Black Self Help Information

Black Star Project Joins Open Society Institute’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement

Black Star Project Joins Open Society Institute’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement

The Black Star Project will receive $50,000 from the Open Society Institute to support the Million Father March and a school-based program that engages Black men as mentors and tutors in the Chicago Public School System. The grant was awarded through OSI’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement, a three-year grantmaking initiative to address, and help reverse, the ways in which African-American boys and men are stigmatized, criminalized, and excluded from the U.S. economic and political mainstream.

Even as Americans elected their first Black president, the end of 2008 saw an onslaught of dire reports on the educational, social and economic outcomes for Black males in America. Sky-high dropout rates for high-school students, an out-of-control murder rate for 14- to 17-year olds and a 72 percent unemployment rate for high-school dropouts paint a bleak forecast for young Black men.

The Black Star Project has joined with the Open Society Institute’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement to address these issues. With the support of the Campaign, Black Star will expand its successful Million Father March and also launch an initiative that uses school-based strategies to recruit Black male tutors and mentors. Research by the National Fatherhood Initiative shows that children, male and female, perform better in school, at home and in life when their father takes an active and positive role in their lives. Additionally, Black male tutors and mentors provide measurable guidance for Black boys and young Black males in America.

More at the link provided.

Black Parents Group Aims To Fight School Stereotype

Black Parents Group Aims To Fight School Stereotype

Nathan Stephens had heard just enough of generalizations about black parents - talk that they don’t care about their kids and claims that they don’t attend school functions.

It was time to form the Black Parents Association of Columbia Public Schools to empower and inform black parents, Stephens said. An organization that has been talked about for decades is finally having its first meeting at 7 p.m. tomorrow at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.

"What really brought it to a head on a personal level was when I felt like black parents had been attacked in the local media," said Stephens, who has children at Parkade Elementary School and Hickman High School. "That’s the term I use - ‘attacked.’ "

Stephens said he was referring to recent news stories and online forums in which school officials and others talked about black parents not being sufficiently involved in the lives of their children. He said black parents are active, but their participation just might be not visible.

Other parents ask Stephens questions in church or at the store, he said, and he knows black parents care about their children’s education. "How dare someone say black parents aren’t involved," he said.

Among its goals, the new group will work with black parents, answering any questions or just support them in general. The association also wants to increase the visible participation of black parents, which could include having some parents fill in for others who might be working during back-to-school functions or parent-teacher conferences, Stephens said.

More at the link.

Running Rebels Youth Programs

Running Rebels Youth Programs

The Running Rebels Community Organization (RRCO) is a private, non profit 501(c)(3) organization, located in Milwaukee’s central city, and began in 1980. as a small group of volunteers committed to helping the youth in their neighborhood stay off the street and in school through recreation, discussion groups, and educational field trips. Its mission is to help Milwaukee youth to develop mentally, physically, and spiritually. Most staff are minorities and reside in the central city. While the agency serves more than one thousand 4-18 year old children and youth and their families throughout Milwaukee County, the great majority of clients live in the central city and range in age from 10-15 years. About 90% are African-American, 90% are male, and most are referred through the court system and have had serious problems in family, school, and community. The majority of RRCO’s 60 paid staff (part- and full-time) are multi-cultured, and the seven-member volunteer Board of Directors are composed of minorities. Ten program volunteers and two office volunteers also work with the organization. Programs are funded through a variety of sources, including purchase of service contracts with Milwaukee County’s contracted managed care agencies, the Milwaukee County Probation Services Network and foundation grants.

SEED School: Harvesting Success

SEED School: Harvesting Success

She giggles and grins but can’t stop talking about the tragedies that have filled her life.

Not yet a teenager, Tierra Jones will never forget the horror of watching a woman run down by a car on a West Baltimore street, or finding her beloved pet dog, B.J., hanging dead by its leash from a broken window in her own backyard. “I busted out crying that time,” she said.

About seven years ago, her mother died from an accidental fall in her home.

Tierra grows quiet at the memory and drops her face into her arms. That’s a lot of pain for a little girl to shoulder.

But Jones is resilient. She acts like a typical 12-year-old, who is just beginning to notice boys, likes listening to rapper Lil’ Wayne and will talk as long as anyone will listen. She dreams of becoming an FBI agent, but with the life she’s had, that goal — for the longest time — seemed way out of reach.

Today, however, her life is full of possibilities.

This past summer, Jones was among 80 students admitted to the state’s first public boarding school, the SEED School of Maryland.

The school’s aim is to give disadvantaged students an opportunity to reach their potential, plucking them from the chaos surrounding their lives and placing them — for free — in a safe, supportive environment, where they can grow socially and academically.

Nearly every graduate of the school’s sister campus in Washington, D.C., gains admission to college, and for Jones and many other children, this is the opportunity of a lifetime.

““The SEED School is a godsend for her,” said Alega Penn, 37, the wife of Jones’ cousin Gregory Penn who took Jones in about three months ago. “They’re able to give her an education, where she’ll be nurtured; They’ll give her the love and care she needs.”

More at the link

The SEED Foundation

The SEED School of Maryland

Ron Clark Academy

The Ron Clark Academy

Oprah Gives Atlanta School Money

ATLANTA -- A letter from Oprah Winfrey last week seemed like the world's best Christmas present _ until teacher Ron Clark noticed an extra piece of paper flutter out of the envelope.

That's when the Atlanta educator saw the $365,000 check for the innovative private school he opened in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods in 2007. It was, quite literally, an answer to a prayer.

"We teach school all day and fundraise at night," said Clark, who finds private donors to pay most of the $14,000 annual tuition for each student. "To have an unsolicited gift come like that is incredible."

Clark surprised his students with the news of the donation Wednesday morning in a gathering at the south Atlanta school. The children, parents and teachers erupted in deafening cheers when he showed off the check.

Several cried at the news.