Sharing and article June 10, 2015

This is worth a read and thoughts:

The War on Thugs

How propaganda fuels our prison problem

By Jason Stanley

“In 1980, there were 500,000 Americans in prison or jail. By 2013, there were more than 2.3 million. The explosion in incarceration has fallen disproportionately on the descendants of slaves. White Americans are 77 percent of the U.S. population, and black Americans 13 percent. Yet more blacks are incarcerated than whites. There has scarcely been a time in history when one group has composed so much of the world’s prison population; black Americans may only be 13 percent of the U.S. population, but they are 9 percent of the world’s prison population.”

Read the whole thing here: http://chronicle.com/article/The-War-on-Thugs/230787/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Keeps this conversation going because it is an education problem.

 

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Race is still a consideration in America

If you look at the title of this piece, and nothing jumps out, then you are missing the point. We still divide people in this country into various races, as if we are genetically different. Yes I know race is a social construct, but many people do not; they really believe there are different races.

I have said this before, and I will say it again; when a country as young as the United States, that is built upon oppression of poor people and people from different lands, and we do not acknowledge this sordid past, then we will never be post-racial. Also, there is a difference between bigotry and racism, but that is a different subject.

From a simple numbers perspective look at the facts:

·         Law enforcement and legal punishments are extremely skewed when it comes to people of color. It so happens poverty is higher in this group, and so those same stats are skewed against poor people in general (http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/department-of-justice-report-on-the-ferguson-mo-police-department/1435/)

·         “Interracial” (hate this term) relationships, although legal, are still treated like they should be illegal in many parts of this country; especially if it is a black male involved. I have heard a million and one “logical” reasons from well-meaning individuals when what they really meant to say is simply “because they are black” (http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/another-religious-freedom-showdown-brews-north-carolina, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/15/interracial-couple-denied_n_322784.html)

·         Most Muslims are not Arabs, not all Arabs are Muslim, and not all Muslims are terrorists. We believe in freedom of religion in this country, not “freedom of only the religion I approve of”. Believe in the constitution or shut up

·         If not for the power of technology and social media, we would not even believe many of these police brutality incidents ever existed (https://news.vice.com/article/south-carolina-cop-charged-with-murder-after-video-shows-him-shooting-unarmed-black-man-in-the-back, http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/08/us/mckinney-texas-pool-video/)

·         For all you foolish people now quoting this new silly statistic I have seen floating around: “93% of blacks voted for Obama in 2008 for all the wrong reasons”; what makes you think you know the right reasons, and how do you know what their individual reasons were? The population of the United States is approx. 400 Million, of which 12% are black or African-American. So there is no way African-American’s could have been solely responsible for voting President Obama into office, the majority of the voters did that. For the record President Obama is the president of the country, like it or not, he was elected twice. Respect the office and the political process or shut up.

There are people we all know and respect who regular say, use, and act out bigotry, and often they are not even aware of it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdyin6uipy4).

My point is this, sweeping things under the rug will not help, and pretending it does not exist will not help. Inventing terms like “race baiter” and “reverse racism” is foolish and perpetuates the ignorance; and if all you do is mention Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson every time there is an incident involving race then you have no clue.

The constitution is for everyone!  If you truly believe in God then believe in the message that is being delivered, not just the parts you want to hear. Do you love your neighbor, tolerate them, or wish they would go somewhere else because you feel they are bringing down property values?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam



Social media and Education

Have you ever tried to incorporate social media into your classroom? I often hear the argument that it is important to use the tools students are using in order to reach them; trouble is what if the students are using the tools badly in the first place?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III
The ETeam

Do you really know what your job description is?

Look at some of the classified job ads on the internet today, read the descriptions and then compare the descriptions to the titles. Now, take a look at your own job title and compare it to what you actually do. Does the information match?

Companies are obsessed with productivity nowadays, to the point where there are actual metrics for how much time you spend in the bathroom (seriously). Funny thing is, we are more productive than ever thanks to technology. It seems we are constantly plugged in to some kind of information stimuli, even when we should be relaxing, and companies seem to want to capitalize on this trend until they can discard you for the “newer model". There is no social contract at work, and the expected ramp up time for jobs is getting shorter and shorter.

Now back to the job description. The descriptions are so general or so all-inclusive that it borders on false advertising; and the reward for doing a good job is more work (with no pay increase). There are large companies that hire large amounts of people, but do not seem to understand why they have 50% to 100% turnover rates. Sure, they will blame it on the “metrics”, but human beings are more than just numbers and require more than just orders.

