girls - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub2024-03-19T11:50:25Zhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/girlsThe Truth About the 14 Missing DC Black Girls in 24 hrshttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/the-truth-about-the-14-missing-dc-black-girls-in-24-hrs-2017-04-15T18:00:00.000Z2017-04-15T18:00:00.000ZNana Baakan Agyiriwahhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/NanaBaakanAgyiriwah<div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;"><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PFIayn19Xus/WNfD64u1KKI/AAAAAAAClWU/CO1AguPSymwiEECwP2zqiG8ytwxc88vagCEw/s1600/Missing%2BDC%2BTeen%2BGirls.png"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PFIayn19Xus/WNfD64u1KKI/AAAAAAAClWU/CO1AguPSymwiEECwP2zqiG8ytwxc88vagCEw/s400/Missing%2BDC%2BTeen%2BGirls.png" width="400" alt="Missing%2BDC%2BTeen%2BGirls.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VrBAZeHm-M8/V7ff72hH_vI/AAAAAAACeKk/Im0Vy5KZIEAF828xhCDC2uKi1aq8-HXVACPcB/s1600/2016-04-04%2BNana%2BBaakan.PNG" style="clear:left;float:left;margin-bottom:1em;margin-right:1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VrBAZeHm-M8/V7ff72hH_vI/AAAAAAACeKk/Im0Vy5KZIEAF828xhCDC2uKi1aq8-HXVACPcB/s1600/2016-04-04%2BNana%2BBaakan.PNG" target="_blank"><img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VrBAZeHm-M8/V7ff72hH_vI/AAAAAAACeKk/Im0Vy5KZIEAF828xhCDC2uKi1aq8-HXVACPcB/s320/2016-04-04%2BNana%2BBaakan.PNG?width=80" width="80" class="align-left" alt="2016-04-04%2BNana%2BBaakan.PNG?width=80" /></a></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">This story has taken the Internet and social media by storm. I think that a lot of issues have arisen as a result of it, but to me the most important issue is to see what is happening in the home with these young people. The fact that most if not all of them are runaways speaks to a deeper problem in the Black community.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">There's no denying that child trafficking and sex trafficking of young people is a serious problem, and with all the hooplah around Pizzagate and to a more serious degree Pedo-gate, we have to begin with looking in the home and seeing what is happening there to the point that these young people would endanger their lives by running away.</div><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><div style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/lRmy6vQRjmc" style="background:#ffffff;border:0px;color:#167ac6;font-family:Roboto, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;margin:0px;padding:0px;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/lRmy6vQRjmc</a></div><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lRmy6vQRjmc?wmode=opaque"></iframe></div><br /> Today, our streets are less safe than ever before, so it's important to help our young people feel safe within their homes, because obviously, they feel safer in the streets which say a lot about their home environment.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gcvwo8Xk8yk/WNfDrNNr55I/AAAAAAAClXQ/v3Ly56azuMoSd7llurqFyVyJqkaL4WnDACEw/s1600/Missing_Black_Teen_Girls.png" style="margin-left:1em;margin-right:1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gcvwo8Xk8yk/WNfDrNNr55I/AAAAAAAClXQ/v3Ly56azuMoSd7llurqFyVyJqkaL4WnDACEw/s400/Missing_Black_Teen_Girls.png" width="281" alt="Missing_Black_Teen_Girls.png" /></a></div><br /> That being said, I strongly encourage young people, male and female who are considering running away from home that they get help from a teacher, mentor, social worker, elder family member, minister or someone you can trust to help you. Call a hotline or something of that nature so that you can get help because the streets are dangerous and you could end up dead or badly hurt and/or abused if you go out there with no protection.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Music: Soft Tunning</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Thanks for watching,</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Leave your comments below,</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Subscribe to my channel.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Become a patron @<a href="https://www.patreon.com/nanabaakan">https://www.patreon.com/nanabaakan</a>.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><b>LINKS OF INTEREST</b><br /><div><table border="1" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;"><tbody><tr><td style="border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;padding:4pt 4pt 4pt 4pt;vertical-align:top;width:7.4909in;"><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">Here's What's Actually Going On With The Missing Black Girls In DC</div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareinstein/heres-whats-going-on-with-the-missing-black-teens-in-dc?utm_term=.vaY3gK7oQ#.nlB0wkRbz">https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareinstein/heres-whats-going-on-with-the-missing-black-teens-in-dc?utm_term=.vaY3gK7oQ#.nlB0wkRbz</a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;padding:4pt 4pt 4pt 4pt;vertical-align:top;width:7.4909in;"><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">ALERT: Number of Missing D.C. Girls Spikes</div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyOoFO9lFq8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyOoFO9lFq8</a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;padding:4pt 4pt 4pt 4pt;vertical-align:top;width:7.4909in;"><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><b>Feminists will march for Hillary, but not for missing black girls in DC</b></div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhc8eA4KYes">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhc8eA4KYes</a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;padding:4pt 4pt 4pt 4pt;vertical-align:top;width:7.4909in;"><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><b>Missing DC Girls - decoded by @HotepJesus</b></div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_kbdiBG1hA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_kbdiBG1hA</a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;padding:4pt 4pt 4pt 4pt;vertical-align:top;width:7.4909in;"><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><b>Why Are There So Many Missing Minorities Girls & Women In DC?</b></div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6nadhygd8E">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6nadhygd8E</a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;padding:4pt 4pt 4pt 4pt;vertical-align:top;width:7.4909in;"><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><b>SupaNova Slom- The Truth about the Missing Black Girls in D.C.