The more integrated the United States becomes, the more we need to embrace the change and work for the future of all people, no matter what the color of the skin of their parents or grandparents was.

privatizers are busy trying to destroy the public education system.

unless you make the distinction between non-profit charters and for profit.
in chicago one of the most successful charter operators is uno, which is a pan-hispanic non-profit with a long track record in chicago.
they have several bilingual charters, including a new one in my hood. they took over an old catholic high school and filled up immediately.

hispanics are incredibly poorly served by cps. i got no problem letting them take a crack at being in charge of educating their own .

one size doesnt fit all and it never did.

should be brought up to higher levels, and should be funded equally by the federal government. The way it is now, only the better to do suburbs have decent schools because they are funded by property taxes.

what does a family do with their children?
charter schools beat the pants off the former schools of last resort here in chicago- the archdiocese of chicago. that's who the charters are shutting down. there are barely any catholic schools left.
a whole lot of school districts in small towns could be very well served by well run, non-profit, charter schools, over the small town dumb ass that they have now. (obviously not all small towns, duh)
or big city pay to play.
or religious insanes.

we have schools here run by the university of chicago, founded by john dewey, where teacher pedagogy was pretty much invented. home of the amazing lab school. imho, it would be governmental malpractice not to make use of a civic treasure of that caliber.
but i suspect a lot of states could have such civic and human capital at their disposal.

i agree that the feds, or at the least the states, should be the primary funders, and that property taxes are a dumb ass way to do it, guaranteed to bring wealthy people the best schools.
but in the meantime, children only get to do it once.

But, I do know that those who say "it's not my problem" are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
People need to get involved before they can walk away and say that the problem is too big for them to deal with.
Maybe alone the problem is too big for just 1 person to handle, but not when we come together as a group.

So, when people tell me that they are not their brother's keeper, they ignore the reality that we are all in this together.
The President is talking about building ladders for those young men (and women) to climb higher in our societal structure.
Without someone showing them how to build those ladders in the first place, they are stuck on the bottom.
Education is one part of the process, to be sure, but there is much more to it than that.

Even after high school, as well as after college, those men (and women) need mentors, sponsors, or someone helping them find their ladder.
I'm jus' saying . .

"But, I do know that those who say "it's not my problem" are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
People need to get involved before they can walk away and say that the problem is too big for them to deal with.
Maybe alone the problem is too big for just 1 person to handle, but not when we come together as a group."

New Presidential Task Force to Expand Opportunity. President Obama will sign a Presidential Memorandum establishing the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force, an interagency effort, chaired by Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary Broderick Johnson, that will help us determine what public and private efforts are working and how to expand upon them, how the Federal Government’s own policies and programs can better support these efforts, and how to better involve State and local officials, the private sector, and the philanthropic community in these efforts.

The Task Force will work across executive departments and agencies to:

Assess the impact of Federal policies, regulations, and programs of general applicability on boys and young men of color, so as to develop proposals that will enhance positive outcomes and eliminate or reduce negative ones.
Recommend, where appropriate, incentives for the broad adoption by national, State, and local public and private decision makers of effective and innovative strategies and practices for providing opportunities to and improving outcomes for boys and young men of color.
Create an Administration-wide “What Works” online portal to disseminate successful programs and practices that improve outcomes for boys and young men of color.
Develop a comprehensive public website, to be maintained by the Department of Education, that will assess, on an ongoing basis, critical indicators of life outcomes for boys and young men of color in absolute and relative terms.
Work with external stakeholders to highlight the opportunities, challenges, and efforts affecting boys and young men of color.
Recommend to the President means of ensuring sustained efforts within the Federal Government and continued partnership with the private sector and philanthropic community as set forth in the Presidential Memorandum.
Investments from Leading Foundations and Businesses to Advance the Achievement of Boys and Young Men of Color. Leading foundations and businesses have long worked with others in philanthropy to create opportunities for young men and boys of color and today are committing significant resources to research critical intervention points in the lives of boys and young men of color; change the often-damaging narrative about them; and catalyze coordinated investments to seed, replicate, and scale up effective community solutions.

