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Saturday, November 16, 2024
Tags Posts tagged with "President Barack Obama"

President Barack Obama

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For the past eight years, the Obama administration has created and led the charge on a variety of social initiatives developed to push our communities forward and empower youth throughout the United States. President Obama held the final My Brother’s Keeper Summit (MBK) on this past Wednesday at the White House. This final summit was a way for the President to say goodbye and to thank everyone who played a part in improving the lives of young men of color across America; but it was also a gesture in the President’s commitment to make certain that this program would continue to grow, even beyond his term as President.

Here are Five cool things you should know about My Brother’s Keeper:

My Brother’s Keeper

MBK was formed in 2014 as a way for young to find mentors from within their communities and to build these young men up in order for them to reach their full potentials.

The MBK Challenge

250 different communities throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and 19 Tribal nations have accepted the MBK Challenge. The challenge is a call to action for cities, tribal nations, towns and counties to build and execute plans to ensure young people- no matter who they are – can achieve their full potential.

MBK Responsibility

There are not only community activists and businessmen involved in the program, but even celebrities have joined forces with the President to ensure its goal is carried out, even beyond his presidency.

President Obama explained that it will be a dual responsibility of both the government and the communities that this program be continued.

“There’s an infrastructure that has to be built by the government to ensure that our young people can succeed and prosper in this 21st-century economy. We can’t wait for government to do it for us.We gotta make sure that we’re out there showing what works.We gotta put in our own time and energy and effort and money into the effort. We have to be rigorous in measuring what works.We can’t hang on to programs just because they’ve been around a long time. We can’t be protective of programs that have not produced results for young people even if they produced jobs for some folks running them.”

-President Barack Obama

Rethink Discipline Campaign

As he confirms his commitment to MBK, the President announced the started of the Rethink Discipline Campaign, another initiative created by the White House and the Department of Education that will identify the disciplinary components carried out across the countries based on race, gender, and disability. A report on Wednesday found:

220,000 students were referred to law enforcement

70,000 students and school-related arrests from 2013-2014

When comparing race and ethnicity, school referrals and school-related arrests showed huge disparities

Black students received more suspensions and had higher number of arrests

MBK Success

The story of Malachi Hernandez is a prime example of how one great mentor can impact the life of one young person. Hernandez, who was at the White House on Wednesday, gave the opening remarks and introduced President Obama to the crowd during Wednesday’s summit. Hernandez, grew up poor, and his father left him when he was seven years old. Hernandez is now the first to go to college and had a few more things in common with the President. Hernandez stated during his introduction how his meeting with POTUS has impacted his life:

“He told me how he also grew up without his father…” he later continued talking about the advice he have the President when asked about improvements that needed to be made with the MBK program, “I emphasized to him that all young people need is love.”

In an effort to keep these programs going in your local communities, visit:

Mentor.gov

MBKchallenge.org

Syllabus Magazine

Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion

http://www.syllabusmagazine.com

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In the coolest news we’ve heard today, our Amazing President, Barack Obama, made another ground-breaking and very cool step yesterday. In continuing to recognize not only the creativity of the African-American culture, but the musical influence that African-Americans still have across the globe, POTUS officially signed a Proclamation making June, African American Music Appreciation Month!

Here are some excerpts from the Proclamation below:

“For centuries, African-American musicians have shaped our Nation and helped tell our story. By melding enduring truths with new sounds, they have pioneered entire genres and contributed to the foundation of our musical landscape — capturing an essential part of who we are as Americans. During African-American Music Appreciation Month, we recognize the artists who have enriched our lives and the ways their beats and harmonies have advanced our unending journey toward a more perfect Union.

With all the energy and diversity of our great Nation, the stirring sounds of the American experience have expanded our minds and lifted our souls, helping us better understand ourselves and one another. When the tides of injustice and hardship have seemed too great, melodies of hope have given us strength, and in moments of joy, powerful songs speak to the audacity that fuels our dreams. Through momentous change — above the jangling discord of a people determined to write their own destiny and the consonance of great progress — our music has remained a constant source of inspiration, bringing us together and empowering us to reach for what we know is possible.”