When was the last time you had one-on-ones with your employees and asked them about their family? When was the last time you gave a heartfelt thank you to all your employees just because? Some companies reward the top people because they want them to keep producing, then burn them out because they expect more and more from them all the time. These same companies punish everyone for not hitting the same goals as the top people; they punish until the employee has had enough and then the company has to start again with new people. Your most valuable employees are actually the ones who are there day in and day out being consistent: not everyone is going to be a superstar.

Companies are you being honest when you hire people or are you deliberately obfuscating? Do you have a long-term plan for your employees or are you running a puppy mill.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

True patriotism

There are a lot of common misconceptions it seems on what it means to be a patriot, now keep in mind this is just my opinion, but since I am highly educated educator I hope you will give my opinion some thought.

• Being a patriot does not mean you must have done a combat tour in the military, only 7% of the population currently serve, and of that 7% percent most will never see combat. But I dare you to try and run a war without your supply or mess hall unit; let me know how that works out for you. Also, do not tell me the community volunteers are not serving their country
• Hoisting a flag in your front yard does not make you a patriot. Most people are not even aware of proper flag protocol anyway, but they mean well. The flag is a symbol of something bigger than you not a symbol of you.
• Being anti immigrant does not make you a patriot, especially since this country was built on immigration (listen to what I just said not what you interpreted)
• You do not have to be a diehard Christian to be a patriot, there are many people practicing Christian values who have never step foot in a church in their life: does that make them bad?

There are many people out there practicing what I call “false patriotism”. They will proclaim their love of country to everyone in the bar, but when that person of color who has served their country in uniform (even though you might not know) moves into your neighborhood you throw rocks at their window because you do not like the color of their skin.

There are many other examples I could give, but my point is this: true patriotism means, “love thy neighbor”. It means be a good person, and try to leave the world a better place than you found it. It means that after you are gone, people will still think of you with true love and honor your memory.

Look around you, and find the opportunities to be a patriot close to home and not just in the news.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam



Imagine the political process with class..



Growing up, the phrase “manners maketh man” was the cornerstone of how we interacted with people; even those we disliked.

As we enter this early political season of presidential candidates, I have certain hopes, wishes, and dreams for the immediate future.

·         Imagine all candidates actually talked about what they can do to improve things rather than why the other person sucks…

·         Imagine all candidates talked about issues that matter to the masses rather than annoying red herring and distractions…

·         Imagine all candidates actually campaigned with viable solutions rather than platitudes…

·         Imagine all candidates stopped labeling themselves (and their opponents), just to score political points…

·         Imagine civil debates, where manners were observed, Roberts’s Rules of Order were actually followed, and the concern about the country was real…

·         Imagine if some of the billions of dollars that will be raised (to get elected for a job that pays $400K) gets givens back to communities that need it…

This is a pipe dream for now, but nevertheless I continue to dream.

I always vote, I truly believe it is my civic duty, and I hope one day to vote in election that was memorable for its civility, and contribution the greater good of this country.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Look beyond skin color for just a moment...

 

 

Look beyond skin color for just a moment….

·         A young woman is shot in the back of police car while handcuffed and the story is that she shot at the police, while handcuffed behind her back.

·         A realtor is shot by the sheriff while showing a house, and the sheriff simply walks away from the scene and none says anything

·         A young man enters a police car and gets carried out dead

·         A 12 year old boy is punched several times by cops while handcuffed

·         A young woman with mental problems is tazed to death by a police officer

·         A mentally ill young man is shot by the police for doing nothing

·         How many citizens in the last decade have committed suicide by shooting themselves in the back 12 times?

 

I could go on, and I know what some of you are thinking, which means you are missing the point. Take away skin color for just a moment, and ask yourself: does that really matter? Citizens are dead, they died tragically, and they died at the hands of people who are supposed to protect and serve them.

The common denominator is that the aggressors are cops, and that most of the citizens are poor or do not have a voice. Video and social media is changing this a little, but not much.

Wake up people! We have a military presence in our midst that by virtue of recent history has a clear mandate to harm citizens of this country. They are not part of community, they have their own community. They roll through your neighborhood like conquerors, and we fear them. That should be the argument. Not something as base and ignoble as skin color.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam