The landmark Brown v Board of Education 1954 Supreme Court ruling had far-reaching implication beyond outlawing legal segregation in public schools, opening a new era of education for blacks. Yet, the Promise of Brown never materialized, leaving a legacy of uneducated and unprepared black children. Read more: http://afro-americanstudies.com/blog/2011/03/the-promise-and-problematic-of-brown-v-board-of-education-part-one/

Die young, die middle age, die old, but remember that the most useful life and most abundant life is the one in which one dreams that which will never completely come true, and chooses ideals that forever beckon buy forever elude. To seek a goal that is worthy, so all-embracing, so all-consuming, and so challenging that one can never completely attain it, is the life magnificent; it is the only life worth living.

-Benjamin E. Mays

Before there was the March on Washington which moved the conscience of America, before there was the Selma to Montgomery marches which produced the Voting Rights Act, before the sit-in demonstrations which led to the desegregation of lunch counters and other public places , before Kwame Toure could advocate  black power,  before Martin Luther King could deliver the “Dream Speech”, before Marian Wright Edelman would establish the Children Defense Fund, Benjamin Mays, preacher-educator, assumed the awesome responsibility of preparing leaders of the civil rights and 1960s movement.

Mays anticipated the civil rights movement and understood above all else that the mental revolution had to precede the social revolution. He saw education as the mechanism to help overturn the state of inferiority and fear that the majority of blacks, including student held. Although he taught no classes, his philosophy permeated the method of instruction at Morehouse.  Martin Luther King Jr., said of his experience at Morehouse: “There was a freer atmosphere at Morehouse and it was there that I had my first frank discussion of race. The [professors] encouraged us in a positive quest for solutions to radial ills and for the first time in my life, I realized that nobody was afraid.”

Consistent with King’s experience and observation, Mays saw the black school as well as the black church as the two centers of resistance. Thus, he infused and integrated the spiritual and ethical teaching of Christianity into the Morehouse educational philosophy, addressing the fundamental issue of the black condition-oppression and manhood. Mays did not he said to “make lawyers or doctors or teachers but men.”

Against the traditional view of college and education, Mays introduced and advocated a conception of education which mirrored WEB Dubois’s view of education.

The problem of education… among the Negro must first of all deal wit the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst, in their own and other races. Now the training of men is a difficult and intricate task. Its technique is a matter of educational experts, but its object is for the vision of seers. If we make money the object of man-training, we shall develop money-makers, but not necessity men; if we make technical skill the object of education, we may possess artisans but not, in nature, men. Men we shall have only as we make manhood the object of the work of schools.

Benjamin Mays understood Dubois’s educational philosophy, seeing education as instrument of liberation if it was grounded in producing a new black man (and woman) who would use his (her) education to better society and in the process improve the condition of black people. To be sure, Mays wanted to invent new souls. He wanted to root out the weakness and inferiority that heritage of three hundred years of mental and social oppression imposed on blacks and their way of seeing themselves and the world. He used his weekly Tuesday morning chapel lecture to encourage and teach a new way of thinking and doing.

May’s educational philosophy had a threefold purpose: 1) to train the mind to think clearly, logically and constructively, 2) to train the heart to understand and empathize with the aspirations, conditions, suffering and injustice of humankind, beginning with black people, and ) to strengthen the will to act in the interest of the common good. In the context of this framework, Mays exhorted the student at Morehouse to “Do whatever you do so well that no man living and no man yet unborn could do it better.” And, for him the “greatest crime was to give up”; and the “greatest sin was to aim low”

Marian Wright Edelman writes, Morehouse chapel, like Spelman’s was rich not only in music but in eloquence and in wisdom. Its president, Dr. Benjamin Mays, Martin Luther King, Jr, mentor, and other inspirational speakers shared with us what they believed, had experience and thought we needed to know to make it in the world and to make the world a better place by not becoming the… They taught us to be neither victims or victimizers They preached that service to community was a higher value than service to self, that conscience to precedent over career, that respect for life—our own and others- was inviolate.”

