HIV/AIDS AND AFRICAN AMERICAN TEENS

The HIV/Aids epidemic has taken the world by storm. Every year millions of new cases are reported and thus causing a world wide scare. Although people of every ethnicity has been infected, African Americans has accounted for over half of the cases. Today, one in fifty African American males and one in 160 African American females is infected with HIV. This maybe a surprise for some but others think that this was predicted. Due to the lack of father figures, sex education and awareness and healthcare, African American youth are ignorant to the world of sex and diseases. They are brought up in neighborhoods where there are few role models that will direct them into right paths thus following what they see. This mindset has led many young people to have sex without the knowledge of the consequences that may occur because of their actions.

Many young African American males and females lack father figures. Thus they crave to fulfill that void in their lives. Single women raising young males can cause them to become feminine. Later in their lives some become homosexuals due to the lack of guidance of a man growing up. African American homosexuals are at an even higher risk of infection. According to CDC’s HIV/AIDS Reporting System 2005, African American homosexuals make up 48% of blacks males with aids. The females who lack father figures try to fill that void by having sex with numerous partners. According to CDC’s HIV/AIDS Reporting System 2005, African American females make up 64% of all female HIV/AIDS cases.

Unlike many “white schools”, many young African Americans do not have privileged backgrounds nor do they go to “good schools”. Most neighborhood schools lack the funds to provide books better yet sex education classes. Therefore many young black females and males have no clue of the dangerous things that can affect them and their partners such as drugs, unprotected sex, std’s and sti’s and pregnancies. If we could find a way to provide the education for our black youth, their will be a dramatic decrease in new African American cases each year.

Healthcare is a huge aspect of HIV/AIDS cases among African Americans. The inability to pay for healthcare causes many blacks to go on through life without knowing that their ill. Many African Americans do not even go to the doctor because they cannot afford the expense. Many individuals have spontaneous unprotected sex with numerous partners, not knowing they are infected. This ignorance is then spread amongst others who in turn have sex with their partners and the cycle continues. Healthcare should become assessable to all people, whether they have the funds or not. It will cost more in the long run for medicines to prolong your life with aids than to provide everyone with HIV/AIDS test.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is becoming an unstoppable force. Unless changes occur within each household, school and government system this epidemic will not stop. We need more families and role models to teach the youth the right way to have sex and to encourage them to protect themselves in every way possible. Schools should provide sex education classes so that if and when the students decide to have sex they will already know the consequences and things to expect afterwards. The government needs to provide health insurance to every household to help prevent infections. If everyone come together we can stop this epidemic one case at a time.

Letter To My People

A LETTER TO MY PEOPLE
November 4, 2008 was not only a historical event for the nation, but specifically for African Americans. Barack Obama was announced president elect for the United States of America. This tremendous event should have changed the mindset of every child born of African decent. As a child, we were told by our mothers and fathers that we could be anything if we put our minds to it. Never once did we dream of becoming president. Always assuming that the accomplishment would be to far-fetched to achieve. We were wrong. Barack has showed us that change is possible and we should always strive to be the best that we can. We should have wanted to pick up our heads and work toward a brighter and more successful future; instead, we are still destroying our lives a day at a time.
November 4, 2008, was a wake up call. Every hustler, should have woke up and realized that the streets, are not going to get you anywhere in life. The drugs and violence amongst each other is not worth the lives that are being sacrificed daily. Every deadbeat father should have realized that in order for their child to be fully equipped for the future, they need that father-figure in their lives. For every adolescent who feels like school is not for them or that their future will not be as successful as others, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING. Instead, we continued to follow suit of the next and take the opportunity for a new world for granted.
November 4, 2008, we should have opened are eyes and made our futures more clear. We should have written out our goals and future endeavors and grasp hold of every opportunity available to us. We should have realized that nothing is impossible. Barack Obama opened many doors and gave us the key to a brighter future. My people, take this as a lesson to do better, to be better. CHANGE HAS COME... DON'T GET LEFT BEHIND

Which is more likely for an African American male to succeed in: College Degree or Criminal Record

In Chicago for an African American male to receive his college degree would be an honor. It’s not an everyday thing you see, even though it’s something you would be able to get use to. Mothers and fathers would be proud to see their son get a college degree, then to be depressed and sad, looking at their son in jail. You can’t deny the fact that African American males are likely to have a criminal record than receiving a college degree, we can only change it.
To me I think the reason why African American males receive an criminal record before a college degree do to the fact that they may not have a role model or father figure in their life, but they shouldn’t use this as an excuse, even though it would of help them have a better life. Many of the black males today know that some things they are doing is wrong but continued to do it. That’s why some have records before they reach the age 15. In Chicago there is a 65% chance of an African American male receiving a criminal record than a college degree.
Although all African American males don’t have the same mentality, doesn’t help the fact that there are most of our black males out there failing as an individual. Many negative minded African American males feel if they are not going to succeed in life why should they let anyone else succeed. Which causes a epidemic to arise. If all black males think with there hearts instead of there thoughts, we would have several African American brothers receiving a college degree, instead of a trip to the county. In the back of my mind I know there are still some good in our African American males today and I know that they can and will change.
In my opinion I feel as if a African American wouldn’t be most likely to receive a criminal record if people would lift their spirits up once in a while, instead of putting them down with negative comments. Such as “you will never amount to anything but a failure”, “you are to dumb to go to school”, and “you might as well find you a spot on the corner like all the others brother, cause that’s the only place you know”. Comments like those does nothing to a black males mind but messes it up. With a little guidance and discipline a black male would be receiving his college degree in no time. If he continues to be influence with the negative that negative is going to become positive to him. Then he will no longer know what’s right, from what’s wrong. If we don’t save our African Americans brothers today, then who will save us?
The facts states that the only reason an African American male would ever go to college is if he is being force, I disagree. Anyone can not want to go to college, but no one can be force into to college. College is something you must want for yourself and not just for any one else. You must know you can do the work like all the rest of the students. If you go into college with a negative mindset then that’s what type of behavior, work and energy you will have. It’s not an ok I’m going to go this day and not the next. You have to put your all into it and want it at the same time. If you don’t want it don’t waste your time going than.

The Things Teens Want The Most

What is it with teens and their wants? Are the things these teens getting really necessary? How much money are they willing to spend to get what they want? How far will they go to get it? These are just a couple of questions people ask themselves when dealing with kids who just have to have it all.
Teens these days want to keep up with the Jones. Now days when something new comes out and are put on shelves, they stop at nothing to acquire them. It’s almost as if this new era of technology fuels them to live. But have they ever thought how much of a hole their putting in their parents pockets? Or how much these items really cost right off of the store shelves?
Every time a new pair of some of the hottest shoes comes out like Jordan’s, One’s, Rec’s, just to name a few, who but the teens are patiently waiting at the store fronts waiting in line for the doors to swing open. And the next week, who but them, are in the same line at the same store getting the same shoes just in a different color. The question I ask is “WHY”?
From my point of view, the average teen spends about $300 a month on shoes. Now if you were to multiply that number by 12, you’ll be spending $3,600 on shoes a year. That a great amount of money just to be blowing it all on shoes don’t you think.

The Destruction of “Hope

We are at war…
…at war at Hope.
But when it comes to placing the blame,
We all should have our head dropped in shame.
This was suppose to have been a new year, with Obama being elected
It’s sad that our people don’t care about being rejected.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words could never hurt me”
But at John Hope, your safety can not be guaranteed.
As yet another year comes to a close
Allow us to take a moment of silence for all the lost souls.
This is for Andre and Bernie
The lost girls and money,
Because far to many people take life for granted
Then when they lose a few bucks, they have the nerves to run around frantic.
Loved ones should be cherished
While we adore those who has perished.
What has happened to the respect?
Has all love been ship wrecked?
Maybe some of these families need to start paying closer attention
Then maybe they wouldn’t have to complain about their son being in detention.
“We shall overcome…”
Or at least that’s what we try to believe in order to continue to have faith in this world, in which we are living in,
Would it be too much to ask my brothers and sisters to stop committing sins?
The one thing that we have to smile about is the fact that we lived another day
But then that’s it,
I have nothing else to say.
Of coarse life has its challenges and it’s sometimes get rough
Honestly,
It wouldn’t be as hard if we were somewhat tough.
So come together everyone
And look up at the sun.
Pray to God that the struggle ends
So that a new start can began…

Chris Brown and Rhianna Situation

It is said that on the night of the pre Grammy award show, Chris Brown and Rihanna was involved in an altercation that led to a brutal beating of the female sensation Rihanna and the jailing of the star studded entertainer Chris Brown. He was then released the next morning on a $50,000 bond on unidentified charges.
There were many events that was said to have taken place that night. One reason is that it was said that she supposedly had given him herpes and he went into a rage and started to throw a fit and charged at her biting and punching her simultaneously. Then another reason is that she took away his keys and threw them which made him angry and they started to argue. Then one thing led to another and fists were thrown and teeth were chomping.
New information later revealed that it started over a text message that ignited the whole thing. He so called received a “booty text” and once Rhianna checked his phone and seen it she got upset. She tried to walk off and he grabbed so she told sources that he hit her.
There are a lot of stories about the alleged attack of Chris Brown on Rihanna, but many believe that it’s all just a publicity stunt. Now does the smiles and laughter of Chris Brown really seem like he can be a victim of such an abominable crime. I don’t think so.

