"BORN TO BE LOVED; LOVE TO BE HATED!"
His Anger Teaches Everybody Reality!!
It's your boy BOBBEE BEE "THE HATER" aka the trouble maker from the "city of brotherly love" I am an obnoxious, opinionated, third grader whose ego is bigger than T.O.! I am an "odd"combination of Terrell Owens, KOBE Bryant, Rasheed Wallace, and Allen Iverson!
by Eric D. Graham #TheRapProfessor. If you like what you are learning ($JeffreyBarnes)
In recent years, the Hollywood movie industry has
come flocking to eastern North Carolina, thanks to the state's generous tax
breaks and the region's picturesque geography and historical landmarks.
In the wake of locally filmed blockbusters such
as "Iron-Man 3" and "The Hunger Games" a small independently produced movies have also begun cropping up from the state's fertile soil,
movies that focus on the day to day struggles of North Carolina's citizens to
tell smaller, but perhaps even more important stories.
Brothers Terrence and Eric Graham are two members
of a generation of artists attempting to tell those stories. Over the course of
three years, the Magnolia natives wrote, directed and produced the feature film
"Bobbee Bee the Hater," which chronicles the life a young man
struggling with self-confidence. The brothers describe the movie, which they
premiered at James Sprunt Community College on September 21, as a
"psychological comedy that takes a journey into the mind of a teenager
trying to cope with his anger."
The movie themes are rooted in the life
experiences of both Terrence and Eric, who have witnessed first hand the issues
that plague many young adults and have developed creative learning tools to
help those in need address their problems more effectively.
Older brother Terrance, 43, is a graduate of
North Carolina A&T State University who received a bachelor's degree in
psychology and a master's degree in psychology and a master's degree in agency
counseling.An Army Reserve veteran who
did a tour of duty during the Gulf War, Terrence has worked as a child
therapist since 1998 and currently runs his own practice, Graham Moore and
Clark, in Raleigh.
According to Terrence, his career path was set at
an early age.
"As a child I always wanted to be an
entertainer or a psychologist, he remembered. "I knew I always wanted to
work with children. I used to love reading comic books; I loved to draw. I used
to sell my comics at Rose Hill-Magnolia Elementary."
As a professional psychologist, Terrence said he
now incorporates that love of art in his children's therapy sessions, using his
books and drawing to help those he works with create their own superhero or
super villain characters.
Several year's younger than his brother, Eric
formerly worked as a sports reporter for the Wallace Enterprise and
Warsaw-Faison News and is a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, where
he received a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication in Radio & Television.
Currently, he is the editor and chiefof
Black Athlete Sports Network in Harlem, N.Y., where his articles appear daily
along with his cartoon "Here Comes The Hater," which features Bobbee
Bee, the inspiration for the movie character.
Like his brother, Eric is also a familiar face to
schoolchildren, having worked in Duplin County classrooms using the characters
he's created to educate and entertain students.
Bobbee Bee made his initial appearance in 2004 in
the first of a series of children's books, "In the Mind of Bobbee
Bee," which were co-authored by the Graham brothers. The books follow the
misadventures of the title character, who describes himself as "an
obnoxious, opinionated, third grader who ego is bigger than T.O.! I am an odd
combination of Terrell Owens, Kobe Bryant, Rasheed Wallace, and Allen
Iverson!"
Eric said the concept of the book series came
from watching his brother's son, William Shakur, and the influences he drew
from sports and Hip-Hop culture.
"Most child psychologists say at the age of
10 many African-American males begin to have behavioral problems in the school
system, so we tried to find a way to counter that," he explained. "We
developedcharacters that mimic real
life situations. We have books that deal with divorce and another where a child
loses a father in war-all things may cause a child to act out in school."
Eric said the stories also touch on some of the
grim realities faced by children, such as gangs and drugs.
"We wanted to make it educational but
entertaining," said Eric, "which was difficult thing to pull
off."
The film is rated PG-13 for mild language and
"a hint of violence."
"It's a clean film but you have to make the
characters believable," said Eric.