</b></div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okLjb4QQyuI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okLjb4QQyuI</a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;padding:4pt 4pt 4pt 4pt;vertical-align:top;width:7.4909in;"><div style="color:#171a1a;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">ESSENCE Special Report: How D.C.'s Disappearing Girls Highlight The Nation's Black and Missing Problem</div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="http://www.essence.com/news/dc-missing-girls-national-issue-kidnapping">http://www.essence.com/news/dc-missing-girls-national-issue-kidnapping</a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;padding:4pt 4pt 4pt 4pt;vertical-align:top;width:7.4909in;"><div style="color:#171a1a;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">What We Know So Far About D.C.'s Missing Black and Latinx Teens</div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="http://www.essence.com/news/missing-dc-girls-black-latinx-teens">http://www.essence.com/news/missing-dc-girls-black-latinx-teens</a></div></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;padding:4pt 4pt 4pt 4pt;vertical-align:top;width:7.4909in;"><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">DC's Missing Teens: What's True and What's Not</div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/DCs-Missing-Teens-Whats-True-and-Whats-Not-417021633.html">http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/DCs-Missing-Teens-Whats-True-and-Whats-Not-417021633.html</a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;padding:4pt 4pt 4pt 4pt;vertical-align:top;width:7.4909in;"><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">Missing DC Girls: 25 Teens Disappear In Last Month & Stars Want You To Help Find Them</div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="http://hollywoodlife.com/2017/03/24/missing-dc-girls-teens-disappeared-washington-2017-celebrity-tweets/">http://hollywoodlife.com/2017/03/24/missing-dc-girls-teens-disappeared-washington-2017-celebrity-tweets/</a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color:#A3A3A3;border-style:solid;border-width:1pt;padding:4pt 4pt 4pt 4pt;vertical-align:top;width:7.4909in;"><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">Missing DC Girls: 25 Teens Disappear In Last Month & Stars Want You To Help Find Them</div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="http://hollywoodlife.com/2017/03/24/missing-dc-girls-teens-disappeared-washington-2017-celebrity-tweets/">http://hollywoodlife.com/2017/03/24/missing-dc-girls-teens-disappeared-washington-2017-celebrity-tweets/</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div>Teaching Millennial Young Women…OMGhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/teaching-millennial-young-women-omg2015-11-05T13:30:00.000Z2015-11-05T13:30:00.000ZC. Lynn Williamshttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/CLynnWilliams<div><h4>I have been absent from this blog for the last month. Hard to believe, but it’s true and I <span style="font-size:1em;">apologize to those of you who look forward to my weekly posts. I have a good excuse though; I’ve been teaching a group of young ladies that have given me a run for my money. Call them young female millennials. <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828576015,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3828576015,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-right" height="263" alt="3828576015?profile=original" /></a></span></h4><h4>These young women are outspoken, opinionated, oppositional and hard to love. Many of them have dysfunctional relationships with their mothers – they have said “I hate my mom”, don’t respond well to rules and have very short attention spans.</h4><h4>I took it personally at first and couldn’t understand why I was dealing with this type of student. Then I realized that many of you have these young girls or women in your home. These are your daughters and they are not easy to parent or get close to. There are many reasons explaining why our daughters appear distant from us. It could be the fast pace of social media; how women and girls are portrayed in the media, or the inattention that they receive at home from us their mothers and fathers when we’re busy.</h4><h4>I know we have to change our mindset in order to reach this generation. They love technology. That means we can’t hate technology and expect to stay in touch with our girls. Whether it’s through texting, emailing, Face-timing or Facebook messages, talk to your girls and let them know you love them and are there for them.<br /> <a href="https://authorclynnwilliams.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/millennial-women-2.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1230 align-right" src="https://authorclynnwilliams.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/millennial-women-2.jpg?w=300&h=200" alt="millennial women 2" width="240" height="160" /></a><br /> While the attitudes of these students were enough to make me think about retiring early; I realized that I was being given an opportunity to do what I love to do – get close and share my love with this millennial generation – your daughters. There are all kinds of things going on in their young lives. Some good; some not so good. They just need to know that someone really cares and is listening. No matter what type of outward attitude they give off.</h4><h4>Keep the lines of communication open Moms…your daughters really are listening.</h4><h4>Interested in learning more about your family’s dynamics? Contact me – Ms. Parent Guru to receive information about my inspiring parenting programs for millennial daughters, aging parents, or mothers and sons.</h4><h4>Email me at: <a href="mailto:info@clynnwilliams.com">info@clynnwilliams.com</a></h4><h2>C. Lynn Williams, #MsParentguru</h2><h3><strong>Author, Coach & Family Dynamics Specialist</strong></h3><h4><a href="http://www.clynnwilliams.com/">www.clynnwilliams.com</a></h4><h6><a href="http://clynnwilliams.com/site/trying-to-stay-sane/">Trying to Stay Sane While Raising Your Teen</a> (St. Paul Press, 2010)</h6><h6><a href="http://clynnwilliams.com/site/the-pampered-prince/">The Pampered Prince: Moms Create a GREAT Relationship with Your Son</a> (St. Paul Press, 2012)</h6><h6><a href="http://clynnwilliams.com/site/raising-your-daughter/">Raising Your Daughter Through the Joys, Tears & HORMONES!</a> (220 Publishing, 2013)</h6><h6><strong>NEW:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1513604813">Yours & Mine: A Winning Blended Family Formula</a> (220 Publishing, 2015)</h6></div>Does Music Influence My Teen?https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/does-music-influence-my-teen2013-08-11T21:00:00.000Z2013-08-11T21:00:00.000ZC. Lynn Williamshttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/CLynnWilliams<div><p></p><p></p><p>Have you heard that song? You know the one that has the great beat? Have you heard the words? Yes they’re a little suggestive but the beat is really great! Wait a minute.. There’s a video too, except the girls are dancing & naked. The song I’m talking about is Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke. Catchy rhythm and melody, but I actually heard the words and it’s talking about convincing “good girls” to have sex.<br /></p><p>As a mom, I don’t want my nice daughter being convinced by music lyrics or music videos to want sex! Moms are you listening to the lyrics that your teens are listening to? Remember how music puts you “in the mood”? Well sexually suggestive music is not the mood I want my teens in. How about you?</p><p><em><strong>#MsParentguru</strong></em><br /> <em><strong>C. Lynn Williams</strong></em><br /> <span class="font-size-3"><em><strong><a href="http://authorclynnwilliams.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/does-music-influence-my-teen/" target="_blank">See more</a></strong></em></span></p><p></p><p></p></div>Brooklyn Community Rally to Save Boys And Girls High School from closinghttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/brooklyn-community-rally-to-save-boys-and-girls-high-school-from-2012-12-03T10:30:00.000Z2012-12-03T10:30:00.000ZGloria Dulan-Wilsonhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/GloriaDulanWilson<div><p>by Gloria Dulan-Wilson •</p><p></p><p>On Tuesday, December 4, 2012, a 6:00 PM, there will be an emergency community meeting to save Boys and Girls High School from being closed. It will be held in the Auditorium of the school, which is located on Fulton at Malcolm X Boulevard (Utica Ave.).