How Does Crime Affect Different Blocks In Chicago?

Southside vs. North side, which is really safer? , are there really a difference when it come to crimes between the two sides. Southside, North side, Westside, or Eastside crimes happen regardless. Crimes do not affect different blocks in Chicago because of the fact that the same types of crimes happens in all areas in Chicago. The two blocks that I have compared to see the crime difference are 7600-7698 block of South Ashland, 7600-7698 block of South Ashland and also the Lincoln Park Area, and what I am seeing is between the three areas is that there are similar crimes that happen in each area, such as: Criminal Damage to Vehicles, Criminal Damage to Property, Battery, Narcotic Possession, Theft, and etc according to http://chicago.everyblock.com/. The real question is, why we hear so much about crime on the Southside more than North, Eastside or anywhere else, or am I just over exaggerating.

According to http://neighborhoodscout.com/il/chicago the top 10 safest neighborhoods with 100 being the safest are as followed: Bedford Park (97), Racine Ave/Clybourne (81), Lake Shore Drive (80), International College of Surgeons (80), U.S. Route 14 (75) Berwyn Ave/ Route 43(69), North Ave/Clark (69), Sauganash (69) American Islamic College (69), Cannon Dr/Fullerton (68). They would probably say that they are the safest neighborhoods because you would not hear about any crimes on the news, or maybe there are crimes but maybe we just do not hear about them. The site also has a violent crime comparison, and what was stated was that: Loomis Blvd/ 76th-55%, Chicago 12.2, Illinois 5.67, and the National Median is 4.7, and a chance of becoming a victim of violence is 1 in 82 in Chicago and 1 and 176 in Illinois. That don’t necessarily sound right because of the simple fact we hear about homicides almost everyday. In Chicago, Illinois a reported total a number of people murdered is 488 and per 1000 people .16, rape: 0 per 1000, and per 1000: 0.00, robbery: 15,912 and per 1000 5.50, assault 18.746 and per 1000:6.47. The murders, robbery, assault sounds about right but it maybe a little bit more than stated, but what about rape?, either the suspect do not get caught in their actions or the victim probably would not tell because the victim would probably would be harmed more than they were. The baddest neighborhoods in Chicago according to this site are: Federal St/51st, Payne Dr/Garfield Blvd, 66th St/Yale, King Dr./71st, Taylor and Clinton and 15th/Troop, etc. If you think about it most of these neighborhoods are in bad conditions and come to think about it mostly African American stay in these neighborhoods. Going back to the “Good Neighborhoods” mostly white or Asians or any other race than black live in these neighborhoods, maybe there is a reputation that Caucasians suppose to hold and keep, and they do not want to want their reputation to be ruin, and since blacks always have the reputation of being on the new the most whether it would be: homicides, murders, or whatever, then the media would always portray blacks as bad or portray our neighborhoods as the bad, or not in good condition neighborhoods, I mean why, but I guess that we would never know, maybe it’s their opinion, or maybe it’s the truth know fact but hey, the only way people opinion would change is that we got to stop doing what we doing whether it would be stereotyping different neighborhoods, because what race live where, or we just got to stop the chaos because all the crime is not really worth it.

The Olympics a disaster to Chicago

The Olympics that may come to Chicago is a horrible choice. The Olympics is like a garbage can that millions of people are throwing their money into that which is not going to get recycled in the economy but burned. This means that the Olympics is nothing but a waste of time and money, which is going to contribute to the Chicago land economic downfall. Another reason that the Olympic is a horrible choice, the people that are being affected has no choice in the situation. For the simple reason that they don’t know that behind the scenes they are being removed. The inner city citizens in Chicago are not aware of the renovation that is being executed at this time. Sadly to state our leaders in Chicago are idiots. Even with all this education and experience or politicians still have no common sense. Even with factual information of the economic downfall of the city they still want to plunge our citizens into more debt. With the help of the Chicago government the Olympic committee is going to build the Olympic infrastructure. Even though there is a big chance that Chicago might not even get the nomination of hosting the 2016 Olympics. This should be considered as a waste of our tax payer’s money, so this leaves us with millions of dollars that are being thrown down the drain as if there aren’t other issues that need to have seniority to this one. Breaking down the budget for the Olympics it comes to be over 3 billion dollars. The Olympic village is going to cost 1.1 billion dollars alone even though this is just temporary. Now with this information being bought to the table is it really going to be a good idea economically for our city, to prepare in this manner for the Olympics? The politicians that are in power that make the decisions with the Olympic committee to bring the Olympics to Chicago are looking for two things. The first reward that the politicians from the Olympics is, they want to make Chicago look good by trying to make a name for Chicago. Not to get me wrong trying to mainstream your city is wonderful but sat what cost, and financially are we really stable enough for such a event? The next reason for bring the Olympics to Chicago is to try and rebound the economy. Yet again that is not a bad idea to try and do such a thing but at what cost? Did the politicians look at the effects of a event like that being facilitated thoroughly. When I mean thoroughly I mean the past present and future, did they take the negative effects of what might happen rather than the Olympics would be a great show. The other countries which hosted the Olympics had negative results from the games. They countries ended up spending more to facilitate the games rather tan the profit earned from it. With our present I believe that our negative balance will become even bigger. The reason I say that is the citizens might not pay to watch the games because of how bad our economy is and would rather save the money in their pockets. The people that are in the city is being removed not knowing, the living cost in the city are rising to high rates which the people won’t be able to pay. All the new houses being built won’t be buyable with the income of these intercity citizens. Then now it is easier to live in the suburbs than in the city due to the low living cost. Which means that the intercity people (blacks) are going to migrate to the suburbs and whites move to the city. To make the city acceptable for the white suburban people the process of cleaning up the city and renovating it has already started.

The effect the Olympics had on china

http://insidechinatoday.net/2008/09/09/beijing-olympics-negative-after-effects-felt/

http://www.edb.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/Content_6559/unit_5_og_s1-3_eng.doc

reason not to host the Olympics

http://nogames.wordpress.com/

Why is HIV/AIDS so high amongst African American teenagers and why do we hear so little about?

HIV/AIDS are one of the most deadly diseases in human history. There are around 42 million people living with HIV/Aids worldwide and around 3 million die every year. African Americans have been disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the impact on their race is worsening. We, African Americans, represent 12 percent of the U.S. aids population. As stated in http://kidshealth.org/teen/sexual_health/stds/std_hiv.html, teens represent 15 percent of the African American population and they accounted for 64 percent of the new aids cases reported among teens in 2000. We hear so little about this matter of teens not telling or revealing their diseases is because as these teens get the disease, they don’t want to put themselves out there because they would be scared of the reactions they would get from their peers. They know they will be treated differently as soon as the news spread.
Hundreds of these teens are infected with the deadly disease every year. It can be transmitted from one infected person to another person through the blood stream, semen, and breast milk. Because their immune systems are weakened, people who have AIDS are unable to fight off many infections.
Today’s youth really have no idea on what damage or how much damage the infectious disease can inflict upon a person and how it can tear a person apart. This is a disease that doesn’t sleep. It just sits in a person waiting for its next victim. It strikes with out warning leaving you little information on its whereabouts and if you have it or not. Even though we have been supplied with many hospitals, many books, and so many medical places we really don’t pay attention to it because we care little about it. The youth of today just really want to have sex and as long as they fulfill their fantasies and get their desired pleasure, they don’t care about the risk that’s at hand and don’t take the advice given to them seriously at all. The results are stated in http://www.philaurbansolutions.org/site2/AfricanAmericanYouthSexualBehaviorsAndTheirImpact.pdf as to where we only recognize the effects of this deadly infection once we acquired it and realize how damaging it could be to our bodily systems. It’s a fatal process to tell a person that they have aids or HIV, just to see how devastating it would be to see them fall to their knees in deep pain with tears flowing.
The results of not using a condom are either having a baby, in which you might not be ready for, or a sexually transmitted disease which can really mess up a persons mind. It can lead to suicide attempts or maybe a person can be so devastated that they just go around spreading the disease like wildfire.