The foundations supporting today’s call to action have already made extensive investments, including $150 million in current spending that they have already approved or awarded. Building on that, today these foundations are announcing that over the next five years they seek to invest at least $200 million, alongside additional investments from their peers in philanthropy and the business community, to find and rapidly spread solutions that have the highest potential for impact in key areas, including: early child development and school readiness, parenting and parent engagement, 3rd grade literacy, educational opportunity and school discipline reform, interactions with the criminal justice system ladders to jobs and economic opportunity and healthy families and communities.

The foundations will work over the next 90 days to design a strategy and infrastructure for coordination of these investments, which can be aligned with additional commitments from a diverse array of actors from other sectors.

These foundations, who are joining President Obama at today’s announcement, include The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The California Endowment, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Open Society Foundations, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and The Kapor Center for Social Impact. Many of the foundations are members of the Executives’ Alliance to Expand Opportunities for Boys and Men of Color – a coalition of philanthropic institutions committed to leveraging philanthropy’s role in improving life outcomes for boys and men of color.

In addition to the leadership from the philanthropic community, the My Brother’s Keeper initiative will leverage participation from the business community and elected officials to support this cross-sector effort. As part of today’s announcement, President Obama will meet with a number of business leaders – including Joe Echevarria of Deloitte, Magic Johnson of Magic Johnson Enterprises, Glenn Hutchins of Silver Lake Partners, Adam Silver of the National Basketball Association and Thomas Tull of Legendary Entertainment – to discuss ways in which they and their companies can work with the Initiative to improve the life outcomes of boys and young men of color.

The President will also be joined today by public sector leaders including General Colin Powell, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Honorable Michael Bloomberg. Additionally, several other prominent members of the business community—including Rosalind Brewer of Sam’s Club, Ken Chenault of American Express, and Don Thompson of McDonald’s—have already expressed their support for this effort, and the White House expects additional commitments in the coming days and months.

* * *

Data shows that boys and young men of color, regardless of socio-economic background, are disproportionately at risk throughout the journey from their youngest years to college and career. For instance, large disparities remain in reading proficiency, with 86 percent of black boys and 82 percent of Hispanic boys reading below proficiency levels by the fourth grade – compared to 58 percent of white boys reading below proficiency levels. Additionally, the disproportionate number of black and Hispanic young men who are unemployed or involved in the criminal justice system alone is a perilous drag on state budgets, and undermines family and community stability. These young men are more than six times as likely to be victims of murder than their white peers and account for almost half of the country’s murder victims each year.

The effort launched today is focused on unlocking the full potential of boys and young men of color – something that will not only benefit them, but all Americans. The Task Force and new private sector partnership will take a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to building ladders of opportunity. Both the Task Force and the partnership will take action immediately while planning for long-term success.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/02/27/fact-sheet-opportunity-all-president-obama-launches-my-brother-s-keeper-

Such a great project, freshwest.

is that he quietly pushes on - knowing full well that he media
will not make a fanfare - few people will know. He does things
because they are right.

You are right, he quietly pushes on. No aircraft carriers or flight suits. How he does this in the face of unprecedented opposition and out right hate, I will never know.

first time it hit me - that he has sadly recognized that he
won't get big things done - because they are blocking
everything he tries. Bet he would be revived with a dem house.
That would revive us all.

Yes a Dem house in 2014 would be fantastic.

GOTV 2014!

President Obama has implemented this on a National level!

He's always cared about others.. that's just who he is..



Mahalo she~

Cha

his interaction with the guys. The last one is precious too

I love those black and white ones of the one you have reading to the young boys and the basketball one on the So Side of Chicago back in day. I have those on my FB page, too.. she~

Can you just imagine what he's thinking - what it means to him to see that President's face smiling down at him.

doing!

