Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 4-12-16 Edition

Editorials
Seal The Deal With A Concrete Plan
pril is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Every time we
read or watch news reports of someone abusing a child, we are left wondering how on earth another human being could be so mean as to beat, kick, punch, throw down, burn or otherwise maim a child, some as young as an infant. Moreover, we are left wondering how we can prevent or provide support to mothers and fathers or caregivers who are experiencing stress or mental health issues. Therefore, we commit to increasing awareness.
Several of our writers have witnessed child abuse and neglectful behaviors by parents, grandparents, or care- givers in public places. Consequently, our writers wondered what we as a community could do to prevent and reduce child abuse and neglect. Indeed, Black children are three times more likely to be victims of abuse or neglect. More- over, studies have shown incarceration rates, mental health problems, drug abuse and domestic violence are all linked to child abuse.
Just think, child abuse statistics and facts show “America has one of the worst records of child abuse among industri- alized nations, losing on average between four and seven children every day to child abuse and neglect. Physical, sex- ual, and emotional abuse accounts for 60 percent of abuse cases reported in our country.
Sadly enough, 70 percent of children who died as a result of abuse were two years of age or younger, 80 percent of whom were abused by parents. We believe it is clear that more intensive parenting skills training, stress manage- ment training, and family support services are necessary tools to prevent child abuse. For, there’s one thing of which we are certain: Today’s abused children, if they live, will grow up to be tomorrow’s abusing adults.
At last, the rumor is confirmed. Thanks to Darrick Hamil- ton of the New School along with Khaing Zaw and William Darity both of Duke University, their recent publi-
cation in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth has fi- nally announced that when it comes to race as a base measure between riches and poverty, “race trumps class, at least when it comes to incarceration of Black and white youths.” Are you surprised?
If not, consider researchers grouped individuals in the study by race and household wealth as of 1985, then looked backwards through their data to judge how many of the par- ticipants in each group ended up behind bars. What re- searchers found was almost 3 percent of the poorest white young people — those whose household wealth was in the poorest 10th of the distribution in 1985, when they were be- tween 20 and 28 years old – went to prison.
In the next 10th, 3.1 percent ultimately went behind bars. Meanwhile, the households of young white people in both groups had more debts than assets. However, as states the report, “their chances of being imprisoned were far less than those of Black youths, even the ones from much more affluent circumstances (approx. 10 percent of affluent Black youths in 1985 ultimately went to prison while only the wealthiest Black youth fared better than their white coun- terparts).
So, the bottom line is regardless of wealth, Black youths by and large are more likely to wear prison stripes than are their white, poorer counterparts. Therefore, having closely reviewed this newest study on Black people and prison, we are left with a four word response: WHAT ELSE IS NEW?”
Empowered Greetings.
Are you ready to seal the deal on manifesting your dreams in 2016? I am excited about awakening the dreams that have been buried down on the inside of you. There may be many reasons why you have not exercised your faith and taken action on your dreams. As I coach and talk to individuals that want to start a business or redirect their life for the better, I have found out, that most people have a dream, but they don’t have a plan. Listen, no matter how big or small your dream is, not only is it worth writing down it’s worth plan- ning out.
The development of a con- crete plan gives you foresight on how to achieve your dreams. What you want to manifest in the end is the dream. That’s where your overall focus will be set, but your underlying focus will be on the steps you will
When it comes to prison re- form, whether it be state or fed- eral, I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way things are going to change for men and women seeking a fairer form of justice is for the incarcerated to take matters into their own hands. That is mainly because, as it stands now, lawmakers on each level seem incapable or un- willing to make the necessary changes that would allow indi- viduals an opportunity for early release even after they’ve effec- tively turned their lives around.
Right now there are literally thousands of men and women languishing in state and federal institutions, sentenced to decades, and forced to serve 85% of their time without the possibility of parole. Many of them are first-time offenders and individuals who committed their offenses while they were highly impressionable young adults or juveniles. Yet those in positions to grant these long- suffering individuals relief con- sistently drag their feet on legislation that could make a difference.
The only hope that most of these men and women behind bars believe they have is in the off chance that the shot callers in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. will, at some point, extend them a measure of mercy. But, the truth they haven’t discov- ered is, they have more power to initiate change than they realize.