Thus, Mays demand that strength and a sense of mission from Morehouse students. “No person” he said, “deserves to be congratulated unless he has done the best he could with the mental equipment he has under he existing circumstances.” He sought to create a new student, a new man who saw himself capable of meeting the demands and conditions of black life. He often told his student body, “If Morehouse is not good enough for anybody, it not good enough for Negroes.
A witness for freedom and a creator of the future, Mays created a climate and context at Morehouse and beyond that bore fruit. A partial listing of the men and women, who were, mentored, influenced or by Mays reads like a who’s who of the civil and women’s rights movements: Martin Luther King Jr., Julian Bond (led sit-in protest in Atlanta and first , Maynard Jackson, Mayor of Atlanta), Michael Lomax (first black elected Chairman of Fulton County Commission), Leroy Johnson (first member of Georgia Senate since Reconstruction), Marian Wright Edelman ( Children Defense Fund), Lerone Bennett (social historian and editorial staff of Ebony for over 50 years), Horace Ward (Federal Judge), Howard Thurman (influential American author, philosopher, theologian, educator and civil rights leader) Charlayne Hunter-Gault (American journalist and foreign correspondent, first black graduate of University of Georgia), (founded the Morehouse School of Medicine and Secretary of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services), and Samuel D Cook (President, Dillard university).

We salute Benjamin Mays, educator extraordinaire and schoolmaster of the civil rights movement.

Hence, a broader approach is needed to address this issue outside of just blaming the individual. Just as we expect and are demand that youth be held accountable for their behavior-take personal responsibility- so must adults and society. The more central issue is where are the youth learning the type of behavior that leads to bullying, and who are their role models: “Reality TV” (The Bad Girls Club); war-Iraq; sports, boxing, hockey, football; family (domestic violence), political discourse (“man-up”). Adults are the true authors of teenage acts of bullying in that adults are responsible for the socialization of children and youth, and from protecting from harmful presentations and models (“The Bad Girl Club”) that teach, encourage, and reinforce bullying, and more importantly, thought and behavior which leads to acts of bullying.

What is to be done: Steps to reduce and minimize bullying

First and foremost understand what is really occurring.

1. Don’t confuse bullying with other forms of normative adolescent group behavior- consistent with adolescent development, youth will develop cliques and peer groups (sometime competing with other peer groups).
2. At its root, bullying as more do to with physical and emotional abuse and cruelty. What is occurring today is characterized more by efforts to humiliate, embarrass and terrorize youth through scandal, rumor, or misinformation.
3. It is paramount that the pathway of bullying be addressed. The pathway to bullying start at an early age with teasing (normative for children) and progress (as children get older and approach adolescence) to acts which seek to humiliate and destroy the reputation and personality of the youth.
4. As youth progress through the pathway of bullying, their acts of bullying takes on a more anti-social character.
5. Punishing and “zero tolerance” policies will temporarily stop the behavior, but will have no predictable effect on future behavior. Certainly, consequences or sanctions are in order. However, do not rely on them as correctives or solutions.
6. Monitor what your child is watching or listening to. In most cases trying to censor will not work. Discuss with them. For example, whether a “Reality show” or a song, as your child question, if it were you would the statement or act be okay? Ask, what other ways could the situation be handled? Then teach the new way, role play the new way, have your child role play the new way and then given them feedback and praise.
7. Parents and Teachers, model the behavior you want from your children and students. Daily, reinforce through praise and sometime reward act and behavior which show respect and empathy for others.

Alexander tracked the progress of 650 first graders from the Baltimore public school system, examining how they scored on the widely used math-and reading-skills exam called the California Achievement Test. Below in table one are the reading scores for the first five years of elementary school, displayed by socioeconomic class- low, middle, and high. The first column shows that by the end of the first grade, there is only a marginal difference between first graders from low and high income students. However, by the by the end of the fifth grade the modest gap between rich and poor more than doubled.

Table One

Class lst Grade         2^nd Grade        3^rd Grade        4^th Grade        5^th Grade

Low                  329                   375                   397                   433                   461

Middle              348                   388                   425                   467                   497

High                 361                   418                   460                   506                   534

Interestingly, the California Achievement Test was given at the beginning of the school year in September, after summer vacation ended. When Alexander looked at the school year gains-September to June- a different picture emerged. Table Two shows that poor kids out performed wealthier kids 189 points to 184 points.

