czvasser Afroticity, Morning Coffee

The Value of Education

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. – Nelson Mandela

We need to stop telling young people they don’t need to get a high school education or graduate HS. I’ve heard lots of colorful stories about dropouts that went on to become millionaires. We all realize that’s not the favored odds. High school should prepare young people to begin life and become productive citizens, as Barack Obama pointed out during his presidency.

I agree with MLK. Intelligence plus character is the true goal of education. Our current state of intelligence suggest reading above the 8th grade level will provide benefits to an individual. To MLK’s point, with education comes intelligence and, hopefully, greater understanding of social conditions and perhaps suggestion of how to resolve socialĀ  problems.

A. Phillip Randolph, once called “the most dangerous man in America,” led 250,000 people in the 1963 March on Washington.

The Goal of Education: Part 1 of 3

The Value Of Education: Part 2 of 3

czvasser Afroticity

Looking The Other Way

hoodie-tmartinā€œYou may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.ā€ Wiiliam Wilberforce

roland hayes

Roland Hayes, the brilliant tenor became the first African-American man to earn international fame as a concert vocalist. In 1942, Mr. Hayesā€™s wife, Helen and daughter, Afrika, sat in a whites-only area of a shoe store and were thrown out. When Mr. Hayes defended his family, he was beaten and he and his wife were arrested. The incident inspired Langston Hughes to compose the poem, Roland Hayes Beaten.

ethel waters 3

The Beulah Show, the first sitcom to star an African American actress, moved from radio to ABC TV on October 3, 1950, starring Ethel Waters for the first season. Hattie McDaniel, star of radio’s Beulah, joined the cast around September of 1951 but only filmed six episodes of the second season before falling ill. She was quickly replaced by Louise Beavers who stayed with the show until its cancellation in 1952.

heisman trophy 600ā€œIā€™m not black, Iā€™m O.J.,ā€ a reference to an alleged quote from O.J. Simpsonā€™s murder trial. Simpson was saying, as the story goes, that through fame and fortune he had managed to distance himself from the issues plaguing black men in America: poverty, police brutality, incarceration. I guess he was wrong. Continue reading “Looking The Other Way” →