Reading is Fundamental

During Black History Month the inevitable conclusion that education is the key to success in America is always a cornerstone of discussion. This fact has been known for generations. In fact African Americans as slaves were not allowed to learn how to read by penalty of death, and after slavery not given equal opportunity (if there is such a thing) to learn until the late 1960's.

The ability to read leads to power and always will . What does the power to vote mean if you cannot read the ballot. What kind of economic power can one have if they cannot read, write or add. Reading should be fun and fundamental. But our school system is failing this generation. As an African American baby boomer I was always pushed to read. I can vividly remember  having to go to the "Read Away Vacation Club" at the public library every summer during grade school. Books could be checked out and you received stars and rewards for reading so many books, and keeping track.

After WWII the black newspaper was where people went to find out information and what was going on in the black community. These were usually weekly papers and we looked forward to looking at them. These papers pushed the black agenda, but also showed the plight of the black community in terms of crime and punishment. I would read all the black magazines like Jet and Ebony. Today's  African American generation sees reading as a punishment instead of a privilege. We are no longer a race driven by the word as much as by electronic media.

We are bombarded with media such as television, radio and the most recently social media, such as Facebook, twitter, and Instagram. We get our news here which is skewed and in many cases incorrect. Many times I asked myself if social media is really learning, or just talking without purpose.

Every morning I still read the newspaper. Not digitally online, but the old fashion hard copy. I find it enjoyable, entertaining, and educational. One of my daughters boyfriend has taken up the banner of not having their baby immunized and home schooling him. He asked that the family understand his reasons, that immunization causes altruism and the school systems isn't teaching black history or proper fundamentals. He asked that we do our research before we went against him. I wanted to ask if he had done his research, for if he had, he would see there is much more information discrediting his reasons than not. However you, would have to take time to read to do this research. And while the public school system does not have a sterling record there are positives that can be found that cannot be replaced. Just because you are educated, doesn't make you a good teacher for your child. You have to be able to put in the work and the effort. The same goes for our teachers.

If we want our children to succeed they must learn and want to read. We have to read to them early on and make it enjoyable for them. We must be patient and help then and watch what they are doing in school. Once they fall behind or out of love with reading it is very hard to get back.

The Police

With all the events that have occurred in Ferguson Mo and New York City that deal with police using excessive force and the racism, I have been thinking a lot about this issue. More things come to mind than could ever be captured in this blog, but why not get some of them out.

I have come to the conclusion that for the most part if you deal with criminals and see the carnage that they bring on a day to day basis, you must either become conscience of what they can do to you, up to and including terminating your life, or you start to think that you have to demand respect and obedience from these people by whatever me,ans necessary. Yes there are good police, and bad police but I believe the majority of temp have become militarized in their thinking for policing the public. In other words you do exactly what I say, when I say it, or I will force you to respect my authority, regardless of the circumstances. The police have the upper hand on everyone. They can say that you resisted arrest (even if it is for no cause) or you were did not follow their instructions, making you disorderly.

In the 60's this was common place for African American men and that is why we always felt uncomfortable around the police. With the increase in crime and the fact that a large percentage of it is within the black community, this threat has escalated. While Michael Brown may have been a thug, it was not necessary for him to die at the hands of the police. The real reason he died was that he rejected the police authority to ask him to "get out of the street." Was this caused due to racism? Probably the aftermath had a lot to do with racism. But the main issue is that the police are scared, people of color are mad, and when those two come together the outcome is always bad.

The United States has a racial problem. Always has, since the pilgrims came to America and unfortunately always will. The question is how to make the racial divide as small as possible. Not only does America have a racial problem it also has a gun and violence problem. This too is deeply engrained in our society. The  second amendment gave America the right to bear arms. This was initially for the militia to protect the country from foreign countries and also to allow them to fight to acquire more land. We have always had guns and as the country grew, hand guns versus rifles/muskets were developed. These were to shoot people, not for hunting. In the wild, wild west everyone had a gun to protect themselves and their property. That didn't work out very well in a country that was supposed to be run by "laws". But now the gun lobbyist would have us believe that we should go back to that. Well the criminals have them and they use them to break the laws, and the police have had to gear up to keep up. John Q public also thinks they need to be strapped.

