The State of FL and the Board of Education

Sometimes an idea can be so offensive that to merely comment on it requires a period of gestation that would prevent you from otherwise going HAM on the perpetrator.  In my new found practice of Zen Buddhism we call that breathing in the moment.  In my round the way upbringing they call it “oh no this dude didn’t try me…”

In a recent adaptation for its strategic plan the State of FL Board of Education decided to set the bar for student achievement based upon race (http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-10-12/story/state-sets-student-achievement-targets-race).  First and foremost it would be easy for me to simply point to the common thought regarding prisons and schools and the widely held perspective that prisons are built based upon reading scores and suggest this is just another way of sending black folk to prison.  That would however, not be true and would not be fitting of the scholarly expectations one should have when reading something from someone who considers themselves a public intellectual (FYI… most prisons are built based upon historical trends of new admissions from courts, length of stay in prison, average length of stay on parole and the rate of return to prison from parole just to name a few). 

Secondly, what the State Board of Education FL has said to African-Americans children in particular is that based upon your race the State of FL has less of an expectation for you than anyone else.  Therefore, if you don’t achieve then it was expected.  What it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out is that children perform based upon EXPECTATIONS not RACE. 

What lower academic expectations based upon race does is give credence to played and disproven ideas set forth by advocates of eugenics and proponents of biological hereditarianism.  Rather than setting expectations based upon race why not income levels?  The answer would require us to be honest with ourselves and realize it is issues of socioeconomic status rather than race that impede student’s achievement.  Furthermore, examining economic status would require us to look at the growing income gap in this country where the top 1 percent received 93 percent of the income growth.

Thirdly, what lower academic expectations does is it gives credence to terms like “disadvantaged,”” at-risk,” and “culturally deprived,” which makes it easier to justify when the academic system fails African-American children.   However, when cultures of expectations are high, school environments follow pursuit and foster achievement rather than deficit thinking children (see We Remember Raines). 

Finally, in a recent report by the Aspen Institute it was suggested that the public school system held the most potential for addressing the systemic issues surrounding race.   However, the inability to have an educational evaluation system that is reflective of ALL CHILDREN achieving based upon ability rather than race by the State Board of Education leads to more of the race centered policies that we all agree is the Achilles-heel of our larger society.

This is my truth and I AM Sticking to it…

Irvin PeDro Cohen  

Has the spirit and intent of Brown v. Board of Education been achieved in urban schools today?

As someone who is a direct beneficiary of the larger efforts of the Civil Rights Movement and the subsequent Brown v. Board of Education decision I find no pleasure in stating that I feel neither the spirit nor the intent of Brown v. Board of Education have benefited African-Americans. I would go as far to even suggest that while Brown v. Board of Education has been significant in terms of its ability to open doors for African-Americans the shortcomings have been and continue to be the genesis of many of the social ills within the African-American community.

To understand my position on this I suggest an understanding of the term integrate, which by definition suggest making something into a whole.  However, if the majority culture already felt a sense of superiority, thus a sense of wholeness then true integration never occurred.  Therefore, allowing those with the means the ability to maintain a system of de jure segregation, which exist till this day.  As such according to the Department of Justice 70 school districts in GA, 58 in AL, 12 in FL, 31 in LA, 17 in TX, were all still under court supervised desegregation as late as 2008 (McNeal, 2009).  In city’s such as Los Angles the school that bears Dr. Martin Luther King’s name is 99% African-American in Philadelphia a school with the same name is 98% and in San Diego the school that bears Rosa Parks name is 86% minority (Kozol, 2005). 

According to McNeal (2009) laws serve two functions they are either (1) symbolic or (2) substantive.  However, in the case of Brown v Board of Education it was both symbolic and substantive.  Symbolic in the sense that it satisfied the growing civil unrest of an entire population of “disenfranchised” African-Americans, who saw separate and equal as an insufficient remedy to the academic plight of African-American children. The substantive aspect of Brown v Board of Education was that it caused an entire population of African-Americans to give up a functioning although inadequately funded educational system that spoke directly to the academic needs of its constituents. 