To play Bobbee Bee, the brothers turned to the
young man who the character sprang from, William Shakur. " It's a film
about his life and upbringing and our relationship," and Terrence.
"It's about his struggle."
Terrence said one of the biggest challenges of
"Bobbee Bee The Hater" was convincing his son of the film's importance.
"He was very resistant and reluctant at
first.
"It took a lot of sitting down and talking
to get him to be into it. At first he thought it was silly, but once he started
believing in what the script was saying and the script was saying and the
impact he'd after the movie came out, he was fine."
To represent the issues that Bobbee Bee faces in
the film, the Graham's used the unique device of personifying his conflicts in
the form of "THE HATER," anthropomorphic basketball who grimaces like
an angry pit-bull.
"It represents him getting cut from the
basketball team; it also represents his self hatred and insecurities,"
explained Terrence.
The Grahams said they began planning the movie in
2010.
"We had the idea to make a bigger impact
using visuals of the book. We sat down and made a plan and developed a company
5 Foot Productions, to do the film.
With the script written by Eric, the brothers set
out with one movie camera and 65 eager but inexperienced actors, including
approximately 40 Duplin County Natives.
"We're not actors, directors or script
writers -we're first time everything," said Terrence. "We're all
learning on the job."
With a shoot that encompassed location in
Virginia, Washington, D.C. , Winston-Salem, Raleigh, Magnolia, and Kenansville,
the Grahams said that traveling and pressures of filming formed the cast into a
tight, family.
"We didn't rely on professional
actors," added ERIC. "It's people in the community who I thought had
characterthat could be reflected in the
film, I just think there's a whole lot of untapped talent in Duplin
County."
Terrence said filming for "BOBBEE BEE THE
HATER" wrapped in March 2013. Having shot eight hours of film, theGrahams then faced the daunting task of
putting together a coherent, 92-minute movie.
To help with the editing,the brothers turned to DARIUS
"Boodaddy" CARR, a JAMES KENAN High school graduate who attended
Living Arts College in Raleigh. Carr also helped put together the film's
soundtrack.
"I think he did an excellent job under a lot
of pressure. This was his first film as well," commented Terrence.
"It took a lot of hard work."
While he admits to few technical issues he'd like
to see corrected with the film, Eric said, overall, he's more than pleased with
the final results..
"I really do think it's an award-winning
film. It's original and we cover a whole lot of issues.
We commemorate the legacy of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, also known as Malcolm X, on the day he was assassinated, February 21st, 1965.
Words cannot describe his revolutionary contributions to the struggle for liberation and self-determination.
We can only witness the products of his words and actions in the work that goes on to this day by warriors who he inspired to fight and free us all from what Malcolm called, “this miserable condition that exists on this earth.” We must see in our organizing work that there are thousands upon thousands of potential Malcolm X’s, from the rotten schools to the prisons.
There is hope.
He famously said, “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.”
So we ask you, where do you stand in the face of injustice?
Rest in Power Malcolm. You will never die as long as we fight for the change you hoped to see.
To understand the development of what we call salsa today, we need to examine its historical and cultural development from the time when en-slaved African people were shipped to the Americas, including the Caribbean.
From its African roots, salsa first developed in Cuba. As Thomas Guerrero, the Director of Santo Rico Dance Company has said, the origins of salsa lie in Africa and the Cuba.
It became popular throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, and finally made its way to mainland America and even the U.K. It is now truly global.
Salsa music is sometimes described as the African drum and the Spanish guitar which is African in origin. The guitar was brought into Spain by the Moors of North Africa who conquered Spain in AD 711. In 1492 they were overrun by the house of Castile and Oregon and ousted out of Spain.
The Catholic Church banned Moorish stringed instruments from being played in the streets.
Interestingly enough 1492 also saw the arrival of Christobel Colon in the Americas and the beginning of the removal and destruction of native people and cultures.
In the Age of Spanish Colonisation of South and Central America approximately 700,000 Africans were taken to Cuba.
