The Pew Research Center reported, "African Americans see a widening gulf between the values of middle class and poor blacks, and nearly four-in-ten say that because of the diversity within their community, blacks can no longer be thought of as a single race." Black people can now play out this doomsday scenario with a clear conscience and without remorse for the dismal future we are creating for our children. Now that Pew has done its research and revealed that Black people are so fragmented by "class," is there any reason for us to continue to espouse collective and cooperative anything among our people?

You have heard the saying, "He who defines you controls you."  Well, Black folks have now been defined for what may well be the final time, because if we accept the "spinning" of the Pew report, it will be the death-knell that many have longed to hear since free Black labor went out of style. 

The Black Star Project

Parents and Community Must Be Involved to Successfully Educate Black Students in Chicago Public Schools
 
 
(Chicago) -   Phillip Jackson, executive director of The Black Star Project, and one hundred Black parents presented a plan to the Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday, November 14, 2007.  They asked Rufus Williams, board president, to join them in an effort to successfully educate Black children, as well as all children.  Williams agreed to work with Black parents to fix this problem.  In 2003, less than 30% of Black 11th-grade students passed the Prairie State Achievement Exam in reading.  Five years later in 2007, that number dropped to 27%.  That means one out of four Black Chicago public school students cannot read at grade level as they prepare to graduate from high school.

It is quite clear that African people in America continue to be mis-educated. This problem is discussed in a variety of ways in conversations everyday in our communities throughout America.

From time to time we should consult the wisdom of those who have addressed this problem whom we may have forgotten. One such person who addressed this problem is the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, when he presented his formula for learning in his courses on African Philosophy in the 1930s. I think it is only appropriate to review Mr. Garvey's formula for learning as we continue to build the Reparations Movement and seek specific guideposts to our development as a people.