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The Hip Hop Conservative
Timothy Nevels is originally from Texas and came to the Maryland area by way of serving in the U.S. Air Force. Having lived in Maryland since 1987 Tim has worked in communities from DC to Baltimore. As an education activist with Onyx House, Inc a Baltimore based non profit Tim has dedicated himself to helping others. Tim has served as Director of Operations for The Babe Ruth Museum, Chairman of the Board for Onyx House, Inc and currently works as a General Sales Manager for a mid-sized trucking company in the Baltimore/DC metro. Tim has worked on political campaigns in the past and looks forward to working on many more in the future. The one motto Tim goes by is: "The more you give, The more you get". Changing Education in BaltimoreLook at schools across America and when you visit the inner city of any major city you will find a large cross section of high school dropouts. High dropout rates in Baltimore are at critical level. They have been for a number of years. Who do we blame for this? The teachers union has fought the NCLB Act tooth and nail. It is one of the few ways to get rid of bad teachers and administrators. I am not going to go into a big debate about if NCLB is a good or bad. The issue I want to showcase is the complete blind eye that exists in inner city schools. I ask one question to minority parents. What is good for private schools is looked upon as some sort of experiment when it comes to public schools? What am I talking about? Single-Gender education. Rich folks have sent their children to all girl and all boys’ schools since the early days. There is something about this set up that allows young people to really learn and explore who they are. Mention single gender schools to poorer neighborhoods and they think there is something crazy about the idea. As if fire had just been discovered and we can’t touch it because its hurting people. The very idea of separating students based on gender has many parents asking how their kids will learn in such an environment. I ask those same parents how does Morehouse College or Spelman College continually kick out black leaders left and right. I can show all kinds of stats to prove my point but what does that prove if you have no understanding of how we as humans learn. Look at one particular school in New York. The Eagle Academy for Young Men opened in the Bronx (New York City) in August 2004. One of two all-male schools to open in New York City in 2004, the Eagle Academy for Young Men is off to a promising start. Principal David Banks, former head of the successful Bronx High School for Law, Government and Justice, played a key role in developing the idea for this school, along with One Hundred Black Men, Inc., an organization of African-American professionals, including former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, actor Danny Glover, entertainer Bill Cosby, and trial lawyer Johnnie Cochran, Jr. Together, they hope to create a school that can ready young men for college, while educating them about obstacles they may face and how to overcome them. There are many others and I invite you to visit a website founded
by Dr. Leonard Sax. His website is: http://www.singlesexschools.org/home-introduction.htm
is a great site that gives tons of information. Black folks should
be standing on the rooftops of city hall demanding more schools like
The Eagle Academy. Why are we content with the fall of the young black
man in the inner city? We look in disgust when we see these same young
men getting into the back of a police car. Who should we blame? The
blame belongs to all of us. All of us who are capable of mentoring
and don’t. Blame those who fight change simply because that’s
not how we did it when I was growing up. Blame those who run for office
and do nothing. Blame those who have been in office for over forty
years and the crime rate like the dropout rate continues to climb.
Baltimore could be the leader in this area if parents demand change.
Don’t run out to the county to solve our school issues. Fight
here, now for real change in education. The first item on the agenda
is to replace all the politicians who have been serving for the last
five years. Replace them all. They have not served us in anyway. When
we take back our schools we will take our young men out of harms way.
Wake up Black America. Our education is the only way to save our children
and our future. Previous Articles |
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