends who have children, I’ve always been a business- minded person and I want to help the community. I want to exceed the hours of 7a.m. – 8 p.m. and still teach kids. I think Medger Evers, continuing Educational Program could help me.”
Those interested like Alewis in the day care program will more than likely be taught by Norma Green, its instructor, who says, “There are no baby sitters here in all my 30 years in the field I’ve never seen anyone sit on a baby-we’re not sitters we’re teachers. I’m very blunt with people. In my class, they’ll learn the paperwork and know how to feed a child according to the nutritional requirements of the USDA. I want them to understand the importance of their work will have on society and patience. They should know that if you hear adult’s voices more than the children in a day care there’s a problem. I want students who really care for the sake of the child.”
This may not be you. Instead, you may not have a degree and are looking to have something accredited to justify a better wage.
If that’s the case then the medical billing or pharmaceutical technician courses may be more to your liking.
According to instructor Selby the medical billing field is “not only booming, it’s overbooming. You have different types of medicine that need billing. For instance, there is the growing field of holistic medicine, we need billing for that. The medical billing courses are nine-month classes introducing you into the field- where you come out and make $50,000-60,000 a year with a certificate-that’s more than an RN, paralegal or teacher with a bachelor’s degree.
Ava Frank, instructor of the pharmacy technician classes says, “There are many good jobs in this field because there is such a shortage [of technicians] in hospitals and community stores.
“Just buy the New York Times and you can take your pick [of jobs],” says Frank.
Frank states the reason for this is because “the pharmacists role has changed from just dispensing drugs to consulting on which drugs to take.As a result, the requirement for a pharmacist to be proficient is no longer just a B.A. but a doctorate. So this has left a great need for dispensing: a void that you can fill at MEECP.
“I’m glad that Medgar Evers offers this at the community level,” says Frank. “It used to be an exclusive field”.
I know of only four colleges of pharmacy in New York and after taking my class you’ll be able to know and identify the top 200 drugs.   For February start dates, call MEECP at 718-270-6400.

By ordering police officers into some high schools, Mayor Bloomberg continues the sad American tradition of control and incarceration which has been embedded in the American character and systems for centuries.

The acceptance of guns in the schools by parents is sadder still, particularly when a better solution to school governance can be found in It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way: A Handbook on How to Create a Positive Environment in Our Schools by Frank N. Mickens, principal of Bedford -Stuyvesant’s Boys and Girls High School. 
In 15 short chapters, with titles like Effective Leadership, Building The Team, and Students Incentive Programs, Boys & Girls High School Principal Mickens outlines the strategies and commitment necessary to implement the kind of turn-around that he has achieved at Boys and Girls High School, from being among the worst, to one of the best managed high schools in the city.
Now in his nineteenth year at the school, Principal Mickens says that at Boys and Girls, he works with the police to help secure the perimeter of the building along with seventeen teachers, deans, school officers and himself.

 
Inside the school, Mickens says he “can’t imagine having three or four police inside the building.  They are not trained to be in here, and they have an adversarial relationship with young people before they even come into the building”.
“What you need is leadership, a committed staff and parents who support you.”  Beyond that, Mickens says that you get effective teachers in the classroom and provide an environment where people can teach.   He has deans on every floor and the message is clear, “You are not going to disrupt the classroom.  And if you do want to disrupt the classroom, I’ve got something for you.”  And he says it in such a way that we can easily see how he can effect an abrupt  change in behavior and a desire not to learn what “something” is.  
Mickens sends another message also: If a student wants to achieve, they are offered a myriad of programs and opportunities to find an interest and grow with it in a safe learning environment.   Last year, he promised every student with a Regent’s diploma a $500 scholarship and gave out ninety-six  of  them.
With a school population swollen to forty-four hundred students, drawn from neighborhood housing projects and middle schools that are considered “troubled”, to have achieved this island of calm is a remarkable feat. And logic would say, ‘let’s try to duplicate.’  In fact, Mickens has been asked to consult with various school districts around the country.   One school system which has not called to say, “Hey Mick, how do you do it?”  is New York City.   Mickens says that sometimes “when you as a black man stand up and say, ‘No, we’re going to do it this way,’ they can’t handle that.”
It is odd that in a system headed by a billionaire businessman mayor, and a corporate attorney as chancellor, that with schools failing all around them, there has been not one call to a proven turn around specialist, asking how to turnaround a school in trouble.   Instead what the City is doing is acknowledging failure and phasing out Erasmus, Wingate, and Prospect Heights high schools in order to create five alternative schools.   During this period the schools are no longer accepting ninth graders, which  is increasing pressure on the already- overcrowded Boys and Girls High.  Mickens frankly wonders if the city wants to make Boys and Girls a holding pen while they experiment with these smaller schools. 
Mickens feels that the education department and the city are not being held accountable by the black community.  “We allow them to get up in our pulpits and there is no discussion, no dissent.” 
“That’s why I’m so hard on these kids, because they have a hard world to face out in this world.   You can’t be a punk out here.”  Principal Mickens says, “The mayor and the chancellor are doing the best they can, but most successful kids have parents who work two jobs and expect their children to work hard also.  Once the expectation to succeed is in the home, then our job is easier.”  Mickens says that one of the reasons there is talk of putting police and not resources in the schools is “because we’re afraid of our children.  Sometimes I think that as a people, we’ve lost respect for elders and the young people in our communities.”

