Volume 6 Issue 2…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…January 17, 2003

T.H.I.N.C. Education

By John Burl Smith

The first law of knowledge is, "One must be curious?" Fundamentally, our humanity flows from two questions, "Who am I and why am I here?" Curiosity has motivated human intuition, imagination, innovation and creativity since one looked into a watery pool and recognized the reflection. No different from that human, Yohannes Sharriff Smith awoke to the same questions. He concluded experience is the basis of knowledge; education is the appropriate application of experience.

Recognizing education is a psycho-experiential process in which attitude is the major determinant, Yohannes developed T.H.I.N.C.: (Teaching Humanity In New Consciousness). More than an acronym, T.H.I.N.C. (published in the book T.H.I.N.C.: (Teaching Humanity In New Consciousness) The Chrysalis of Evolution) is a five point educational philosophy that presents a positive approach to acquiring knowledge. Embracing T.H.I.N.C. transforms the knowledge seeker's mind-set to that of a Holistic student, who views education as a sphere of infinite possibilities. Accordingly, Yohannes' conscious approach to learning accepts everyone as "a work in progress." Not only are humans continually changing, our actions continually change the earth's biosphere. Inexorably, this brings us to the corollary of the consciousness quandary, "Why am I here?" Is it to search and destroy or to perpetuate the specie?

Self-definition is absent from US education. Public education defies the first law of knowledge. A political battleground with students caught in no man's land, public education programs expect students to consume what they are fed and regurgitate it as though they are bulimics. Conservatives disguised their stealth battle against the theory of evolution and equal education as local control issues to cover up racial inequality.

Never desiring to educate blacks, America has repudiated Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Supporting strict construction, the Bush administration will ask the US Supreme Court to reestablish Plessy v. Ferguson's "separate-but-equal" doctrine. Claiming to be opposing discrimination, Bush supports legacy for whites, while opposing affirmative action for minorities.

Unlike T.H.I.N.C.'s conscious approach, Bush's test-based education plan does not value experience-based knowledge, unless it is an answer on a test. Bush does not see learning as an evolutionary process that allows self-discovery and definition. Contrary to Bush's plan, T.H.I.N.C.'s conscious approach insists all children can and do learn. Given comparable abilities and opportunities, experiences determine limitations. Moreover, students are taught knowledge begins with questions, not answers on a test. Today's knowledge based systems demand students be guided by curiosity and nurtured by experience.

If the goal of education is to produce intelligent citizens, America must commit its resources to improving opportunities for poor children. While denying resources to so-called "failing schools," blaming parents, who do not read to their children or offering gimmicks, like vouchers, Bush's plan punishes students who do not demonstrate learning at the same rate or level on tests as some children. A conscious approach to learning demands students be seen as "works in progress." Their curiosity must be free to discover self and acquire knowledge through trial and error. This is the most ancient, yet the most successful and effective learning strategy. T.H.I.N.C. about it! Other Essays by John Burl Smith

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is fast becoming a serious student. He made the honor roll again this six weeks. Smiling from ear-to-ear as he presented his report card, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro wondered, "What is my reward?" Back to the Bat Cave

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955)

Born July 10, 1875 near Mayesville, S.C., educator, missionary and activist Mary Jane McLeod was one of seventeen children born to former slaves; some of her siblings were sold into slavery. A graduate of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, she married Albertus Bethune (1898). From 1897 to 1903, Bethune taught school in Florida and Georgia. She founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls (1904). On merging with the Cookman Institute, it became the coeducational Bethune-Cookman College (1923). From 1904 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1947, Bethune served as its president. Her house on the campus is maintained as a National Historic Landmark.

Bethune helped establish a home for delinquent girls, visited prisoners, taught them to read and helped them gain their freedom. After the19th Amendment's passage, she raised money to pay poll taxes and held night classes to teach blacks to read well enough to pass the literacy test required for voter registration. Though threatened by the KKK, she led a procession of blacks to the polls to vote for the first time in an election. As word of her defiance spread, she became a popular black civil rights spokesperson. Since blacks were not allowed to check out books in southern libraries, Bethune opened her school's library to the public. It became the only free source of reading material for blacks in Florida.

Elected to the National Urban League's Executive Board (1920), director of Negro Affairs in the National Youth Administration (1936-44), founder/president of the National Council of Negro Women (1935), president of the Southeastern Federation of Women's Clubs, National Association of Colored Women and National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools, member of the Interracial Council of America and a vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Bethune used her numerous positions to address the educational needs of black Americans.

Bethune was one of three black American consultants to the U.S. delegation involved in developing the United Nations charter (1945). She formed the Federal Council on Negro Affairs, which became known as the "Black Cabinet." Her Washington, D.C. home, the Council House, where the Black Cabinet met, is maintained by the National Park Service.