The Deadly Epidemic Of Our Teens.

Knowing that United States population is about 300million people and out of that at least one million people in the United States are living with HIV/AIDS everyday. HIV (HUMAN Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system, making the body unable to fight the infection anymore, which causes the next stage in HIV. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a non-curable medical condition. Its development was cause by HIV damaging the person’s natural defenses against diseases. Anyone can easily become infected by being in contact with an infected person’s blood, sexual intercourse, being injected with drugs or blood products, sharing needles, or a child can receive it from their mother by birth or by breast feeding.
Adolescences lack the knowledge of knowing these simple facts about HIV/AIDS. They lack this important information because teenagers don’t believe they can be infected or it’s impossible to catch. Majority of the adolescence are scared to talk about sex with their parents or possible any other adult. If only these teenagers knew that AIDS is the sixth leading cause of death among people between the ages of 15-24 in the United States, their probably wouldn't be this many teenagers or people in general dying or getting infected everyday. Just by knowing or doing something as easy as you doing research or asking questions about HIV/AIDS adolescences would know and understand more about the disease.
African American teenagers or just teenagers period don’t understand that HIV/AIDS is one of the leading cause why our youth doesn’t reach the age 30 or even 40. This isn’t anything you can brush off your shoulder or just think it can go away easily. By having unprotected sex whether it’s oral or vaginal you still can catch it. You can only be protected by being abstinence or maybe just being with only one partner. With this new generation people are getting infected with HIV/AIDS by having sexual intercourse with multiple partners, random people, or men having sex with men and then having sex with their wife or girlfriends. People also tend to get infected by using dirty needles with either piercing or by letting someone that may or may not have a license give them a tattoo with a needle they didn’t clean. By not being careful and paying attention you can easily become one of those children who die from AIDS every minute or get infected with HIV/AIDS everyday. Everyday over 6800 people are contracted with HIV and over 5700 have died from AIDS.

You are so PHONEY!!

What does it mean to love? This is a question that I find myself continuously asking myself. It seems as though the older that I get, the more and more I find myself having to question the company in which I keep. A perfect example of this would be my transformation from freshman year of high school, up until my senior year. My freshman year at Hope, I was known for being this sweet and innocent girl. Then over time, that titled changed. Now I am more so known for being brutally nice. There are those that don’t like me, and then there are those that LOVE me. Love! This is a word that is used so wrongly in society today. I chose to talk about this subject because it is something that haunts my mind all the time, simply because I feel as though many of the people that have been claiming to care/LOVE me so much, are the ones in which are causing me the most heart ache. I understand that everyone has their own opinion about how LOVE can be defined, but this is how I see it. LOVE is unconditional. It is the word used to express the priceless affection one person may feel for another. Now with this being said, allow me to please state my issue… …people are “PHONEY.” PHONEY; meaning not genuine, false or spurious. I know that might sound a little over board, but it’s the truth. In my opinion, it is PHONEY to claim someone as your friend, to tell this person that you LOVE and care for them, but then you turn around and talk about them. That is PHONEY. In reality, no one person is better then the next. Of course we have those people that walk around feeling as though they are the hottest thing walking, claiming to be apart of some hypothetical world, in which they are just so popular. Once again, that is wrong. People might seem popular, but in actuality, they aren’t. In order to be considered popular, one must be liked by a vast number of people, nearly all. With that being said, how is it possible to have those people amongst us that separate people into groups, the LAMES people and the POPULAR people? I know that I have stated a lot today, I am simply expressing how I feel, because a lot of this goes on around me on a daily basis. So I am wrong for telling people how I feel, and disassociating myself with PHONEY people? Because I think not…

The cartoon by Sean Delonas

I’m sure that everyone is aware of the picture drawn by Mr. Sean Delonas. He decided to draw an image of a monkey being shot by two white police officers, then the capture reads; "Now they will have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill." Everyone is going haywire, and arguing whether or not the picture represents a racial depiction of our wonderful Barack Obama.
Here are the facts are, the New York Times first stated that the picture was an illustration of the monkey that had attacked the woman the other day. But since then, they changed their statement, as they posted the following editorial, which stated that the illustration It was meant to mock an ineptly written federal stimulus bill. They go on to say that they apologize to those who were offended, because it was simply a cartoon, and should be seen that way.
Now to those of us who have been following this story, we have to look at both sides of this. Now when I first saw the image, it was on WGN news, as they were taking votes on whether or not the image was a racial depiction. Now when they showed the image, they did not mention the quote, nor did they really try to expose it. So I instantly thought that people had been over exaggerating. Until I actually saw the image for myself.
Anyone who believes that this illustration isn’t mocking our new president Barack Obama is not looking at the same image. I feel as though there has been a lot of controversy every since our first black president was elected into office. For us to allow the New York Times to get away with this act of ignorance will mean that we are becoming an un-patriotic nation. It is also a smack in the face, for the New York Times to apologize, but continue to take the side of the illustration. How dare they try to justify this?

epidemic

Aleehia Abdullah
Academic Issues
The Epidemic


AIDS is an occurring epidemic in the African American race. Even though the AIDS percentage is steadily rising amongst us we still hear very little about it. The national statistics show that African American teens between the ages of 13 – 19 accounted for 55% of the leading HIV cases today. It is also the 4th leading cause of African American deaths in the youth today.http://www.idph.state.il.us/public/respect/african_american_fs.htm.

Many think that they cannot be affected because of the queations that they ask and answers they receive. When saying these things no one ever thinks of the consequences that follow up with these actions. African Americans account for more than half of all the HIV/AIDS cases; it is the leading cause of death for African American women between the ages of 25 – 34. Incarcerated as well as men and women in the gay community are affect by the epidemic doubled that of your ordinary person. Many things contribute to why the black community can’t get help with AIDS. Many African Americans dont know that they are affected with AIDS because they dont have the proper health care to find out.Therefore other innocent people are contracting the disease and don’t know it because their partner is unaware.http://www.thebody.com/content/art6863.html





This is the age group listing of people infected with HIV/AIDS in the year of 2004. There was an estimate of 2,174 teens who were diagnosed with HIV and of this group 234 died.

One of the reasons to why STDs are being transmitted so rapidly throughout that of teens in the African American community is because so many of the youth are becoming sexually active at an early age.

High school students reporting ever having had sexual intercourse, 2003

High school students reporting sexual intercourse for the first time before age 13, 2003

Young minority women are at a higher risk of contracting the disease through heterosexual contact. The rate of HIV prevalence among young women aged between 16–21 which was 50% higher than the rate among young men in that age group. African American women were 7 times as likely as white women and 8 times as likely as Hispanic women to be HIV-positive. Young women are at risk for sexually transmitted HIV for several reasons, including biologic vulnerability, lack of recognition of their partners’ risk factors, inequality in relationships, and having sex with older men who are more likely to be infected with HIV.

The statistics for homosexuals such as men who have sex with other men are a little more different though. There is a 55% rate of young gay men ranging in ages 15 – 22 that don’t let anyone know of their sexual preference. Statistics show that men who don’t disclose their sexual orientation are more prevented from getting HIV a little more than those who do. The reason that some men don’t disclose their sexual orientation is because they may possibly have 1 or more female sex partners. There is still a very high risk factor because women are contracting the disease from these men as well as other men contracting the disease.