</p><p>And, I personally don't care who you are, or if you ever attended Boys High before it became Boys and Girls, or if you attended a rival high school in the community, or what – if you're Black, or of African Heritage, you had better be front and center to save a school that has been the birthplace of geniuses for over the past 50 years.</p><p>I have received so many emails from concerned New Yorkers; many of whom I had communicated with in the beginning of the school year when Bloomie was threatening to destroy the school back then. And, while many passed the information on, no one showed up for the strategy meetings that were held at that time to turn this around. So my message to each and every one of you is this: <span style="color:#993300;"><em><strong>YOU HAVE TO DO MORE THAN PASS THE MESSAGE ON; YOU HAVE TO DO MORE THAN COMPLAIN ABOUT NEGLIGENT, IGNORANT PARENTS, A RACIST ADMINISTRATION; A BROKEN SELF SERVING BOARD OF EDUCATION, OR A DILETANTE MAYOR WHOSE MAIN INTEREST IS HIS CRONIES AND THE BOTTOM LINE. We've all been cognizant of that for far too long. Just complaining about it is not sufficient.</strong></em></span></p><p>Just testifying in behalf of Boys and Girls High's survival, though necessary, is not sufficient. <em><strong><span class="font-size-3">YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. YOU HAVE TO BE HANDS ON</span></strong></em>.</p><p>And so do our elected officials and community representatives. Yes, let's get ready for the Inauguration; let's pat ourselves on the back for having re-elected President Barack Obama - nationally and locally, we can say mission accomplished - Job well done.</p><p><span style="font-family:'arial black', 'avant garde';"><em><strong><span style="color:#993300;">But let's also admit, that when it comes to protecting ourselves, our institutions, our communities and the things we claim are important to us – here in New York, we're really not doing such a hot job. In fact, I'd give us a D- right about now, if there was a grade point average to be assigned to where we are at this point</span>.</strong></em></span></p><p>As the Mecca of Black culture, education, and pride, we've taken some heavy hits. Harlem and Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn are being gentrified to the extent that the percentage of Black people in these communities have dropped dramatically.</p><p>Add to the list the fact that WLIB and WBLS have gone into bankruptcy. There is no more Michael Baisden broadcast, which kept us informed and involved; no more "Like It Is;, Tom Joyner likewise had been taken off the New York Circuit. In addition to Boys and Girls High School, Paul Robeson was on the hit list for closure – as well as countless other inner city schools. And let's don't overlook the debacle that has been playing out big time for the past three years at Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights. Wake up and see the patterns - we are not only under siege, but for some reason we are putting our heads on the chopping block or shooting ourselves in the foot by our very lack of unity.</p><p>We have been so gerrymandered and re-apportioned, thanks to being under counted in the 2010 Census, that we no longer have the representatives we need, and indeed, their territories have likewise been watered down so that they can no longer look to the critical mass of support to effect change. So, with this new – actually not new, continuing – crisis before us, I think it will take the full regalia of all our leaders to come together and show that we have actually learned something about our strength from this last election.</p><p>I think it will take us showing up en masse and en force, the way we did at the polls, to show that we are now united, and we aren't taking any further incursions on our communities. For indeed, we showed that we really do know how to stand together and get things done. This re-election was definitely no fluke. We had a plan, we worked the plan, and we retained our man.</p><p>Now, let's take those same principles and apply it across the board – starting with Boys and Girls High, right on through Paul Robeson; affordable housing, employment development and training, health care and whatever else we need in New York to have the quality of life others are leaving here to find elsewhere.</p><p>I recently wrote a piece in my Blog – <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong><span style="color:#0000ff;text-decoration:underline;"><a href="http://www.gloriadulanwilson.blogspot.com">www.gloriadulanwilson.blogspot.com</a></span></strong></span> about Self-Gentrification. In it I mentioned that by now, in the 21st century, we should have the wisdom, skills, knowledge and understanding ourselves to see when there are things that are wrong in our communities, and to remedy themselves. We don't need outsiders coming in, making the changes, then pushing us out so they can enjoy them. We need to be about it ourselves.</p><p>We know that trash should not be allowed to pile up in front of our homes; we know that it's not right for our kids to be killing each other; we know drugs are destructive; we also know that you can't get a decent job without a decent, relevant, quality education. With that we also know that if your kid is in a class room, and he or she is not doing their best, you, as the parent, have to put your foot down.</p><p>Nearly 50 years ago, the government, as the result of some sort of mental aberration, took prayers and discipline out of the schools. They likewise hogtied parents hands, prohibiting them from their right to discipline their children. The rest has been an absolute disaster. Our kids have developed a sort of <em><strong>“make me do it”</strong></em> attitude toward many of their teachers, as well as their parents. With that, even the most charismatic, motivational education guru will have a difficult time getting adolescents to hunker down and focus on getting an education. There aren't enough consequences they can exact consistently that will impact a hormone driven child to sit still and learn.</p><p>That said, there still has to be some means or motivation we can incorporate that will help our youth not end up on the slag heap of marginalization. <strong><span style="color:#993300;">Imagine the irony: we have a BLACK PRESIDENT, we are in the mecca of Black culture, and our Black Youth are somewhere near 45th in the nation in educational level. And while Boys High was called the PRIDE – Boys and Girls High has lost a lot in the transition and translation of what that means.</span></strong></p><p>Am I saying that there aren't some real gems at the High? Absolutely not. What I am saying is that they have now become the exception, as opposed to the rule. The reputation for excellence has actually been reversed!! And you don't get to blame that on Principa Gassawayl. When Frank Mickens was there, and doing an excellent job, they had him removed because he was too strict; too old school. Can you imagine that? They replaced him with an individual (whose name I can't recall) who had no idea about Boys and Girls reputation, didn't live in the community, and in 5 years took it down ten notches from the already low ranking it had descended to after Mickens was removed.