I further lament the aforementioned as being a substantive issue because prior to Brown v Board of Education you had a system that was built for and by African Americans.  Therefore, the system of education innately had its student’s best interest educationally and socially at heart.  Furthermore, substantive changes that come as a result of changes in the law are suppose to solve that which is wrong with the law.  However, in the case of Brown v. Board of Education it is the opinion of the writer the only thing wrong prior to the court ruling was the inadequate funding of a separate educational system.  Institutions that were created to serve the needs of African-American were and still are in particular historical black colleges and universities.  Matter of fact historical black colleges and universities collective have produced more African-American professionals than majority institutions. 

Finally, this is not to suggest that I feel Brown v. Board of Education, was not a worthy legal achievement on the part of African-Americans, nor is it to suggest I am a racial isolationist.   It is quite the opposite.  However, it is to suggest there exist a larger issue of structural racism that exists within not only our education system, but in the very fabric of our society.  Therefore, those that have the ability to avoid issues like desegregation do and those that don’t simply refuse to cooperate.   Furthermore, leaving a system that is no less integrated now than it was 50 years ago. 

Kozol, J. (2005).  The Shame of the Nation:  The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (1^st ed). New York, NY:  Crown Publishers.

McNeal, L.R. (2009).  The Re-Segregation of public Education Now and After the End of Brown V Board of Education, Education and Urban Society. 41(5), 562-574.

Symbolism vs Substance

In one of my evening strolls the thought of symbolism kept coming to mind.  I guess more so now that it’s political season (not that it ever ends) and we are faced with the proposition of reelecting Barack Obama.  Now before folk go all HAM on me this is not to say I am not down for the President, but just a mental conversation based upon some random thoughts I have been having regarding symbolism over substance. 

In thinking about this it occurred to me that black folks in particular have become increasingly comfortable with symbolism versus substance.  I guess the road traveled to victory is such a laborious one that the collective have settled for the euphoric feeling of merely being recognized as having one of their own sitting in the big chair.  No matter if the big chair is the Presidency or the Mayor’s office the outlook is still the same for the masses of African-Americans.  I am not naïve in my mental musings that having the first this or the first that or the highest ranking this or the highest ranking that has some collective value.  However, at what point do we say I rather have some substance rather than really cool pictures? 

o   FYI the Black unemployment rate was 16% in March of 2007 and April of 2012 its 14%

o   Also according to the Georgetown Center on Poverty America’s is experiencing the worst level of poverty since 1965 and guess who is at the bottom

The weight of substance versus symbolism is not just levied on the President; it goes for all those who find themselves wearing the title of first or ascending to levels that reflect those unchartered by those of their race.  Therefore, the weight of “their people” falls on them.  Even the Bible says, “To whom much is given much is expected.”Is it fair probably not, but the work constituents put in on behalf of African-American candidates and celebrities alike deserves more than just your name in the achieves and t-shirts and or pictures with those same smiling folks happy to have meet the President, Mayor or any other celebrity who has transcended ordinary accomplishments.  

                 

                                     Never forget where you come from

                                                                        Sage Wisdom

The above referenced verse is particularly poignant whether its politics or entertainment the end result is still the same.  It’s the likes of Ms. Buford and Rev. Johnson who first entertain your idea of being the first this or the first that or its TaLesha or Coach Pinkney who have to hear your dreams of grandeur about how you are going to do X or how you are going to do Y.  Rarely if ever do you see a Kim Kardashian trolling the sidelines at a Grand Park game or a rich benefactor hanging out at the barbershop on the Northside of Jacksonville or Liberty City in Miami or the West End in Atlanta while you discuss your vision.    

That being said the aforementioned Sage Wisdom is something that guides my work today.  However, many of those who have ascended tend to forget this lesson in the mist of their accomplishments.  Therefore, they settle for being symbols rather than having any substance, but as Dorothy said in the Wiz and yes I did say Wiz, there is no place like home.

That’s My Story and I AM Sticking To It…

I AM

Irvin PeDro Cohen  

This Is Where I Stand...Any Questions?

Very rarely do I take a stand based upon political ideology because to be quite frank at times both parties seem to be different shades of gray yet still gray.  Furthermore, in my personal pursuit to join the 1% and maintain my sense of global humanity who knows what or who my personal politics may call for me to support.

