How Much Money Buys Change?


Peace,

1987. KRS-1. Crack. Triple Fat Goose Jackets. Mickey Mouse Shirts. The Black community was in the throes of a battle which would have drastic unforeseen consequences as far as quality of life issues; To me it was the best time ever...

In Philadelphia, there was a stigma attached to you based upon what school you went to (It would be years later that I found out why the stigma was oh so real). Certain schools had well-deserved reputation for being dens of "hell" as far as dysfunctional behavior was concerned; the type of school where girls having sex at the age of 10 was fairly common. One of the schools with this reputation was Belmont, a school in the "Black Bottom" section of West Philadelphia, so named because the neighborhood was the only place where Black people could live in West Philly during the early 1900's. On June 19, 1987, Philanthropist George Weiss & his wife offered the 6th grade graduating class of 112 free college educations along with a full-time staff to tutor & set up summer programs that would assist the youth in getting through High School. Now, in many circles, this kind of offer would show that if poor black children were given the same opportunities that others were afforded in this country, a sea change would emerge.

What were the results you ask...

of the 112:

- 65 earned high school diplomas

- 34 dropped out

- 8 died (7 violently)

Now of the 65 that graduated:

- 26 didn't go any further

- 20 earned bachelor degrees

- 10 earned associate degrees

- 14 earned a vocational certificate

In addition, 30 of the 112 became teen mothers...

Why am I taking up your time to add-on about this? To ask the simple question:

What are we going to do once we realize that all of the money in the world won't change our situation?

The tab for the program was approx. $5 million dollars... 5 mil to produce 20 bachelor degrees? Now to be fair, some of those who succeeded may not have if not for the program & many were victims of poor education before they were adopted into this program. My larger point is that we have to change the mental conditions that our youth live in before they'll be interested to change their physical conditions. Many mistakenly spout that "Knowledge is Power" when in reality, Culture sets the stage for powerful change. Without Culture, you're just pissing in the wind & throwing money away (On a side note, much of what we think is knowledge is actually data or information that cannot truly serve as a base for activity). Those that created these environments are fully aware that money in & of itself can do very little to remedy these worlds; that's why they keep giving money to programs so that they can absolve themselves of any blame for our conditions; call it reparations 140 years late...

We have to be strategic and focused with the blueprint for ressurecting our families & neighborhoods, and it won't be with money only; it will be based on a thorough analysis & best practices that can produce a sea change from Washington to Watts. If not, don't be mad at me when you go for a grant, get the grant & find out that a fool & his/her money are soon parted...

You define your Universe...


Peace,

I acknowledge that I've been on extreme lunch mode as far as blogging, b.u.t. it's better to be unseen & productive than all over the internet & broke/unproductive. Progress talks & bull$h!t runs the marathon...

Today's degree in the Supreme Alphabet is You/Universe. One understanding of the relationship between You & Universe is the ideas & values that you project have a direct correlation on the environment around you. Simply put, if your Universe is filled w/ confusion & unproductivity, it would stand to reason that you have to evaluate what you're holding onto & in. The lack of understanding of these value often leads to solely blaming external elements for your lack of happiness vs. first evaluating how all things relate to self (This is not to say that there aren't situations where external agents are the sole cause of destruction; only to check your intentions & determined ideas first)

Now, to some things going on around the Universe...

- Gold Medalist in the Stupid Nigga Playoffs: Mike Vick! What the hell was he thinking? First of all, I am here to stop all crime... That being said, How do you go into criminal activity with a number of gentlemen & everybody fold? He should've took a page from the Barry Bonds book & got with some stand-up men who could handle the time! Pick stronger dudes next time, homeboy!*

Second of all, why would he be involved personally in the activity? Common sense would tell you that you have alot more to lose than everybody else... When keeping it real goes extremely wrong...

- All this talk about the quality of "character" in the NFL is garbage... It's football, not teaching... The quality of character has gone down in every sector of society (See Abu Ghraib). The bottom line is sports is entertainment, not something that really matters

- The basis of Culture is awareness & consistency and many of us are in need of both... When you make the conscious decision to compromise your value system for comfort or acceptance, just realize that it's you who falls short...

- Religious behavior& Zeal two different things; it's paramount that you be able to distinguish between them

- Karl Rove is the most interesting political story in the last 50 years. He single-handedly transformed the landscape of electoral politics... Too bad he left Bush to play while Rome burns...

- The best democratic candidates have no chance of winning...

- The Simpsons Movie was a scathing critique of government & big business wrapped in a foolish cartoon. If you knew what you were looking for, you saw what you needed to see

- Since August 1, I've been on a Vegan + diet (Meaning Vegan + certain fish; I like fish) I'm feeling great & it shows that all healthy eaters are not weird. In many ways, food is the final frontier when it comes to self & community transformation; You'll have people who are incedibly progressive in all other ways, b.u.t. are still feeding the major corporations by being hooked on Flamin' Hot Cheetos & Big Macs

- I acknowledge that I need to use technology better than I currently do (Beyond Myspace, Facebook & Email); And I don't mean chirping on a Nextel either; those are just toys for the old generation

- Progressives & Community Activists need money