</p><p>Gassaway, who is a consummate educator, came in only three years ago, and has been hands on ever since, practically sacrificing his family to make a difference. We have been witnesses to his efforts; but where have we been when it has come to the trenches of trying to move these kids from Lodebar to upper echelon education again?</p><p><strong><span style="color:#993300;" class="font-size-3">And just to be clear, the meeting on Tuesday December 4, 2012 had better be attended by all the elected officials we help to get into office or return to office – especially those in Brooklyn – but those from all the 5 Boroughs as well – Black and white! This is your paying it forward for helping you retain your position, so you can help us retain our community – in other words QUID PRO QUO community style. In fact there should be a roll call to make sure of who actually is there.</span></strong></p><p>The really sad thing about this is that I had to read about Boys and Girls potential closure in the meanstream press – the Daily News. Over the past 12 months I can count on one hand the number of times I actually purchased the Daily News; and I am absolutely boycotting the NY Post except to pick up dog poop. So it must have been Divine providence that I picked up the Thursday, November 29th edition of the Daily News. Even then, I had just about discarded the paper when, I came across it somewhere, buried in the middle of the publication - the doomsday announcement that Boys and Girls High School was slated to be closed. It, along with 24 other “low performing schools”, ranked below the so-called standards of the City.</p><p>I daresay, many of you guys missed it because you start from the back, reading the sports section first. Many of my sisters may have missed it because of the article on Jessica Simpson's pregnancy, the Powerball Jackpot (we unfortunately did not win), and P-Diddy.</p><p>But there it was, buried on page 35 of The Daily News Headline: <em><strong>“SHAME FOR 'PRIDE': Boys and Girls HS Flunks again and could close for good</strong></em>" (by Mark Morales) - with a photo of Dr. Gassaway, the Principal, addressing some very woeful lookingstudents.</p><p>The article stated, in part: <em><strong>The “PRIDE OF BED STUY” isn't going down without a fight. Boys and Girls High school on Fulton St. earlier this week landed on the city's list of 24 schools that could be closed, following its SECOND F RATING in a row(!!!) Education department officials are headed to the school next Tuesday for a meeting in what could mean the end of the school – a move many parents, teachers and administrators are determined to stop".</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>Ac</strong></em>cording to the article, things have not shown major improvement despite innovative efforts on Gassaway's part – including a new state of the art library and computer center; instituting card swipes to go in and out of the cafeteria to cut down on student loitering; and 70 advanced placement students attending Long Island University's college credit program.</p><p>Statistically speaking, however, only 71% of the 1600 students show up for classes – below the city's average of 85.4%; They had a 39% graduation rate, below the city average of 65.5%; and only 21% of the graduating class went to a 2 or 4 year college – below the city's already low average of 49%. “The numbers were so low that the school was ranked one of the worst in the city on Monday, November 26.</p><p>There are many fingers of blame being pointed in all directions. Some instructors say the dismissal of veteran teachers left the students with inconsistent substitutes while replacements were being sought; others blame the lack of equipment, materials, supplies and an adequate budget. Still others say it's either the parents who are not educated or educationally oriented, or the students who are below average to begin with that the school has been forced to accommodate, bringing down the averages.</p><p>Boys High was originally considered an elite school, while the criteria for Boys and Girls has changed significantly over the decades since its relocation to the Fulton street site. Gassaway is not in favor of turning away low performing students, but does assert that you can't turn around years of low performance in just three years. It takes time to rebuild those standards. “I said I want to come in and stop the hemorrhaging, and I did,” said Gassaway. “Now it's time to build.”</p><p><em><strong><span style="color:#993300;">{As an educator, however, I think that they need to separate the wheat from the chaff, and weed out those students who truly show they are not interested in, or benefitting from Boys and Girls academic curriculum. The original standards of excellence need to be reinculcated, and those students who measure up, and are serious, should be admitted to boys and Girls. The rest may need to either have remediation, or become part of a vocational or commercial education curriculum at another school. Not every student can resonate to the academic standings under which the school was originally constituted. If it sounds elitist, so be it. Not every one can handle an advanced education. Don't fail the school for that,or the principal; re-distribute the students. Bringing those to Boys and Girls who are in schools that are likewise below their standards will balance out the situation.}</span></strong></em></p><p>The interesting thing about this is that the hearing is being held just before the holidays, with precious little time for really bringing to the table all the real stakeholders. <span style="color:#993300;">So, to reiterate, I want to see our elected officials in Albany take the day off, make the time to be front and center – Eric Adams, Velmanette Montgomery, Annette Robinson, Hakeem Jeffries, Karim Camara, Inez Barron, as well as those in Congress, and the City Council.</span></p><p>There is no territory, no turf, no chain of command. This is your community, your school, your neighborhood, regardless of where the political lines are drawn. And I want to see parents and students there with a plan to really make this work this time. Not just angst and lip service.</p><p>And if you think this issue is confined to Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy, consider this: The flyer below was sent to me by brother K Mensah Wali, my brother in law, Ric in California; a sister-friend of mine from Florida. I received separate emails from Zach Husser in Jersey, and Eduadvocate in Massachusetts; but I have not heard one thing from the brothers and sisters right here in Brooklyn - what's up with that? Where's the Black press?</p><p>Additionally, as I mentioned in my original article – where the heck are all the BLACK celebrities who point with PRIDE to having graduated from THE HIGH? It's high time you came back and gave back to the school that helped you move forward and become the success you are. In the 60's and 70's we had “Teach Ins” where celebrities would come to the schools and work with the students. That was a major inspiration to the youth of that day. It's an idea that needs to be resurrected, right along with the discipline, standards and respect that made THE HIGH the school graduates the world over point to and brag about. I strongly suggest that you pack the place on Tuesday – that you make them open up overflow rooms in the cafeteria, library, gym an where ever else if they run out of space in the auditorium.