Comments for THE BLACK MAN HAVE MADE BLACK BOYS EXTINCT - NOT THE PRISON SYSTEM. at http://www.izania.com , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://www.izania.com Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:20:16 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.izania.com/blog/default-category/the-black-man-have-made-black-boys--extinct-%11-not-the-prison-system./#comment-325 I understand your point about what our Black boys learn "outside their homes." It is doubly bad when their fathers are missing from those homes. Sadly, we may have reached the bottom of the social ladder, when black men must learn from black boys. Especially if the Black men in question have nothing to teach the black boys. Perhaps "a child shall lead them." When children are making babies, they have nothing to teach the babies -- after they have dropped out and become a part of the justice (just us) system. They return to their communities as physically grown men, but they have missed the intellectual development to function as men. They have to adapt to alternative means of learning. Unfortunately, these alternative means don't lead to upwardly mobile outcomes. Finally, it hurts when bright young minds have not been channeled to learn traditional academic subjects in math and science. They may be able to "reverse engineer the exploitation of the technology" but they won't be inventors, producers, sellers, and creators of wealth. This is especially true of those who are behind bars. I am still an advocate of education as the tool that enables upward mobility, escape, lifelong learning. I like your depiction of those who are "undercover smart," but they will remain undereducated, underemployed, and exposed to over-representation in our prisons and jails. Roger Madison www.izania.com - Roger Madison Jr. Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:19:40 +0100 http://www.izania.com/blog/default-category/the-black-man-have-made-black-boys--extinct-%11-not-the-prison-system./#comment-322 I am not an advocate of meeting them at the PlayStation terminal to validate that they don't need to go to school. We have let the inmates take over the asylum, and we don't know anymore who is in charge. Roger Madison Jr. [b][/b] Dear brother Roger Madison Whether an advocate or not we must make way for the young folks. It is not incumbent on us to teach them it is required that they now teach us. Even the smallest technology learned by the most unruly black boy is enough to send our heads spinning. Our young black girls and boys know math the way we have never seen equations displayed. The technology of applied science utilized by young black boys will blow your mind and make your legs weak if you were to witness how young black boys use it prisons across this country to create amenities in their prison cells such as lights, matches or liquids. In tyhe free world the first thing black young boys and girls do when they receive Ipods, cell phones, computers or cars is throw away the instruction manual because operating technological devices is inherent upon them, it is second nature whereas the first thing we older people look for is the instruction manual and even at that we discard the device long before we exhaust or use half of the technological advantages offered by the device. How many cell phones and computers have we upgraded or traded in without using the device to its highest and best use? Black boys that are functioning illiterates are smarter than we are. Our young black boys may not have mother wit or common sense but they are proficient in electronics, auto mechanics, art, music and countless other academic pursuits. As parents, guardians and shepards we have failed black boys and girls by not providing the stability of food, shelter, clothing. Our young black boys are homeless because their parents are homeless. They are struggling because their parents are struggling. They are running the home because we have abandoned the home. Their is no escaping the glaring indictment that our lack of evolution, progress and stability has cost us the benefit of having our children growing up to be a blessing to us. Enoch Mubarak President & CEO Mubarak Inter-prizes www.mubarakinter-prizes.com [b][/b] - Enoch Mubarak Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:01:45 +0100 http://www.izania.com/blog/default-category/the-black-man-have-made-black-boys--extinct-%11-not-the-prison-system./#comment-319 Enoch, I have read this blog post multiple times in an effort to construct a meaningful response. I have been particularly drawn to your statement: [quote]African American institutions, black politicians and black minister leaders cry out because the black youth have no role models but yet they don't exercise, read. nor do they present themselves as role models nor do they possess a commanding aura.[/quote] I have worked with individuals in many of the organizations that you mention, and I have observed that their basic intentions are good. Thy are doing their very best in most cases. You are correct about some of the methods, but I wouldn't necessarily blame them for the problem. Here is a particularly interesting observation that you make: [quote]The leaders and institutions of today lack vision, insight and courage. They can't relate to the young black youth of today because they are old, obsolete, seriously out of touch and are afraid of young black boys. [/quote] I spend a lot of time mentoring young Black boys, and I try to assess what is different about the young boys of today and the time when my son was a young boy (he is 37 years old now). I saw the connection between his "view of the future" and my "view of the past" in your observation. However, there is a difference. And there was a difference when I was a boy. All youth rebel against authority. However, in my youth, and during my son's youth (at least in my household), there was a built in "respect for authority" even though we disagreed. I recall thinking this about my father when I was young: [b]When I am an adult, I will do things differently -- I will have a different relationship with my children, I will have different rules in my home, I will spend my time differently."[/b] The operative pre-condition was, "when I am an adult." I accepted that there were community norms, and family norms, and parenting norms that I disagreed with. But I also accepted that perhaps the wisdom of older folks had some value and wisdom that I needed to gain before setting out on my own. I recall the quote from Mark Twain: "When I was 17, I thought my father to be the dumbest man in the world. I was surprised how much he learned by the the time I was 21." Often times today, we turn the world over to the 17 year-olds, and the 14 year-olds, and the 10 year-olds. When we displayed disrespectful attitudes, or spoke disrespectfully, my grandmother would say, "I will slap the stupid out of your mouth." So, the point is not whether an adult can play X-box or Playstation games. Sometimes, we need to slap these games out of the children's hands and send them back to school when they drop out. You may not be recommending this, but I am not an advocate of meeting them at the Playstation terminal to validate that they don't need to go to school. We have let the inmates take over the assylum, and we don't know anymore who is in charge. Or perhaps what has happened is that the inmates have escaped and now have more influence than strong community values. - Roger Madison Jr. Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:11:49 +0100