Our justice system is in compete disarray and for the most part is broken. It is still the best in the world, but due to the way it is being implemented we have the highest incarceration rate in the civilized world. And those that are the most disadvantaged are the ones that bear the brunt of this. The people of color are at the low end of the economic scale and at the high end of the jail cells. The only way to turn that around is the continue to try and level the playing field. The system will let a convicted murderer out, or a known repeat felon to commit more crimes, while at the same time will spend time trying to convict an African American women who shot into her ceiling to scare off her abusive boyfriend.

As I watch things on social media it is clear that the police are mad too. I see police excessive force not only with African Americans but also with Hispanics, women, and even some poor whites. We see police who are afraid and shoot children. I've seen police actually beat a suspect in a wheelchair, who could not possibly pose any threat. Those that have some mental problems are treated with disdain and many times brutalized. Yes there are police that risk their lives to protect people, but at the same time they also support those who use excessive force, because they know their fears.

Our country is at war. A war between the haves and the have nots, the police against the criminal. And there are those who believe what Spike Lee said, "Do the right thing", versus trying to set criminal laws for everything that occurs in society.  America is trying to forget "In God We Trust"

Listening

Over the years I have tried to develop a very important skill.... the ability to listen. This is a skill that needs to be worked upon and does not just come naturally. Most people can "hear" very well but may not actually "listen" to things as they are being said. My wife, who I love dearly, is a prime example.

On many occasions I say things to my wife, which I believe may be of interest, or at least might provide some information.  What I have found is that in most cases my wife's mind is in a completely different place at the time and while it appears that she heard what I said, she wasn't really listening. She was either formulating a response in advance or she starts talking to me about something completely off the topic. Sometimes she will acknowledge haring what I said but later she will bring to my attention the same thing I had told her earlier.

Listening is great. It allows you to learn, get information, and then reflect upon what has been said. Because people tend to want to be right, they spend most of their time developing their thoughts to say what they want, or develop a rebuttal they don't receive the message that someone else is sending to them. I found in the business world this can be very detrimental. I once supervised a key account representative, whose major flaw was that he didn't listen to his customers. He was constantly interrupting them to state "his" position. He never listened close enough to find out what the real objections to his presentations were.

I think part of our national problem, particularly in government, is the inability to listen. Everyone is pushing their agenda or they are bent of opposing the opposition that actual listening cannot occur. I have learned that wisdom comes from knowing that you do not know everything, and that there is always someone that can do something better than you.

Retirement

After working 22 years with a major tobacco manufacturer and working my way up from sales rep to the first Area VP of Sales I was unceremoniously offered early retirement due to company downsizing. All good, I was in my forties and would start collecting my pension early at age fifty. I moved on and obtained employment as VP of Sales for the Kentucky Lottery Corporation. I worked there for almost twenty years, achieving records sales on a consistent bases. However, as the direction of the company began to change and what I felt was a lack of confidence by upper management I decided it was time for me to leave. I checked with my financial planner who said I had enough funding set aside to retire comfortably. So at 65 I find myself retired once again.

 

My wife is happy with this decision. She was not rehired by the school board after being assigned to an inner city school, which provided little opportunity for her to achieve success, due to lack of resources and commitment. She never got started and when she asked to be relieved they terminated her versus transferring her. Anyway, that is another story. We now spend time together working on home projects, visiting new restaurants, and attending to the day to day drama of our children and grand children.

 

People have asked me what am I doing or plan to do in retirement and I tell them that I don't have any plans. Right now I am enjoying not getting up every morning and driving to a place of work. I can leisurely get up, have my coffee and read the morning paper. I have been working on a bathroom remodeling project, which I'm sure would not have been possible if I were still working. My major task is to make my wife happy. We have been on two trips so far, one to  Florida and one to Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic. I can tell that my wife is anticipating many more trips in our future.