We continue to preach that enhancing the creativity and that is inherent within our culture is an important key to developing and innovating young African-American lives. Education, along with recognizing the undeniable skills that African Americans continue to thrive in, in the fields of the music, arts, and entertainment is a key factor in driving the economics of our communities. Recognizing these inherent talents and learning how to use education and technology to innovate these capabilities, can change the direction of young people within our culture.

Hov said in his hit, “H to the Izzo”:

“Industry shady it need to be taken over – Label owners hate me I’m raisin’ the status quo up – I’m overchargin’ niggaz for what they did to the Cold Crush – Pay us like you owe us for all the years that you hold us – We can talk, but money talks so talk mo’ bucks”

These words ring true to the fact that African Americans have a long way to go when it comes to being treated fairly in an industry that has never been fair to our cultures’ musicians and entertainers. However, with more musicans learning the importance or ownership and entrepreneurship, the culture has made great strides in the actual business development aspect of the music industry.

Whatever likes or dislikes one may have toward the music industry, It’s is still a great day in music and music history, and my hope is that the African American community understands the importance of how we have put the industry on our backs and have led the pack in creativity and development.

source: The White House

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/05/29/presidential-proclamation-african-american-music-appreciation-month-2015

Syllabus Magazine

Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion

http://www.syllabusmagazine.com

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As the first sitting President to ever visit a federal prison, President Obama continues to make changes by enacting legislation that’s bringing groundbreaking changes to the U.S. prison system. In October, the justice department released 6000 prisoners; the largest one-time release of federal prisoners in the history of the United States. This was in an effort to prevent overcrowding and to relieve prisoners convicted of drug-related crimes who had received harsh sentences over the past thirty years.

Today, the President announced a ban on solitary confinement for juveniles being held in the federal prison system. In an op-ed piece released tonight, the President Obama explains that the practice is overused and has the potential for devastating mental and psychological consequences. In the President’s op-ed piecehe started with the horrific story of Kalief Browder. Kalief was the 16 year old young man from the Bronx who was accused of stealing a backpack and was sent to Rikers Island to await his trial. He endured “unspeakable violence at the hands of inmates and guards — and spent nearly two years in solitary confinement.” Browder had attempted to take his life several times while in prison. At age 19 and after three years of hell on Rikers Island, Kalief was released and the charges against him were dropped. Although his unjust imprisonment had made him famous, and he was welcomed by celebrities like Jay-Z and Rosie O’Donnell, Kalief was fighting a psychological battle. Unfortunately, in June 2016, at the age of 22, Browder took his life. This young man had no psychological issues prior to being locked up in Rikers for three years.

Read more about Kalief Browder

President Obama has taken measures to try to ensure that these types of horrible circumstances won’t happen to other teens around the country. President Obama stated:

Research suggests that solitary confinement has the potential to lead to devastating, lasting psychological consequences. It has been linked to depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior. Some studies indicate that it can worsen existing mental illnesses and even trigger new ones. Prisoners in solitary are more likely to commit suicide, especially juveniles and people with mental illnesses.

He explains how solitary confinement leads to depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior. Which is a major reason why so many inmates are released and find it hard to adjust when they return to their families. He continues:

As president, my most important job is to keep the American people safe. And since I took office, overall crime rates have decreased by more than 15 percent. In our criminal justice system, the punishment should fit the crime — and those who have served their time should leave prison ready to become productive members of society. How can we subject prisoners to unnecessary solitary confinement, knowing its effects, and then expect them to return to our communities as whole people? It doesn’t make us safer. It’s an affront to our common humanity.

In order to make major changes and reforms in the federal prison system, President Obama along with Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Justice department have:

  1. banned solitary confinement for juveniles and as a response to low-level infractions
  2. expanded treatment for the mentally ill
  3. increased the amount of time inmates in solitary can spend outside of their cells

These changes will affect 10,000 prisoners currently being held in solitary confinement.

The president ends his op-ed piece with these words:

In America, we believe in redemption. We believe, in the words of Pope Francis, that “every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes.” We believe that when people make mistakes, they deserve the opportunity to remake their lives. And if we can give them the hope of a better future, and a way to get back on their feet, then we will leave our children with a country that is safer, stronger and worthy of our highest ideals.

Source

Syllabus Magazine

Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion

http://www.syllabusmagazine.com

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