Hi folks, I shared this with wwwedu brethren and should have shared it here as well. I agree with much of what Brian & Cynthia have shared though I just can't get my dander up enough to rage against the machine today. So here's access to some resources that I hope will impart some knowledge and strengthen folks in their efforts to fight the good fight. Paul Mondesire [EMAIL PROTECTED] BTW - As a parent of a 9-year old I can tell you the McDonald's has been the bane of my existence for many years. The toys in the Happy Meals are quite the effective tool of engagement. I manage to keep our visits to 6-8 week cycles and my daughter must have a salad with her order now...easy on the dressing. ;-)
_______________________________________________________________________________ No preaching to choir about national education policies today. ;-) I am so thrilled to actually contribute to the dialogue by sharing some links that I wanna jump back and kiss myself! * I was lucky enough to attend a reception for WNET/Thirteen's UMOJA! (meaning Unity) annual celebration of Black History month at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. Thirteen is NYC's PBS affiliate and their online education resources generally speaking are excellent http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/ The flagship program for this years UMOJA! is "Slavery and the Making of America", a meticulously researched overview of how the slavery and the creation of this great nation were inextricably interwined. The aphorism "history is written by the victors" has influenced much of what most of us have learned about the American experience from the 1600's forward and this series can be of great service in building a more nuanced understanding of events. The first is a link to the website for the show and the second is a listing for the balance of related programming being aired this month: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/ & http://www.thirteen.org/homepage/promos/umoja_sched.html The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has created "IN MOTION: The African-American Migration Experience" which includes an exhibtion at the Center itself (located at 135th Street & Lenox Avenue in Harlem), a Black History Month Education kit for educators, a book published with National Geographic, and most importantly, an amazing website (though it is optimized for broadband and takes a while to load at 56kbs) Gotta tell you that this is a huge online resource that could be of great value for educators interested in sharing new perspectives throughout our nation and beyond. The first address is the Schomburg site and the second is for the In Motion site itself: http://www.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html & http://www.inmotionaame.org/index Paul Mondesire [EMAIL PROTECTED] * - I'm not being conceited here--In the spirit of UMOJA!--What hard workin' man am I quoting? Brian Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: DD: Just had to jump in on this one. Here is a "quickie" case study: It is interesting that McDonald's - Probably the biggest killer of African-American people, due to their fate ridden food ( http://www.supersizeme.com, http://www.supersizeme.com/home.aspx?page=bythelb, http://www.mcspotlight.org/issues/nutrition/ ) - Has gotten the idea that Black History should be celebrated 365 days a year ( http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/fun/365black.html ). It is not a wonder that so many African-Americans have diabetes! High carb. diets tend to break the body's insulin/glucose system (as Atkins has become famous for) and lead to serious problems. ( http://atkins.com/Archive/2001/12/15-223550.html ) They also borrow street slang from the "hood" to build their marketing campaigns, i.e. "I'm Loving It." They do it because they have teamed up with people like Tom Joyner ( http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/news/current/conpr01312002c.html ) to create a closer relationship to their target market. It is no surprise that it is probably motivated by sales figures. These are the same reasons that companies such as Budweiser and Phillip Morris will spend millions sponsoring block parties or music festivals. They do it because they will benefit from it... So the revolutionary Brian would say, "Screw them! They are trying to kill us, never trust the enemy!" And the practical real world Brian would say, "At least we have some exposure for the achievements of our people on a national level." ***Note: I AM NOT BLAMING MCDONALD'S FOR THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE IN OUR COMMUNITIES. These problems are very complex and do not have one scapegoat.. But, I think the answer is a mix between both revolutionary thinking and practical application. I think more companies and people need to embrace culture and stop minimizing celebration to once a year. We need more of this. At the same time we can never let anyone off the hook for putting poisons in any community. We need to keep putting pressure on these businesses to act right! ALSO, A very important step in this is when European Americans need to realize that they have culture too. Many times we "minimize" culture by reducing it to color. We have been too polarized by the terms white and black. These terms are class based and are of little use outside of the struggle. Thinking outside of the "struggle" for a moment (which is hard for some people, it was hard for me at one time) - We realize that every single person on the planet has a culture and it should be recognized and celebrated. Here are some article that address minimization - Dr. Milton and Janet Bennett have done a lot of good work in this area. (http://laurennile.com/lcorner.htm, http://www.workforcedevelopmentgroup.com/news_two.html) Light. Brian Russel Davis [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.beautifulpoisons.com http://www.palejewel.com On Feb 7, 2005, at 6:00 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Personally - I don't see why it is limited to a month or why we should > be > grateful that congress "upped" it from a week, or why there should be a > continued decision about whether to make the the contributions of > Africans to this > country part of a comprehesive history. The disingenious nature of > finding > real solutions to this delimma spill over into all aspects of life in > the > United States, including the digital divide. > > It continues to be a point of shear frustration and irritation for me, > to > have to fight for what should be automatic. > > So I say, YES, the histories of all peoples who contributed to making > this > country should be included and not sidebar discussion held in February > or > around Cinqo de Mayo, or something else that limits or undermines the > brilliance > of the people and their contributions. But, the truth about the > types and > nature of all contributions should be a part of the discussion as > well. > > Cynthia C. Laramore, Director > A.C.T.I.O.N., Inc. > > Active Citizens Together Improving Our Neighborhoods, Inc. > 417 N.W. 16th Street, Suite 1 > P.O. Box 16 > Belle Glade, FL 33430 > 561-993-9100 > 561-993-9188 (fax) > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org > http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the > body of the message. > > _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Meet the all-new My Yahoo! – Try it today! _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