 

I guess the major problem for me is to make sure I can find productive things to do with my time. I don't play golf, so I guess walking and getting into a gym will be important moving forward, for my physical health. It has been 5 months since taking the plunge and so far I have been engaged and I am enjoying my retirement. Perhaps writing something in this blog regularly will become a part of my routine moving forward.

Trying to Teach

My wife recently embarked on a new career. At 55 she decided that she wanted to be a school teacher. She applied for an accelerated certification program, since she already had a Masters Degree in Media Communications, and was accepted. The course work was difficult and demanded hours of time both during the day and in the evenings. She got assigned to a relatively new and progressive school for her training, or as I called it, her internship. She enjoyed the work and I tried to support her as much as possible. When it came time to take the certification test she thought she was ready, but she did not pass. She was crushed but was determined to pass on her next attempt. She continued to study and participate in professional development programs over the summer. She did pass on her second attempt but her results did not come prior to the start of the next school year. Once the results were in she applied for a position within the district. Here is where things got interesting.

She was given the opportunity to apply for a position at a school located in what may be considered the inner city in her home of Louisville, KY. She talked with the principle who told her that it was a pretty hard my position and that she was looking for a strong applicant to work with the students and the parents. Needless to say my wife is a "strong" African American female. She has raised three girls of her own and had a great experience with classroom control the previous year. She got the job and was very excited about starting. Things then started to fall.

 First the school was downtown and in an area were parking was limited. People informed her that she would need to park in an alley way and that she should be very careful about going to her car alone or staying late. She met with some of the teachers in her group, which was for 3rd graders and asked about support.  Basically she was told she was on her own. The second day she found out that the school did not have a computer for her to use. This really hurt since that was the manner she used to develop lesson plans and worked with children, based on her training. The class had 21 students which she would need to manage on her own. There were no desks, just a few tables. On the third day she actually met her students. The substitute that had been working with them had quit. The students were out of control. You could see that they were not used to any structure  and were not very interested in paying attention. My wife asked for some support and the Assistant Principle came to  her aid. However, she soon saw that he had no better luck with them than she had. There were  fights to be broken up and the day was spent trying to manage the kids behavior versus teaching them. My wife me home in tears. She told me she just couldn't go back and it was just too much for her. We talked and ending up deciding that she contact the principle and write a letter

informing her that she didn't think she could handle the situation there and that it would not be a good match for her as a new teacher .

After this she heard nothing form the school system for a couple of weeks which I thought was strange. What we eventually found out was that when my wife resigned from that position, that the district felt that she had resigned her employment with them totally. This was something that surprised me since her letter and conversations all indicated that my wife wanted to be a teacher, but felt that this assignment was not viable for her or the district. As a corporate executive I find this odd considering all the time and effort that went into training her. Surely the district had openings in other schools that her training could be used? However that is the case. We have a school district with very low graduation rates, poor elementary education scores in both math and science, and that spends time looking at analysis of the situation, but not on addressing the problems. Perhaps it is just the large bureaucracy in the district, or the need to look at a way to improve those schools that are failing, or a lack of parental support, but our schools are failing. 

Teacher like my wife and others that go through schooling to become teachers are disillusioned when they do get hired and have to work in conditions that restrict them. They become more baby sitters or social workers than educators. African American teachers are even harder to find as they feel like the deck is stacked against them even when their hearts and minds are in the right place. The tenured teachers move on without the needed upgrades to their teaching skills and don't want these troubled children that this generation has spawned. Our children are in a desperate downward spiral that starts earlier and earlier. Preschool programs are being cut and effective parenting is at a low level. This is not just and African American problem, but with the poor economy it affects all races.However, it affects those in the lowest economical groups the most.

My wife is still not teaching. She is considering trying to apply at a private or Catholic school district. However, some of her peers have indicated that the district here has blacklisted individuals in the past and blocked them from getting positions in other districts. Why and what this would accomplish I don't know.  She is doing some volunteer teaching assistance at the school she worked at last year with the hopes that maybe something will become available there and the principle would request that she get the position. It is a long shot at best but she does get to work with the children and "teach".