I am running for President of the United States to make sure that ALL the voices in our Democracy are heard loud and clear and to provide a real choice to voters who believe we must:
First use our tax dollars on economic development, improving schools, protecting the right to vote here at home before we ship our dollars overseas to places such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
ú Secure the right to vote, to high quality health care and to high quality education.
ú Create Tax Fairness by reversing the Bush Tax Plan for the wealthiest and giving the biggest tax breaks to the working people of our nation.
ú By supporting my campaign and by voting for Sharpton you will send a powerful message that we will not be left out of the national political process any longer!
I’m running for President to:
1. Raise issues that would otherwise be overlooked-for example, affirmative action, anti-death penalty policy, African and Caribbean policy.
2. Fulfill American democracy by supporting voting rights or statehood for the 600,000 disenfranchised citizens of the District of Columbia.
3. Increase political consciousness and awareness.
4. Declare the right to vote a human right and supporting H.J. Res. 28, a constitutional amendment.
5. Stimulate more people to get involved in the political process.
6. Declare education a human right and supporting H.J. Res. 29, a constitutional amendment.
7. Increase voter registration.
8. Declare health care a human right and supporting H.J. Res. 30, a constitutional amendment.
9. Strengthen our REAL national security by fighting for human rights, the rule of law, and economic justice at home and abroad.
10. Rejuvenate the idea of putting an equal rights amendment for women (era) in the Constitution and supporting H.J.Res. 31, a constitutional amendment.

Dennis Kucinich first came to national prominence in 1977 when he was elected mayor of Cleveland at age 31; the youngest person ever elected to lead a major American city. In 1978, Cleveland’s banks demanded that he sell the city’s 70- year-old municipally owned electric system to its private competitor (in which the banks had a financial interest) as a precondition of extending credit to city government. Kucinich refused to sell Muny Light.  In an incident unprecedented in modern American politics,  Cleveland banks plunged the city into default for a mere $15 million. Kucinich lost his reelection bid in 1979.
Fifteen years later, Kucinich made his first step toward a political comeback, winning election to the Ohio Senate on the strength of the expansion of the city’s light system which provides low-cost power to almost half the residents of Cleveland. In 1998, the Cleveland City Council honored him for, “having the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city’s municipal electric system.” 
Kucinich was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 8, 1946. He is the eldest of 7 children of Frank and Virginia Kucinich. He and his family lived in twenty-one places, including a couple of cars, by the time Kucinich was 17 years old. “I live each day with a grateful heart and a desire to be of service to humanity,” he says.
As chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (which is the largest congressional caucus), Kucinich has promoted a national health care system, preservation of Social Security, increased unemployment Insurance benefits, and the establishment of wholesale cost-based  rates for electricity, natural gas and home heating oil. When the Supreme Court ruled that mandatory arbitration could be a condition of employment, Kucinich introduced a bill to reverse the court’s decision.
He not only believes in sustainability, he practices it. Congressman Kucinich is one of the few vegans in Congress, a dietary decision he credits not only with improving his health, but in deepening his belief in the sacredness of all species. In the 106th Congress, his call for labeling and safety testing of all genetically engineered foods provoked a $50 million advertising campaign by the biotech industry. Kucinich hosted an international parliamentary session, attended by officials of 18 countries, on the social, economic, political and health impact of genetic food technologies.
US Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, a Democrat of Ohio, is a dynamic, visionary leader of the Progressive Caucus of the congressional Democrats who combines a powerful activism with a spiritual sense of the essential interconnectedness of all living things. His holistic world view carries with it a passionate commitment to public, service, peace, human rights, workers rights, and the environment. His advocacy of a Department of Peace seeks not only to make nonviolence an organizing principle in our society, but to make war archaic. His is a powerful, ethical voice for nuclear disarmament, preservation of the ABM treaty, banning weapons in outer space, and a halt to the development of a ‘Star Wars’ – type missile defense technology.
He has been recognized for his advocacy of human rights in Burma, Nigeria and East Timor. Together with the late Rep. Joe Moakley (D-Mass), he has led a concerted effort to close the School of the Americas, which has been an incubator of human rights violations in Central America.
 On the eve of the World Trade Organization’s Seattle conference, Rep. Kucinich organized 114 Democrats to help convince President Clinton to seek human rights, worker’s rights and environmental quality principles as preconditions in all US trade agreements. Kucinich marched with workers through the streets of Seattle protesting the WTO’s policies and with students through the streets of Washington, DC, challenging the structural readjustment policies of the IMF.
From Dennis Kucinich:
“As co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus with Rep. Barbara Lee, I have worked hand in hand for years with the Congressional Black Caucus battling for civil rights and social justice. Recently, I joined with the Black Caucus in efforts to abolish the racially biased death penalty, to defend affirmative action and get more funding for AIDS. As a candidate for President, I offer a different vision for America, one which separates me from the other candidates. I am the only candidate who will take this country away from fear and war and tax giveaways, and use America’s peace dividend for guaranteed health care for all, ending health care for profit.
As president, I will cancel NAFTA and the WTO, restore our manufacturing jobs, save our family farms, create full employment programs. I will repeal the Patriot Act to regain for all Americans the sacred right of privacy in our homes, our libraries, our schools. I will reverse course on the racially biased Drug War that has often been a war against minorities and the poor.”