1. Mena wrote:

Marc’s lips look similar to ripe strawberries

2. clifton harrison wrote:

Man……Marc Lamont Hill, you, Mike E. Dyson, Cornel West, are (in my opinion) are our new black leaders (or atleast should be). We need people like you and Dyson to stand on the forefront and really represent, or…be the example of strong, intellectual black men. And especially since you don’t dismiss hip hop, but try and embrace it and try to cultivate it as a tool to help our brothers and sisters, we need that. I honestly think the youth are on the verge of turning things around, and with the motivation from Obama (regardless of a person’s stance politically), we have an oppurtunity that we haven’t had before. In this time, it seems like it’s actually “aiiight” to be smart, to do good in school, cuz “obama did it”. I don’t know…i lost my train of thought…

3. DCI74 wrote:

Good job Marc and seeing Nathan McCall brings back great memories of the first time I read Makes Me Wanna Holler, excellent book.

4. FBI-CIA wrote:

Dr. Hill I wish you were in CT! My 14 yr old is a brillant boy, but underperforming. He has had 9 in & out of school suspensions (some for fighting, some for silly things) 10x and he’ll be brought up before the explusion review board. I don’t know what to do to motivate him, to inspire him. I promised him a car when he graduates. I promised him a summer trip to some country on whatever program if he could just stay out of trouble and get a few A’s. Other than that, I don’t know what to do. (he’s the middle child if that makes any difference)

P.S. We live in a predominantly white (99%), middle to upper middle class neighborhood (Oxford, CT). However, his disciplinary problems started in middle school when we lived in a majority black neighborhood with a black principle and black male teachers.

P.P.S. I forwarded the lectures to my both my 18 and 14 year old. This might be a bit much for my 6 year old.

5. Tanya wrote:

OMG!!! This was phenomenal!!!

Marc you made such a profound point about black youths already doing things that have deep intellectual value (can count change without a register but fail math, write rhymes but can’t pass English), and that we need to find a way to mold and shape those skills to help them succeed academically!

Marc you are so talented and you are a great thinker, and you articulate your thought so well. (It makes me forget that your a liberal.) Marc you have so much power to heal our community. I know you are already doing a lot, but I can’t wait to see you doing more!

PS – I wish you could spend a day with FBI-CIA’s son. I think all he needs is to spend 1 day with you. (FBI-CIA email Marc!)

PPS – You just had to plug your book didn’t you!?!?! LOL I can’t wait for “Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life: Hip-Hop, Pedagogy, and the Politics of Identity” to come out! If you further expound on the points you addressed in this video, it’s going to be a NY Times Best Seller!

6. DCI74 wrote:

FBI-CIA, I am in CT and I can think of a few positive men that your son should meet. If you’re interested feel free to email me. damionsin@gmail.com

7. Tanya wrote:

DC,

I know you did NOT just give out your email in the ‘Shop!!!! I hope your ready for the influx of stalker mail that is headed to your inbox! LOL

8. Tanya wrote:

Clif,

I agree that Obama is going to make it “aiiight” to be smart. Academic and civic achievement is going to be cool now! This is so good for us!

But why do you think it wasn’t “cool” before???

Why was there a prevalent mentality that a black kid reading a book was “trying to be white”???

I never understood that. My black friends and I would always compete with each other academically. If you were failing, you were shunned! (But I grew up in Long Island)

9. Clifton Harrison wrote:

well i never thought that it wasn’t. I do remember faking and underperforming in the 9th and 10th grade because i got more friends that way, but even then, i knew that it wasn’t uncool, but more so that most people didn’t think that it was cool

10. econwhat wrote:

“Creating Leaders, One Person at a Time”
Impact Mission Possible
campus, community, world
12/27/08 to 1/1/09
The Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta GA

Rasool Berry, an philly-bred, University of Pennslvania educated will lead the band “Infinit Impact”

A friend turned be on to this organization that is doing Very Positive things in/for the black community at large and college folk in particular, CEO guys’ name is Charles Gilmer, Princeton bred I think, an excellent track record of success in seeing young black folk truly realize their potential to be leaders in their sphere of influence. Check him out, google him, whatever, Dr. Hill I’m certain has heard of him as well as Dyson. check his site – wwwdotimpact2008dotcom for detail of the event or check out wwwdotimpactmovementdotcom which is Rev. Dr. Charles Gilmer’s direct site that reaching more and more college campuses for a true “impact” for those looking to be agents of change in todays’ society.

