Our screening was yesterday! We didn't have a very good turnout, but I believe the audience really enjoyed the screening. Two of my really good friends from my Ghana trip came out to support which was really nice :)
The best part of the screening was after I showed the documentary I made for Boyz2Men. One of the girls in the audience worked at Gus Garcia Middle School. She was telling me how she knows some of the boys I work with. In addition, she was talking about how much the boys really do enjoy Boyz2Men and how she can see change in the attitudes and behaviors since last semester. She also said the boys rave about the program all the time, and go to the CIS room to hangout with each other even though we don't have meetings on those days. It was such an awesome thing to hear that our group has been a success and more importantly that it had an impact on the boys :) :)
Also, at the end of my documentary I put up a notice looking for people to continue the program next year. I had THREE people come up to me and say they were interested in continuing the program next year. To be honest, I was really worried that the program would fall apart after my group graduated, but it looks like there's a good chance of the group surviving next year :)
success.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Screening.
My group finally has got the wheels rolling on our project and I’m very excited J Our screening date is set for Wednesday April 25 from 5-7pm in the Utopia Center. In the beginning, it seemed like things were going to run very smoothly for our group because we had had the contact made with the group we were working with. The only part of the CRAFT model we had left was action, and the we believed the rest would follow. Unfortunately, the process ending up taking a much longer time due to unforeseen circumstances, i.e. the boys school schedule, our availability, and moving around my other group’s schedule. Because of all these problems, and the deadline quickly approaching, I posed the idea of doing a screening of The Boys of Baraka. This way, everyone in the group could feel a bit more connected to our project. Now, we are in the process of advertising our event and coming up with questions for our discussion after the screening.
In addition to showing The Boys of Baraka, I will be showing my piece on the work I’ve done with the Boyz 2 Men group. I think these two pieces together could set up a really awesome conversation about the education system in the US. I'm thinking of stressing the importance of groups for young minority students who are dealing with a system of inequality in the education system. It will still hit on the achievement gap, but instead of focusing on the negative I want to shed light on the positive programs that are out there and that can be developed to help minority students. As for my independent research project, my focus of research has shifted as a result of this class. Working on my research and being in this class have really been nice complements of each other :)
I’m excited for our screening next week J
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Music.
Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes was a really interesting documentary. I listen to hip hop/rap music, but I've never really examined the culture surrounding the industry. The one part of the film that really stood out to me was the fact that when rappers were questioned about their lyrics affect on African American women and men, they couldn't even look at the camera. They knew what they were singing about was not productive for the black community, but they also knew that their lyrics were filling their bank accounts. The message I got from the film was that hip hop/rap music can really influence a culture to project stereotypes that are unfair to the African American community as a whole.
I thought the Peterson article was interesting.
In the video, it was sad to see women parading around scantily clad at the BET Spring Break Party. These women were walking the streets practically naked. Men were grabbing all parts of their bodes, filming up their skirts, and referring to them as "bitches and hoes." When these women were interviewed they kept saying that they weren't "bitches," but rather were classy females who simply made a decision to dress sexy that morning. While watching the film, I noticed that the women weren't even bothered by the negative attention they were receiving from the boys and men surrounding them. I feel like if I was ever degraded or disrespected like that I would NOT just giggle and keep on walking, I'd probably get aggressive. As upsetting as it was to see these women parading around, I have to take into account that these women are at a hip hop convention/party/whatever meaning they listen and love that genre. More than often, a woman's role in hip hop is to dance around a male giving off the appearance that she wants to be all over him and at a drop of a dime she'd be DTF. Young girls are watching this, and I feel as if their unintentionally making these women there role models. In Peterson's study, it was reported that women were more likely to be binge drinkers/drug abusers in addition to having low self-esteem. I realize that black women who have access to a strong support system i.e. family, school, etc. may not be affected by hip pop videos, but women in high maafan areas may be viewing this videos and striving to become these sex kittens they see plastered everywhere in the hip hop industry.
Also, I liked Pratt's idea of having the boys he was working with to use critical thinking skills to analyze the components of the hip hop industry. It was a very interesting concept, and I believe a much needed program for young boys to be involved in. Also, it gave me some ideas for the boys group I work with :)
I thought the Peterson article was interesting.
In the video, it was sad to see women parading around scantily clad at the BET Spring Break Party. These women were walking the streets practically naked. Men were grabbing all parts of their bodes, filming up their skirts, and referring to them as "bitches and hoes." When these women were interviewed they kept saying that they weren't "bitches," but rather were classy females who simply made a decision to dress sexy that morning. While watching the film, I noticed that the women weren't even bothered by the negative attention they were receiving from the boys and men surrounding them. I feel like if I was ever degraded or disrespected like that I would NOT just giggle and keep on walking, I'd probably get aggressive. As upsetting as it was to see these women parading around, I have to take into account that these women are at a hip hop convention/party/whatever meaning they listen and love that genre. More than often, a woman's role in hip hop is to dance around a male giving off the appearance that she wants to be all over him and at a drop of a dime she'd be DTF. Young girls are watching this, and I feel as if their unintentionally making these women there role models. In Peterson's study, it was reported that women were more likely to be binge drinkers/drug abusers in addition to having low self-esteem. I realize that black women who have access to a strong support system i.e. family, school, etc. may not be affected by hip pop videos, but women in high maafan areas may be viewing this videos and striving to become these sex kittens they see plastered everywhere in the hip hop industry.