That being said and politics aside there is no question where I stand as it relates to the idea of discrimination and my vehement support for those who personal rights are being infringed upon based upon their sexual orientation.  First and foremost I am NOT lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender.  I am just a guy with an opinion who feels pretty passionately about sharing it.  The actions here locally (Jacksonville, FL) and on a broader front across our country as it relates to people who fall into the aforementioned categories is a little bit disappointing in particular around the area of discrimination and human rights.  The aforementioned last I checked were human beings, sons and daughter, brothers and sisters and the term “protected category” seems a little offensive to me.  I AM a heterosexual African-American male do I fall into a “protected category” as well?  I digress…

The mere fact that we are debating in 2012 if people who are living THEIR lives as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender should be free of discrimination is absolutely CRAZY.  I will admit I AM not smart enough to know the afterlife implications of being any of the aforementioned, but neither are any of the folks who cast judgment based up what God says.  I often find myself asking myself how can any of us in our limited understanding, understand a presence that has ALL POWER, is ALL KNOWING and EVERYWHERE at the SAMETIME.   Something about the word ALL lets me know that my limited understanding can’t even come close.

That being said I know people and have very good friends who I LOVE dearly who happen to fall in the LGBT category and I would be quite upset if I found out they were not being afforded the human rights their BEHAVIOR afforded them.  The only time I feel personally that discrimination is warranted is when foolish behavior is obvious and then I think discrimination should encompass US ALL.  Otherwise people should be looked upon as exactly that, PEOPLE.  If we collectively spent more time trying to see the GOD in each other rather than the limited things our physical eyes show us then I think we would ALL be better off. 

I wrote this as my personal statement to show where I stand in the fight against discrimination based upon sexual preference.   To many times we have closet conversations around issues of human decency and elected officials in their limited capacity to accommodate their electorate make decisions based upon what they think WE want.  Therefore, I thought it prudent to let the following people:

Dr. Johnny Gaffney – City Councilman for my district – District 7

Alvin Brown – Mayor of my city – Jacksonville, FL

Rick Scott – Governor of my state – Florida

Corrine Brown – Congresswoman for my part of the city – Jacksonville’s Northside

Bill Nelson –US Senator for my part of the city –Jacksonville, FL

Barrack Obama – President of my country –United States

I Irvin PeDro Cohen am firmly against DISCRIMINATION of any kind based upon sexual preference.  There you have no question where I stand. 

This is truly my truth and I AM sticking to it…

I AM…

Irvin PeDro Cohen

Heaven Help Us

Whenever, I personally broach the subject of church I always feel compelled to offer the fact that I am the grandson of a Bishop and the grandson of a longtime Deacon.  I am also the cousin of several and I mean several pastors as well as a tithe paying every Sunday going church member.  Matter fact in terms of my own church credentials I find a surreal pleasure of going to church on Sundays and if my schedule permits I often find myself at midweek meditation.   Therefore, my critique of the church comes from a place of both love for the institution and the service it has given to our community and a level of disdain for what it has become in terms of that same level of service to those very same communities that have turned pastors in millionaires and churches into franchises for both Jesus and Heaven Inc.  With that in mind I offer you this point to ponder. 

In the pre Civil Rights era churches were the bedrock of the black community. The social, economic and spiritual well-being was at the heart of what they did and by in large our community was better for it.  In the post Civil Rights era a lot of churches have morphed into major corporations disguised as churches and Jesus and heaven and all that comes with it is the product.  Therefore, all black people should immediately realize what their place of worship is and act accordingly.  No disrespect to the men and women of the cloth that I have grown to respect, but there is a distinct difference between pastor and CEO and very few people can be both. 

In my scholarly work surrounding my dissertation I have had the pleasure of reading countless hours of research surrounding the Black church, what it is, what it ain’t, does it even still exist and in this day and time is it still even relevant.  While I won’t engage you in the gory analysis of the aforementioned let’s just say in my humble opinion yes it still exist and its relevancy is at best TBD.  However, I would suggest that our expectations of the church have shifted from one of both social and spiritual to one of merely spiritual.  In the earliest of times the Black church was the source of Freedman societies and benevolent societies, which served as the lynchpin for helping African-Americans get acclimated to their newfound freedom and even get adjusted to life in the North during the Great Migration.  Transition to the Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) and the Black church was once again the catalyst for social change.  All of this happened while still not losing site of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Matter of fact an entirely new theology was born out of the Black church called liberation theology (See Dr. James Cone).  No matter the denomination or the convention the Black church was at the forefront of battling for human equality. 