Spanish political and ecclesiastical authorities put great pressure upon them to accept Catholicism; but a number of them, who came to reside in the remotest parts of eastern Cuba, enjoyed more freedom to practice their own African traditions and ways of perceiving God (the ALL).
With the Richie Incignito’s bullying case back in the news, we, at Blackathlete.net, felt that this article was worth re-publishing. Enjoy.
NORTH CAROLINA-(BASN)-Miami Dolphins’ Richie Incignito’s locker boasted: “There are two things I don’t like taxes and rookies.”
Case closed.
There is no other evidence needed in this court case.
Because, I am pretty sure Incignito is a man of his word.
For, Icignito’s hatred for “rookies” has gotten him in a lot of trouble throughout his turbulent nine-year NFL career, which in 2009 earned him to be named the dirtiest player in a poll conducted by Sporting News.
And, even though, hate is a word we “HATE” to use, it is a word which former NFL defensive player Lawrence Jackson used to describe Incignito on Twitter on Monday. “Hate is a strong word but I’ve always hated Incignito. Just for perspective, he’s the guy that makes you want to spit in his face……”
Unfortunately, for Incognito, who has admitted battling anger issues and bouts with depression, is currently the new face of bullying and hazing in the NFL after a voicemail left for his team mate Jonathan Martin was released to the media.
But, oddly, I feel that he probably will wear this label with a badge of honor like the tattoo that covers his huge arms.
Therefore, in this discussion involving Incognito’s behavior in locker room, I turn to the wisdom of Oprah Winfrey, who once stated, “Hurt people; hurt people.”
While this Aha-moment tries to simplify a complicated issue of hazing in the locker room, the bully in the locker room, is like the 800-pound Gorilla in the room, which nobody wants to recognize.
All of this pure speculation, however, only my bias opinion, which can’t be backed-up by any evidence whatsoever in this case involving Incognito-and-Martin, it simply provides sports fans a peak into the mindset of a football player in the NFL.
For this reason, I feel Incognito is the classic example of a bully, who wrecks havoc everywhere he goes.
Matter of fact, his inflated self-esteem, emotional flatness, and lack of conscience, which is probably driven by his quest for power, dominance and uncontrollable rush to create senseless “chaos,” is simply a facade to hide his insecurity in a league, where he, literally, was a nobody.
Why? Do I say this? Because, I have had first-hand experience of witnessing a white player similar to Incognito in my time as a football player at a HBCU, who was embraced, accepted and protected by other Black players, who in their own ignorance, gave him a “ghetto-pass” to tell “Black Mama jokes, sleep with Black girls, and fight other Black players on the team even while attending a Black college.
As a result, with the bloody rampage of a white kid in a league dominated by African-Americans, Incognito probably fully emerged himself into the locker room’s sub-culture, where the N-word was spit out of player’s mouth frequently, as a term of endearment.
Therefore, after developing a “streetwise” attitude, which probably involved “mastering” a few “black handshakes,” wearing his football starter cap backwards and listening to a “little” Hip-Hop in between, Incognito was eventually considered “cool” by a couple of Black players due to way he handled his “business” on and off the field.
And, gradually, overtime, a player, who probably was still searching to find his own identity and a permanent home in a league, where careers are short and friendships fleeting, started to believe he was “one of the homeboys” after being called “cool” and referred to as begin “down” shamefully was allowed to comfortably without repercussion to use the “N-word” in the presence of other Black players, while bullying another African-American player without protest.
For this reason, Incognito is a conformist and a coward, who in his attempt to bully another Black player, was only seeking shelter or group protection in fear of losing his own position and social status in a hierarchy of bullies, who roam the locker room.
In effect, he always found himself threatened by in-coming rookies, who probably were more talented than him and terrorized them in order from being terrorized himself or exposed.
Why? Because, deep down, he was probably lonely himself in the locker room full of African-Americans.
So, in his feeling invisible, he became more visible by stereotypically walking around in “blackface” in the locker room while hiding behind his whiteness when it is beneficial in the real world.