The presence of an STD greatly increases a person’s likelihood of acquiring or transmitting HIV. Some of the highest STD rates in the country are those among young people, especially young people of minority races and ethnicity’s. The only real way to prevent from catching this disease is to be smart, If young people have sex they need to have protected sex. People have to be honest with others if they epidemic before they get involved with them so that they can be aware of what’s going on. AIDS/HIV is not a joke so to be safe is to be smart and to be smart is to help prevent this epidemic from killing anymore of our young African American teens because we can defeat it if we try.http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/PUBLICATIONS/frtp/youngaawomen.htm

It’s Time for Us to Wake Up!

Many people wonder whether or not the double standard is still in existence today, as they ask; “Are men being treated differently than women?” This is the question that is being asked, and it can easily be answered.
In the society in which we live in today, women are often time ridiculed and discriminated against if they have promiscuous ways. Unlike men, who on the other hand, are seen as pimps. This is an issue that has been in our mist for over four centuries now, and sadly, nothing has changed. People are too busy judging one another to actually take the time out to examine the real problem at hand. In Egypt civilization, Greek, French and even Roman, women were treated like queens. Of course the king ruled the empire, but it was the queen who was really in control behind the scenes. I personally feel as though both men and women should be treated equally. But think about this, if women weren’t given themselves up so easily, then they wouldn’t be labeled as whores and men wouldn’t be labeled as pimps. Now I understand that there are two sides to every story, but what I am doing today is simply stating the obvious. There are women out here that are being raped, and no one is judging those women that want to have multiple sex partners, I am just saying that women are the ones in control here. We decide who we will and will not have relations with.
We need to ask ourselves; “What does it mean to be a woman?” Or even more specific, what does it mean to be a black woman? I am in no way, shape or form a racist. I love all the people of the world equally, I simply put somewhat of an emphasis on my beautiful black brothers and sisters. I feel as though, we as a people have endured a great deal of psychic trauma, and as a result, we have become psychologically damaged. A book that I read once, titled The Goddess Black woman: Mother of Civilization, by Akil, had to have been one of the greatest books that I would come across in my life. The woman is seen as the mother of civilization and a child’s first teacher. Now if this is true, why is it that we should be somewhat worried? Well, I’ll tell you. A woman is to be valued, cherished as if she is a rare gem. But today, that isn’t the case. It’s sad that we as a people would have to resort to a double standard of living. What we need to be doing is trying to find a way to get out of that mindset and way of thinking. But where do we start?

Death Sweeps the Nation!!

Sex equals death! Or at least that is what many people today believe every since the HIV/AIDS epidemic was put into affect decades ago, and since then, over 944,306 people was reported as a carrier of the virus. The question that is most commonly asked; is why is HIV/AIDS so high amongst African American teenagers? Well, before we answer that question, we must first examine the facts. In today’s society, contracting an STD has become as common as the average cold. We have girls as young as eleven that are participating in sexual activities, having babies, and using drugs. Even though people might believe that HIV/AIDS is contracted by kissing, through the air or water, it isn’t. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV is a retrovirus that attacks the cells of the immune system. HIV is transmitted through an exchange of bodily fluids such as exposure to infected blood, during sexual activity with an infected individual, by sharing needles. It can also pass from an infected mother to her child. HIV is the virus that eventually causes AIDS, an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
Among youth age 13 to 19, 57 percent of reported HIV infections occurred among young women and 43 percent occurred among young men. This is because; teens are becoming more and more sexually active. As the numbers continue to grow, revealing that 66 percent amongst non-Hispanic, black youth are also carriers. African Americans and Latinas accounted for 84 percent of cumulative AIDS cases among women ages 13 to 19 and 62 percent of cumulative AIDS cases among men 13 to 19. Ages 13-24 are still contracting HIV at the rate of 2 people per hour. 2 people per hour! But of coarse we have those individuals walking around that believe that they are completely immune to the virus. As a matter a fact, 87% of young Americans whom have contracted the virus said they didn’t believe that they were at risk. Last year, at a HIV awareness rally, a young man, whom is also a carrier of the virus, he spoke to a group of teens about the direction that his life has been in every since he contracted HIV. “This is real. You never know how long you will have to live, because in my eyes, death is my only fate,” the young man said as a look of fear grew on the faces of the teens that sat in the audience.
It isn’t as though people aren’t given the proper protection to save them from getting the virus; its just that many people fail to use them. Many groups and organizations have been founded to help prevent the spreading of this virus. One group in particular, in which I am a part of, is MAGIC (Metropolitan Area Group for Igniting Civilization), which is an organization that educates teens about the AIDS epidemic. One of their successes included declaring January 5th as a national holiday, referred to as Teens Test Day. This gives teens from across the United States an opportunity to come out and get tested for HIV. They also participate in lectures, and panel discussions. Finally they are rewarded with a concert, all of which is free of charge, where they are introduced to a variety of music icons.
Last year was the first time that the event was held, where they had over 500 teens and adults to come out and get tested. This year, that number nearly doubled, as the event was held at the South Shore Cultural Center which is located here in the Chicago area. This year we had chess tournaments and x-box 360 tournaments take place, as well as the Think Fast game show, giveaways, a jazz concert and a hip hop concert as well. And this is only the beginning. We plan changing it up a little every year so that our movement and main purpose would spread through the citizens in the city, the state… and even the nation!
This is a very serious issue that lives amongst us today, and is constantly growing on a daily basis. But what are we to do about it? What are we to do about this deadly epidemic that is sweeping not only the nation, but the world as well? People must put their knowledge and understanding at use before it is too late.

Ghetto Names

Ghetto: (noun) place of low economic standard; slums, projects.
Being ghetto: obnoxious, loud, and ignorant

Having a name that doesn’t appear in the back of the dictionary as a common sometimes is seen as being ghetto. A name is often given to a newborn as a form of identity; it could be a special meaning or a family tradition, but some people make up the names of their children. Where do these names come from? Parents create the names of their children based on the names of both parents. For example, James and Kayla may name their Jayla. Another example of a so-called ghetto name would be Alize’, which may so happen to be the name of the parents favorite drink.
Society stereotype people by their names. Unfortunately, having a non- European name is considered to be ghetto. Having a “ghetto” name is often associated with being African-American. At a high school in Covina, California, a group of African-American students’ names were changed in the yearbook as part of a prank. Although the students whose names were changed were African American, the administrators thought that the names were racist simply because the names were changed to names that were too hard to pronounce.
People often pre-judge people based on their names. Some people think that whether or not you get a good job or not depends on your name. It has been said that employers often look at a person’s name and if it is “ghetto” then that person will not get hired. For instance, Stephanie and Kasheka both apply for a job as an administrative assistant for a large corporation; if a survey was taken on who would most likely get the job, most people would automatically think that Stephanie would because she has a common name.
Being ghetto is just a name that is associated with being poor. But just because a person is poor and lack economic status, it should not define who someone is. Just because a person has a name that many people have a hard time pronouncing, that does not mean that that person is uneducated, lacks manners, or is a bad person. It just means that their parents liked the name for whatever reason.

- Antonique

Which is more likely for an African- American male: a college degree or a criminal record

A college degree vs. a criminal record: which is more likely for an African- American male?

You would think that since we have a black man running America, then we as colored individuals will change for the better or at least have a different mind frame, but sometimes that isn’t always true.
We are continuously told that receiving a college degree is the best path for anyone to take, but unfortunately many people, especially African – American males, tend to master the streets. The street life is where an individual can get involved in gang related activity, such as violence, theft or drug dealing. We all know that this will soon lead to a life of imprisonment or death. Sometimes these individuals get out and change for the better, but others stay on the road of no return. Why is this, why is it that incarceration is the main road for most of our young black population. What make these individuals get pushed to this point? Some may argue that incarceration of young black men is because of the grades they got in school, the people they hang around, or if a father figure is present in the home. Research, conversations and personal experiences from a relationship to people in these predicuments has allowed me to understand this and become less ignorant to this situation; young African- American males: college degree vs. a criminal record.
The incarceration rate is increasing each year among African- American males, according to the following statistics
· 10.4% of the African- American population between the ages of 25-29 is incarcerated
· 2.4% Hispanic, 1.2% is white. According to a report by the justice policy institute in 2002, the number of black men has increased 5 times the rate than it was 20 years ago.
*There are more black men in jail than in college.*
· In the year 2000 there were 791,600 in prison and 603,032 in college compared to 1980 when there were only 143,000 in prison and 463,700 in college.
Many statistics have made predictions of
what will happen in the future based on the rate of the present and the past such as an August 2003 Bureau of Justice Statistics analysis shows that 32 percent of black males born in 2001 can expect to spend time in prison over the course of their lifetime. Which is an increase of the 13.4 percent in 1974 and 29.4 percent in 1991 compared to the 17.2 percent of Hispanics and 5.9 percent of whites born in 2001 are likely to end up in prison. In 2007 there were 3,138 black male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 black males in the United States, compared to the 1,259 Hispanic male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 Hispanic males and 481 white male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 white males. Black men are the largest number incarcerated having 35.4%.