</p><p>But if you don't show up, if you don't come out, if they close the school – don't blame Bloomie, Gassaway, the students or the parents – blame yourselves – and tack that on to the overall grade point average Black New York has been accumulating over the past few years.</p><p>There is an old saying I saw at the end of an old 1930's movie that said:</p><p><strong><span style="color:#993300;" class="font-size-4">“If No One Else Will Save You, Save Yourself!!”</span></strong></p><p>Black people of Bed Stuy, Harlem and the rest of the world, I think you know what that means – right?</p><p>Stay Blessed & ECLECTICALLY BLACK Gloria Dulan-Wilson</p><p></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', geneva;" class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">International African Arts Festival Announcement</span></strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', geneva;" class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">Emergency Community Alert:</span></strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', geneva;" class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">Boys & Girls High School listed to be closed</span></strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', geneva;" class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">Come Out: Stop, Protest, Organize and Save the Closing of a Community Icon: Come out to testify in behalf of Boys & Girls High School</span></strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', geneva;" class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">Tell your family, neighbors, friends, elected and community representative Representatives from</span></strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', geneva;" class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">the Board of Education will be present</span></strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', geneva;" class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">Tuesday, December 4th., 6pm</span></strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', geneva;" class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">Boys & Girls High School(Auditorium)</span></strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', geneva;" class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">1700 Fulton Street Brooklyn, New York 11213</span></strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', geneva;" class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">(between Utica and Schenectady Ave) A or C train to Utica Ave</span></strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', geneva;" class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">This closing cannot be ignored, your presence is essential !</span></strong></span></p></div>Hands off Boys and Girls High: Threats Loom to Shut Down Boys and Girls High In Brooklyn, NY - Where are the Illustrious Alumni???https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/hands-off-boys-and-girls-high-threats-loom-to-shut-down-boys-and2012-05-24T07:30:00.000Z2012-05-24T07:30:00.000ZGloria Dulan-Wilsonhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/GloriaDulanWilson<div><p> </p><div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;"><strong><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:block;border:0pt none;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697937958373924179"><img alt="My Photo" class="profile-img" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9HiRqRhD2pk/S5rhtBSaC9I/AAAAAAAAAC8/AUlXfdUVyGo/S220/Gloria+Dulan-Wilson" height="60" width="80" /><br /></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697937958373924179" target="_blank">by Gloria Dulan-Wilson</a> ~</ins></ins></strong></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697937958373924179" target="_blank"><br /><br /></a></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;"><strong><span style="color:#000000;"><strong> HELLO ALL: THE FOLLOWING IS MY COMMENTARY IN RESPONSE TO AN ARTICLE THAT RECENTLY APPEARED IN CITILIMITS MAGAZINE. PLEASE READ IT AND THE ARTICLE THAT FOLLOWS BELOW. IT APPEARS THAT BOYS AND GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL IS BEING TARGETED FOR CLOSING AGAIN. IT'S TIME TO SOUND THE ALL ALERT SIGNAL - SO THE PREDATORS DON'T DESTROY THE SCHOOL UNDER THE GUISE OF TRANSFORMATION.</strong></span></strong></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;">I've met Dr. Gassaway and am impressed with his dedication to the Boys and Girls High school students. Given the detached demeanor of so many of our current administrators, his hands on, can do and will be done attitude is a pleasant and necessary change. As a parent, a guidance counselor, and former director of student activities at City College's SEEK program, I also have seen a decided difference in where our youth are today as compared to where they were a few decades ago, when we were students.</span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"></div><div style="display:inline-block;"></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><br /> <span style="color:#000000;">Those of us from another generation had parents who taught us that "education was the key;" there were no excuses for bad grades or poor deportment. There was no such thing as being culturally deprived, coming from a single parent home, living in a "bad" neighborhood, poverty, wellfare, or anything else. Your job, your responsibility was to go to school, get the best education possible, and make something of yourself. With the further expectation that you would then help your family and your community.</span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"></div><div style="display:inline-block;"></div><div style="display:inline-block;"></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;">The parents of today are products of poorly functioning families and equally poorly functioning schools, and a society that has largely written them off; they are marginalized. They were not taught the value of a good education; instead, they were more or less taught that education was not relevant, or, worse yet: that it was "white." Now these same parents, who are either stuck in mediocre jobs, or on public assistance, have communicated those same negative values to their children. Some of whom are at Boys & Girls; others are in schools throughout the 5 boroughs. </span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;">The legendary reputation and tradition of Boys High (a/k/a Boys and Girls High) is both national and international in scope. My former husband and his 4 brothers all graduated from there. There are other entertainers, artists, legislators, doctors, lawyers, sports figures, trailblazers, who have gotten their start at Boys High. They speak fondly of their days there, and what it has done for them as adults. Where are they, now that their alma mater is facing the ax?