Fruitvale

I just returned from see the movie Fruitvale. It is true story of Oscar Grant, who was killed on New Years Eve 2007 on the Fruitvale Bart platform by the Metro Police, while coming back from celebrating in San Francisco.This film comes out five years later, to illustrate how the life of a black man can be taken and no justice received to fit the crime. I am grateful to the producers including Forrest Whitaker for telling the story. The sad part about it is that at 1:00 p.m on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at a popular Cinemark there were only 4 people that saw the movie. My wife, myself and another black couple.The movie premiered this Friday. I know I saw a few commercials for the movie and it was highlighted on the BET Awards show. So what happened to the people, black and white alike? 

People have forgotten already what happened at Fruitvale, and those that haven't don't want to see the reality of it in a movie. We'd rather watch the Lone Ranger. Will the Trayvon Martin case be the same way? Up in arms by both black and white, but with little action as time passes. They held a tribute for Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale Bart station this new year's day to continue to ask for justice, with a hope that he was not forgotten.

The movie was hard to watch. Not for the reason you might think, but because it was about Oscar's life before the shooting. It is a life we as African Americans have all encountered. Normal life for us is slow and hard. Not always exciting like in the movies. Oscar was twenty two, had been to prison, has a girlfriend and a little girl. Loved his mother, family, and especially his daughter. He is out trying to get a new start but it is not working out. Loses his job due to being late, has the temptation to sell drugs, and is the typical case of a good boy trying to work it out in a hard world. He has learned to be tough when he needs too but if left to his own, he tries to do the right thing.

His girlfriend wants to go to San Francisco after his mother's birthday party to see the fire works. His mother suggest they take the train since he and his friends  may be drinking.All goes well until they are their way back home. Oscar runs into an ex inmate he has had a beef while in prison on the train. The guy starts a fight and the subway police are called. Oscar and his friend get off the train and are held by the police with excessive force. Only the African Americans are detained and the individual who started the altercation, a white individual is never encountered. Many people are there and record  the incident on their cell phones. Oscar pleads his case but is thrown to the ground. As he struggles to get up and not be handcuffed one officer pulls out his gun and shoots him in the back while he is still on the ground.  

The officers that were involved were fired. The officer that did the shooting said that  he mistook his gun for a tazzer. He was going to  tazzer him, but he pulled the revolver out by mistake. These are the people that protect and serve? They don't think to look before pulling a trigger? You don't know the difference between a tazzer and your revolver? That officer was tried and convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He received a two year sentence and served 11 months. Oscar Grant is dead forever and did not need to be.

Marvin Gaye sang, 'brother,brother, there's far to many of you dying. You know we've got to find a way, to bring some lovin here today. Don't punish me with brutality. Talk to me, so you can see 

  What's going on, what's going on , tell me what's going on."

My thoughts on the Trayvon Martin case

Since everyone seems to have thoughts about the Trayvon Martin case I thought I would write mine down. Trayvon Martin is a black 17 year old male who was returning from the convenience store in a neighborhood where his father lived , but he was unknown, on a dark and rainy evening. He was was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, who is part Hispanic and the self appointed leader of the neighborhood watch for this community in Florida. These are undisputed facts.

George Zimmerman was tired of the fact that there had been several breakins in the neighborhood. When he saw Trayvon, walking slowly in the neighborhood with a hoodie on, he assumed that he may be one of the burglars,profiling  him as a criminal immediately. He called 911 and reported a suspicious person walking slowly and possibly up to no good. The dispatcher said she would send someone out and for him to stay in his car and not pursue the person any farther. George was "tired of these punks getting away with this" so he got out of his car and followed the teenager. What occurred next is unknown. An altercation occurred, the neighbors heard some screams for help, a gunshot was fired, and Trayvon was dead.