Table Two

Class   lst Grade        2^nd Grade        3^rd Grade        4^th Grade        5^th Grade     Total

Low                  55                    46                    30                    33                    25      189

Middle              69                    43                    34                    41                    27      214

High                 60                    39                    34                    28                    23      184

Table Three shows how reading scores changed during the summer vacation. The wealthiest children come back in September and their reading scores have jumped more than 15 points. In contrast, when the poorer kids return from summer vacation, theirs scores have dropped almost 4 points. Looking at all the summer gains from first to the fifth grade, we see that the reading scores of the rich kids went up by 52.4 as compared to a .26 rise by poor children. Virtually all of the reading advantage the wealthy students had over the poor students is the results of the differences in way privileged kids learn while they are out of school.

Table Three

Class               lst       2^nd 3^rd 4^th 5^th Total

Low                  -3.67    -1.70    2.74      2.89                  0.26

Middle              -3.11    4.18      3.68      2.34                  7.09

High                 15.3      9.22      14.5      13,3                  52.4

Summer vacation is seldom discussed in the debate on education. Yet, Alexander’s work suggests that a lot has been made of reducing class size, rewriting curricula, firing teachers, and closing poor performing schools. But as indicated in Table Two, school and teachers are performing according to standard and maybe exceeding expectation. If poor kids in Baltimore went to school year-round, their test scores would rival those of wealthy students. Alexander’s study has implications for how we can improve the school perform of youth, especially African American youth.

Ironically, since the 1954 landmark Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education decision that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students and denying black children equal educational opportunities unconstitutional, schools labeled as urban or inner-city (code for black) have failed to perform at the level of the so-called segregated schools of the South and North. For example, African American students ranked lasting the scoring on the national SAT and ACT.¹ An even more disturbing statistic is the high school dropout rate among black male student. The research from the Massachusetts-based Schott Foundation on Public Education shows that more than half- 53 percent- of black male students drops out of high school without a diploma, compared to 22 percent of white males. It’s a stunning statistic that foretells a permanent underclass, forever stuck outside the American mainstream.²

Dunbar High School offers an attractive model which goes beyond issuing slogans, threats, and blame. Between 1910 and 1930, for instance, the Dunbar students, who went “North” to school, entered Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Brown, Colby, Colgate, Dartmounth, Hamilton, Harvard, Michigan, Oberlin, Universities of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh, and Syracuse to name just a few. Many received Phi Beta Kappa keys. Of the 156 Rosewald Fellowships awarded between 1937 and 1952, twenty-one or thirteen percent went to Dunbar graduates.³

Today, endeavors to create an environment which will produce black graduates able to meet and even determine the requirements of the larger society must look to Dunbar as a blueprint for success. The components of Dunbar’s success included the following:

• Teaching philosophy- At Dunbar, teachers provided quality education for their students because they and the students and the community believed it was possible to do so. They had not been told that it was not, nor were they then denied the possibility of reaching the best young black minds of the city. Dunbar was designed and saw as its mission to produce superior student capable of meeting any standards the American system wished to project.

• A rigorous and challenging curriculum- As early as 1899, Dunbar’s curriculum was based on courses in English, Latin, French, Spanish, German, history, mathematics, science, art and music. The prepared African American students to attend the highest academic colleges in the United States. It is interesting to note that Dunbar did not, as a rule, try to prepare black athletes to seek coveted athletic scholarships.

• Conscious, committed, and capable teachers and administrators- From get-go, Dunbar teachers and administrators were mission-focused and mission-driven. Teachers, the grandson of Frederick Douglass, the Father of Black History Month, Cater G. Woodson, were among the list of teachers who represent W.E.B Dubois’s Talented Tenth. The teachers who were black and could thereby provide a basis of identity did derive their intellectual, if not their emotional strengths from having themselves achieved in the larger society. Dunbar during its florescence capitalized and built upon the strengths of blacks who brought knowledge and security to an educational to an educational task because they themselves had met the standards of the larger society.

• Engaged and motivated students- At Dunbar students exhibited a respect for learning. Neither the student nor the teachers were handicapped by strong feelings of bitterness, hostility, or inferiority. The energies of the students were not wasted on hating each other; all were directed toward developing a superior academic orientation and outcome. All students knew and sang with regularity and more feeling than the manner in which they saluted the American flag “The Black National Anthem,” with the words penned by poet James Weldon Johnson and which began “Lift every voice and sing…” There were no high school sororities or fraternities. Extra-curricular activities were based on interest, not social status: a stamp club, a Black History club, or, in competition, the National Honor Society.