</span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;"><br /> The set up of the current public school system in New York City (in most of the US, as well) does not adequately or appropriately serve the needs of our youth, and hasn't for some time. The dumbing down of the curricula began in the mid-70's, right under the noses of most Black parents, in the guise of "progressive", "modern" techniques. The result of the new methodology is methodically dis-educating and mis-educating our youth. Most can't read above a 6th grade level. Can't simple words, or make a coherent, and grammatically correct sentence. Now, instead of the tri-level program - academic, vocational and commercial -- students are forced into one major modality. And it's not working. </span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;"><span style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;text-align:left;"><span style="color:#000000;">Boys & Girls would do well to consider the return -either fully or partially - to such a modality. Not every kid who graduates is going to college; not every child is going to be a computer wiz. There are people from other countries coming to New York to fill trade jobs we used to be able to fill from the population right here - they are from other countries - where they still understand the value of having a skill. Many of the entrepreneurs we have among us learned via a commercial - or business - curriculum.</span></div><div style="display:inline-block;text-align:left;"><span style="color:#000000;">Instead of closing Boys & Girls High, it needs to be retooled and refocused not closed and decimated.</span><span style="color:#000000;"><strong> Like President Obama stated, the jobs have to be brought back to America - well, so do the skills. The concept of New York's major "industries" being FIRE - FINANCE, INSURANCE, REAL ESTATE, is due in large part to the closing of our manufacturing plants and shipping lines. It was a deliberate move as these jobs were exported over seas for cheaper labor. When they come back, there should be high school grads with the skills and abilities to fill those jobs, just as there should be college bound students pursuing other career goals.</strong></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;text-align:left;"><span style="color:#000000;"><strong><br /> I urge/insist that our Black elected officials get involved on an integral level in the development of ongoing resources to expand Dr. Gassaway's and the faculty and staff's capacities to transform the students so they break that chain of poverty mentality and hostility.</strong></span></div><div style="display:inline-block;text-align:left;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><br /><div><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ul><li style="margin-left:0px;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><br /><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><div><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><div><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><div><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><br /><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><p><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>I also recommend that those who have graduated from "The High" come back and spend some time mentoring a guiding the present day student to success. If anyone should adopt a school - it's them, the doctors, lawyers, sports figures, entertainers, and parents - who got their values from a school that would not quit or give up on them.</strong></span></ins></ins></ins></ins></p><p><br /><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Just so you know, however - the Bed-Stuy Brooklyn Community will do every thing in our power to make sure that BOYS & GIRLS HIGH is not closed- by any means necessary. The mis-education division of the City of New York needs to find some other target to do their hatchet job on. Hands off The High!</strong></span><br /><br /></ins></p><p></p></ins></ins></ins></ins></div><br /></ins></ins></ins></ins></div><br /></ins></ins></ins></ins></div><br /></ins></ins></ins></ins></li><li style="list-style:none;"><ins style="width:728px;min-height:90px;display:inline-table;border:0pt none;"></ins></li></ul><br /></ins></ins></ins></ins></div><br /></ins></div></div><ul style="float:right;"><li><div><div><table cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align:bottom;white-space:nowrap;" nowrap="nowrap"></td><td style="vertical-align:bottom;white-space:nowrap;" nowrap="nowrap"><div><table cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td><div title=""><table cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td><img src="http://cdn.gigya.com/gs/i/shareBar/button/buttonLeftImgUp.png" alt="buttonLeftImgUp.png" /></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td><td><div style="width:38px;min-height:20px;"><table style="width:100%;min-height:100%;" cellspacing="0" width="1"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td><td style="vertical-align:middle;white-space:nowrap;" nowrap="nowrap"><div><table cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td><div title=""><table cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td></td><td style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:left;background-repeat:repeat-x;"></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td><td><div style="width:38px;min-height:20px;"><table style="width:100%;min-height:100%;" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td><td style="vertical-align:middle;white-space:nowrap;" nowrap="nowrap"><div><table cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td><div title=""><table cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td></td><td style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:left;background-repeat:repeat-x;"></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td><td><div style="width:38px;min-height:20px;"><table style="width:100%;min-height:100%;" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td><span><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td><td style="vertical-align:bottom;white-space:nowrap;" nowrap="nowrap"><div><div title=""><table cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></li></ul><p><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="color:#000000;">Stay Blessed &</span></span></p><p><span style="color:#000000;">ECLECTICALY BLACK</span><br /> <span style="color:#000000;">Gloria Dulan-Wilson</span></p><div><span style="color:#993300;"><strong>The Aricle from CitiLimits follows:</strong></span></div><div><span><span style="color:#000000;"><strong><br /></strong></span></span></div><div><span><span><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Fear of School Closure Is Personal for This Principal (from CitiLimits MagazineBrooklyn Bureau) Thursday, May 10, 2012<span><a href="http://www.bkbureau.org/print/fear-school-closure-personal-principal?page=2&utm_source=May%2010%2C%202012%20Weekly%20Update&utm_campaign=Weekly%20Update%205-2&utm_medium=email" title="Display a printer-friendly version of this page." target="_blank"><img src="http://www.bkbureau.org/modules/print/icons/print_icon.gif" alt="Printer-friendly version" title="Printer-friendly version" height="16" width="16" /></a></span></strong></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>Story By <a href="http://www.citylimits.org/news/author-articles.cfm?author_id=440" target="_blank">Darren Sands</a>.<br /></strong></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="color:#000000;"><strong><br /></strong></span></span></div><div><img src="http://www.bkbureau.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/main-image/gassaway.jpg" alt="" title="" height="422" width="578" /></div><div> <span>Photo By Adi Talwar.</span></div><div><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Bernard Gassaway is in his third year as principal at Boys and Girls. He was a teacher there from 1988 to 1991.</em></span></div><div><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Whether Bed-Stuy's Boys and Girls High School—with its declining enrollment and F ratings—survives is not just a professional concern for Principal Bernard Gassaway. His classroom roots, his former marriage, his career ambitions are all tied to the building on Fulton Street.