Rosa Smith, former superintendent of the Columbus, Ohio, schools, had an epiphany one morning when she read some statistics about U.S. prison population. Some 75% of the prison population, she found, is Latino or African-American, and 80% are functionally illiterate. She felt a new sense of purpose: Her work was no longer about teaching math or science, but about saving lives!

This is the attitude we must adopt if we are to save our children in urban schools, and schools in predominantly Black communities all over this country. There is a call to arms that we must all embrace. Failure is not an option!

When we look around us, we see widespread evidence of an education crisis in urban communities. In a study released in 2006 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the study estimates that . . . just 52% of blacks graduate, and 57% of Hispanics. Fourteen urban school districts have on-time graduation rates lower than 50%; they include Detroit, Baltimore, New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Denver and Houston.

If we are to save our children, we must embrace an education imperative that refuses to allow our children to face a new world that they are unprepared for. There are many programs that are being initiated to stem this tide. In Columbus, Ohio, Gene Harris, the current superintendent, is committed to raising the graduation rate from 72% today to 90% for the class of 2012. Her plan, Project Mentor, calls for 10,000 volunteers to mentor

I recently read an article facilitated by The Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. titled, Whites Underestimate the Cost of Being Black. The basic observation of the research by Phil Mazzocco is “While there has been progress in making racial conditions in American more equal, there's clearly a lot more work to be done,” he said. “Blacks and whites are not experiencing the same America.”

As we approach this Independence Day, I began to ponder the “cost of being Black.”

Independence has a very different meaning for African Americans, and that leaves many of us ambivalent as we watch the fireworks and hear the marching bands and see the parades celebrating our nation’s independence. Freedom for Black Americans came more than 100 years after the Declaration of Independence, and still is characterized by huge gaps in the fruits of independence.

As we look back on our own independence, and evaluate our progress, we are not far removed from the indignities observed by Frederick Douglass , in his Independence Day Speech on the fourth of July, 1852. At that point in the history of our nation – he made this observation:

“At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh! had I the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would today pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle

Once, I asked a friend to define success. When have we achieved that pinnacle of success?”  The answer was “Only too much is enough.”

Successful achievers never tire and rest on their laurels – not Tiger Woods, or Jesse Jackson, Magic Johnson, Cornell West, Tavis Smiley, Oprah Winfrey, or Barack Obama. We all know the household names. But we also know teachers, and social workers and foster parents, and preachers and community activists, and entrepreneurs, and parents who never tire of seeking a better outcome for themselves and their families – our community.

I looked around our virtual community to find examples of African Americans committed to this concept in making our community stronger. What I found was tremendously encouraging. We should not be discouraged by what seem to be overwhelming negative outcomes. There are many more examples of positive contributions that don’t get the national headlines that the negative reports receive. To be sure, we should not be satisfied with current outcomes. Too many of our children are living in poverty without proper healthcare; too many of our teenagers are not graduating from high school; college enrollments are not growing fast enough; and the wealth gap persists.

There is also a positive side to this story that gets lost in the statistics. There are more entrepreneurs, professionals and college educated African Americans than ever in our history. Who stopped counting the ones that went before us

Father’s Day doesn’t receive the support that Mother’s Day receives.  As I have observed this phenomenon, I have concluded that there are many reasons.  There may be an assumption that mothers are loved more, or fathers loved less.  I think the real answer lies in performance.  I learned long ago in the military service that respect is “earned not commanded.”  In the military, all enlisted men must salute commissioned officers.  They must stand at attention when an officer comes into a room.  This comes with the rank and the uniform of an officer. This is not respect.  In the military it is know as “military courtesy.”  You see, the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines can require its men and women to observe “military courtesy,” but they cannot require them to respect the people in the uniforms.  That must be earned.

It seems to me that many more mothers have “earned” the honor that is bestowed on them on Mother’s Day.  That is why you cannot get a reservation at a restaurant.  That is why children travel long distances, and the telephone lines are busy, flowers and cards are sold out.  Mothers earn this honor because they are always there for their children – through thick and thin.  No one has to command children – even non-biological children – to respect, or honor, or show courtesy to mothers.  Often times, the gatherings include immediate and extended families.  Fathers are different.

On Father’s Day, when my family takes me out to dinner, I get the