Teach!

Teaching our children is very important because as a parent you must send your child to school young black males often grow up and single parent homes and then they go to school and get taught life lessons by women. Parents are speaking out about the shortage of black male teachers; Black men make up 5 percent of Jackson-Madison County Schools' 1,140 teachers. Only four black men teach on the elementary level, while there are 36 in the high schools, according to the school system's human resource department. Black men and women make up about 28 percent of the teachers in the system, while about 60 percent of the student population is black. Educators say it is important for black students, particularly boys, to see positive black role models in the classroom. Black male teachers are important mentors, and in some cases father figures, to black male students. The relationships the teachers build can help curtail behavioral problems and keep students and track toward graduation and academic success, educators say. It is time for Black men to become teachers in order to provide the positive examples that our community needs this is a big void that desperately needs to be filled.

Why did I ger married?

I recently went to the movies to see Tyler Perry’s new film “Why did I get married Too” I am not a Tyler Perry fan at all but I decided that I would watch the first part of the sequel Why did I get married which was collecting dust in the corner of my DVD collection and then go see what the fuss was about. When I got to the movie I decided I would have an open mind while watching the film. The film was actually good and it displayed different couples and the problems they go through. The movie was a little over the top in certain situations but I was worried it would depict African Americans in a bad light but I was definitely happy with how the movie was written. The only thing I didn’t like was the ending. But I would encourage young African Americans to go check the movie out it will have you take a look into your own relationships.

New Amerykah?

Erykah Badu is an artist that I grew up listening to. I have always loved her music and her creativity. I look at her as a very brave influential artist. The reason why I love her is because she always thinks outside the box. Recently she has returned to music with her new album “New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh. Although the album has been released all the major buzz has been about her new video for the single “window seat.” The video ends with the singer being shot and killed at the exact same location of President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination. She walks down the block taking off her clothes until she is shot. She uses this video as symbolism and at the end she recites this “They who play it safe, are quick to assassinate what they do not understand. They move in packs, ingesting more and more fear with every act of hate on one another. They feel most comfortable in groups – less guilt to swallow,” as I watched the video over and over to see what point she was trying to make I listened to many people say that they were offended or that she was crazy. I came to the conclusion the Erykah is the definition of an artist and this video is a genius display of her individuality.I appreciate what she is doing for music especially for the African American community because her music makes us think. It's a breath of fresh air to hear music and videos that make us think and do more than just get the promote partying.