Also, I liked Pratt's idea of having the boys he was working with to use critical thinking skills to analyze the components of the hip hop industry. It was a very interesting concept, and I believe a much needed program for young boys to be involved in. Also, it gave me some ideas for the boys group I work with :)
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Education.
First, After I saw the movie I really wanted an update on the boys... click here.
Quick Thought: I first say the film Boys of Baraka in Ghana. Hands down, this is one of my favorite documentaries out there. It's absolutely amazing. Watching these boys grow from their tough backgrounds to succeeding in Africa was inspiring. I loved it. It was heart wrenching when the schools funding got caught and the boys had to return home. They so badly wanted to succeed and do well. Baraka proved that these boys can be successful given the proper resources and environment. The one part I thought was sad about the movie (despite the fact the went back home) was they had to go all the way over to Africa to realize their potential and truly believe they were successful, unique, important, valued individuals.
There's a problem with the US Education system.
The article Closing the Gap focused on a school where the median house income was about $70,000. The article addressed the fact that there's a gap between the White and Black students i.e. a white student's average grade is a B, and a black student's average grade is a C" This article was interesting on the grounds that it brought up the problems faced by African American kids in good schools i.e. the problem of acting white, lack of knowing about resources, but I don't think it really delved into the achievement gap plaguing the United States.
For starters, what is the achievement gap?
Achievement Gap: the observed disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The achievement gap can be observed on a variety of measures, including standardized test scores, grade point average, dropout rates, and college-enrollment and -completion rates.
How is this caused? I would argue it is caused from the lack of funding to distressed communities for the school districts. Lack of funding means lack of resources, good teachers, programs, facilities, etc. These results from lack of funding lead to high drop out rates, low test scores, failing grades, etc.
When this occurs, a school can be labeled as failing, and then be shut down. This is not okay, and something must be done asap. People argue that the problem is the kids, but I would COMPLETELY disagree with that statement. The problem isn't the kids or their parents, the problem is the US education system. This is a failing system, children are failing through the cracks every day because they don't have access to a good education. the sad thing is that many of these kids and parents dream of having access to a better education; however, this is not always within their means.
A good example of this are the school lotteries. Basically what a school lottery is, is a chance for students to go to a charter school in their area. the charter school often excel beyond a child's regular school. These schools are free, and the kids come out very successful. There's a catch though. In order to get into these charter schools, kids have to enter their names into a lottery. Hundreds of kids enter these lotteries, and only a few get there names called to be in the charter school. the problem is that the charter schools are at max capacity. This means hundreds of families are being rejected, and their children will continue to be subjected to shitty educations.
Two documentaries cover this topic (they're on netflix btx)
1. The Lottery
2. Waiting on Superman
It's evident that these kids are dying to succeed and do well, the system is just holding them back. The question is, how do we make sure everyone has access to a good education? I wish I could answer that question, but I can't. There is always going to be some sort of barrier in the way keeping these kids from excelling in life.
On the bright side, attention has been given to the problems in the education system. Programs like City Year and Teach for America aim to solve this problem, but these organizations can only do so much.
Next year, I will be working as a City Year Corps Member in San Antonio. It is my hope that this will give me a good start in learning the inner workings of the education system and lead me on the path to fighting for the right of every child to have access to a good education.
City Year.
For starters, what is the achievement gap?
Achievement Gap: the observed disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The achievement gap can be observed on a variety of measures, including standardized test scores, grade point average, dropout rates, and college-enrollment and -completion rates.
How is this caused? I would argue it is caused from the lack of funding to distressed communities for the school districts. Lack of funding means lack of resources, good teachers, programs, facilities, etc. These results from lack of funding lead to high drop out rates, low test scores, failing grades, etc.
When this occurs, a school can be labeled as failing, and then be shut down. This is not okay, and something must be done asap. People argue that the problem is the kids, but I would COMPLETELY disagree with that statement. The problem isn't the kids or their parents, the problem is the US education system. This is a failing system, children are failing through the cracks every day because they don't have access to a good education. the sad thing is that many of these kids and parents dream of having access to a better education; however, this is not always within their means.
A good example of this are the school lotteries. Basically what a school lottery is, is a chance for students to go to a charter school in their area. the charter school often excel beyond a child's regular school. These schools are free, and the kids come out very successful. There's a catch though. In order to get into these charter schools, kids have to enter their names into a lottery. Hundreds of kids enter these lotteries, and only a few get there names called to be in the charter school. the problem is that the charter schools are at max capacity. This means hundreds of families are being rejected, and their children will continue to be subjected to shitty educations.
Two documentaries cover this topic (they're on netflix btx)
1. The Lottery
2. Waiting on Superman
It's evident that these kids are dying to succeed and do well, the system is just holding them back. The question is, how do we make sure everyone has access to a good education? I wish I could answer that question, but I can't. There is always going to be some sort of barrier in the way keeping these kids from excelling in life.
On the bright side, attention has been given to the problems in the education system. Programs like City Year and Teach for America aim to solve this problem, but these organizations can only do so much.
Next year, I will be working as a City Year Corps Member in San Antonio. It is my hope that this will give me a good start in learning the inner workings of the education system and lead me on the path to fighting for the right of every child to have access to a good education.
City Year.
Questions:
1. What do you think are the contributing factors to the achievement gap?
2. What can we as a country do to close this gap?
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