Most African- American men that do have a criminal record live in areas where getting a college degree isn’t always encouraged, at least not by their community. Encouragement of making money is pressured, but employment is hard to find. Therefore fast money and easy money is presented. Fast money is considered an "income" that doesn’t take long to earn and easy money is when making the money isn’t hard. To make this money, it can be taken (theft and/or violence) or easily made (drugs as a form of hustle).
Hustling is a concept taught by the neighborhood drug dealers and gang leaders and sometimes passed down from older family members. Why would anyone want to learn from these people, because these are their role models, these are the only male figures that are in their lives. Father figures are scarce in most African- American communities.
I interviewed two young African- American men who never met before and asked them the same questions and here were their respnses. Both gentlemen live on the south-side of Chicago. Trinier J. is an eighteen year old B-average senior at John Hope College Prep High School, who plans attend NIU this fall majoring in psychology. The other young man, who would like to remain anonymous, is nineteen years old and was a C-average student but is currently enrolled at a job corps and is studying to become an electrician. When asked have they ever been arrested, Trinier responded no, but the other young man responded yes, at the age of 15 for a physical altercation. Some students enjoy school while others don’t, and when asked this question both young men responded, “I don’t like school, but like being with friends in school”. What kind of friends do they hang out with? Sometimes the crowd you hang out with will determine the type of person you are and/or will become. Well Trinier likes to hang out with people who express themselves openly and honestly, mostly athletes and scholars, but the other young man says that he doesn’t have any real friends but more so associates.
We all have anger issues so how do you deal with them, well Trinier sings whenever he is upset, frustrated or angry. As for the other gentleman, he deals with his anger by playing basketball, gambling or fighting the person he is upset with. Sometimes anger appears because of the absence of the father. Trinier doesn’t have a father figure in his life, but his mom is his role model, and the other young man does have his father in his life, but on the scale from 1-10 their relationship is a 4 and he consider his self as his own role model. When asked do they think the black community will change for the best their responses were completely different, the anonymous man said,” hell naw, cuz n****s gone keep doin wat dey doin”. Trinier feels that there is hope, “cuz you always have to have hope in order for hope to come”.
Statistically speaking it is more likely for a young black man to go the state pen instead of Penn State, it’s unfortunate, but the numbers presented are true and is the harsh reality. How do we as a community help decrease these numbers, by encouraging ouir young black men. Black men themselves should stay in their children’s lives and help raise them to be proud intelligent professionals. We can't make a change until we change ourselves.


- Antonique

Police Misconduct

Between 2002 and 2004 alone there were more than 10,000 complaints, many of them involving brutality and assault, were filed against Chicago police officers. The police’s duty is to serve and protect, but the media coverage of abuse has produce some different views. Are some abusing the power the badge gives them by using it to justify their actions? How is this depiction of the police settling with the teenager and how they perceive the police?
Ryan Corey Norris, 19, is a former University of Illinois student and an ordained deacon. Ryan was driving with a friend on Chicago's South Side. They were pulled over by cops, who told Ryan that they were going to search his car. When Ryan asked why, the cops pulled him out of the car. The cops then forced him into the back seat of the police car. One of the officers hit Ryan three times with his fist. Ryan was taken to the police station. He suffered from a broken jaw and dislocated shoulder, but he received no medical attention until his father, Rev. Julius Norris, arrived. Ryan said, "No matter how upstanding the citizen, the police always seem to get away with abuse."
Robin Petrovic, a college English teacher, was out dancing at a popular Chicago nightclub, the "Funky Buddha Lounge," when she got into an altercation with the bouncer and called police for help.
But according to Petrovic, the officer who showed up, James Chevas, a 12-year veteran, turned on her when she refused to sign a blank incident report and tried to write down his badge number."He picked me up and threw me face down into the ground. And since my hands were handcuffed behind my back, I couldn't break my fall at all, so I just landed on my face," she told CNN.Petrovic is one of thousands of ordinary people who every year accuse Chicago police of abuse. Few complaints result in disciplinary action.
"The Chicago Police Department doesn't do a good job of policing itself," Jon Loevy, Petrovic's attorney, said. "For the small minority of police officers, who are inclined to violence for whatever reason and abuses, there is no check, there is no deterrence, because the city does not investigate and punish police abuses."
Throught an interview with, a high senior at John Hope College Prep., I got his views on the situation. When he was ask what he thought about police misconduct display in the news, he replied, “The police department is in shambles because they supposed to police us, but who is there to police them. Their methods can be over aggressive, just because they are the police does not give them the right to do what ever they see fit like in the case of the Peoria police who beat a man during an arrest. I have little faith in The Chicago Police Department; look at Jody Weis, his department issued a vote of no confidence. I do not like some police officers and there will always be mistrust there for them.”
I also interviewed a junior at Roberto Clemente high school, and when ask the same question he replied, “The police have been doing this for years and because of the news coverage has shone a light on what was going in the dark. Maybe we will see a change come out this.”
Jody Weis on Friday decides to comply with a federal order to turn over more than 2,000 names of Chicago police officers who have acquired more than five brutality complaints against them. Maybe the change that the young men mention will come.

Who's REALLY "Buying Black"?

It has been said that you don’t have to put a lid on top of a bucket of crabs. Simply because as soon as one gets close to the top, the others will pull it back down to the bottom. The same has often been said about the black community. There have been statements made about how whites ideally don’t care about blacks. Has anyone ever stopped to think maybe blacks don’t care about their own people? James Clingman Jr. wrote an article in 2005 addressing this question, in this article he uses the comment rapper and producer Kanye West made about our former president George Bush not caring about black people. Clingman says, and I quote “So now that we really know what George Bush thinks about us, let’s look internally to see what we think of ourselves. Frankly, I am more concerned about what we think - and do - than I am about Bush. He is doing quite well and will continue to do well, as far as wealth and resources – economic empowerment – are concerned. But what about our people? Are we doing what we must do to protect, assist, and strengthen one another with the resources we have?” In this article Clingman basically asks if blacks refuse to prepare for tragedy then is it really whites that are holding them down.

This could effect where black business owners open their businesses. Most black business owners like James – A black jeweler- firmly believes that blacks are less likely to support black businesses. James gives his opinion on why blacks do not support black owned businesses. “Well I strongly feel it's because a lot of us as black people are "RACIST" towards each other mentally, physically, as well as financially.” This was specifically said by James in this article giving his opinion of why blacks support other races more than they do black owned businesses. James goes on to say “I'm a black business owner "JEWELER" and if it were not for my pro black athlete clientele, the majority of my clients would be other races of people. I don't know why we as black people want to talk about what rich black rappers endorse for free for the "WHITE BUSINESSES" to make them rich, when we do the same things ourselves? it doesn't matter to me whether a rapper is being paid or not for his or her endorsement of jewelry, alcohol, cars, or locations they have traveled to, because in my "OPINION" they're the fools for not getting paid for their endorsements of these material things, not me?”. This quote basically calls black people biased. It also states that if were not for the black athletes, James would have a very small amount of black clientele. This shows that there is such a large amount of black people not supporting black businesses that the owners almost expect not to have any black customers.

While majority of black people in the black community are doing everything but “buying black”, one family living in Oak Park, IL is vowing to spend a year buying the things they need from only black owned businesses. An article written by Ted Gregory on March 9th tells this family’s story. This article tells how mother and wife, Maggie Anderson drives 14 miles to buy groceries from Farmers Best Market – a black owned grocery store-. This family is traveling far and wide to make sure that they buy only from black owned businesses. The Andersons are doing this to put money back into the black community and also to invest in their people. This shows that all hope is not lost for blacks. Hopefully the Anderson’s dedication will be looked at as inspiration for blacks to start investing in the black community. If we as black people do not invest in ourselves, then who will?