Transition to today’s spiritual landscape and the church’s dual role as both social agitator and spiritual way shower is about as big of a myth as Osama Bin Laden was hiding in a cave in Afghanistan. The gap between the needs of the African-American community and what we can expect and should expect from the Black church is widening everyday, yet there are more places of worship than any other time let alone anything else within African-American communities.  I have often suggested that the number one growth industry in the African-American community is church.  Yet our expectation of both the institution and the men and women who head them are either very small or none existent.  Am I suggesting that every pastor leading Black churches be Martin Luther King Jr. or Dr. Joseph Lowery obviously no. Even during their days they were met with criticism and resistance from the clergy within the African-American community.  However, what I am suggesting is that if you have the same expectation for your pastor as you do for your company’s CEO when delivering the company’s annual report then you don’t have a church you have a business you go to. 

The last thing communities that are suffering from double digit unemployment, high dropout rates, increasing incarceration rates, an ever increasing HIV and AIDS rate is a great weekly speech.  We need men and women of the cloth to stand up and speak out and be the CHANGE communities of color need.  I will caution you though this might impact your, Rolex watch, Mercedes Benz, tailored suits, gated community home, private schools for YOUR kids, your jet setting and all the other luxury items “God” Inc. has so conveniently blessed you with.  I’ll end with the words of Speech from Arrested Development:

            Sitting in church hearing legitimate woes.
            Pastor tells the lady it’ll be alright.

            Just pray so you can see the pearly gates so white.

            The lady prays and prays and prays its everlasting

            There’s nothing wrong with praying, it’s what she is asking.

She should be praying for changed circumstances, but church doctrine suggest she simply cope

Instead of concrete social transformation too many content themselves with emotional release through worship

But shouting only makes them lose their voice.

Again no disrespect to all the Rev. Dr. Bishop, Apostle, _____________(inset name here), CEO’s that may read this, but we have created a theology around God hooking people up and not in an emotional or socially transformational way, but in a way that leads to mo money, mo money, mo. 

This is my truth and I AM sticking to it.

A Kid Name Phillip

For those that I talk to on a regular know that I talk a lot about how we have to do a better job of serving humanity, which allows us to see the God in each other.  As a part of that I AM personally big on random acts of kindness.  Now before you read any further this is not to toot my own horn, but more to set the bar for others to emulate.  Based upon Facebook alone I got over 2000people who call me friend and probably close to that many on Twitter who are “FOLLOWING” me.

On yesterday I had the pleasure of celebrating my goddaughter’s 7^th birthday with her classmates at Ruth Upson Elementary School and met one of her classmates.  A nice enough kid for a 1^st grader, but what immediately caught my eye was his kicks.  Not because they were the latest Jordan’s or anything like that, but because of the gaping hole in the front of them that said to me I need some shoes.  Now of all the things my work has afforded me to learn was a few things about the psychosis of a family that is struggling economically and with that sometimes the ability to buy new shoes or clothes gets passed because it’s just not enough money to go around.  Therefore, JEA, food and transportation supersede one’s ability to buy something as vital as a decent pair of shoes.  Given what my eyes were telling me I made the decision to go and get my man a pair of fresh new kicks and “socks” for him to have.  The look on his face was one of pure pleasure as he got a new pair of shoes from what amounts to being a total stranger.  Not only was his look a Kodak moment, but so was the look of the people in the office who only know me as Tori’s relative who comes from time to time to the school to have lunch with her.

I said all that to get to this.  I will blow what I paid for shoes and socks for a 1^st grader in a night at the local watering hole and don’t or won’t get nearly the personal satisfaction I did by giving that kid those shoes.  I don’t know him or his family personally, nor does he live in the area of town I do most of my work and I probably won’t see him again as the school year comes to an end.  He didn’t have a sign that read “Will Work for Shoes” nor did he give some lame excuse about how he was just trying to get a couple of dollars to buy him some shoes, not that any of those things are any less legitimate, but what I do know is that he allowed me to make a deposit in the Bank of Life and for that I AM personally grateful.   