My girl, I can hope/dream can’t I, ain’t neva lied and is certainly speaking the unadulterated truth about this group!

11. DCI74 wrote:

Lol @ Tanya, I’m not worried about that at all. In fact I’m sure I won’t get any emails like that.

Clif smart has always been cool to me, that’s how my sisters and I were raised. My parents refused to allow us to dumb-down or do just enough to get by. But based on my work with teens I have noticed a slight shift the way some of them carry themselves since 11/4, again the shift is slight but I think is indicative of a larger potential shift at least I’d like to hope.

12. ~JJG~ wrote:

I think that the notion of being smart isn’t cool, varies within the Black culture. I am West Indian and it has NEVER been cool to be uneducated in my culture. My 4 brothers and I were brought up that acquiring an education was NOT an option, but a MANDATE. We knew that in order to get out of the hood (Long Island, yes, there are hoods on Strong Island, don’t believe the hype), we HAD to “get awha lessins”

13. econwhat wrote:

Oh FBI-CIA, I forgot to mention Charles Gilmer and his wife raised six level-headed kids that give back to hurting black communities. They got PROVEN cred in my view of knowing how to get IT DONE right!

Gilmer also has a book coming out this month though the title escapes me at this time, (probably the thought bubble saga again when she told me the title, lol ), but look for it mid-month.

What can I say, I admire this guy.

14. Frichy wrote:

Dr. Hill,

You are quite the intellectual. You appear to be several years older than my son, which makes me extremely proud of your skills and abilities to think and speak so broadly but with so much depth and expertise on the issue of education and its impact on the lives of our children. Kudos to your Mom for raising you the right way. I can see clearly the fruits of her labor. She must be proud of her son!

Except for the points that you make Dr. Hill, much of the conversation that we have about education seems to begin in the middle of the process and not in the beginning, because as parents–mothers in particular, we are our children’s first teachers in the beginning. It is at that time, and in the home that stories of our children’s lives begin. As parents, we must consistently provide our children with orderliness in their lives: regular routines for eating nutritious meals, turning off the t.v. and monitoring homework each evening, consistantly giving them a bath before going to bed early each night (8pm for grade schoolers, becasuse proper rest is vital), provide them opportunites for healthy, safe, play and recreation, volunteer for a project at the child’s school and build relationships with your child’s teachers, consistently require children to do chores, limiting computer games to those with adcademic value and for small periods of time, teaching and encouraging our children how to use the library, etc. Teaching then to value things other than only those things that money can buy. All of these things are to be done for our children by US–THEIR PARENTS BEFORE THEY GET TO SCHOOL! These activities form the basis of the fundamental structre of our children’s lives. And this is where our conversation on education needs to begin! Once these tasks have been performed by children’s PARENTS, much of what they need to survive and succeed in school, will already be with them and teachers and the schools will be better able to do their job in bringing out the talents, skills and abilities that lie within our children. Their job is only to bring out of our children that which lies within. If we don’t as parents instill in our own children the basis for their foundation, there will be nothing that the teachers can do, because the children won’t have anthing within for the teachers to bring out of them. It’s extremely hard work being a parent, because ultimately the success of your child in school and in life lies with you and the child. Success is a function of consistent efforts and appropriate actions and choices that you as a parent take and make. When a child grows up and fails in life and is on trial headed to prison, noone asks what school did he attend, they first ask what kind of home did he come from!

15. gigi wrote:

Happy Birthday to you!. H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y (in my best Stevie Wonder voice)!Just checked my facebook account and it’s about that time. Enjoy and may you live as long as you want and never want as long as you live.

16. econwhat wrote:

Frichy, now that’s bedrock right there! I hear you and I see you!

17. Tanya wrote:

JJG,

“I am West Indian and it has NEVER been cool to be uneducated in my culture.” – JJG

Amen to that!!! I don’t think there is a West Indian child in the world who thinks failing is cool! I dare you to bring a “F” home to a West Indian parent = licks for days!!! LOL

And there sure are a few ghettos on Long Island!!! But statics prove that students living in suburban areas do better and score higher academically than students living in urban areas. (I can think of a few reasons why.)

But I think the majority of Long Island is going to turn into one big hood pretty soon! With all of the rebuilding and regentrification going on in the city, all the poor people are being pushed out and are trickling into the suburbs.