Friendly Cop

Police Brutality: is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer.

Police officer; to protect and serve, clean the streets, beat up teens, and shoot people in the back. Where do I sign up?!

Police brutality affects a lot of people. Especially young teens, more so in the Englewood area. There have been many cases that have gone unheard of ,or dropped as soon as their opend. Through some research on a few sites, police have been using excessive force, primarily with a gun. After major cases that haven't made the news, reporters have talked to eye witnesses, particulary this one case about a young man, and have gotten their take on an event that left a young man’s body here, but his soul somewhere else. Many say the young man was shot by the cop after he dropped his gun, but when more cops arrived on the scene none of them ask what the witnesses saw. The case was dismissed just as fast as it started.

Not only affected in Englewood, but teens of other minority groups of other areas have also felt the dark side of the killer cop. These teens talk about how they have personally been hurt by police or have watched someone being hurt by a friendly cop. According to the Heritage Foundation; it’s the teenager’s fault that we are being treated this way since we have been the cause of most of the violence over the past couple of years. They use this as an excuse to say we were resisting arrest or to get themselves off the bench.

The experience I have had with my protectors wasn’t quit a great one and it confirmed my thoughts and feelings towards cops. To shorten what happened to me, my brother and a friend were thought to have had a gun and the security guard at Burger king called the cops. The guard descried someone else as having the gun, but when we were stopped in an alley by super heroes with swards pointed at us, the guard told a different story. My sister I and were in the alley to pick up my brother from his friends house when the escapade came and swarmed around us. They did follow procedure after they of course snatch my brother’s friend out of the car and slam him on the ground causing his private area to fall out. Hey a WoMan’s got to do what they have to do. They wound up taking my brother in after the guard changed his story and when it came time for court the guard was nowhere to be found so the case was dropped.

After interviewing a young man about some of his situations with knight and shining armor, I learned that he to feels the unlucky raft of the police. He reminded me of a time when he walked me to my car. It was very cold outside and he had on nothing but shorts. He ran back to the front door to get out of the cold and at the same time the police were coming around the corner and they stopped him and asked him why he was running. He gave them a response and they said “Oh I thought you were running from us or something”. Here is a young man that grew up in Englewood, raised to survive in the streets, but not to live in the streets. Police unfortunately don’t see it that way and will go by any means to PROTECT AND SERVE!

2016 Olympics In Chicago? The Real Effects

“Those in favor of the 2016 Olympics to be held in Chicago say I.” Plenty of hands raise, 1,110,269 to be exact, and they remain high in the air, along with the lingering noise of 1,110,269 “I’s” that spate into the atmosphere. When you look further down the arm, you see the button down shirts the suit jackets, and the ties that top off the corporate look. The ring leader, who has their hand so far in the air it hurts, is Richard. But this is no ordinary Richard; this is Richard Daley, the mayor of Chicago. Those who keep their hands down, and sit with their arms folded across their breast are the citizens, the citizens of the Englewood and other close neighborhoods. They look in disgust at the people who have never took a stroll down Garfield, the people who don’t have a child of theirs dead from violence at a CPS school. They look with disgust, and also fear. Fear that the worse has been realized. These citizens have officially lost a say in their neighborhood as though they ever had one before.

The corporate portion of Chicago fully supports the 2016 Olympics being held in our economically collapsing city. The city currently faces a budget deficit approaching $420 million. They project a $141 million shortfall this year that will balloon to $420 million by 2009,” Mayor Daley stll wants to have the Olympics in Chicago. But wait…. The cost of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing was exceeding 44 billion dollars. A more accurate list shows the truth. So one is left to inquire how can a city that is to be $420 million in debt, pay for an event that (has just past) can potentially cost $44 billion? Recently, the Sun-Times announced that if the Olympics were held here, the cost would be 4.8 billion. What could this city possibly need $4.8 bilion for? Well according to the same source, “Among the listed revenue projections were: $675 million as the local committee’s share of broadcast rights; $335 million as its share of international licensing deals; and $246 million for private donations, some of which would buy naming rights for permanent Olympic venues.” Really… And what type of profit does Chicago expect to make? Typically the city renews itself by pricing tickets at a fairly good amount due to large tourism, or higher to gain great sums of money form the tourists. How much money is the city expecting? “Ticket sales would generate $705 million, based on 85 percent capacity rates. Opening ceremony tickets will average $1,216 and the closing ceremony about $1,000. For prime events such as swimming and basketball, the average seat is $141. These ticket costs “compare favorably” with other major sporting events, according to Chicago officials. They also said half the event tickets would be priced less than $50.” Hmmm. Chicago seems really prepared for the 2016 Olympics. They have a way to make more debt and get others pay for it.
Other questions arise dealing with the Olympics. Besides paying for the ceremonies, and construction, where are these athletes going to stay? How are they getting here? If about 20, 000 athletes are coming, what place is bug enough to house them all? Well according to http://nogameschicago.com/, Sun-Times real estate columnist Don DeBat wrote in Friday’s paper: “Chicago’s $4.8 billion Olympic Games bid features details about a new neighborhood that is planned to house some 16,000 athletes and officials on the current site of Michael Reese Hospital on the Near South Side. Preliminary Olympic Village plans, drafted by architects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, call for 21 high-rises, each about 12 stories high built in rows on grid-style streets on the 37-acre site of the shuttered hospital near 31st Street and Cottage Grove Avenue. Some 2,000 to 3,500 housing units are planned across the giant 128-acre Olympic Village neighborhood just south of McCormick Place. Plans also call the village to become a mixed-income residential community after the Games. As the economy improves, it is likely that a good percentage of the housing units in this brand new neighborhood could be sold to investors, rented during and after the games, and later converted to condominium ownership, experts say.” Well what happens to all of the other people who lived here first? Mr. DeBat doesn’t have an answer to that question. And when I called the mayor’s office, I was directed to another line, where my call was neglected. How shocking.

The city of Chicago is clearly not ready to host anything that would cause major conflicting to budgeting. Then again, does anyone in power even care? The choice is not in the public’s hand. Especially since the public did not induct itself to be on the bid. Will you be ready whatever the choice may be? Well that’s up to you to decide.

*Long Distance Relationships*

Hello America, this is my own personal opinion of what generally happens in long distance relationships. The reason for this specific address on this topic is because there are alot of young adults going away to college in the fall of 2009, and some of which have been in a committed relationship with their high school sweetheart for quite a while. Well, the way I look at it is that a long distance relationship is rarely ever successful. My reason in saying this is because, no matter how much you love and trust someone, you can never be 100% sure about what that person is doing when they’re not around you, who they’ve been talking to, and/or what type of secrets that they may have hid, or are hiding! Anyone who is willing to continue a “committed” relationship that is long distance should understand that they are taking an emotional risk, and in my opinion basically you’re setting yourself up for failure! I've never been in a long distance relationship and I don't plan on being in one any time soon. "Long-distance relationships have a tendency to stretch trust limits and define how much you care. This can be a good, showing you're capable of things you didn't think you were. But it can be a bad thing, showing you things that you're capable of that you didn't think you were" says editor Jacquie Trump. The good side of a long-distance relationship is having the time to discover yourself without another person and having the time to get things done. The bad side: everything else. I think personally for me, if I feel like I need to discover more about myself, or "find" myself, then that means I need to stay single. If you don't know who you are, what it is you're looking for in a relationship, or what you want out of life, then how do you expect someone else to know? I also feel like if you don’t have love for yourself, then how are you going to be able to provide that for someone else?

Can Society Really Change?