When the police arrived they talked to George Zimmerman, got his side of the story. He said that he was attacked by Trayvon, they fought, he thought Trayvon was going to kill him by pounding his head on the concrete sidewalk, so he shot him as he was on top of him. George did have some damage to his nose and a wound to the back of his head which they cleaned up. The police also profiled Trayvon as the  aggressor and possibly doing something wrong, even though he was unarmed and only had an Ice Tea and a bag of Skittles which he had bought at the store. George Zimmerman was armed and was only questioned about whether he had a permit for the firearm.

They let George go with no arrest, or further questioning. After the parents were told of the shooting and began to ask questions about how their son was killed walking home from the store, the police said that George was not guilty of anything since it was self defense and he was using their "stand your ground" law as rational for the shooting. The parents and their lawyer along with the help of protesters were able to at least get George Zimmerman arrested and tried for 2nd degree murder in the death of their son. There needed to be some justice and punishment for the death of an innocent person.

There are several thing about this that make it a significant case. Did George Zimmerman racially profile Trayvon Martin because he was black. And while George may not be an outward racist did he automatically consider Trayvon to be criminal because he was black? Sure he did. If this had been a white teenager I would not be typing this.

If the dispatcher tells you not to follow and give you those instructions and you do it anyway, are you not the instigator of anything that happens after that point? Sure you are. If it was a black man who had the gun, wouldn't they automatically be arrested after a shooting, regardless of a permit, which I'm sure George didn't produce on the spot. Sure you would.

Since there are no witnesses to the altercation do we automatically have to take the side of the individual party remaining without any reasonable doubt. Based on the law that is pretty much the case, because even if you believe the person is lying there is nothing but circumstantial evidence to show otherwise.

If Trayvon had gotten the gun away from George and shot him would the same scenario exist? Tryvon, being followed by a stranger on a dark rainy night defended himself when he thought he was in mortal danger. I don't think our justice system would have worked the same way. Trayvon would have been presumed guilty, and without a witness to prove otherwise, the Zimmerman family would have forced arrest and a speedy trial to convict him of something, 1st degree murder, 2nd degree murder, manslaughter, take your pick.

So if you try to detain me and I get frightened and fight back, and I am winning, these stand your ground laws will allow you to protect yourself by shooting me? The law was meant to let you protect your property, your family, and yourself from deadly force. However it is being used, in more cases than not to help white folks kill black folks without punishment. They can simply say that they were scared or threatened.

Even if this case it not about racism. We know that it exists and particularly in the U.S. justice system. It is the fact that the legal system has the deck stacked against us. It is not about justice or what appears to be right, it is about what you can prove and who is making the decisions. In the George Zimmerman case they had an all female jury of five white women and one Hispanic. Where is the notion that a person will be tried by a jury of their peers. There was no connection to an African American, or his only contact witness, a 19 year old friend who he was talking to on his cell phone. It doesn't matter that an innocent black child was killed, they believed the story that was presented to them that he was the aggressor and George had the right to protect himself. So they made the victim the criminal as opposed to the shooter. The case lost before it began.

It is hard for me to rationalize that this death is justified. People say that George Zimmerman used poor judgement but did not commit a crime. If you drink and drive, have an accident, and kill someone you can receive 10 to 20 years in jail. That is also poor judgement, and an accident, but someone has to pay for the loss of life. George used poor judgement when he didn't stay in the car and followed Trayvon. But the legal system says that was not a crime, even though it resulted in a death.

The race issue exist. If you do not follow a police officers instructions or even don't answer their questions, as an African American you are going to be locked up, period, over, and out. If you walk too fast, or drive too fast, you are profiled to have done something wrong/criminal. If you walk too slow and possible be lost or in a place you are not normally seen, you are profiled at up to no good. It is a common practice in America. Our jails are filled with criminals and victims of being in the wrong place. African Americans are given harsher sentences and incarcerated for things that white people can do routinely.

There is a difference between the law and justice. American uses the law against minorities and it is very difficult to get justice. Justice being, doing what appears to be morally right. Will anything be solved by having the injustice to Trayvon on display for America to see? I don't think so. America is a country of talking two steps forward for a while, then one step back. We can have the discussion but until the hearts of men are changed the outcome will continue to be the same.