18. Tanya wrote:

Frichy,

EXCELLENT point!!!

“Charity begins at home.”

Children truly learn all the skills to succeed in life (academic success, social success, financial success) FROM HOME, from their parents. We do have to improve the home environment first if we really want these kids to permanently go the distance!

19. Regkam2 wrote:

Clifton says…….”Marc Lamont Hill, you, Mike E. Dyson, Cornel West, are (in my opinion) are our new black leaders (or atleast should be). We need people like you and Dyson to stand on the forefront and really represent, or…be the example of strong, intellectual black men”

ROTFLMAO!! Dr West and Dyson are one of many intellectual masturbators who like pontificating, but offer no practical solutions nor create anything that we can use to build a future for our young and young adults. They sound good and write books, but they all but useless to the empowerment and upliftment for Black people. What institutions have they built? what schools do they financially support? Hell, I give Oprah and Serena Williams more dap because they at least put their money where they mouth is (schools in Africa). We need more clinics, schools, after school programs, rites of passages (males and females), businesses, etc. not conferences. We are the most meeting and eating ethnic group in the world. I wish that we would spend some of the millions of dollars that we give white corporate America (via hotels, cabs, airline tickets, restaurants, clothes, etc.) when we congregate and ‘discuss’ the problems to actually building some of thing that I mentioned earlier. Too many conferences, not enuff action.

20. Regkam2 wrote:

‘The large majority of the Negroes who have put on the finishing touches of our best colleges are all but worthless in the development of their people.’

‘The so-called modern education, with all its defects, however, does others so much more good than it does the Negro, because it has been worked out in conformity to the needs of those who have enslaved and oppressed weaker peoples.’
Carter G. Woodson

21. Regkam2 wrote:

Children need more education and less school. Read ‘Dumbing Us Down’ by John Taylor Gatto

22. DCI74 wrote:

Regkam2 while like you I also don’t agree that Dyson and West are the new black leaders I don’t completely agree with your feeling that they should be offering practical solutions instead of pontification. My feeling is simply, why should you, I or anyone else be waiting for them to do anything? You are right, we don’t need any more conferences nor do we need anyone telling us what the solutions are because we already know as you so eloquently pointed out? We need more schools, clinics, and programs but here’s the thing, they are all being created by everyday black people just like you and I, not by professors at Ivy schools or best-selling authors or cable news talking heads.

Right here in CT I can think of 2 schools that were created by a coalition of people, primarily of color with the goal of closing the achievement gap The Amistad Academy in New Haven and Capital Prep Magnet School in Hartford. Both of the those schools were founded by two black men I know very well, men who didn’t sit back waiting for a solution but decided to create one. So don’t get me wrong, you know my style and I’m definitely not bagging on your statements but I think we as a whole need to readjust our thought-process. I can complain until the day is long about the poor literacy skills too many of the kids I work with possess which is what prompted me to build an alliance with the school systems and specifically the heads of the English departments so I could come in and teach creative writing in an engaging way to get kids not only excited about literacy but more plugged into learning. I don’t need a Cornell West to tell me to do that or a Dyson book on Nas to get my kids thinking about the poetics of hip hop. We need to start with where we are to initiate real solutions that are within our scope. I’m not in the medical field so I going the clinic route while important isn’t something I can spearhead. But I’m in the mix with kids everyday so I can support other rites of passage programs and create youth development projects that impact some. But I refuse to believe that I have to look or wait for a public intellectual to suggest or tell me what I already know needs to be done and am doing. I see a leader everyday I look in the mirror.

23. Regkam2 wrote:

DCI74, you are on point, but unfortunately too many of us are looking at these cats and see them as leaders. While I agree that everyone should look within for leadership and salvation, I also hold those who could deliver a message that can be applied daily to our people accountable as well. There are too many Pimps/preachers, scholars, and so-called conscious activists who prey on weak minded Black folks who cling to their every word. Many in our community have been trained to look for a ‘Messiah’ who will swoop down and save us. This is why when Fred Hampton, MLK, and Malcolm died, the movement kind of died with them. Their brand of leadership was replaced by accomodationist/integrationists and opportunists like Jesse Jackson. Many of us don’t know who is sponsoring the mega-preachers, so-called scholars, and so-called Black leadership today. Always follow the money……..I work with youth and I know that I have to be very responsible with what I say and what I do to them. Accountability goes both ways.