Colin Powell alluded to this power 12 years ago when he was
need to take to get there. Here’s what I suggest for you to do so you can seal the deal on your dreams with a concrete plan.
Get intentional about suc- cessfully achieving your dreams by developing a strategic plan. It is said that wherever your focus goes is what grows in your life. Focus on your dreams.
Think through a step by step process of what it will take for you to get the end results you desire. Write down these steps as a guide to steer you to- ward your dreams.
Each step can then be bro- ken down in to smaller more at- tainable steps that once accomplished allows you to move forward to the next step. To get to that big dream you have to start with smaller tasks.
Work through those tasks on a daily basis. I like to call
the Secretary of State. During the build-up of the war in Iraq he was asked if he would con- sider using federal inmates to fight instead of risking the lives of American soldiers? In his re- sponse Powell stated (and I’m paraphrasing) that he had zero faith in the ability of inmates making good soldiers since they haven’t displayed any amount of courage to free themselves from their current situations where they outnumber prison staff 10- 1 on the average.
Powell chalked up this in- mate passiveness to a cowardly nature and didn’t see how the characteristic could translate to the battlefield. In that state- ment, however, Powell made an assertion to something that many overlooked... The strength large inmate populations pos- sess inside of their environ- ments.
This isn’t to say that prison- ers should resort to taking over prisons, ala Attica, to bring at- tention to their cause. In the end engaging in that kind of violence would do more to justify the stance of anti-prison reformist and, ultimately, only make mat- ters worse.
Powell’s words, though, spoke volumes about the power that exists in numbers; espe- cially when those numbers are responsible for generating mil- lions of dollars for government and private entities.
The solution isn’t for in- mates to clinch their fingers to- gether to raise a fist. It lies in
this the “OWE” plan. You owe it to yourself to live your dream. The O.W.E. plan is simple. It means One Way Everyday. Choose one way every day to work on completing a step that will be instrumental to you in making your dream a reality.
Time is of the essence, so create a timeline for yourself to complete each task. Stick to it. Some days may be more chal- lenging that others but don’t stop moving the direction of your dreams.
If you have to crawl, then crawl until you can get up on your feet and walk. Just don’t stop! Crawl until you can walk. Once you start walking, don’t slow down. Accelerate the pace of your walk until you can start running toward your destiny. Once you’re running, keep run- ning until the wings beneath your dream causes you to soar!
I would love to continue to help you develop your dreams. Join me on my weekly Thurs- day Night Training calls Dial in:1-857-232-0156 Enter Con- ference Code: 864720.
Let’s get connected through social media: on Facebook: Selphenia Nichols Success Coach To Women or Insta- gram: @selphenia or on Twitter: queenofsuccess1.
them doing the exact opposite. Relaxing their hands and not doing anything at all.
In today’s economic environ- ment, where money is the ruler of the day, the potential of los- ing cash is the only thing most corporations truly understand. And when you think about the financial repercussions that would be felt throughout the state of Florida and the federal system if no one showed up to print license plates, or in the case of the feds, work at Unicor factories, it’s not a stretch to as- sume that a level of panic would take hold inside the offices of the Department Of Corrections and the Bureau Of Prisons. It is just something about contracts being lost due to a lack of pro- duction that forces the higher ups to take notice.
Of course, this course of ac- tion won’t be easy. The planta- tion owners aren’t going to simply free their slave labor without a fight. There will defi- nitely be some serious push back.
Lock downs, privileges taken, and maybe even some mental and physical abuse will occur. But a certain bit of sacrifice and discomfort should be expected when the stakes are this high.
As far as I’m concerned, if a person isn’t willing to lose a lit- tle in order to gain a lot, then I can only assume that the condi- tions being complained about aren’t really that bad after all. And, if that’s indeed the case, tears should dry up because however much time is slated to be done should never be an issue.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bulletin Pub- lishing Company. Anyone wish- ing to contact Clarence Barr can email him at: therealcbarr2@yahoo.com.
More Powerful Than They Know
Rich Black Kids Are More Likely To Go To Prison Than Poor White Kids: Now It’s Official!
TUESDAY, APRIL 12 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
Child Abuse Awareness Month
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