With Barack Obama as the forty-fourth president of the United States we often leave it up to him to decide whether the country is in the right direction. But we have to realize that this country can only change if society changes and that can only happen if the inhabitants change. One is left to think can society change and furthermore, does it even want to?
In my opinion, society has had many a fresh start, including WWI, The Great Depression, WWII, and even the new economic crisis that has struck this past year. Yet society has never made a complete 360° morally, technologically, and economically. These events listed above have assisted our country either technologically or economically, but not once has a major catastrophe ever changed the way people think.
Our society perseveres on the idea of optimism. We place ideas of optimism in things such as prosperity, imperialism, and other things. If we feel that we are thriving in current conditions it isn’t likely that anyone will ever change. What this country needs right now is not necessarily a first African-American president, or another stimulus plan, or imperialism which will lead to a distant form of totalitarianism from oceans away, what we need is justice. We need to change how we treat our citizens, we need to change the contradictory laws that we have set up to keep one group down and keep others up.
To make sure this succeed we need to make a global effort to change the standards and “status quo.” Sometimes we have to disregard the Social Darwinism that we run the world and think with our hearts because only then will we do the right thing. The world today runs off immorality, and I feel that people who are in the positions to change what is going on do not put forth any effort to change anything. And that plays a big part in why we can’t change. So if we start with changing corporate America, we can start change.
But all I can say as a seventeen year old young lady in today’s society is that we can’t keep driving our society in this direction. We’re bound to crash and kill us all. We need a serious change and we need it now.

Tone Deaf America

Tone Deaf America

Silence echoes off the mountain tops, the oceans play no soft melody to soothe pain, and corruption begins. People commit suicide and others die of loneliness. A misunderstood teenager goes to jail for expressing the pain he had deep inside that no one else can feel. These are just a few of the horrible things that would happen in a world without music. I interviewed two completely different people asking them asking what would the world be without music and received basically the same response; the world would be a lonely and boring place.
The First question I asked was “what kind of music do you listen to daily?” both people gave a few examples of their favorite artists and genres of music. Some of the examples were; TV on the Radio, Titus Andronicus, No Age, Aesop Rock. Also Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Jedi Mind Tricks, Lupe Fiasco, Joell Ortiz, Korn, Static-X, Metallica, Foo Fighters, Nirvana etc. In between these two music lovers the list goes on and on.
The Next Question I asked was “Do you listen to different types of music when you are in different moods?” I will quote both of their answers directly. Interview #1(Senior in high school): “Yes, when I’m angry I tend to play things like Jedi Mind Tricks, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine or something else heavy. It chills me out and makes me realize that I’m not the only one that feels like this and that is no reason to overreact. When I’m trying to relax I’ll play Zero 7, Interpol, and D’Angelo or something more light.” Interview #2(Economics Teacher): “It depends, I’m generally pretty level mood-wise, but if I have a particularly stressful day teaching I’ll put on something that mellows me out. Occasionally, I’ll put on a record that reminds me of a certain time or place. For instance, I always think of springtime in Champaign Urbana when I listen to M83’s Before the Dawn Heals Us or Las Vegas when I listen to Walkmen’s Bow and Arrows even though those records came out 4-5 years ago. I’m still excited every time I go to the record store to get something new more than a decade after really getting into music.”
I then asked the final question “What would the world be with out music?” I will directly quote the answers to this question as well. Interview #1: “In order to answer that question you would have to also take away the things the come along with music. Like Dancing, Singing, and Inspiration all of these would be gone as well, leaving the world to be a pretty empty and dull place.” Interview #2: “This is an incredibly broad question, but the world would be really boring, historically different, and not in a good way. Music is a way of mass, participatory communication, before the advent of recording technology, all music was live, and popular music was music that people would play and sing together. Music had been protest and resistance, like slave songs or early blues, that supported and promoted social movements in crucial times in history (e.g. the Great Depression or Civil Rights Movement). The world would be tone deaf and significantly less soulful and dramatically more repressive without music.”
Both of the young men that I interviewed, in their own ways, both said the same thing; the world would be boring, empty, dull, and tone deaf without music. I agree with both of their opinions, as a dancer I could not survive without music. It is the best form of therapy. What do you think?

Rica Mitchell

Bowling

Bowling is a sport where you can just have a lot of fun. Bowling can be competitive, or it can just be a fun activity. It’s for people of all ages, size, or ability. Just like any sport it helps you exercise about 134 muscles in your body. Bowling is a mental game; it doesn’t take that much strengthens to play it. Bowling also works to improve hand-eye coordination. It takes practice to become good and with confidence, the smallest person can easily become successful.
Some people believe that bowling isn’t a sport but it’s just as much of a sport like basketball, football, or any other sport people participate or enjoy doing. I always wonder why people would say that bowling isn’t a sport. In bowling you have to practice a lot, exercise, and concentrate on what you are doing because it’s a mental game. Just like any other sport you can receive scholarships for college and good opportunities. Majority of people don’t know that you can receive scholarships or that they school even have a bowling team.
There are alot of bowling opportunities for people that have the interest in this sport. You can take the times you just go out in bowl and just sign up for a bowling league. There leagues are almost every week for the whole family, even senior citizens and children around four years of age. The children can be involved in the leagues that have tournaments where they can win scholarship money and badges. Being involved in the extracurricular activity can take you too many places around the world. Adults can also enter tournaments that they can win money and or just bowl for the enjoyment.
Take it from someone that have been bowling for 13years and loves it more than anything. Bowling is more than a sport to me it’s my life. I have been on my school team for 4 years and in two different leagues every year. Being able to do something that can give you a chance to win some scholarship money, or a chance to get a free ride to any college it’s amazing. I have been in numerous of tournaments and have won several of those tournaments. While bowling has given me the opportunity to be myself and achieve my biggest goals, it’s also given me the opportunity to pass it down to my niece and nephew. My entire family bowls and we all love it. Being a bowler, I was able to travel across the seas and visit Sydney, Australia and Holland, Amsterdam. Being able to travel there was magnificent. So, People don’t think bowling is just boring or just a sport. It can be a chance to start your new life. It can give you a chance to win scholarship money and travel across the world.
Roonesia K.Newsom

Teen Pregnancy

Teen pregnancy is an epidemic that needs to be dealt, but who is to blame for this epidemic. Can we blame the parents, television, or movies? Each one has a big effect on the thought process of teenagers. Some people grow up without that unconditional love you get from your parents and they see having a baby will give them that. Some of these television shows and movies do not help because they glamorize teen pregnancy. The teenagers these days know more, experience more and seen more than any other generation before. So they act on their knowledge that what causes the problem.
How can we prevent this from being a recurring problem for the next generation? I feel that having a baby young is a problem that not many teenagers are prepared to face. The responsibility that comes with a child is enormous in size. There will be a lot of things you may have to give up like your youth because after having that baby you will have to grow fast. I have a cousin that got pregnant at seventeen. My grandmother was raising her child while she was treating her child like a toy that she can play with for awhile until she get tired, then put him away and go on with her own business. That lasted until my grandmother stop doing that, letting my cousin feel the weight on her shoulder and it was eye opening for her. She told me she did not expect it to be so hard. That what some teenagers need to realize because the life after the baby is born is a long and hard road that not many can walk down.
Teenage pregnancy can cause some health problems. Women who become pregnant during their teen years have an increased risk for birth complications. Teenage mothers are less likely to gain adequate weight during their pregnancy, leading to low birth weight. Low birth weight is associated with several infant and childhood disorders and a higher rate of infant mortality. Low-birth weight babies are more likely to have organs that are not fully developed, which can result in complications, such as bleeding in the brain, respiratory distress syndrome, and intestinal problems. To rap it up it would not be the best chose to have at a young age.

By: Daniel Roberson

~*Teen Violence in the Entertainment World~*

It has been said that Chris Brown was charged with felony counts of assult. The reason that this charge is on his record is because he physically abused Robyn Fenty, better known as Rihanna. All the while gossip fills the air and the media, the truth is know one really knows the entire truth as to what caused this type of harsh altercation. I personally think that this situation could have happen for the better. What I mean by that is that this could have been a wake-up call for society. This situation can be a perfect example used to let the world know that domestic violence happens everywhere, and not just certain parts of the world. I really think that everyone should understand that domestic violence doesn’t have a price, age, or color on it. What I’m saying is that whether you are rich, poor, average, young, old, black, or white you can still experience this type of abuse. Domestic violence is not about any of that, it’s about control! When someone else thinks they have power over you, they think they control you. This type of abuse comes from not only men, but women too. The reason that the other person does not automatically try to get themselves out of this situation is because of fear. Sometimes people fear that if they try to get out of the situation that most likely they’ll get themselves killed, or put someone else’s life in danger, possibly their child/children, or any other family members/close friends. Whatever the excuse may be, it’s not good enough to continue to tolerate this type of treatment. Abuse is not only physically, it can be emotionally as well as spiritually. If this blog applies to you, and you feel like for whatever reason that you can’t get out of your situation, that’s a lie! Get out before it’s too late! You can’t expect anyone else to help you if you don’t help yourself first. If you’re being abused in any type of way and you think that person is showing their love for you, you’re wrong! Love is a lot of things, but abusive is not one of them! Love yourself enough to know your self-worth!