Hopefully by reading this you feel encouraged to do the same for some random kid or person.  Who knows when you personally may need to make a withdrawal from the Bank of Life.

That’s My Story and I AM Sticking to It…

I AM

Irvin PeDro Cohen 

Hope, Hopeless and Hopeful

I want to talk to you today about the idea of HOPE, HOPELESS and HOPEFUL:

Webster defines the primary root word of HOPE as one of the 3 Christian virtues.  Furthermore it goes on to define it as the general feeling that some desire will be filled.

To give you an example, which many in this room don’t need but for purposes of this message so of you will be graduating and your parents HOPE that you will go to college, the military get a job and never return home.

Some of your parents HOPE that many of you are prepared for the realities that when you graduate your desire to be grown will now be realized and every 30 days and in February it gets cut to 28 you will be ready for the responsibilities for things called bills. 

However, as a generation I have to be honest as I and many other adults like me will tell you we are increasingly left with feelings of HOPELESSNESS as we look at a generation of young people who are not prepared for the realities of life by the sheer permanence of the decisions they make.  Young and younger people are making decisions that have consequences that will far exceed their lives.  Therefore, leaving older generations to simply wash their hands and reside to trying to save the babies as if somehow you all don’t even exist.    

Now before you tune me out let me say for many of you it’s not your fault.  Matter of fact whenever I get a chance to speak to young audiences like yourself I always say I AM sorry. 

I AM sorry in particular for my generation and for our inability to generate a spirit of HOPE in you that extends beyond the material trappings that you have come to desire.  See our love affair with stuff from Gucci to Queens Harbor and the instantaneous manner in which you can get it has created a void in the social universe that has left the idea of AM I my brother’s keeper trapped in a mandate that says you must serve in order to even graduate.

Therefore, if I could sing in my best Ruben Studdard voice I would say forgive us for we knew not what the road to today would lead us to. 

However, as I look around this room and reflect upon why we are here I AM increasingly HOPEFUL for you and your peers.  See what your accomplishment here today says is there is HOPE permeating within the next generation.  There is HOPE that walks the halls of this great place we call William M. Raines High School.

What your accomplishment today says is the HOPE that was passed down from our African ancestors when they made the journey from the shores of Africa to the shores of America is still alive and the HOPE that was passed from the slaves to the soldiers of the Civil Rights movement who fought and bleed and in some cases died for the right for you to attend some of the best colleges in the world is still alive. 

See what I see in this audience today that makes me HOPEFUL for you is that by virtue of your accomplishment you understand that being good is not good enough.  You do not get to be on the National Honor Society by virtue of who you or your parent know.  Your parent’s relationship with Mrs. Brown or Coach White can’t get you here.  Your cute smile or good looks can’t get you in.   You have to put in the work. 

Your accomplishment today says that you understand that you must burn the midnight oil, you have to be great when everybody else is being good and that ordinary is not going to get me where I need to go and for that as one of the current carriers of the baton for our people each of you make me real proud to look over my should at who I have to pass the baton to and say we collectively got reason to be HOPEFUL. 

I say HOPEFUL because the race of life is not a sprint, but more like a marathon filled with ups and downs and curves and winding roads and in the words of Langston Hughes places where there ain’t been no carpet, bare.  However, you accomplishment says that you understand that.  Therefore, I am simply reminding those who may have forgotten.       

Finally, as I prepare to take my seat know that your parents or guardians are proud of you, your school and all of the people who call William M. Raines their Alma Mata are proud of you, I AM proud of you, but most of all you should be proud of you.  For it is you who put in the work to get here so celebrate a real accomplishment.  But never forget you are here because you stand on the shoulders of people that came before you and the people who came before them and by virtue of your induction into the National Honor Society you to have become shoulders for those behind you to stand on.

Again my name is Irvin PeDro Cohen a 1987 graduate of Raines High School

Namesake and thank you for having me…