Ironically, this has become a reoccurring theme, usually amongst white entertainers like Eminem, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, and recently Miley Cyrus, who seemingly surround themselves around Black bodyguards, who often offer them protection from other black people, while they pretend to be “bad-asses” and “tough” on stage.
Plus, if it is true that the “abused becomes the abuser”, Richie, who like most NFL players, love the structure and the gang camaraderie that the NFL provides.
In effect, they utilize a mob-like mentality while in the lock room in order to bully other players, whom they feel aren’t “tough enough” to be a part of their clan.
Because, surprisingly, NFL teams are actually a type of surrogate family for many players, who often find more comfort in them than their own dysfunctional families at home.
And, sadly, if most players like members of the military, are not submerged in this control-environment, where their lives are structured by schedules, team meetings, practice, and Sunday games, most would spin-out of control.
Therefore, if they are released or cut from their team, their coaches and their extended family with an honorable discharge or dishonorable discharge due to poor performance or bad attitudes, some players feel neglected and rejected, which leads many of them to engage in self-destructive behavior in order to be noticed by taking performance enhanced drugs, fighting in practices, throwing temper tantrums in the locker room, drinking alcohol, or snorting cocaine to cope with their depression.
And, unfortunately, like the military servicemen they emulate on the football field, some of these former fraternity members become homeless and hopeless after years of engaging in combat.
So, in the fear of losing their football livelihood and friends in the locker room, players like Incognito formulate harsh hazing techniques, pranks, scams, con games, death threats, protection rackets and cheap shots in order to preserve their place on a roster of 53 by running away unproven rookies.
It is quite juvenile in nature.
But, extremely effective.
A simple form of Darwin’s “survival of the fittest.”
In effect, the process of manipulation and victimization starts early in training camp.
So, players like Incognito, who have been labeled bullies, become members of hazing committees, where they sniff out the vulnerability and weakness in other young naive players like bloodhounds in order to inflict “a little” pain and misery in their lives, while “guarding” their positions on the team and hiding their insecurities.
Eric D.Graham, a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, where he received a B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in Radio and Television, with a minor in History, with an emphasis in African-American Studies, is currently the Editor and Chief of Black Athlete Sports Network, where his articles appear daily along with his controversial cartoon character Bobbee Bee “The Hater.” Graham can be reached at lbiass34@yahoo.com
Get theNewBlack andGreen BOBBEE BEE THE HATERTEE-SHIRTSwith his favorite motto of"No GUNS, No GANGS, No DRUGS" Every child deserves one: Sizes: ONE SIZE Cost: $25.00Send Checks and Money Orders to: Eric D. Graham Post Office Box 172 Magnolia, North Carolina 28453graham_34_99_2000@yahoo.com
One night before what would have been Jordan Davis’ 19th birthday, a Florida jury has returned with a mistrial verdict for his killer, Michael Dunn, on the count of first-degree murder. Dunn, however, was found guilty on four charges — including three for attempted murder.
That’s right — a white man killed an unarmed Black teenager and just got away with it, using Florida’s so-called “Stand Your Ground” or “Shoot First” law as a deflective shield for this racially-motivated killing.1,2
It’s a gripping comparison and a terrifying continuation of the injustice we saw with Trayvon Martin — with both murders taking place in the same state just months apart. We send our love to Jordan’s family. While the jury was unable to adequately decide the fate of the man who killed their son, we hope that they will still find some peace.
In the years and months since Michael Dunn murdered 17-year old Jordan Russell Davis in cold blood at a convenience store in Jacksonville, his hostility towards Black folks has been made abundantly clear. In a letter to his daughter written from his jail cell while awaiting trial, he wrote, “This may sound a bit radical but if more people would arm themselves and kill these [expletive] idiots when they’re threatening you, eventually they may take the hint and change their behavior.”3 Although not submitted as evidence in the trial, these letters paint a chilling portrait of a man consumed by racial bias, exacting vigilante justice on an unsuspecting — and unarmed — Black child.