Bethune received the Spingarn Medal (1935), Frances Drexel Award for Distinguished Service (1937), Thomas Jefferson Award for leadership (1942), Medal of Honor and Merit from the Republic of Haiti (1949) and Star of Africa from the Republic of Liberia (1952). Rollins College gave her an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree (1949); she was the first black to receive such an honor from a southern white college.

Mary McLeod Bethune died on May 18, 1955. On July 10, 1974, a statue in Washington, D.C.'s Lincoln Park was unveiled as a reminder of her achievements and dedication to the education of black Americans. In South Carolina, her portrait hangs in the state capitol. (Sources: http://www.usca.sc.edu/ and http://www.infoplease.com) Bit of History Homepage

Disgruntled wants to know: The Social Security surplus is combined with general revenues to fund government operations. Like sales taxes, payroll taxes, i.e., Social Security and Medicare taxes, are among the most regressive. The first $84,900 in wages are subject to payroll taxes. Even minimum wage workers that pay no federal income taxes, pay payroll taxes on every dollar earned. Supporters of the Bush economic proposal say the wealthy should get the larger share of any tax reduction because they pay more income taxes. Will they support using the same reasoning to divide the more than $6 trillion in federal debt among the wealthy?

Disgruntled feels: Burned! To the US economy, Enron and other corporate crooks are weapons of mass destruction or WMD, the American Dialect Society's word (phrase) for 2002. Sporting a cowboy mentality, they cooked the books and destroyed the livelihood of thousands of Americans. They also burned banks and insurance companies. To recoup some of their losses, insurance companies are raising rates. For them, getting burned has turned into a cry for tort reform. In the short-run, they burn little guys with predatory practices.

Disgruntled says: George Bush re-nominated Charles Pickering to the Circuit Court of Appeals. White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer contends the brouhaha over this judicial nomination has nothing to do with race; it is all about philosophy. The conservative judicial philosophy at issue is constitutional strict construction, which supports white supremacy. Nothing is more racial than the judicial philosophy favored by Bush and practiced by his conservative nominee. More Disgruntled Moments

Testing Overboard

The 1987 romantic comedy Overboard (1987), starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, centers around a poor carpenter's quest for revenge against a rich socialite that refused to pay for work he did on a clothes closet in her yacht. When she falls overboard and loses her memory, the carpenter tricks her into believing she is his wife and mother of his four rambunctious children.

In one of its best scenes, Annie (Hawn) is summoned to the school because her children refuse to take some tests. On realizing her brood needs medical assistance, Annie attacks the principal, calling her an anal retentive Hun. She disparages tests that pigeonhole children's potential. Annie's take on tests is a jewel; it speaks volumes about the overemphasis placed on them.

Sold as needed reform, the federal "No Child Left Behind" program requires annual testing. Its critics see this testing regime as overtaxing limited resources. Rather than leave children behind, entire communities can be abandoned. If student test scores fail to improve in all subgroups in a school, it could lose its federal funding.

As part of the "War on Poverty," President Lyndon Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. Cornerstone of Title I, ESEA recognized the academic achievement gap between low-income students and their peers. Title I schools with high concentrations of children living in poverty receive federal funds to provide special assistance for those needing academic assistance or who are at risk of failure.

Historically, the most disadvantaged children are black and Hispanic. Only within the last thirty years has the US admitted the disparities in its segregated dual public education system. Paying lip service to closing the education achievement gap, politicians promote local control, where the gap is systemically maintained particularly in the South. After centuries of denial, it is cruel to pretend this gap could magically close after a few decades of lip. An overboard regime of normative testing is unlikely to improve public education. (Sources: www.heritage.org and http://www.ndpass.minot.com) Hood Notes Homepage

Lipsticked Pig

The Bush Administration values loyalty above all else. It is the most secretive regime in recent US history. A career federal employee, I have served several administrations. Now, blind allegiance is demanded; any criticism, no matter how true, is cause for purging. With that in mind and given these dire economic times, these remarks are submitted without a byline.

Unlike David Frum, author of that Bush book, anonymity is necessary to protect my family's economic welfare. I need my good government job! Even Frum is walking backwards after writing that Bush is "not curious." A lack of curiosity implies ignorance. Frum is the former Bush speechwriter that coined the term "axis of evil." That Bush actually used it is telling.

On the domestic front, remember the Charles Schwab commercial? In a meeting of brokers, a group leader explains the need to push a stock with really lousy fundamentals. The leader encourages them with perks for the person selling the most stock. At the end of the meeting, he says, "Now, let's put some lipstick on this pig." A great commercial, it aired just when a lack of corporate governance and stock shenanigans were being exposed on the heels of the Enron scandal.