Again, I would say that we don’t need another conference unless we are feeding the poor or financially supporting those (like the school u mentioned). All that talking don’t mean shyt if u can’t translate it into action. Ain’t nuthing Tavis Smiley and his Negroes on Parade can say different that hasn’t already been said in the 9 yrs of that conference. Put some money on the table then I’ll know u r sirius. Besides, Everything we need to know or do has already been written by our elders or ancestors (Clarke, Dr Ben, Amos Wilson, Dr Marimba Ani, Amos Wilson, Malcolm, MLK, Marcus Garvey, etc.). We need wealth, land and capital (pool our resources) to create institutions and industries. Every other ethnic group understands this except us. How many Jewish conferences do u c on C-Span in which they just pontificate? How many Korean conferences do u c where they just talk about taking over the Black Hair Care industry? How many WASP conferences do u c where they just talk?

24. DCI74 wrote:

Ok I see what you’re saying and on that we agree. Enough with the conferences and book tours. My feeling is basic if you are apart of the solution then hop in and lets ride but otherwise get the hell out of my way because I’m making a difference whether I’m driving an SUV packed with like-minded individuals or if its just me rolling solo on a unicycle, either way I’m moving forward. I want my kids to know that they can be the next El Hajj or Fred Hampton or whomever and don’t need to wait for anyone before they can make a difference.

25. BC Planning wrote:

This was a great post. I just sent this to one of my friends who I was having a debate with about the struggles of men vs women. One of the struggles taht I had mentioned for men paticularly black men is how so many were out the game before it even started. Meaning how many black men had negative educational experiences that were not productive to them and how that affected the rest of their lives. I had mentioned to her that black boys are disporportionalaty placed in classes taht are targeted for children with behavior problems, classes for those that are challenged or just left behind. A lot of times the reason is that they maybe more aggressive as boys and come from a culture in which a teacher may not be familiar and views that child as a threat.

So when I saw you make that point along with another panelist who stated that happiness was a graeater factor for young black males to stay in school then it was for females, I felt kind of vindicated on my opinion. Also the video made me reflect back on my childhood and reminded me that I had to fight with my parents to not be put into standard and basic classes which teachers wanted to place me in despite the fact I had high grades. I immediately e-mailed the video to my friend, not to show that black males have a harder stuggle but that it is a different stuggle then that of black females at times.

26. Gabe wrote:

Marc, this was a powerful piece, thanks for sharing it. Having worked with various populations in NY and now in Philly, I’ve certainly seen first hand how in particular our young men are essentially facing a crisis of incalculable proportions, that of being educated – and not just trained – in the public school system. This conversation has been so necessary, and it’s critical that we not only have these types of dialogues but have a proper follow-up of action. I’m wondering since this was at the CBC, have you connected with anyone post this event, or do you know of any folow-up strategizing that has occurred, either by the participants or folks in the audience?

Peace brother.

27. Janel wrote:

Great points about the criminalization of black males within educational institutions. Great work, Marc!

28. Mikal wrote:

Talking Talking Talking. Panel discussion after panel discussion. Non of this matters. You know when things happen. When people go in the back room with no cameras and create an actionable plan (If actionable is even a word). You know what I mean. If you want to change things do it without the cameras and create a real plan to change the black community. Otherwise, children dont care for talk. Encouragings words is nice and effective but first the kids must see the value in education. And parents must also demonstrate that they too value education starting when the child is born.

I was listening to Sports talk (610 WIP Angelo’s Show) and he read about a test to see if your child will be successful. The test was when your child is four years old you go in a room with the child and have his favorite treat and tell him or her that he can have one but if he waits for twenty minutes or when you get back to eat the treat then he or she can have three treats. You then leave the room. If the kid immediately eats the treat then he will be a loser. If he holds off but doesnt quite make it to twenty minutes then he will problably try to do right but with great difficulty. If the child waits for you to come back he or she will probably make you a proud parent.

The point is kids must learn to hold off on wants desires and needs to attain their education or skill in order to get completely out of poverty.

29. Mario wrote:

I’m definitely glad you posted this Dr. Hill. I really agree with Nathan McCall on how we need to shift the purpose of education toward empowerment not money. I think that will really help keep kids in school so we can do like the eight year old who wrote the letter and use our education to come back to our communities and right the wrongs.