We're the worst?!

I saw a headline the other day that said "Michigan Worst For Graduating Black Males."

As a black male I don't know if I was more mad or disappointed. The worst?! How can we be the worst? Not Detroit, but Michigan? The entire state? I have a friend who was the first black teacher in the west Michigan school district in which he works, and that was just six years ago. I figure they can't have many black students either, yet they don't graduate enough of them that the district contributed to statistics that place us last?

According to a national study by the Schott Foundation for Public Education, our state graduates just 33 percent of black males compared to 74 percent of white males. Detroit Public Schools graduates 20 percent of black males and 17 percent of white males, according to the report, dubbed "Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males.'' That is the second-lowest rate for major cities across the country, and shameful, in my opinion.

The story I read was in the Detroit News, and it quoted state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan, who said , "The low numbers of black, Latino and Native-American males who graduate from high school is a major concern. It's obvious that the way we've been trying to educate these students is not working, and we have to look at other ways to reach them.''

Flanagan claims Gov. Jennifer Granholm is working on a small high school initiative that will help build greater relevance and relationships with schools and students.

"We have confidence this, combined with a more challenging curriculum required by our new graduation requirements, will help make a difference,'' he said.

Flanagan conceded that the way educators have been trying to teach minority students in the state quite simply isn't working. But DPS officials weren't surprised by the findings in the report, which is a problem for me.

A DPS spokesman said that the numbers would not shock anyone who has looked the school-by-school data because it shows that show that the student success rate at most of the districts comprehensive high schools to be unacceptably low.

Well, I'm shocked, and any parent who sends his or her child to a DPS school should be shocked too. I realize the issues have more to do with economics than race. In fact, that's part of the pro-Affirmative Action case. Our minority kids in urban cities are at a huge disadvantage in life because of the inferior education they receive.

The report went on to say that nationally, 47 percent of black male students and 75 percent of white male students graduated on time. North Dakota led the nation with an 89 percent graduation rate among black males, according to the report. But how many black males live in North Dakota?

I have to admit to being a homer, but United Way is leading work to create smaller high schools. The plan shows promise. Let's hope that promise is fulfilled.

Trying to find the right words

Over the past week I was at a couple of parties during which talk turned to the current political mess at the Colemena A. Young Municipal Center -- the power base of our city.

It's difficult to make sense of any of this crap. Both the mayor and the City Council are having their share of problems, with Kwame Kilpatrick facing a perjury trial on charges he and his former chief of staff lied on the stand about their alleged affair and cover-up of the firing of police officers interested in investigating claims that would have uncovered the relationship. The mayor got the City Council to approve a settlement that paid those officers $8.4 million. Worse still, several council members are reportedly under investigation for their alledged misdoings related to the approval of a $47-million sludge treatment contract. One of them, Coucilwoman Monica Conyers, hasn't shown up for work in over a week, citing personal reasons.

The week ended with Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. demanding that Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams leave the council's chambers after a dust-up between the two that also included Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel. During the barbs exchanged, Sheila Cockrel called the Mayor's Office "rotten to the core."

If you ask me, it's all smelling rotten down at the CAY building these days, and it ain't getting any better any time soon. That's why when folks asked me what I thought about the controversies, lies, misconduct and general shamefulness, the only thing that came to mind was "disgusting." I'm just disgusted by it all ... almost speechless.

Detroiters have gotten what we asked for -(although for the record, I didn't vote for the current mayor or Conyors, but did vote for both Cockrels) because we keep electing people of suspect qualifications and motives. With Detroit voters name recognition rules and facts, and common sense, too frequently is absent from the equation on election day. So we are stuck with people who may be proven crooked, and at the very least, broke the public trust.

With an election year coming in 2009 I'm even more concerned because we do not seem to have any strong players on the bench ready to step in for the current crop. As a result, disgust is all I'm left with.

I was thinking this weekend about how nice it would be to have someone who was truly commited to turning this city around. Make that some people, because we need more than a few. I caught a few media stories on Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday recognition, and like many people around the world I have long been an admirer. What I wouldn't give for just one leader in this city cut from the same cloth.

I'll end with a quote from a speech Mandeala delivered before I was born, the spirit of which should resonate today with anyone interested in change:

"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
-- Nelson Mandela - April 20, 1964

Political madness

Is Jesse Jackson crazy?

I'll answer that ... maybe.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson -- popular civil rights leader, minister and former presidential candidate -- at least momentarily wanted to castrate current presidential hopeful Barrack Obama this week. What?!


I was traveling this week and catching news when I could, so I missed the original report. But someone asked me after the story broke that day about what I thought of Jackson's comments. I was dumbfounded and had to go online to see what was up. What I discovered was hugely disappointing. Jackson slammed Obama for a speech in which the presumptive Democratic nominee addressed male responsibility in the black community.

What, did Jackson have a problem with Obama blasting the black men who are AWOL? Or, not taking responsibility for heading households, contributing to society and making this nation a better place for all of us to live? I think, yes.

But more importantly, while we have a considerable lack of black leadership in this country, I have a problem with Jackson's remarks because they seem to be more about himself than African-Americans.