Therefore, if Dunbar can be informative and instructive, it would seem that creating high performing schools first a function of context. Once within the walls of Dunbar, all students were exposed to a special academic environment. This meant for many students the essential and first step on the ladder of equality with any student of similar endowment of any race. Second, parents and the community were an integral part of the education process, reinforcing the value of learning, and the value of the school as a learning institution. Put another way, parents and the community embraced Dunbar and Dunbar embraced them.  Third, teachers had high expectations of their students and believed in their academic potential and possibilities. Terms like “ghetto” school, “culturally deprived youth,” “combat pay,” were not part of their vocabulary or thinking. Teachers, as a rule, expected to produce college graduates, and were not hesitant to provide the most challenging and rigorous academic subjects, confident that their students could master these subjects.

As parents, citizens, taxpayers, and policy makers, we need to revisit the Dunbar High School legacy and experience. It should be required reading for school officials and teachers, students, and parents. Initiatives and policies which attempt to improve school performance for poorly performing schools, should use it as a starting point and reference for educational excellence.

Reference

1. Schott Foundation for Public Education: The 2010 Schott 50 State Report on Black Males in Public Education
2. Cynthia Tucker, The Atlanta Journal, September 18, 2010
3. Adelaide Cromwell Hill: The Black Seventies Black Education in the Seventies: A Lesson from the Past
4. Mary Gibson Hundley, The Dunbar Story (1870-1955)
5. Mary Church Terrell History of the High School for Negroes in Washington, Journal of the Negro History, Vol. II, 1917

The study contends that there is a summer learning gap between lower- and higher-income children and it begins during elementary school. Higher-income children’s home environments are resource rich. They are more likely to have access to magazines, books, and have their parents read to them. Consequently, this gap accumulates over the years and results in unequal placements in college preparatory tracks once the children get to high school. The gap also increases the chances that children from low socio-economic families will drop out of high school and decreases their chances of attending a four-year college.

Thus, according to the authors, these findings are significant because once disadvantaged children get to high school, their achievement test scores are far below average, compared with those of higher-income children. Achievement test scores play an important role in academic placement. Because of lower scores, these children are then associated with higher risks of dropping out of high school, and not continuing on to college.

The African American holiday Kwanzaa, with its emphasis on continuous learning and high achievement can be an effective intervention for families and schools. Kwanzaa provides incentives for children and youth to read. Book(s) are one of the seven Kwanzaa symbols, and are a mandatory part of Kwanzaa gift giving. No matter what is given during Kwanzaa, a book must be given. The book is to remind both parents and the child of the importance and priority of learning and education.

The summer vacation is prime opportunity for schools, libraries and families to leverage Kwanzaa in promoting summer reading and learning for low-income students. A coordinated effort by schools, libraries, parents and interested sponsors and stakeholders could make the traditional summer school break into a challenging yet rewarding experience for low-income students. Reading just one book during the summer accompanied by a book report or book review, a list of new vocabulary works, and a summary presentation after the reading of each chapter during meal time or a dedicated time period would in fact be consistent with what research tells us, namely the “Lasting Consequences of the Summer Learning Gap,” is a major step in helping low-income students sustain what they have learned during the school year.

Unity/Umoja: Psalms 133:1. How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. This bible verse reinforces the unity principle of togetherness and harmony and instructs that our speech, strategies and behavior should be directed toward bring people together as oppose to the divide and conquer, demonize and dominate approach that is all to present in our social relations and politics.

Self-determination Kujichagulia: Timothy 4:12.  Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Timothy urges us to lead by example, avoiding the herd mentality and the temptation to go along with crowd or what’s popular.  In particular, he admonishes us to be exemplars in speech, love and faith.  Adherence to Timothy’s instruction would have a profound impact on our politics and on rearing of our children and youth.

Collective Work and Responsibility/ Ujima: 1 Corinthians 12:21-25. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. So that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. This verse reminds us that we are one nation, one people, and one world;  therefore, should be concern for each other.  What a different society and world we would have today if we extended the care and concern expressed in 1 Corinthians.  We certainly would have a different perspective on health care, domestic and gang violence, unemployment and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cooperative economics/ Ujamaa: Hebrew13:16.
And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.  As reflected in this bible verse, Christians are instructed to share their wealth and make sacrifices for others.  At macro level, this suggest that our economic system reflect principles , policies and practices of “shared wealth,” and that we have in place a social safety net for those who are less fortunate and are in need of assistance.

