Dr Flavius Akerele III's The E Team Education blog

For some reason, I keep seeing red herrings and non-sequiturs being thrown into discussions of “race and racially charged incidences”, and before anyone starts saying we are all one race, just know that I am using the term for educational purposes. Also, know that many Americans do believe we are different races, and that is a pity. When you compare the KKK: “ The Ku Klux Klan established in 1865, with its long history of violence, is the most infamous — and oldest — of American hate groups. Although black Americans have typically been the Klan's primary target, it also has attacked Jews, immigrants, gays and lesbians and, until recently, Catholics” https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/ku-klux-klan To the Black Panthers: “The Black Panther Party (BPP), was established in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The two leading revolutionary men created the national organization as a way to collectively combat white oppression, after constan...

When you do not have money, you are often expected to do without certain things. For example: a nutritious diet, little treats such as an ice cream cone, gym membership, TV, vacations, etc. All these pleasures are well known to increase life and quality of life: why then are they often the first things expected to go? We no longer have debtors prison, but we still have many people in this country locked in a cycle of debt, often “legal debt” such as parking tickets, child support, and lord forbid you have a probation debt! If you have the money, you can pay these things off right away and move on, but if you do not have the money, these debts can quadruple in cost when you factor in payment plans, interest, penalties for losing your job and therefore a payment, etc. These are issues the average American cares about, these are issues of which there is no solution proposed or even thought of because there are companies who make billions of dollars a year because of the s...

Education is the only profession (and it is a profession) where non-professionals feel and can tell the professionals what do. Everyone has a n opinion about how to deliver proper education, and during political seasons, education gets tossed around like a football; usually without an actual educator in sight. As an educator, you are entrusted with our countries most precious resource, and that is our youth. Without them we have no future and there is no proof that we ever existed. United States has an incarceration problem, we love to lock people up, we love to punish; and we have hard time showing compassion, understanding, and suggesting true rehabilitation. This state of mind has unfortunately penetrated many of our school systems. Third grader in Handcuffs   School fight   Police slap student   Officer grabs student   Pepper spray in school Now I know some people will say “well these are extreme situations” or “well what was the stude...

There are several bothersome things about the article starting with the reason why the mother is in jail: FOR WANTING A GOOD EDUCATION FOR HER KIDS. Yes, that is the reason. Why are we still at this point in this very rich country where schools are so unequal that parents have feel they have to lie about where they live? What is also sad are the mean comments you see in the article, people focusing on the wrong things. This was not justice! This lady will not be able to teach in her state now because of a felony conviction! Punishment is not justice and this does not help our society at all! “Mom jailed for enrolling kids in wrong school district” “An Ohio mother is in jail after being convicted of tampering with records to enroll her children in a better school district.” “Kelley Williams-Bolar, 40, of Akron, illegally registered her two daughters at her father's address in suburban Copley Township to get them into the   Copley-Fairlawn school district ...

As an educator, I find this kind of situation puzzling, because it is difficult to teach a positive message from this tragedy. I sit here contemplating the latest police killings of civilian; keep in mind this is just the killings that have been reported, not the extra ones that get swept under the rug. According to “The Counted” ( http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database ), they are up to 566 killed by police this year of 2016. It will be more by the time I finish writing this. I sound cynical don’t I? It is hard not to me with what is going on with this country’s law enforcement. I took out any reference to race and the names of the victims out. Now I want you to imagine if this was your loved one: “A second video showing the shooting death of, a man shot several times while being held on the ground by police outside a Louisiana convenience store was posted online”. “As the man’ s head slumps back...

These stories I just heard about make me furious, and before I go into my details why, please watch for yourself: ·          http://wtvr.com/2016/05/23/free-milk-theft/ “ The mother of a Virginia middle school student said she was angry, frustrated, and mad after her son was handcuffed, suspended from school, and charged with stealing a 65-cent carton of milk from the cafeteria. As it turned out, Shamise Turk's son Ryan was on the school's free lunch program and the milk -- was free. ” ·          http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/02/her-water-bottle-exploded-at-school-they-thought-it-was-a-weapon-so-they-cuffed-and-arrested-her/   “ Honor student Kiera Wilmot was   arrested and expelled from her high school  when her water bottle exploded unexpectedly on school property. ” ·          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hch6vQm...

Last week I wrote a piece on the disparities that do exist, and when I look at what is happening in Chicago, I see the gap growing ever larger. “Fear of a long hot summer as Chicago racks up a deadly record” http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/31/us/chicago-shootings-homicides-summer/ Ask yourself and be truthful: would this be happening in affluent neighborhoods? The answer is no. Policing is not equal because the most vulnerable populations are often treated like criminals. When law enforcement agencies need to make their stats, they hunt in those neighborhoods: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/magazine/a-black-police-officers-fight-against-the-nypd.html Serial killers are often not caught for years if they hunt in poor  under-served  populations, the victims are often not considered victims, especially if they are for example prostitutes. My point is this, more American are being killed in one of our major cities than American in our current war zone...

Politicians, as you have your rallies, produce your sound bits, campaign, and try to convince us that you know what is best for the American people, let me give you a hint. The average person wants three simple things: 1.       Jobs - whether I own the business or am working for someone. People want steady work that pays the bills. We are not talking about a handout, we are talking about opportunities 2.       Justice - people want to feel safe. I am not talking about crime, I am talking about the ability to not get targeted by the people sworn to protect us because they are low on their arrest quota for the month. Nobody really likes crime except criminals, but everyone hates injustice; and we are seeing more and more of it everyday 3.       If you have these two simple things, it is possible to achieve the third, and that would be Joy. Joy is a possibility, joy is a dream we are allowed to h...