What going on with Black men?

What going on with Black men? Unfortunately some Black men are not taking care of business. Some Black men are fathering many children and failing to take care of their responsibilities forcing their children to search out father figures elsewhere. Black men are not realizing the importance of an education because without it life will become very difficult. What going on with Blackman? Black men are committing genocide to their own people. These acts are the reason for some stereotypes put upon Black men; consequently they must try harder to do better.
The act of some Black men not taking care of their kids is seen everywhere. According to Bill Cosby, “roughly seventy percent of black babies are born each year to single mothers.” These types of fathers that leave their children to be raised by the mother do not comprehend the importance of their presence in the children’s lives. Some of these fatherless children grow up and do the same thing their fathers did, thus continuing the cycle. In a child’s life, a male role model is necessary in the development of that child. A male role model can teach him how to be a man in general. If a child never seen a real man how can we expect him to become one? If a child does not have a father present, that they will most likely search out that father figure. Some children search out the wrong type of father figures, like a drug dealer, because they see his status in the hood and what to live like him. The lack of father figures has led too many children down a path of doom and despair. This type of deception causes the child to neglect what should be important in their lives, education.
“In some cities Black men have high school drop out rates of more than fifty percent.” The cause for this terrible statistics is the fact that too many young brothers believe that an education is obsolete and they can make more money on streets. Some just go to school and sit in the classes, not paying attention to eventually flunk out. They do not realize that without a high school diploma, they cannot even get a job at McDonald. Life without an education is a hard one. Without an education, you can not support yourself. “About one- third of the homeless are black men”, if you ask about how they got to this point, most will the decisions they made as young man lead them down this path. People in hard time will do whatever to survive even kill.

“Homicide is the number one cause of death for Black men between fifteen and twenty- nine years of age and has been for decades. Also ninety- four of all black people who are murdered are murdered by other black people.” Without a doubt they are committing genocide on their own people. All this murdering derives from the self hate some black men harbor for each other. If they had a little more love for their fellow men, this problem would not exist. In some black communities black men cannot even walk in certain place in fear of them getting beat down.
What is going on with Black men? Black men have a lot of turmoil deriving from their family dynamics, priorities, and self hate towards each other. These plagues are skewing the image of Black men and farther solidifying the stereotypes.

By: Daniel Roberson

Rape

Rape is a serious crime and nobody should experience that. To be raped is to lose every ounce of trust you have in yourself and others. Many people who have been victims of the crime often feel there is nobody they can talk to because they fear nobody would believe them. Rape victims often close themselves out to the gender that committed the crime and become uncomfortable when around them. A lot of the time this crime takes place on young unable children. Does its seem fair. No. Not even to do it to an older person. Not to even do it at all. There was a girl who had this done to her twice all before the age of seven. Does it seem to have any hope further in her future? Maybe, Maybe not. Now when these things happen to people when their young often society may say they will come out the same way which is not always true. Such as watching your mother get beat. Does that mean your going to beat on your spouse. I hope not. Often people use that as an example of what not to do. So if you were raped when you were younger does that mean when you get older you want to put somebody else through the pain nobody should have to experience? As far as not being able to tell the parents. This may be because the spouse is the one committing the crime and if you tell the other parent they may not want to believe that that their husband or wife is hurting their child so they come up with another explanation as to what’s going on and it always turns out your fault. So is it safe to keep it from your parents or should you tell them anyway? Never be afraid to go to someone and let them know whats going on. Holding it in will only hurt yourself in the long run. There are people you can talk to other than your parents, but be sure to tell someone. Get help.

Parental Support: Does It Count?

Parental Support: Does It Count?
When you are growing up it is important to have the proper amount of guidance and support to make important decisions. Being a high school student is not the easiest thing to do. It is a time in a person’s life when they are tested the most. A lot of teenagers in my generation do not get the right amount of support and/or guidance needed from home. Most of them live in single parent homes with working parents. Some of them have two parents at home but they are just simply not supportive. Most of these students become discouraged and quit or do poorly in school. This is not at all a negative attack towards parents nor is it an excuse for students that do poorly in school. This is simply the curiosity of a senior in high school. I live in a single parent home and I honestly feel that I do not get the amount of support needed from my working mother. As a result of this for a short amount of time I became discouraged and felt that no one cared if I did well or not. My mother seemed to be always tired and only wanted to complain about work. I felt like everything I did was wrong. However, I had to realize that my education is my responsibility. My mother works hard so that I can have all the things necessary to get to and from school. That being said, I still can not help but to wonder if it is only me that became discouraged after feeling not supported by my mother, or are there other students or teenagers out there that feel the same way as I do. Going away to college can be the scariest thing in a teenager’s life. It is truly a time where a person really needs some sort of support. With all of that being said, once again, I propose this question: What happened to a teenager’s confidence when his/her parent or guardian is not at all supportive or active in their education? In my opinion that can cause the person to lose focus for a while, but it is up to that teenager to make a mature decision to overcome this obstacle and succeed.

Puppy Love or the Real Deal

Puppy Love or the Real Deal

How often have we all heard our parents say that we are just too young to know what love truly is? They say things like “five to ten years from now you won’t even remember that boy or girl’s name”. My mother says that I haven’t lived enough to know what true love is. My personal favorite happens to be “it’s only a phase and it will wear off as soon as you meet the next Mr. or Ms. Amazing”. What I want to know is what if it’s not a phase. What if this person is truly the one for you and it doesn’t wear off? Am I to believe that simply because I am seventeen that I haven’t lived enough to know what true love is and I should ignore my feelings for a person? To accept that, I would have to question a person’s definition of the word living. Does it apply to the amount of years you are on this planet or the number of trails you have overcame? Is measured by the amount of times that life has taken your breathe away and made you cry? What says that you have officially “lived enough”? When exactly has a person been able to reach a certain age and say “I now know what love truly is and I can give and receive it correctly”? I have never heard of a person that had to wait until they were a certain age just to feel love. We are the same people year after year; all we do is evolve physically and mentally. We all experience things that should influence a certain amount of change throughout the years, but we must make the choice to change. Just like we make the choice to accept love, there is no age limit on choice making. Therefore, I refuse to believe that a matter of the heart can be measured in the amount of years you are alive. If a person can’t love until they reach a certain age then that means a young adult or child can not truly love their families or themselves for that matter. Is there a lock on the heart that breaks once you’ve “lived enough”? In my opinion the heart does what it wants and I can not accept the assumption that the amount of years you spend on this earth determines your ability to love. I feel people are free to feel what they want from the time they are born until the day they die.

Teen Independence

Being independent doesn’t have an age limit on it. You can be an independent person (teenager) and still live at home with your parents. Being an independent teenager is one who is responsible, focus, and accountable for the actions. Someone has to be able to trust you and count on you to take care of something. Parents don’t believe that you are independent until you move out their house or leave for college. They believe that you have to be at least eighteen of age to even think you are an independent person. The word independent can mean numerous of things: 1. a person can be free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self-reliant, meaning they can have an independent mind. 2. Not relying on others for support, care, or funds; self-supporting.
Some parents want their child to have an independent mind, but by having an independent mind doesn’t automatically makes you a person that is independent. Some teens believe that’s the case and they can just do what ever they want. This makes it worse for the ones that are independent and know how to handle their self and independence. Being able to have the mind set that their parents gave them to be an independent person can take them along way in this society today. Teens need to know that the characteristics of an independent person are one who is responsible, dependable, and is capable of being able to stand on their on two feet.
Young (teen) adults know that their independence starts off in college or graduating from high school. Entering that adult hood or as the people like to say the “real world”. Parents try to instill in their children the value of saving your money, making good decisions that will affect their life, and just being a responsible young individual. Some teenagers believe that their so grown that they take their independence and change it to I don’t need anyone. Entering your freshmen year in college will be tough and scary. You will need your parents help or someone you trust and look up to help you along the way. So teens should remember that, our so call independence can be easily taken away and destroyed by the one brought us here and gave us this great life that we have.
Roonesia K. Newsom