Nearly 111,000 ColorOfChange members have called for an end to these laws that undermine public safety and give murderers the opportunity to walk free. “Shoot First” emboldens people like Michael Dunn to kill when and where they see fit and unless we end “Shoot First” laws, we will continue to witness tragedies like the one that took Jordan Davis away from his family. As we accelerate our efforts demanding that state governments oppose and repeal “Shoot First”, we’ll also urge federal officials to investigate how these laws protect and embolden those who commit hate crimes.
ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way.
Of the five children waiting in line at the slide or soaring on the swingset, one of them may be living in poverty.
Roughly 16.1 million kids in the United States now come from families where the total household income is less than the federal poverty level of $23,550 per year for a family of four. Almost half of those kids live in deepest poverty, on household earnings of less than $11,775 per year.
The number of homeless children enrolled in school topped one million at last count. The epidemic is growing fastest in the suburbs, where the number of poor families jumped by 64 percent from 2000 to 2011.
"Families with young children are the poorest segment of our society," says Benard Dreyer, M.D., professor of pediatrics at New York University's School of Medicine and cochair of the Academic Pediatric Association's Task Force on Childhood Poverty.
Research shows that low-income children as young as 9 months of age show weaker cognitive and social development than their advantaged peers.
"Poor mothers of young children are more likely to experience depression, which means they're less likely to talk to and engage with their babies in ways that promote development," explains Sheila Smith, Ph.D., director of the Early Childhood Program at the National Center for Children in Poverty in New York City.
Even when these parents aren't depressed, they may be working long hours, living in unsafe or unstable housing, or struggling to put dinner on the table.
"These children are dealing with all the repercussions of poverty during the crucial years for early brain development," says Dr. Dreyer.
"After these effects take hold in the first three or four years, it's hard to catch up."
More than 30 percent of children in poverty show signs of emotional or behavioral problems, studies show.
Their physical health suffers too: Children born into poverty experience dramatically higher rates of infant mortality and low birth weight. As they grow, they are more likely to struggle with both hunger and weight problems, as well as chronic medical issues like asthma and diabetes. So what's the answer? Childhood poverty is a complex issue, but the solutions don't have to be.
Dr. Dreyer points to the United Kingdom, which cut its rate of children in poverty from 26 percent in 1998 to just 12 percent in 2008 through a series of tax credits, government programs, and its first national minimum wage, which is set at a higher level than in the U.S.
"When there is a national will to fix this problem, it's possible," he says.
At press time, Congress was poised to allow cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, as food stamps are now known) effective November 1, reducing benefits for more than 22 million children.
You can go to parents.com/fight-poverty for a letter to your representative letting him or her know that you want antipoverty programs to be a priority.
•Get the letter to send to your representative. There's more you can do.
Consider making this holiday season a time for your family to help kids in need.
We've compiled a list of incredible nonprofit organizations working on every angle of this issue. They've received a rating of three stars or higher from Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator that assesses charities on their financial health and accountability and transparency--so you can rest assured that your dollars will go directly to where they can do the most good.
In 1986, musician Paul Simon befriended a homeless woman named Marie whom he saw every morning as he walked to his recording studio in New York City. Then one day, Marie wasn't there--and Simon had no way of finding out whether she was okay. He became interested in the problem of homelessness and met child advocate Irwin Redlener, M.D., now a professor of pediatrics at Columbia University (and a Parents advisor), and they spent a day visiting homeless shelters.
They didn't find Marie, though they discovered another disturbing fact: "We saw what was essentially a warehouse for a thousand homeless kids and their families," Dr. Redlener remembers. "And nobody was paying attention to whether they were receiving even the most basic medical care." Together with Dr. Redlener's wife, Karen, they launched the Children's Health Fund (CHF) in a "big blue bus" that housed a state-of-the-art mobile medical clinic.
Today, the organization runs a network of 50 mobile health clinics, as well as more than 200 fixed-site health centers, in underserved, low-income neighborhoods across the country, reaching more than 350,000 poor and homeless children to date.
How You Can Help $25 can get three babies essential immunizations. $50 can buy asthma meds for one child. $100 can help get care for a sick homeless child.
