Black Folks have a Right to VOTE!

It's not a task! it's what you do every 4 years! Vote! Keep in mind...a whole lot of folks died just so we can Vote! That has to mean something!! Here are a few historical facts about African American's voting rights.

• Despite the passage of the 15th amendment, political maneuvers, particularly in the South, disenfranchised black voters by instituting poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses.

• Ida B. Wells, one of the founders of the Alpha Suffrage Club, was told she could only participate in the black section of the Woman Suffrage Parade because she was an African American woman. Despite the opposition, Wells still joined the white women marching and fighting for suffrage that day.

• The two women made a great team. Anthony managed the business affairs of the women's rights movement while Stanton did most of the writing. Together they edited and published a woman's newspaper, the Revolution, from 1868 to 1870. In 1869, Anthony and Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association.

• Zitkála-Šá, meaning “Red Bird,” was a Yankton Dakota Sioux who spent parts of her life in South Dakota, Indiana, Utah, and Washington, D.C. A writer, musician, and activist, she supported women’s rights and civil rights for Native Americans, including the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act, which gave Native Americans the right to vote in the United States. Native Americans struggled to exercise their voting rights into the 1960s and beyond due to restrictive state legislation such as literacy tests, poll taxes, and intimidation—the same barriers also faced by African Americans.
  
  Submitted by Ms. Shiloh

New Parent Engagement & Empowerment Series, Nov. 17

In our first Parent Engagement/Empowerment Speaker Series, Dr. Pedro Noguera spoke to our community and gave pointers on what we can do to support our Black students and families. He also challenged our school district to create the conditions for learning that will improve the academic success for our Black students.

On Tuesday, November 17, 2020, we are honored to welcome Dr. Sharroky Hollie. He is a national educator who provides professional development to thousands of educators in the area of cultural responsiveness. Since 2000, Dr. Hollie has trained over 150,000 educators and worked in nearly 2,000 classrooms. Going back 25 years, he has been a classroom teacher at the middle and high school levels, a central office professional development coordinator in Los Angeles Unified School District, a school founder and administrator, and university professor in teacher education at Cal State University. Sharroky has also been a visiting professor for Webster University in St. Louis and a guest lecturer at Stanford.

We are excited to partner with Dr. Hollie, who will be working with several of our school sites with some ongoing professional development. What’s also exciting is we are working with him to support our parents in some workshops. 

Submitted by Mr. McGee

Fatherhood: Male Engagement

Research has shown that it is well known that a father’s household presence is essential for families’ positive well-being.* Dads who actively participate in the lives of their families provide a source of stability and support. Research has also shown that the myth that Black father’s are not active is just that, a myth.

Father’s that are involved are more likely to engage in positive parenting behaviors like academic intervention and constructive discipline. That is why we must identify and address the barriers that keep some of our fathers from being engaged in their child’s education.

I am so proud to see all the African American/Black fathers stepping up to the plate and supporting their child to achieve academic excellence. Today, many of our African American students are lacking confidence, identity, and self-worth. A father’s presence is transformative and can restore a child’s confidence.

Fathers provide structure in every aspect of their child’s life. It is imperative that they be present and engaged in their child’s pursuit of academic excellence. If we train up a child in the way they should go, when they get older, they will remember the training.

This is not easy work. Some  fathers struggle and seek resources that will equip them to become advocates for their Kings and Queen’s. I say to all you fathers, never give up because regardless of how difficult the situation is, it is only temporary. It is this tenacity, and the lack of giving up, that makes our Black fathers strong. We need all of our Black adult males to continue playing the positive role in our children’s life.

So, today, I want to encourage all of you to “Hug a Dad.” Below are some resources to support our fathers:

1.  Black Fathers Foundation

2.  Rubicon

3.  Teaching for Black Lives

4.  Black Dad Matter

Submitted by Mr. Shumake

Working with Black Boys

Being a mother of a black boy, it is so important to me that my child succeeds even when the odds are stacked against him. 

According to Matthew Lynch in the Edvocate’s Black Boys in Crisis: Why Aren't they Reading?, “This spring, the Black Star Project published findings that just 10 percent of eighth-grade Black boys in the U.S. are considered “proficient” in reading. In urban areas like Chicago and Detroit, that number was even lower. By contrast, the 2013 National Assessment of Education Progress found that 46 percent of white students are adequate readers by eighth grade, and 17 percent of Black students as a whole are too.”

Having mentors for our boys increases their chances for success. Mentoring helps with their cognitive development(thinking), social emotional development to help navigate the world, and identity development to help them discover who they are. See an overview of Mentoring Boys and Men of Color and Pathways of the Mentoring Effect.

There are things we can do as parents/caregivers to support our black boys.

1. We can support programs that support black male achievement. Here are a few programs to consider:
   • Hidden Genius Project
   • Hack the Hood
2. We can support programs that mentor our black boys:
   • My Brothers Keeper Alliance
   • Ryse Center
3. Join your school’s APPAC. If your school does not have one, talk to the principal and start one.  
   • APPAC Tool Kit
4. Here are some articles that provide guidance and ways to support our black boys:
   • Harvard: Educating Black Boys
   • How to build up Black Boys

Submitted by Ms. Day