Anderson@Large

Black History Month 2018

February is Black History Month.

As the saying goes, even a broken clock is right twice a day. So it’s not fake news that President Trump signed into law H.R. 1242, the “400 Years of African-American History Commission Act,” which establishes the 400 Years of African-American History Commission to plan activities to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of African-Americans in the United States; and H.R. 1927, the “African American Civil Rights Network Act of 2017,” which establishes the African American Civil Rights Network within the National Park Service.

Congressman Lacy Clay said in a statement:

The African American Civil Rights Network Act will recognize, preserve, protect and share the remarkable American story of the modern struggle for civil rights, a unique national experience that touches every American, regardless of their age, ethnicity or heritage. The historic network will create tremendous educational opportunities by recognizing those brave souls from all walks of life who fought to make the promises enshrined in our constitution finally ring true.

Clay added:

In too many places across this country, precious historic waypoints along the routes of that still largely untold story are at risk of being lost forever. My hope is that the historic civil rights network and the programs that will grow from this law will honestly tell the full and sometimes painful story of the struggle for civil rights, not just for African Americans, but to foster healing, tolerance and understanding among all Americans.

Fifty years ago, the Temptations made a statement that was designed to foster tolerance and understanding. In “Message from a Black Man,” the legendary group said:

This is a message, a message to y’all
Together we stand divided we fall
Black is a color just like white
Tell me how can a color determine whether
You’re wrong or right

Charter Schools Are Part of the Solution

Last week, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation held its 46th Annual Legislative Conference.

I am a policy wonk and longtime “CBC Week” attendee. In DC, policy positions typically follow the money. So I was wary of CBCF ALC education sessions in light of the fact that the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association are conference sponsors.

Congressman Bobby Scott, Ranking Member on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, hosted the Education Braintrust.

The focus of the braintrust was “evidence-based programs and best practices for increasing black children’s opportunity for success in today’s education and workforce systems.” Rep. Scott asked presenters to do more than “celebrate the problem.” He called on them to offer solutions. So surely someone would offer charter schools as a solution. No one did.

I dutifully took notes as speaker after speaker extolled the importance of parental involvement. Dr. George McKenna noted that the California Department of Education mandates family engagement.

Although parental involvement is the hallmark of charter schools, speakers dare not say their name at a conference sponsored by the AFT and NEA.

In his remarks at the CBCF 46th Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner, President Barack Obama spoke about his legacy.

Part of Obama’s legacy is his support of charter schools:

During National Charter Schools Week, we celebrate the role of high-quality public charter schools in helping to ensure students are prepared and able to seize their piece of the American dream, and we honor the dedicated professionals across America who make this calling their life's work by serving in charter schools.

Charter schools play an important role in our country's education system. Supporting some of our Nation's underserved communities, they can ignite imagination and nourish the minds of America's young people while finding new ways of educating them and equipping them with the knowledge they need to succeed. With the flexibility to develop new methods for educating our youth, and to develop remedies that could help underperforming schools, these innovative and autonomous public schools often offer lessons that can be applied in other institutions of learning across our country, including in traditional public schools.

[…]

Charter schools have been at the forefront of innovation and have found different ways of engaging students in their high school years -- including by providing personalized instruction, leveraging technology, and giving students greater access to rigorous coursework and college-level courses. Over the past 7 years, my Administration's commitment of resources to the growth of charter schools has enabled a significant expansion of educational opportunity, enabling tens of thousands of children to attend high-quality public charter schools. I am committed to ensuring all of our Nation's students have the tools and skills they need to get ahead, and that begins with ensuring they are able to attend an effective school and obtain an excellent education.

The failure to include charter schools among best practices to prepare black boys and girls for lifelong success does not do justice to President Obama’s legacy.

Moaning and Groaning

It’s “CBC Week” – the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference.

I’ve attended at least half of the conferences dating back to, well, never mind when I started going.

There’s a mash-up of workshops and braintrust meetings from the “Art of Social Entrepreneurship” to “Working Families Fight Back.” To be sure, some folks will be moaning and groaning about the lack of follow-up. It somehow escapes them that the follow-through starts with the person in the mirror.

As a blogger who focuses on the intersection of popular culture, public policy and civic engagement, I’m particularly looking forward to the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses 18th Annual Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts. The honorees include Bill Withers.

A. Shuanise Washington, the president and CEO of the CBCF, said in a statement:

Any discussion about African-American history and culture must include African-American artists. Through the Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts, the CBCF and the CBC Spouses pay homage to those whose creative bodies of work convey the rich and diverse African-American experience.

About Bill Withers:

Bill Withers is a legendary singer-songwriter with a music career that spans more than four decades. Between the 1970s and 1980s, he won “Song of the Year” Grammys for “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Just the Two of Us” and “Lean on Me.” His songs have been covered by numerous artists across various genres of music, including Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, Michael Bolton, John Legend and Jill Scott. In 2005, Withers was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

I can’t pick a favorite Bill Withers’ song because there’s one for whatever mood I’m in. That said, some of my favorite lyrics are from “Moaning and Groaning”: “If she ain’t the best in the world, she’s good as the goodest one.”