Nevaeh, age 4, had her right leg surgically removed due to a birth disorder.
But her prosthetic leg doesn't stop her from pretending to be a princess or a teacher, says her mom, Candace Sanders, of Union, South Carolina. And Sanders, a single mom of three kids, encourages Nevaeh's imagination.
"I use play to teach my children shapes, numbers, and the alphabet," she says.
"That's how they learn best."
Sanders learned about the importance of play through an early-education program from Save the Children (STC), the iconic nonprofit that has been working to help poor children in the United States since the Great Depression, when it launched a hot-lunch program for hungry schoolchildren in Kentucky.
"The community saw an immediate rise in attendance and academic achievement," says Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of STC. "That became the model for our federal school-lunch program."
Today the global Save the Children movement works to improve children's health, nutrition, and education in 120 countries around the world.
Its early-education programs also serve kids living on Native American reservations, in California farming communities, Appalachia, and the rural South.
"We work to help a community better serve its own children and lift itself up over time," says Miles. "Our philosophy: To have the greatest impact, we cannot do it alone."
How You Can Help For less than $1 per day, sponsor an American child, corresponding via regular updates while providing early-education opportunities, nutrition, and school health.
"In the U.S., you can't always tell someone is hungry just by looking at them," says Debbie Shore, cofounder of Share Our Strength, which she and her brother, Bill, started in response to the Ethiopian famine crisis of 1984.
They expanded their efforts to reach families here at home. "Hungry kids suffer a lifetime of cognitive and physical development challenges."
At Share Our Strength, the focus is on access.
"We have the food supply in this country," Shore notes.
"We also have government programs and services. But of the 21 million kids getting free or reduced-price lunch, only half are also getting free or reduced-price breakfast and only 3 million of them participate in summer feeding programs."
So the No Kid Hungry campaign helps schools make sure that more children take advantage of the school's breakfast program. In one model, teachers can provide grab-and-go options in the classroom. It's working: Kids who participate in school breakfast score an average of 17.5 percent higher on math tests and attend class more often.
How You Can Help December is Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry month. Raise awareness by pledging to end childhood hunger at nokidhungry.org.
Then make a donation; even giving $1 will connect a child in need to up to ten meals.
Like many of the working poor, Gerald falls into an ever-widening gap: The single dad raising three daughters in Boston earns slightly too much to qualify for SNAP but not enough to cover all of the family's bills. So he relies on the Kids Cafe program for a healthy meal and snacks after school. "They serve good food and the girls enjoy it," he says.
Kids Cafe is just one way that Feeding America distributes nearly 3.4 billion pounds of food to 37 million Americans annually, through food banks and food-assistance agencies. In 2012, it served more than 84 million meals to kids.
"This is not simply a moral issue," says Angela De Paul, Feeding America spokesperson.
She cites scientific evidence suggesting that food-insecure children are less likely to become productive adults. "The nation's economic growth depends on the well-being of our children--so the existence of child hunger threatens our country's future prosperity."
How You Can Help Join the annual Give A Meal campaign: A $1 donation provides nine meals. $19 will feed a family for two weeks; $40 for a month; $120 for three months.
With all of the looming threats in a poor child's life, whether she gets recess might seem like a minor concern. "But for many of these kids, school is the one chance they have to play in a safe environment," says Jill Vialet, founder of Playworks, a nonprofit focused on making recess fun and safe for kids in low-income urban schools.
In too many of these settings, playgrounds get overrun with fights--if schools can even provide recess at all. "Instead of going back to class energized, the kids return upset and unable to focus," Vialet explains.
"We can change this."
Playworks, offered in more than 380 schools in 23 cities, places a full-time coach to organize games at recess that help kids stay active while learning about teamwork and conflict resolution. The coaches also lead before- or after-school activities and establish events promoting physical activity, inclusion, and other pro-social skills.
Happily, researchers at Stanford University have found that kids at Playworks schools stay more physically active and experience 43 percent less bullying than kids not in the program.
