Page 5 - 6-9-15 Tuesday's Edition

Editorials
Standing For Peace And Justice Against Rampant Killings in Black Communities
An Applause And A Challenge!
D o you know their names? Have you ever counted them? Hillsborough Public high schools, we’re talking about. There are 28 of them. In alphabetical order, they are Alonso High School, Armwood, Blake, Bloomingdale, Brandon, Chamberlain, Durant, East Bay, Freedom, Gaither, Hillsbor- ough, Jefferson, King, Lennard, Leto, Middleton, Newsome, Plant City, Plant, Riverview, Robinson, Sickles, Spoto, Stein- brenner, Strawberry Crest, Tampa Bay Technical, Tampa
Marine Evening, and Wharton.
And together, they and high schools across America have
done something so astounding that it is considered nothing less than a miracle. By the millions, young Americans grad- uate.
But here, in Hillsborough County, even now, thousands of shoe soles are padding their way across auditorium stages, and for one swift moment, the dream of America – where equality is the rule and knowledge is the road – is the song that every high school graduate proudly sings.
So, we have news for haters and drive-by-boys: You can’t kill excellence, no matter how hard you try. So, better than murdering your own brothers and sisters, why don’t you get yourselves back in school so you, too, can walk across that oaken stage with a diploma in your hand, rather than a gun in your fist. After all, you can’t kill envy with a bullet.
Know that we also tried to find the number of Hillsbor- ough County high schoolers graduating this year. It was im- possible. Their numbers were like raindrops on an ocean. But suffice it to say, as long as the line keeps winding, and the mortar board tassels continue to twist from right to left, the dream of excellence shall prevail.
Drive-by-Boys, you can’t kill the dream. But you can make the dream a reality by graduating.
Put down your anger. Pick up a book.
When we think of the one million working Floridians who will never earn enough money to afford adequate health insurance, and when we consider Governor Rick
“I’ve Got Mine; You Get Yours” Scott and his Republican cronies who refuse to accept health insurance for citizens by using federal Medicaid funds, we are reminded bitterly of the Medieval European peasant class who lived under the thumb of unfeeling overlords.
Indeed, we ask our readers who currently have health in- surance to imagine working their entire lives never to be able to afford health insurance coverage . . . in other words, living like a peasant during the Dark Ages.
Much like Medieval peasants who lived during a time when life was dictated by wealth, power, status, and a brutal feudal system, Florida’s working poor rarely have any money left after paying rent, buying food, and gas or bus fare. If you were born a peasant, that’s usually how you died.
Comparatively, Florida’s so-called peasantry would probably die without health insurance if left up to certain Conservative robber-barons. However, despite Governor Scott’s George-Wallace-style stance on not accepting federal Medicaid funds, we applaud the 22 Tampa Bay Area busi- ness leaders who wrote letters to Governor Scott urging him to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid coverage to the working poor. At least, these business leaders get it.
Meanwhile, the Florida Senate recently passed a meas- ure that would provide subsidized health insurance to more than 800,000 low-income working Floridians. Therefore, we urge the Florida House of Representatives to support the measure. Using Medicaid expansion funds to help Florida citizens receive health care not only shows compassion and common decency, but it makes good fiscal sense as well, even during these dark ages.
Black families across the coun- try are being traumatized and whole neighborhoods are being destroyed by an epidemic of homi- cide that’s sweeping the nation and thousands gathered in Wash- ington DC on Saturday, June 6 to demand that the country’s political leaders develop a public policy agenda that addresses homicide as a public health crisis.
Led by Mothers in Charge (MIC), a grass roots Philadelphia- based organization with chapters in six states, families and commu- nity residents from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, New York and Washington DC are expected to gather at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday morning to draw attention to homicide as a national tragedy.
Two dozen organizations that are members of the Institute of the Black World’s (IBW) Black Family Summit, along with several other national organizations from around the country are supporting the MIC’s Washington rally under the banner of “Standing for Peace and Justice.”
“Murder has claimed the lives of our loved ones, traumatized our families, and damaged our neigh- borhoods and communities for too long,” said Dorothy Johnson- Speight, executive director of Mothers in Charge, who lost her son to senseless violence a few
Marc H. Morial, President and CEO National Urban League
“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin
All across the country, people are gathering to observe an an- nual academic rite of passage: graduation. In a scene that will be played out countless times during this season of celebration, family and friends will dutifully take their seats in auditoriums and open fields around the na- tion and proudly look on as their loved ones walk across stages to receive their diplomas or degrees and, finally, turn the tassel on their graduation caps.