Purpose/Nia: Mathew 6:33.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Mathew’s admonishment is relevant and instructive for a world, especially the “superpowers” and “economically developed” nations that are so consume by the profit and control motive.  He suggests that the priority for nations should be on morality, ethics, and righteousness.  In pursuit of these high values, all other matters of importance-peace, global warming, nuclear disarmament, end of poverty and war- will come.

Creativity/Kuumba: Romans 12:1-2.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. This verse is a strong reminder that perfection is achieved through the renewing of the mind, set against high spiritual and ethical standards.  For youth, this verse suggests that progressive perfection, continuously improvement, comes about through the process of self-conscious ethical thought and practice.

Faith/Imani: Mathew 17:20 If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. In light of the state of affairs in the world today, this verse is applicable for so many people in the world who are struggling against insuperable odds to live a life of dignity and righteousness.  In today’s world where acts of evil defy reason and morality, and are seemingly more prevalent  than good and right, keeping faith is an act of extraordinary courage and, and a testimony to the human will.

For starters, Kwanzaa gift giving requires that whatever is given, a book and a heritage symbol must be given.  The idea of giving a book is to stress education and underscore the value of learning.  Not only does this support reading and learning, but encourages the building of personal libraries for students. In celebrating Kwanzaa, students could exchange books rather that the usual exchange of material items.  Thus, teachers would do well to explore incorporating Kwanzaa in their classroom curriculum.

Secondly, Kwanzaa activity of commitment to the practice of the 7 Principles offers teachers a strategy for motivating students to improve their school performance.  The Creativity principle (Kuumba), demands continuous improvement from students. This principle pushes youth, not to be satisfied with “just getting by”, with not being satisfied with being average or even above average. George Washington Carver, acclaimed scientist, echoing this sentiment states: “No one has a right to come in to the world without leaving behind a distinct and legitimate reason for having passed though it.”

Next, the Kwanzaa candle lighting activity and protocol is a powerful reinforcement of the values and moral instructions of Kwanzaa.  The candle lighting activity is instructive and underscores the primacy of effort in as the path way to learning and achieving good school outcomes.  The protocol is as follows:

The black candle is lit first to symbolize the value which is placed on people.  On the following day the red candle, which is symbolic of effort and work, is lit.  The green candle is lit on the third day. This candle is symbolic of future and prosperity.  The lesson is that if students apply themselves and work hard, they will succeed in school and thus ensure a more prosperous future.  Put another way, grades are a function and result of study and effort.

Given the educational state of black students and in particular black males, Kwanzaa is an attractive resource for teachers to use to motivate and support academic studies among black students. The Kwanzaa holiday is rich in educational materials and offers values and principles which support school excellence and performance.  For more on Kwanzaa and how this holiday supports education and learning, go to www.kwanzaaguide.com

    Stop accepting the lesser of evils.  Evil is evil, whether it’s less destructive or destructive.
    Stop ceding power, authority, and decision-making to politicians who are elected by our votes, but who carry out the interest of the business elite.  The majority of Americans are for campaign reform and a public option in the health care reform legislation.  Yet, we are told we can not get either of these because the votes are not there.  Something then is dysfunctional and wrong with our system.
    Think and work out issues for yourself, rather than relying on the news or pundits. We are often told that issues are just too complex.  Complexity leads to mystification. All issues have a moral dimension and a social value.  The question we must pose is: What does it do to people-hurt or harm.  What does it do for them- enhance or diminish. And, how do the people participate-procedurally (voting) or substantively (making decisions).
    Do not be diverted by lesser important divisive issues-same sex marriage, prayer in school, cultural, religion. These issues are to keep you away from engaging in the issues that matter: Power-economic and political.
    Do go for the small stuff; rather place the highest demands on governing officials-decent and well-paying employment, affordable and quality health care, affordable and quality housing, decent and quality education with an option to go to college “free” of charge or at a minimum fee.

We are always told what is not possible. As we approach the second decade of the twenty-first century, we must grow and elevate our visions, and standing on the shoulders of the women and men, known and unknown, who sacrificed that we might live and enjoy this moment, demand a better society and a better way of living.