"When recess becomes a healthy part of the school day, kids carry that positive feeling with them into their classroom, back to their neighborhood, and out into the world," says Vialet.
How You Can Help $35 pays for balls and cones for one school. $75 will provide T-shirts for a school's student leaders. $166 pays for one child at a Playworks school for a year.
"I was blessed to be at a convergence of great role models and major social events," says Marian Wright Edelman, who credits her parents' belief in service and her experiences with civil-rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr., for her drive to create the Children's Defense Fund in 1973.
After working with poor families in Mississippi--helping parents get off food stamps and find jobs, and assisting them in getting their kids an education--she witnessed something profound:
"The sight of children having hope was incredible," recalls Edelman. Forty years later, CDF is still fighting to create opportunities for all children by advocating for changes in public policy while also working directly with kids in need.
It played a key role in expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program, as well as Head Start and Early Head Start, both of which support low-income children and their families.
More than 115,000 children have participated in CDF Freedom Schools, after-school and summer programs designed to help foster a love of reading, build self-esteem, and engage in community service.
How You Can Help $25 gets a Freedom Schools book and teaching materials to one child. $100 will give a child several books plus teaching materials. $250 provides a child with meals and snacks at the Freedom Schools summer program. •
On the first day that Ethan Peritz entered a classroom as a Jumpstart Corps member, excited to share his love of reading with a group of low-income kids in Boston, a 4-year-old boy named Christopher spat in his face.
Every week, Ethan tried to read him a story according to the Jumpstart curriculum, which is specially designed to help preschool-age kids get ready for kindergarten, but Christopher refused to acknowledge him.
One day Ethan heard the little boy making noises and realized he was beatboxing, so Ethan started beatboxing too. By the school year's end, Christopher, a Haitian immigrant who had survived the earthquake at age 3 and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, was able to greet Ethan with a smile and write out his full name.
"Those kinds of stories tell us how Jumpstart does so much more than early-education intervention," says Naila Bolus, the organization's president and CEO. Founded 20 years ago, Jumpstart is in 76 cities across 14 states plus Washington, D.C. Members work with kids to help them read, improve vocabulary, and learn letters, numbers, colors, and shapes.
Research shows that these children make significantly greater gains in reading, social skills, and school readiness than other kids in similar low-income settings.
How You Can Help $25 will supply a year's worth of crayons and paper for one classroom. $100 will get two classrooms puzzles and song charts. $250 provides five Jumpstart sessions for one child
Harlem Children's Zone was founded in 1970 with the goal of working with young children in Harlem who came from troubled low-income families and who were often absent from school. Today, the nonprofit has a much bigger mission: to break the cycle of poverty for the 10,000 children and their families living in a 97-block area of Harlem.
To do this, HCZ offers a range of educational programs and also runs two Promise Academy charter schools and a variety of health and social-service initiatives. In the 2012-13 school year, 100 percent of the kids who attended HCZ's preschool program achieved school readiness according to national standards, and 98 percent of the Promise Academy's 2013 graduating senior class headed off to college last fall. HCZ just opened a new school and community center in the St. Nicholas Houses, historically a highly vulnerable stretch of central Harlem.
"It used to be held hostage by the drug dealers," says Anne Williams-Isom, the organization's COO. She and HCZ's CEO and president, Geoffrey Canada, see their project as a model that other struggling neighborhoods can replicate, no matter what their challenges.
"We want other communities to do what we're doing because we know it works," she says. Meanwhile, both Canada and Williams-Isom stay plugged in to the needs of local families. "One mom lost her kids to foster care last year; we've helped her get them back. Now she's calling me any morning they're running late for school to let me know what's up," says Williams-Isom.
"We're holding her to a high standard because those kids matter--but we're also wrapping our arms around her. We're treating her like the strong mom we know she can be."
How You Can Help $50 gets supplies to an elementary-school classroom; $100 provides a month of healthy lunches for one student; and $250 provides uniforms for five pre-K students.
