Evangelist ET just sent me a heart warming article which can be found HERE. I hope that you read every word of it, as it’s worth it.

Check this out:

On Friday, Alexander proudly swapped his high school’s red uniform tie for a striped red and gold one — the ritual at Englewood’s Urban Prep Academy for Young Men that signifies a student has been accepted into college.

As the Roseland resident and 12 others tied their knots, Chicago’s only public all-male, all-African-American high school fulfilled its mission: 100 percent of its first senior class had been accepted to four-year colleges.

That is just a small sample of what is 100% possible in every community and particularly in black communities since we have such a huge drop out rate amongst black males who end up in jail, selling drugs, or dead.

Even more stunning is this statistic about the students when they initially enrolled in that school:

Only 4 percent of this year’s senior class read at grade level as freshmen, said Tim King, the school’s founder and CEO.

“There were those who told me that you can’t defy the data,” King said. “Black boys are killed. Black boys drop out of high school. Black boys go to jail. Black boys don’t go to college. Black boys don’t graduate from college.

“They were wrong,” he said.

This can be replicated. We don’t have to have illiterate criminal thugs roaming our streets. How about we find out the formula in that Chicago school and simply replicate?

SOURCE

Photo source user name is My New Wintercoat, found  HERE

Check out this documentary. I was really impressed by Harvard Business school:

Shaking my head! Are you telling me that there were actually college students—MALES, walking around with dresses and high heels on?

Are you telling me that the powers-that-be at that school literally have to TELL the young men to STOP walking around with “do-rags” on their heads. To STOP walking around in pajamas. To STOP wearing baggy pants with their drawers showing. This is beyond SICK and sad.

Poor MLK must be turning his his grave to think that his school has reached this pitiful point. Males being told to stop wearing dresses and makeup to class. So sad indeed!

Sick, sick, sick! And we are wondering why black children are failing?

Imagine waking up, showering, getting dressed and going off to work—only to discover you are fired. Imagine having bills to pay and suddenly discovering you are fired.

My heart bleeds for those teachers.

Harvard University should be ashamed of itself. Would someone tell me why it is that the wealthiest university in the world has cut 275  jobs?

What on earth have they been doing with all that money they have earned over the years? Did they invest with the criminal, Madoff [who, by the way, had the NERVE to ask for a reduced sentence of 12 years!   Link]

But back to the subject. Harvard should be on easy street but it’s not. Who is responsible for the mismanagement? I don’t buy their explanation:

Harvard’s endowment, which stood at $37 billion on June, 30 last year, tumbled to $29 billion by December and is projected to end this month at about $25 billion, hit by volatility in financial markets and a drop in donations. The endowment funded about a third of Harvard’s operating budget in 2008.

Cry me a river! They cannot thrive with $29 BILLION dollars? Excuse me, but if they are that dumb, they need to close their doors forever.

No sympathy here.

SOURCE

Hat tip to Greg for story lead

by Deputy Diva

Look carefully at the the above photo.  Does the above picture look “Offensive” in any way to you? 

This picture is of the sweatshirt that fifth grader Elijah Smith of Sumter, South Carolina, decided to wear to school last week. 

“That morning he stated that he may not be able to wear the shirt,” says Elijah’s mother Veneica Byrd.

“That’s the principal’s rules,” says Elijah. 

Elijah’s mother, phoned the school and spoke with Principal Liz Compton who  reportedly states that would not be a good idea for Elijah to wear the shirt.”  

Byrd said, “I proceeded to ask her why, and she said that she didn’t want to cause any conflict. What she really meant by that in details I’m not sure, but she was very vague with her answer.”

Later that day, Ms. Byrd called Sumter’s Two School District Superintendent Frank Baker, who reportedly stated that he would not have a problem with Elijah wearing the Obama sweatshirt after Mr. Obama was sworn in.

Now here is where it gets interesting.   Both School Superintendent Baker and Ms. Compton, the school Principal, referred Ms. Byrd to the school dress code on the school district’s website. 