</em></span></div><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>On a recent weekday morning, Bernard Gassaway, principal of Boys and Girls High School, bounced casually down the stairs while giving a tour of the building to a new guidance counselor. As the tour was coming to a close, the atmosphere along the path he took back toward his office was suddenly ripe for a fight: In a busy stairwell, an agitated guard had tried to stop an angry student for some offense. Gassaway watched the boy jerk his backpack away from the guard and retreat up the stairs, his face full of rage.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Gassaway casually made his way toward the student, grabbed him and put him in a playful headlock, an ironic demur of the aggressive manner in which the guard seemed to be handling the situation.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>"Did you grab him like this?"</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Unable to maneuver, the kid just smiled.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>"I didn't do nothing to him," barked the guard, who, for his part, was still irritated. As if to stick up for his friend, another student then stepped to Gassaway.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>"What, I grab him and you show up? I got people, too." He winked at his new hire.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>He disguised it with playful banter, but Gassaway was in a solemn mood. Earlier that morning, rising before the sun, he stopped by the Jamaica, Queens home he once lived in with his ex-wife, Traci, and daughter, Atiya. There are still pieces of his life there, loose ends that need tying. The home is in contract to be sold. "I'm not going to fool myself," he replied when asked how he was doing personally. "I think I'm OK. I know that you've got to take care of yourself before you take care of others. And I haven't always done that."</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>It was during the first school days of September of 2009 that Gassaway and his ex-wife began their difficult separation. The freshman class that arrived then will be seniors when the 2012-2013 school year begins in September. And yet, while his tenure reaches what he says is an emotional milestone, there's a growing weight to the long-held fear that the Department of Education could elect to phase-out or close the school. This worry has tempered Gassaway's anticipation of his personal landmark and even cast a pall over efforts to save the school.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>In a city where DOE brass have made a practice of closing large high schools and replacing them with smaller ones, the pressure to avoid a fate similar to, say, nearby Paul Robeson, is intense. In a system where principals have been given increased authority and accountability, Gassaway will get much of the the credit or the blame if Bed-Stuy's Boys and Girls survives—or fails.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>"The weight of it [possibly] closing is tremendous," Gassaway said, alluding to the rich history of noted physicians, attorneys, politicians and athletes that the school has produced. "You're not closing down a new school. Boys and Girls High is more than just an institution. But the more imminent weight I feel is when it comes to dealing with the children day-to-day: Dealing with their concerns, their issues, their aspirations … and asking ourselves how we help create the future doctors and lawyers, and [figuring out] what role we play in that."</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em><strong>Despite history, challenges abound</strong></em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>That Gassaway would use a headlock, of all devices, to defuse a potentially volatile situation illustrates his deep ties to two generations of students: Gassaway taught that angry boy's father as a young English teacher at Boys and Girls from 1988 to 1991 under his late mentor, the legendary principal Frank Mickens. In fact, Gassaway's 2009 return modeled his mentor's legacy; Mickens, too, left Boys and Girls in 1982, only to return as principal in 1986. Both sons of Brooklyn, each also received their bachelor's degree upstate.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Boys and Girls' condition is viewed by many as critical. One out of every four Boys and Girls students receives special education services. The school's graduation rate is about 45 percent, and school-wide attendance stands 71.2 percent as of May 7. It also received an ‘F' in every major category on its most recent Dept. of Education Progress Report. Once brimming with as many as 5,000 students, the school now has just over 1,500 students. School spirit is in short supply, but not for lack of trying on the part of its boys Kangaroos boys basketball team. Led by coach Ruth Lovelace (the first female coach to win a boys state title), the team won both the PSAL and New York State Federation titles in March. The headline of an article in the New York Daily News read, ‘ROOS RULE'. It hangs in Gassaway's office.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>"The culture of the kids is different," said staff member Katrina Brown, a 2008 graduate of Boys and Girls and aspiring principal who arrived at Boys and Girls the year after Mickens retired. An assistant to assistant principal Bridget Carrington, Brown was a part of an incoming class of 1,500. But the number of students isn't the only thing that's changed, she says. "When I was a student, the kids wanted to do better. They wanted to graduate. A lot of these kids don't care. Their makeup is different. They don't want to be involved in school sports or activities. Now? They hardly want even come in the morning. I used to dread going home – and not because I had a bad home life. I was just so involved in what was going on here."</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em><strong>A family grows in Brooklyn</strong></em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Many students are not as fortunate as Brown. Gassaway believes he could solve most of the school's problem's if he could strengthen the family. That would seem an impossible duty, or at least one not a fit for a principal. But while Gassaway has not been able to repair each of his students' home lives, the school itself—as it has gotten smaller—has actually become a family.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>There's Constancia Simpson-Hayes, whose room on the second floor has a lounge area where students can read or chat quietly. A product of and staunch believer in the public school system who for years worked in college administration, Simpson-Hayes arrived last November as the school's new director of college and career services, and casually refers to her appointment as coming "back home." The lab had five working computers when she got there; it now has 16.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>"We have a new family member," was how Gassaway introduced Aja Brown, the new guidance counselor whom he was showing around the building the morning the fight almost broke out. Staff in the Hub, the office that serves as a central processing unit for everything from incoming calls to faxes and guests, fawned over her as if she had walked through a church office.