Breaking Down the Barriers in Tech Sector

I would like to share my post published on Startup America Partnership’s blog.

During the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee convened a panel discussion on diversity in the technology sector, “African Americans: Joining the Leading Edge of the High Tech Boom.”

This first-ever CBC convening of tech entrepreneurs and thought leaders was designed to identify strategies to open up “a whole new area of job growth and wealth creation for our communities.” Jackson Lee said:

The whole industry has moved and the question is: Where are we? We have no time to wait.

Where are we? African Americans make up 1.5 percent of the Silicon Valley workforce. Black founders represent one percent of VC-backed startups.

[…]

Rep. Jared Polis, a co-founder of TechStars, sees opportunities in disruptive services and products. The value proposition is the new efficiency the idea introduces in the economy. But keep in mind investors fund the team not an idea. “They’re funding the team rather than a great idea because an idea can change depending on the market reaction.”

To be successful, you must know the language and culture of the industry. Polis said:

It’s a different language that these people speak. It’s the language of capital and entrepreneurship. You need to study the language so that you speak the language of venture capitalists.

That doesn’t mean you have to go to business school. In fact, most founders don’t. You must know the basic principles of finance, including your ABCs – Series A, Series B and Series C funding rounds.

You also must learn the culture. So mind your Ps and Qs and dress for success.

While networks matter, Polis observed:

It’s not an old boys’ network. It’s a young boys’ network. When you have a young boys’ network, it’s easier to break into…You still have to build the networks.

Read more: To Break Barriers, Know Your ABCs and Ps and Qs

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

President Obama’s fiery comments before the Congressional Black Caucus continue to reverberate.

White House spokesman Kevin Lewis told The Huffington Post’s Black Voices Obama was not calling out his critics; rather, his speech was a call to arms:

I think at the end of the day, the president is familiar with criticism. It is nothing new to him. And I think the president’s remarks are being mischaracterized. I think what the president was saying was that he’s fighting for a lot of the folks that were in that room and fighting for the American people and calling on not only the CBC but lawmakers and folks who are in the room and across the country to join him.

Still, PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley is up in arms.

Smiley asked Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee whether Obama would ever say to Hispanics, Wall Street bankers fraudsters, Jews, gays and lesbians, “Stop grumbling, stop complaining, stop crying”:

How does he get away with saying this to black folk when he would never form his lips to ever say that to any other constituency?

Jackson Lee responded:

I think familiarity is the answer to your question. The president came and put on the armor of a brother and sister.

I make no excuse for some of those comments when you look back and wonder whether they were said in love. Whether they were said to your brother who’s sitting next to you who’s been having a hard time and you’re trying to pump up your brother or your sister. And you’re saying, “Come on now. You can do better than this. We’re not complaining.”

The congresswoman made it clear she intends to speak out on behalf of brothers and sisters who are facing hard times:

I will continue to articulate complaint, pain and despair.

Waters to Obama: You Talking to Me?

There has been a mixed reaction to President Obama’s speech before the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s awards dinner.

Rep. Maxine Waters gave her take during an appearance on CBS’ “Early Show.”

Waters said she “wasn’t sure who the president was talking to.” Waters found Obama’s rap “a bit curious”:

I found that language a bit curious because the president spoke to the Hispanic Caucus and certainly they are pushing him on immigration. And despite the fact that he’s appointed Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, he has an office for excellence in Hispanic education right in the White House, they’re still pushing him. And he certainly didn’t tell them to stop complaining.

And he never would say that to the gay and lesbian community who really pushed him on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Or even in a speech to AIPAC, he would never say to the Jewish community “stop complaining” about Israel.

Oh no she didn’t!

Obama to African Americans: Stop Cryin’ the Blues

President Obama spoke before the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner on Saturday.

In his remarks, Obama acknowledged the disparate impact of the recession on African Americans:

Times have been hard. It’s been three years since we faced down a crisis that began on Wall Street and then spread to Main Street, and hammered working families, and hammered an already hard-hit black community. The unemployment rate for black folks went up to nearly 17 percent -- the highest it’s been in almost three decades; 40 percent, almost, of African American children living in poverty; fewer than half convinced that they can achieve Dr. King’s dream.

He also acknowledged the growing chorus of criticism:

I know at times that gets folks discouraged. I know. I listen to some of y’all.

But Obama has had enough of the bad mouthing:

Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes. Shake it off. Stop complainin’, stop grumblin’, stop cryin’. We are going to press on. We have work to do.

Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy Jr. wrote:

Funny, isn’t it, how Obama always gets the nerve to say shut up when he’s addressing a friendly audience?

The black unemployment rate stands at 16.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 11.5 percent when Obama took office. By some accounts, black people have lost more wealth since the recession began than at any time since slavery. And Obama gets to lecture us?

Hey, “don’t be cryin’ the blues… Don’t nobody bring [Obama] no bad news.”