The dress code listed on the school district’s website says students may not wear clothes with offensive languages or images. It also says staff members have the authority to deem any attire unsuitable or disruptive to the educational or cultural climate of the school.  SOURCE

Now I ask you again, did you see anything remotely “offensive” in the above picture?  

How about anything unsuitable or disruptive to the educational or cultural climate of the school?

Ms. Byrd also demonstrates in the news VIDEO the types of shirts that children are allowed to wear to school that depict violence.

“You have some of the children that wear the shirts with the skulls with the blood coming out,” says Byrd. “So if you’re saying they’re able to wear these types of shirts in our public schools, what are you saying about our president, if he’s not able to wear that shirt?”

I understand that the school and school district were flooded with angry phone calls from around the country after this aired on the news and made its way around the Internet. 

Notice how two days after this story aired, the school now attempts to carefully backtrack and claim that they did it to ‘protect poor little Elijah’ from having someone say something inappropriate to him.  HERE

What is your take on this HickTowners? 

I also applaud the way this young man and his mother handled themselves with such class, dignity, style and grace.   Mom didn’t roll her neck and grease up her face with vasoline and threaten to fight everyone in the school and sue over it and Elijah clearly and intelligently articulated why he wanted to wear his Presidential sweatshirt.

President Obama would be so proud!

by Deputy Diva

I was deeply saddened to hear that this historical institution had the water shut off last week and is $32 million in debt.  Morris Brown College is an HBCU founded in 1881 by the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church to serve the educational needs of African-American young men and women.

Despite their talented and popular band that was featured in the movie Drumline, enrollment dropped drastically and in 2002, their then President Dolores E. Cross, embezzled money and fraudulently obtained millions of dollars in federal student loans and grants to try and mask the college’s mounting debt.

As a result of Ms. Cross’ criminal actions coupled with the school’s debt and rapidly declining number of students, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked the school’s accreditation.

I recall reading last year that the AME Church vowed to keep this school open.  I’m not sure what has happened since then.  It is such a shame that this school is now publicly shamed by not even having running water because of unpaid bills.  I would hope that some of the prominent leaders in the AME Church as well as successful alumni can help this school stay alive and bounce back from this mess. 

I can’t even imagine graduating from a school and then hearing reports like this.  It has to in a sense devalue your degree, which you have worked so hard to earn.  News like this is also not helpful to those alumni looking to get ahead in corporate America, where the school you attended and it’s reputation are everything.

Click HERE & HERE to read more.

Watch a VIDEO of the very talented (former) Morris Brown band.

By:  Lynn Green

George Bush is known to have drank and smoked his way through college under the Bush family name.

Now we have John McCain who admits to having graduated fifth from the BOTTOM of his class. He also brags about having earned over 300 demerits while in school. That goes to his character as well as intellect, or lack thereof.

We discover that Sarah Palin blew through at least four colleges in six years and actually had to detour at one point to a community college to get grades up enough to get back to a four year school for journalism.

To show you how racist and ill many Americans are, these people would rather have a senile, broken down white man who graduated at the bottom of his class and a confused, flighty white woman as president over a brilliant Harvard eduated black man who graduated with honors.

Lord, have mercy!

by Deputy Diva

A recent Sociological study shows that teens in grades 7 through 12 who attended church regularly had lower drop out rates and higher IQ’s than those students who never attend services.  The study was conducted by Jennifer Glanville, a sociologist at the University of Iowa and colleagues David Sikkink and Edwin Hernandez of the University of Notre Dame.

The researchers identified that students who attend church do better for some of the following reasons: 

• They have regular contact with adults from various generations who serve as role models. 
•  Their parents are more likely to communicate with their friends’ parents. 
•  They develop friendships with peers who have similar norms and values. 
•  They’re more likely to participate in extracurricular activities.

Sounds like some great reasons to convince those teens who may not have an interest in going to church to attend.

SOURCE