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Since then, in just a couple of weeks on the job, she's already begun the arduous task of placing students with little chance of earning a high school diploma from Boys and Girls in alternative schools. Others she will prepare for job training or other essential services. No matter their path, her bosses' mandate is to monitor their progress as far as she can.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>"I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be," Brown said.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>That sense of belonging permeates the school's culture, now. As a pillar in the community, Boys and Girls—a zoned school which serves numerous area housing projects—prides itself on not giving up on any of its students, especially the most needy. "We believe students achieve success and embrace learning when they feel safe and are supported by competent and caring adults," reads the school's vision statement.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Coming up with resources hasn't been easy, but expanded offerings give the most vulnerable students access to services for which there is dire need. As many as 250 boys participate in an empowerment program titled Boys II Men. At night once a quarter, Gassaway opens the school for the boys to play sports and participate in workshops and character building. Many of his staff members volunteer.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Students now have access to health services, intervention specialists and counselors on-site.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em><strong>Facing expectations</strong></em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Perhaps Gassaway's most public battles over the course of the past three years played out when he began to suspend athletes from contests if they didn't pass their first period class because of poor attendance. The policy kept star players out of key games, especially in basketball, and there was little if any budging on the principal's behalf. This year, athletes are to maintain a 70 average and are also required to do 30 hours of community service. The PSAL recently adopted a similar policy for student athletes.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Outlined in a memo made available to Brooklyn Bureau, Boys and Girls' Comprehensive Education Plan for the 2011-12 school year underline high expectations for students:</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>--70 percent of students will have at least 11 credits by June 2012 (Just 40 percent had at least 5.5 credits as of last February</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>--70 percent of students who sit for any Regents exam will pass with at least a 65 by the end of the school year (28.6 percent of students who sat last year passed with at least a 65)</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>-Boys and Girls will achieve a graduation rate of 65 percent by August 2012 (Just 30 percent of the junior class are on track to graduate).</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Measured against the performance of the school to date, the goals are ambitious. But Gassaway thinks changes in the school's atmosphere make them attainable.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>"Two years ago, I was putting out the fires," Gassaway starts. "So they'd say, ‘Mr. Gassaway, the building's rocking.' And you can feel it, anyway. ‘Mr. Gassaway, there's was a fight on the third, fight on the second, fight on the first.' And I'm, like, ‘Shit.' So I'd say, ‘O.K., time to put on the Superman cape.' So I'd have to go out and make the hard decisions, getting students out of the building."</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em><strong>A personal stake</strong></em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>It's tough to determine how, in the next 18 months, the school will perform, how Gassaway and his staff will frame that record and how the DOE will interpret it. What is clear is that the results, and Tweed's reaction to them, will affect students, teachers, the institution and its principal.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>At just 51, Gassaway is a man conscientious, if not obsessed, with legacy. He wrote a memoir, Reflections of an Urban High School Principal, in his mid-forties. This concern is part of the reason why the uncertain future of Boys and Girls unsettles him so.</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>Ironically, this is not because he knows he wants to spend the rest of his career in urban high schools. Gassaway has other aspirations. He has talked openly about one day soon finishing his coursework for his Ph.D. at Columbia Teacher's College and becoming a professor. But if he makes that move, the manner of making it matters. Will he walk out the door, run—or get chased?</em></span></p><p><span style="color:#800000;"><em>"My field is education," he said. "If I'm going to be a tenured professor at some college, what am I going to profess? That I was in an urban high school [that] failed, so I can talk to you about failing, but I can't talk to you about success?" ###</em></span></p><p><strong><span style="color:#993300;">As I mentioned earlier, Boys High, and Boys and Girls High have a list of illustrious graduates a mile long. If they are as fond of the school as they say they are, they'll pull together their considerable influence and be the support it needs now and in the future. And send a clear signal to the youth who currently attend that they can be as great, if not greater than their predecessors. That they are not alone or abandoned. They will likewise join with so many Brooklynites who have stood together in the face of previous attempts to close the legendary school and say: "HANDS OFF THE HIGH!!"</span></strong></p><p>Former New Yorker, and activist/entrepreneur <strong><span style="color:#993300;">Dorothy Pitman-Hughes</span></strong> just penned a book entitled: <em><strong>"I'm Just Saying, It Looks Like Ethnic Cleansing - the Gentrification of Harlem</strong></em>," which will be featured at the African American Pavillion at the BookExpo America exhibit at Jacob Javits Center, June 5 - 7th (private signing at the Cotton Club in Harlem, on June 4).<br /><br /> <em><strong>Make no mistake about it, the dumbing down of our educational centers, the staffing with mediocre teachers, and the supplanting of ernest, competent administrators, as in the case of Medgar Evers College; or the demolishing of schools, hospitals, community based centers as in the case of Paul Robeson High school, and other facilities; along with massive foreclosures - all look like ETHNIC CLEANSING to me! And it has to be halted in its tracks, by any means necessary. Those of you who think that the sale of Inner City Broadcasting, the discontinuation of Like It Is on ABC-TV; the sudden sale of WRKS (KISS) FM, the cancellation of Michael Baisden (who is no longer heard in New York) is merely a business transaction, have been drinking way too much of the wrong flavored Kool-Aid. Wake up and smell the new sulphurated stench of psycho-sociological, educational, economic and environmental genocide, big city style.</strong></em><br /><br /> <em><strong>Draw a line in the concrete now, of the next to go will be you. HANDS OFF THE HIGH!! And all of our other Black institutions.</strong></em>###GDW<br /> Stay Blessed &<br /> ECLECTICALLY BLACK<br /> Gloria Dulan-Wilson</p></div>