Pesident Obama held an event at the White House on yesterday in which he launched a major initiative targeting inner-city youth. The initiative involves major corporations, philanthropists, faith leaders and local communities who've pledged $200 million over the next 5 years to promote the president’s commitment to being, “My Brother’s Keeper.” Obama has in the past been reluctant to initiate programs that specifically targeted the African-American community saying, “A rising tide raises all boats,” made no secret of the fact that this program was put together with that community in mind. He used his own life’s...more »

http://article.wn.com/view/2014/02/28/President_Obama_unveils_his_My_Brothers_Keeper_initiative/

alive.. This one is excellent, she~

President Obama tries so hard to get America in gear for now and our future generations..


On This Day(3 days later): President Obama’s daughter Sasha waves to him from the Truman Balcony after he arrived on the south lawn via Marine One May 14, 2009 after returning from a trip to Arizona and New Mexico

http://theobamadiary.com/2014/05/17/rise-and-shine-the-week-at-tod-11/

Oh my she was such a baby there. Sweet Sasha...

She has become such a lady now. She has grown into a woman now. I await to see where they go in life. It will be an amazing tale.



Thank you Cha~

them~ Awesome pic of the Now with the girls!

Oh dear.. I know we can't comment on looks around here..

Sigh... reminds me of my own kids. They were little, way back when. I could pick 'em both up and tote 'em around. Now they can pick ME up.

Thanks for posting it, sheshe2!

You are so welcome!

Hi ho, it's off to work I go~

Have a great (and easy) day, sweetie.

he interacts with. This picture should be the lead picture. It is precious.

SO MUCH more shit than any other President - even Bill Clinton. And MAN did they persecute him every which-a-way. NOW, it's just absolutely disgraceful. Ungodly. Hideous. And FUCK 'em - it's 'cause they're SORE LOSERMEN RACISTS. Plain and simple. That's all it is. I believe that down into my bone marrow. A) He's a Democrat. But B) he's black. And too many shitheads out there just don't like that. I wish THEY would go away. Or at least stop persecuting him so he can get the business of America done and try to solve some of our LEGIONS of problems. I'm white and the behavior I see from some of them just makes me ashamed of my own race.

The President truly is a remarkable human being, we are fortunate to have him in that position of power.
I don't think we have seen anyone like him at the oval nor will we again :hugs:

Donald Sterling should be locked in one of his fancy rooms and have this video and audio running non-stop for 24 hours. That would be a starter level of punishment, in my book. Maybe 2 or 3 days.

Blast from the Past..


(Harvard, c 1988)

snip//

Extracts: Mary was a newlywed and ready to move to Norway, but was stopped at the airport because she didn’t have enough money for the trip. Then a stranger turned up and paid for her.

Mary Menth Andersen was 31 years old at the time and had just married Norwegian Dag Andersen. She was looking forward to starting a new life in Åsgårdstrand in Vestfold with him. But first she had to get all of her belongings across to Norway.

At the airport in Miami things were hectic as usual, with long lines at the check-in counters. When it was finally Mary’s turn and she had placed her luggage on the baggage line, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.

“You’ll have to pay a $103 surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway,” the man behind the counter said.

Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.

“I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions,” says Mary.

Although she explained the situation to the man behind the counter, he showed no signs of mercy.

“I started to cry, tears were pouring down my face and I had no idea what to do. Then I heard a gentle and friendly voice behind me saying, “That’s OK, I’ll pay for her”.”

snip//


The piece of paper said ‘Barack Obama’ and his address in Kansas, which is the state where his mother comes from. Mary carried the slip of paper around in her wallet for years, before it was thrown out.

“He was my knight in shining armor,” says Mary, smiling

MOre to the story..
TOD

Such a sweetheart, she~

I read about it eons ago! Thank you for the reminder.

Yes he is his Sisters keeper too. A kind and gentle soul.

wonderful Cha.

Man, that is how I like to start the week . . with hope and change!!

Barack Obama Heavy check mark @BarackObama
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TOD

nt

nt

Thanks napkinz~