-After four neck surgeries, one Super Bowl ring, five regular season MVP awards, Peyton Manning's duck dynasty was shot down by the SEAHAWKS OF SEATTLE and the Legend of Boom in the 43-8 blow-out on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey during Super Bowl 48.
Due to Peyton's poor performance, which included two interceptions, many people feel that the son of Archie Manning and the big brother of ELI Manning should unbuckle his check strap and retire after buckling under pressure by not winning the big ONE once again.
One of those who thinks the 37-year old Peyton should take off the pads is former NFL QB Joe Theisman, who recently in an interview with Amani and Eyton on NBC Radio On Monday said:
"I personally would love to see him retire. I think that what he can do is take a look at the off season, figure out what you want to do-because remember NOW, he is going to be a year older-I don't know what the physical beating is like for him. I'm not sure EXACTLY where he is in that situation, but I do know ONE THING----HIS arm is not going to get any stronger going forward.
While Theisman believes Manning should retire, he also believes that there is still gas left in his tank, but fears that teams are going to use the Seahawks' blueprint in order to attack him next season.
Matter of fact, Stanford graduate Richard Sherman, who has been called a student of the game, claimed that he and the Legend of boom, figured out Manning's complex hand signals and audibles in the first half of Super Bowl 48.
"Me, Earl (Thomas), KAM (Chancellor)...we're not just three All-Pro players. We're three ALL-Pro minds." Sherman told Monday Morning quarterback's Roland Kilimko
While many football purist may reject Sherman's claim, stat wise, the Seahawks did SHOUT DOWN THE BRONCOS' HIGH POWERED, HIGH SCORING OFFENSE TO ONLY 11 YARDS in the first half and NO touchdowns.
Yes, after a week long discussion about Mannings' "Omaha" audibles and check-downs at the line of scrimmage, the ball-hawks from Seattle claimed that they had cracked the code of the calculated Colorado signal caller, which rattled and frustrate the 16-year veteran, who was seen throughout the game on the sideline intensely studying the Seahawks' cover-schemes and talking on the phone with his offensive coordinators in the booth up top.
Even Broncos' vice President John Elway, a two-time Super Bowl winner and Hall Of Famer, looked as if he had seen the ghost of Tim Tebow as Manning's passes left his arm like ducks, just like Richard Sherman had suggested during the pre-Super Bowl press conference.
Plus, with the Seahawks defense swarming non-stop the entire game while delivering spine-tingling blows to the bodies of the Broncos' banged up wide receivers, in the lost, some are questioning Manning's "greatness" and his legacy as one of the best signal caller in the game, despite him winning five-regular season MVPS and countless passing records, which included 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns this year.
With that said, despite many people's dislike for Espn's Skip Bayless, we have to give him credit for coining the phase that Manning is the "greatest regular season quarterback in NFL HISTORY."
Why? Because, with the lost to Seattle, his Super Bowl record is 1-2, and his overall playoff record is 11-12, which is not that impressive.
NFL NETWORK'S Deion Sanders seemed to agree with Bayless's assessment with his recent comments that Manning's legacy has been tainted by his poor Super Bowl performance against the SEAHAWKS, which shocked some and upset others .
"This is not good." Sanders stated.
"What we saw tonight is not GOOD. I can't even tell you one thing I saw that I can take home and say man, that was alright. This is horrible. And it started from the first snap.
Even though, Sanders critique seemed harsh, shockingly, Peyton Manning had a 24.4 QB rating in the contest, which was his lowest this season, despite him completing 34 of 49 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas.
"Well, it's disappointing for our entire team," Manning said of the loss.
"We worked hard to get to this point. Overcame a lot of obstacles to be here. Put in a lot of work, did some really good things just to have an opportunity. But certainly to finish this way, it's very disappointing. Eric D.Graham, a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, where he received a B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in Radio and Television and a minor in History, with an emphasis in African-American Studies, is currently the Managing Editor of Black Athlete Sports Network, where his articles appear daily along with his controversial cartoon character Bobbee Bee “The Hater.” Graham can be reached at lbiass34@yahoo.com or go to www.bobbeethehater.blogspot.com
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