Today in Black History

Date: Sat, 1969-01-04

This date is the anniversary of the origin of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969.

It is a group of African-American members of the United States Congress who focus on issues of particular interest to Black Americans. Newly elected African-American representatives of the 77th Congress joined six incumbents to form the "Democratic Select Committee" which began the organization. The committee was renamed the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in 1971 .
Founding members were Representatives Shirley Chisholm, William Clay, George Collins, John Conyers, Ronald Dellums, Charles Diggs, Augustus Hawkins, Ralph Metcalfe, Parren Mitchell, Robert Nix, Charles Rangel, Louis Stokes, and DC Delegate Walter Fauntroy. Their goals were to positively influence the course of events pertinent to African-Americans and others of similar experience and situation, and to achieve greater equity for persons of African descent in the design and content of domestic and international programs and services. While the CBC has been primarily focused on the concerns of African-Americans, the caucus has also been at the forefront of legislative campaigns of human and civil rights for all citizens.

Date: Sat, 1908-01-04

William Claytor was born on this date in 1908. He was an African-American mathematician and educator.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, William Waldron Schiefflin Claytor earned his A.B. and M.A. from Howard University. He went on to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1933. Claytor was a brilliant student. While at Penn, he won a Harrison Scholarship in Mathematics in his second year, and took the most prestigious award offered at Penn at that time, a Harrison Fellowship in Mathematics, in his third and final year of graduate studies. Claytor's dissertation delighted the Penn faculty, for it provided a significant advance in the theory of Peano continua-—a branch of point-set topology. He was the third African American to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics, following Elbert Cox (Ph.D., Cornell, 1925) and Dudley Woodard, Sr. (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1928).

Class Warfare or Twighlight Zone??

I was blown away at the audacity that the house speaker categorized President Obama’s leadership by stating the President is inciting class warfare when presenting his plan to create jobs and balance the budget.  Maybe Mr. Speaker needs to look up the definition of "class warfare".  The formal definition based on the several societal domains is as follows:

“The phrase "class warfare" refers to the conflicts of interest that arise within every society when a wealthy economic elite arises and exploits its economic advantages so as to obtain still greater wealth and/or political power for itself.”

Get a clue Mr. Speaker; it is just simple math...M  A  T  H! I am sure you were awake in your math and spelling class at least one would hope!  Maybe you need a calculator in order to figure out that the formula that is currently in existence DOES NOT WORK Duhhh!!

Billionaires Buffett and Gates among other mega rich in this country say "Tax Us More"! Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said that the rich should be paying more taxes and that the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy should be buried at the end of December when they finally expire.


"If anything, taxes for the lower and middle class and maybe even the upper middle class should even probably be cut further," Buffett said. "But I think that people at the high end -- people like myself -- should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it."

Knock, Knock anyome home? Bottom line...the wealthy should not be taxed less than their secretaries, gardeners and wait staff!

Today in Black History for September 7th

1.  1957 - Ghana breaks colonialistic mold.

On this day, Ghana becomes a free self-governing nation. This country will be the first of the British Commonwealth of Nations to be self-governing.

2.  1954 - The start of Integration for MD public schools, and Washington DC public school,

The start of Integration for MD public schools, and Washington DC public school, 1954

3.  1930 - Greatness is born

In 1930, Sonny Rollins, a powerful force in jazz, is born.

4.  1859 - Co-organizer of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, John Merrick was b

Co-organizer of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, John Merrick was born

5.  1800 - Zion AME Church dedicated in New York City

Zion AME Church dedicated in New York City.

Family Group Decision Making - Making a Difference in Disproportionality

This may appear to be a dry subject matter but it is well worth reading. I have worked for a government child welfare agency for over two decades; one could say that I grew up in the child welfare field. I began my journey of cultural awareness and self identity over five years ago. Fast forward to 2010 I now became involved in the agency’s  plan to reduce the percentage of the African American children who are in foster care at disproportionate rates, not just in my state but this phenomenon has been playing out throughout the country for years. The two most affected communities are Native Americans and African American children, with the Hispanic population fast approaching the mark. Historically the child welfare system was not designed to serve people of color therefore; the outcomes reflect a continuation of white cultural values which permeate institutions, policies, and programs. For over a year I have provided the planning committee information and perspectives of a white person on how best to move forward regarding changing the work environment.   However, there was something I could do then and there to assist programmatically. Because I am a unit manager of two in-home programs, I began facilitating change from the onset by modifying the FGDM practice to be more culturally responsive than orignally planned. I also implemented into the assessment process a section specifically exploring every family's right to self identify their race and/or culture.

One of the African American’s community legacies is family. Charles Waite writes, “The most enduring cultural strength that Black African brought with them from the African continent was the extended family and its strong kinship networks.” 

 Now for a moment a comparison of the Maori people of New Zealand will be made to the African and Native American communities here in the US. The Maori tribal people are rich in family tradition, culture, and history. Family Group Conferencing was developed by a group of social workers from New Zealand one whose name is Mike Doolan (above video) along with the Maori people, in response to the disproportionate number of Maori children placed in the foster care system in the early 1980‘s. The Maori people became vocal in their loss of their children’s cultural identity, values, beliefs, and traditions. Mr. Doolan and his colleagues believed that the Maori people knew their families best and could plan for their children’s future hence, Family Group Conferencing (Decision Making) was born. Mr. Doolan provided insight into the development of this practice as well as, the need to maintain fidelity to the model. In the simplest terms, FGDM is a meeting that is family driven, child centered and culturally sensitive. The family agrees to a meeting and assists in developing the actual purpose of the meeting, invitation list, and meal planning. The family is not restricted  and are encouraged to invite family and  whom ever the family considers as a resource, can be invited such as the pastor of their church, baseball coach or a close neighbor. This concept is known as “widening the circle” of supports. Strength, and concerns for the family are presented at the meeting and then the family adjourns into what is referred to as “family private time. A meal is shared and the family develops a plan for the child which addresses the agency’s concerns.

The FGDM practice began to leave out the family's cultural traditions from the actual meeting. In addition I thought from the very first meeting with the family, cultural issues should be explored rather than glossed over. My strategies continue to be implemented and modified as needed, to ensure that the family is operating based upon their cultural family belief system. The cultural factors should not be secondary considerations but rather primary in order to facilitate the change needed. We still have a ways to go because to my mind, this is not a one shot deal!

Currently, I am exploring the potential in integrating an Afro centric intergenerational model with the FGDM practice. I am anticipating the introduction of a new and improved FGDM model to community chuches and faith based organizations by the end of 2013. Stay tuned!