This tradition holds much more significance than its pri- mary function as the formal recognition of a student’s aca- demic achievement. It is also firmly rooted in our American belief that education—particu- larly higher education—is the key to greater opportunity and the chance to live the American dream.
The era when a high school diploma was enough to climb the ladder into America’s middle class is long gone. In today’s in- creasingly high-tech society, it is a college education, or degree, that has become the minimum requirement for that climb up
years ago. “We call on all people of good will to stand with us to re- duce the violence and heal our communities as we stand and speak for those who speak no more.”
Leading up to Saturday’s na- tional rally, the organizers have put out a “call to action” not only to the public policy makers but also to members of the business, health care, education, faith-based and non-profit sectors to increase awareness of homicide and vio- lence and to expand research, pro- gramming and funding related to this epidemic.
Recent studies indicate that homicide is the leading cause of death among African-American men ages 15-34 in the United States. Most of these cases are pre- ventable. In the USA, the rate of unintentional death for children under the age of 18 is 10 times higher than the rate in other in- dustrialized countries. The likeli- hood of a youth being murdered in the USA is 13 times higher than in other industrialized democracies.
Homicide and gun violence have severely impacted both the mental health and physical safety of community residents, particu- larly in the inner cities of America. Exposure to violence has been linked to depression, to domestic abuse, to increased rates of aggres- sion, to forms of anxiety disorders
our nation’s social and economic opportunity ladders. Access to college, therefore, cannot remain a privilege afforded to a few when it has become a prerequi- site to achieve greater success by the many.
In recognition of this endur- ing state of academic affairs, the National Urban League is spear- heading the “Equity and Excel- lence Project.” The project — which has six areas of academic focus tightly related to our orga- nization’s mission, including common core standards and im- proved access to high-quality curricula and effective teachers— has also made college attain- ment, and most importantly, completion one of its priorities.
The higher education initia- tive of the “Equity and Excel- lence” project is currently being run at three National Urban League affiliates: The Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, The Urban League of Springfield and the Urban League of Lexing- ton-Fayette County. In those communities, communities that mirror so many Black and Brown communities in our country, na- tional and local advocacy and en- gagement efforts are underway to ensure that more of our young people go to college.
Right now, there is much to celebrate in our country when it comes to academic achievement in African-American and Latino
such as post-traumatic stress and to physical conditions such as asthma and obesity.
“Our children are not innately more violent than children in other advanced countries,” says Dr. Ron Daniels, President of the Institute of the Black World (IBW). “The use of violence is a learned response. The presence and easy access to illegally-owned guns means that when our chil- dren and youth have disputes, rather than a fist fight, it has be- come a gun fight. Compared to other industrialized countries, the widespread presence of handguns accounts for these statistical differ- ences in youth homicide, murder and injury.”
Integral to prevention and reduc- tion efforts is changing societal norms and values. The issue of homicide goes beyond an “urban problem” and encompasses US society’s tolerance for violence, for racial discrimination and for ram- pant inequalities in the areas of in- come, housing and education, all of which are contributing factors to gun violence which takes the lives of some 30 youth per day in the USA.
“With our Call to Action we are emphasizing the need to act now to solve the major public health crisis of homicide,” said Johnson- Speight. “To reduce homicide and violence in our communities we need public policies that support our efforts on the ground. Our youth must be protected from senseless violence and death and adequate investments need to be made in the research of trauma and in public education around this crisis.”
communities. Today, we enjoy the highest high school gradua- tion rates in history. More stu- dents of color are in college and dropout rates are at historic lows. But more work lies ahead. De- spite the fact that more Blacks and Hispanics are getting a col- lege education than ever before, there is a gap in postsecondary attainment. In 2013, about 15% of Hispanics had a bachelor’s de- gree or higher, degree attain- ment was at 20% for African Americans and 40% for whites, according to recent Pew Re- search Center analysis.
When a young man or woman is denied access to opportunity through education, we all lose. That potential graduate loses a well-known and well-worn path to individual success. College Board research demonstrated that people with bachelor de- grees earned over $21,000 more than high school graduates. Peo- ple with some college and no postsecondary degree earned 14% more than high school grad- uates who worked full time. When young people are not ob- taining postsecondary degrees, our nation suffers from the loss of their talent, their increased tax revenues, their civic engagement and more.
As was often quoted by Pres. John F. Kennedy, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” We need to rethink our funding of grants, we need to take a serious look at our student loan system, we—as a nation—need to confront head on all the obstacles to equity in access to quality postsecondary education. The return on our in- vestment of the time, effort and money necessary to increase col- lege attainment and completion, would be a competitive Ameri- can workforce, a stronger econ- omy and thriving communities.
Education Reform: The Equity And Excellence Project
The Middle Ages And Medicaid
TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5