"We cannot afford to settle for being just average; we must learn as much as we can to be the best we can. The key word is education-that's knowledge-education with maximum effort."
-Bill Cosby
Recognizing that black women today make up 44% of the illiterate population, it is time to make a stand starting with our youth. But before we can try to figure out a solution, we must find out the problem. Is it the media's portrayal of Black females? Students’ dedication or motivation? The lack of support from parents or other figures in their community? Or is it the need for “quick” money? At an early age, black children are exposed to music videos and other destructive images that can affect the way they view themselves. Continuously seeing sisters parading about and gyrating on the television does not give them the motivation to get an education. What we need to do is regulate what our children, younger sisters, and nieces watch on the television because there is nothing to gain but much to lose. Another problem for girls in the black community is the fact that they have no figures in the community to look up to. What we need are more volunteers for after school programs to provide role models and mentoring to girls who need help in school. We need more programs to empower young black females so they can resist being another addition to the 44%. This is the time for us to overcome the different, degrading stereotypes that surround us as black women; the first thing to fix is our literacy and the way we interact with society, the first place to start is with our youth.
~Courtney Stewart
I agree with you on how African American women are treated. There isn’t enough women promoting success on television. You see women making a living being degraded; being abused and misused on television. You don't ever see a black woman on the television talking about how they graduated from college or how they are starting a new corporation. I think that we as spelman sisters could make a difference and reach out to the youth, giving them motivation to stay in school so they can become successful women. Youth are the television programs main target. They know kids love to watch T.V. and since their use to only be programs for adults that kids couldn’t watch the programmers came up with something for the kids. They turned the little kiddy cartoons into derogative cartoons that uses profanity and sexuality. I think parents could contribute a big part in their child in life. They can help challenge our youth minds by having them doing something constructive such as reading books to widen their vocabulary. It seems that the African American race has the most trouble with literacy because they use so much slang that they think that it’s the correct form of English. There are so many computer programs such as the leap frog, hooked on phonics, fisher-price that our generation has to help us to with literacy. You see more and more African Americans dropping out of school because they feel that they don’t need literacy to survive in this generation. Kids figure that all they need to know is how and where they can get famous and the most popular way is to sell drugs, rap, or be some dancer in some bodies video. That’s why we need to take a stand and show the youth that those are not the only choices of a job. With motivation you can strive far in life and achieve any and every thing you want to be.
ReplyDeleteBy.J'Nae Smith
I agree completely with you Courtney. It does indeed start with our youth. The youth are the basis and the foundation of our future. If morals and goals and aspirations were never instilled in the youth correctly to begin with - then that is what the 44% is a result of. Instilling the RIGHT choice and ways in which you should handle things and operate is what parents should be embedding at an early age.
ReplyDelete(I agree completely with you Courtney. It does indeed start with our youth. The youth are the basis and the foundation of our future. If morals and goals and aspirations were never instilled in the youth correctly to begin with - then that is what the 44% is a result of. Instilling the RIGHT choice and ways in which you should handle things and operate is what parents should be embedding at an early age.) - Ashley Sims
ReplyDeleteI fully agree. A lot of times people try to pin point one issue when it's really a combination of issues that are keep black women illiterate. To add on to what you said about the media, I don't think videos are the only issue. I don't think the impact of videos would be as severe if there weren't the "love" shows on VH1, and other reality shows that portray black women so negatively. The media rarely portrays black women as being literate and successful so I think that must be kept in mind when parents are regulating what their kids see.
ReplyDelete-Sarita Smith
As the ladies above me have stated, I agree with Courtney's views. The black woman always seems to fall a statistic to something negative. We have to ask ourselves, when is it enough? When we will stop feeling pity for ourselves and rather find ways to uplift and encourage each other? After school programs, as Courtney mentioned, is a great way to encourage each other. It is also a great foundation because we start with the youth, before they have been overly corrupted by years and years of negative images and stereotypes of black women. Courtney ask many questions about what could be the cause of the 44% illiteracy rate. I think it is definitely a combination of all the factors questioned. I think also, a lack of patience is the starting point. There is no patience in the learning process and from that state of mind breeds the idea of "quick money." How can we make our sisters see that education truly is the key to success? That education can show the undaunting and unbreakable power and spirit of a black woman?
ReplyDelete- Britney-Myshante Howard
I definitely agree with this post. Young black females need more positive role models. They need to know that success is more than being in the entertainment industry. Young black females need to realize that they can become a scientist, psychologist, lawyer, engineer, etc. We, as a community, are responsible for teaching our young girls and stressing to them the importance of education. The youth have to change the statistics but the adults and current leaders of the community have to encourage the youth to make the change. President Obama recently gave a speech to the youth of America about the importance of education; this is the type of effort that needs to be brought forth.
ReplyDelete-Janella Thomas