Jackson, love him or hate him, was the go-to guy on black issues in this country. That was until, someone with substance and a real willingness (as close as we can judge now, right?) to actually commit to work for people emerged. And, Obama has the most realistic shot at winning the White House as any candidate has had in our nation's history. That includes Jackson who was felled by his "Hymietown" remark, made while he himself was running for president in the '80s

Let me state for the record that I am a Jackson fan. He's a frat brother and has done a lot of good for people who look like me and live where and how I live. He was on the balcony when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death, for God's sake. It's hard to me more in the civil rights legacy of the nation than that. However, during the last decade nether he nor any other alleged black leader has effectively led African-Americans in this country. I don't know any progressive brother or sister who feels like any individual speaks for them. But some who are less progressive do.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who was dismissed long-ago as a charlatan, has emerged as a more reputable voice of our people. Jackson should be pissed at having the mantle of leadership wrested from him. I don't know, however, if his self-interest relative to staying relevant in a movement that has moved away from him will permit Jackson to take a critical look in the mirror.

After all, Jackson was caught while taping a TV program and wearing a mic. Given the fact that he's been interviewed ad nauseum over the years and once hosted his own show on CNN, he had to know better. Many people believe he was aware and knew what he was doing. I'd like to plead innocence for him, as pathetic as that sounds. But I know better.

To Obama's credit he took the high road. I just hope Jackson learns a lesson from the move he made.

Standing up and speaking up

I'm not sure I'll vote for Barrack Obama. But I am certain that I will not be casting a ballot for John McCain. I have voted for lesser-party candidates in the past, rather than settle for the lesser of two evils.

And while as an African-American I do feel some sense of pride in the fact that Obama has emerged as the presumptive Democratic nominee and the first real black candidate with a chance to win the top job at the White House, my decision is not based on color but what his candidacy represents.

That's why, despite the fact that she was so open in her support for McCain, I was proud to see a young Detroit Free Press intern sound off in this Sunday's editorial section about the issue. If you missed it, check out Angelica Brown's editorial in the June 7 edition of the Freep.

The recent Detroit Mumford High School grad proudly stated for the world to hear that she's not voting for Obama, despite the overwhelming show of support by her friends and family for the senator from Illinois. She is bothered by the fact that so many people who are close to her want to see Obama win because he is black. The discomfort she felt over their blind show of faith compelled her to become a student of politics, Brown said, in an effort to delve into the substance of the candidates. For that, I commend her.

While I'm not all that old, I have lived long enough to have the fortune of experiencing two presidential campaigns that "changed my life." The first was the 1992 campaign that saw former Arkansas Gov. William Jefferson Clinton capture the victory and change the country in a way that many never imagined. For the first time ever, I saw people who never thought about voting suddenly become interested in the process. I'm seeing that again this time around, and teens like Brown are proof.

Clinton went on to have eight years in Washington, and during that time we didn't have mortgage foreclosure madness, a senseless war in Iraq, high unemployment, $4 gas and a Hurricane Katrina nightmare that continues to disrupt the lives of thousands of innocent victims from New Orleans.

Okay, the last one was partly and act of God and could have been at least partially avoided by earlier government intervention. It also could have been handled better by President George Bush's buddy and FEMA head Mike "Brownie" Brown. Also to be fair, we would not have had Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones and a few others to heap jokes upon as a result of presidential indiscretions at the, um, hands of the leader of the free world had Clinton not occupied the Oval Office.

But while I digress, I still contend that eight years of Clinton were far superior to the eight years of George W. Bush we have managed to survive. I am a native of Little Rock and voted for Clinton because he was from Arkansas, my family liked him for that reason and he has done some tremendous things for that state as both governor and president. That may not have been the most astute way to pick a candidate, but that was my decision, and I'm glad I made it.

To her credit, Brown points to a number of perceived strengths in McCain's planned policies over propositions layed out so far by Obama. I don't necessarily agree with her, but that's what makes this nation so great. My problem with McCain -- and I will admit that I might have voted for him had he won the nomination in 2000 -- is that he has changed over the past few years and sounds too much like Bush for my tastes these days.

Obama will not get my vote because he is black. Quite honestly, he had me at "change." The first time I saw him at a campaign stop and saw "change" on his posters rather than his name I thought he had a great strategy and knew he was commited to doing something different on Capitol Hill. That's what his candidacy stands for in my mind, and I am convinced of that, although I wonder how successful he'll actually be if elected.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm came into office as a smart candidate who presented well and had great ideas. I was a huge fan, but have been surprised by her lack of effectiveness. She was had an unwilling state legislature to deal with, but I hoped she would be a strong enough politician to get things done, because at the end of the day that's all that matters. I worry that Obama will have a similar time moving the needle, but I have to stay optimistic. Or, I'll have to move to the country and start growing corn, raising cows and building wind turbines (okay, cheat sheet -- think about all the money going into ethanol production, what we're spending on food these days and the promise of alternative energy.

Brown also pointed to Obama's inexperience in her editorial -- something I thought ironic, given the fact that I was impressed by the case presented by someone from her generation. She said that because he is still very young, even though the world believes it is ready for an American president who doesn't have white skin, she doesn't know if she believes it really is.

I was disappointed in that statement because I thought progress in the area of diversity and inclusion would be made by those in Brown's generation, which tends to consider race as being less important than do their parents. At the very least I would hope that the world is as ready for a bright, well-spoken and energetic president with little experience as it was for what we have given it the past eight years.