Here is the kicker. According to insiders, Schwab made a deal with Bush to pull that commercial. In exchange, Bush promised to propose an end to the double taxation of dividends. While that sycophant Lawrence Kudlow of the CNBC talking head show Kudlow & Kramer would like to take credit for the idea, it was really a quid pro quo to pull the lipsticked pig. Phantom Scribble Homepage

George Jesus Loves You!

For those who believe in Jesus Christ, the death penalty is an abomination. Capital punishment is a moral issue for a Christian nation like the USA. Those who wonder What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD) know he would not approve of state killing. Whenever a death sentence is carried out, they see it as another scar on our collective soul. It is another crucifixion. Real Christians reject the notion that the state can kill and escape the admonition of the commandment against taking a life.

With that said, kudos to former Illinois Governor George Ryan! A Republican and proponent of capital punishment, Ryan instituted a moratorium on the death penalty over concerns about its racist and arbitrary application. In his final acts as governor, Ryan commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment of all Illinois death row inmates. He also granted clemency to four inmates whose confessions were coerced. Kudos! Kudos Homepage

On First Fired!

By Dot

The unemployment rate is a conservative measure of those actively seeking employment. Active means they do things that can be measured, like registering with the state employment office. Discouraged workers are not measured. Those forced to work part-time because full-time jobs are not available are not counted. It does not capture those whose jobs have been shipped abroad or those who lost their jobs to lower paid HB-1 immigrants.

Remember when politicians pushed policies on behalf of the IT industry to increase the quota of so-called HB-1 workers? According to HB-1 proponents, there were not enough skilled workers to fill all the vacancies in the technology sector. These lower paid foreigners are probably still gainfully employed, while domestic workers with similar skills are looking for jobs.

While the unemployment rate at 6% is relatively low, its burden disproportionately falls on blacks. Many of those unemployed are single mothers who recently entered the workforce under welfare reform. Last hired in any economic upturn, blacks are the first fired in any ensuing downturn. The black unemployment rate is more than twice the white rate in good and bad economic times. In December 2002, the white unemployment rate was 5.1% while the black rate was 11.5%.

The recent extension of unemployment benefits will not help the first fired. Many of them did not qualify for these benefits or exhausted benefits before Congress grew a conscience. Moreover, these workers will not be helped by the proposed $3,000 personal accounts, which can only be tapped by "qualified recipients," those drawing unemployment benefits. The mostly likely beneficiary of the unemployment benefit extension and other measures to assist the unemployed are white collar workers and the last group to lose their jobs, i.e., mostly white workers. While we may not wish to label proposed policies to stimulate the economy class warfare, there is no question the burden of downturns in the economy fall disproportionately on low income black Americans. DISHing It Up Hot Homepage

Email patsyann@cityalert.com Bush cited a national emergency or serious economic conditions in cutting pay raises for federal workers. At the same time, he signed off on bonuses for political appointees. Now, Bush has proposed an economic package worth billions for the wealthiest Americans. As a GS-7 federal employee, Bush's actions epitome class warfare!

Email hotstuff101@aol.com A group of black conservatives led by Armstrong Williams met on Capitol Hill to discuss ways Republicans can get black votes. Conservative means to maintain the status quo. Blacks are second class citizens. Conserving inferiority is not in the black man's self-interest? Calling themselves conservatives, these ebony skinheads are idiots.

Email wadsworth@netscape.net Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday will be celebrated January 20. Southern Democrats that opposed him are conservative Republicans. Advocating a "color blind" society, they oppose affirmative action. These hypocrites ignore the fact that when King was murdered in 1968 the country was so color conscious that equal opportunity was non-existent. The real economic welfare of black and white Americans has changed little since King's assassination. But, the Bush administration will oppose affirmative action in the Michigan University admission cases before the Supreme Court. Its opposition will kill affirmative action. Long live the white advantages inherent in legacy, Southern heritage, political patronage and nepotism; they trump affirmative action daily.

Email copwatchers@hotmail.com John Walker-Lindh was captured fighting in Afghanistan with the Taliban. White, he was treated like an American with all the civil rights of that designation. Non-white Americans caught doing the same thing or suspected of Al Qaeda connections have no rights. US courts have reinforced the government's right to declare non-white Americans enemy combatants and deny them the most basic of human rights guaranteed by international law.

Email alarkam@webtv.net: In an open letter, Hugh Price, head of the Urban League, implores Bush to use his influence over the Supreme Court to uphold affirmative action in education. With all due respect to Price, appealing to Bush to help us is similar to a hemophiliac asking Count Dracula to show mercy. This is the same Supreme Court that endorsed Bush's theft of the presidency by approving the cancellation of numerous Black voters' ballots in the state of Florida. Shortly before his death, late Justice Thurgood Marshall acknowledged that decades of civil rights marches, demonstrations and legislation had not liberated us. He stated: "We are still not free as a people." It is my hope that Price will join others in demanding, not requesting, reparations and restoration. More from the Mailbox

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