Growing up as an African-American girl, the odds were truly already against me. I grew up in a community where I faced dangerous stigmas and stereotypes, as many expect me to be an angry black woman living off the welfare system. I remember looking to the media in hopes of seeing inspiring black female doctors and lawyers; as a young woman, I wanted to watch the television and be able to say I wanted to be just like them. Instead, I saw scantily-clad black exotic dancers gracing the pages of magazines and the shadowy corners of rap videos. Over the past eight years, I have finally been able to see increasingly more inspirational black women in the media; mainly, I looked to Michelle Obama, who is known just as much for her intelligence and …show more content…
Living in a rural and low-income community greatly impacts decisions, especially those made by the youth. Naturally, today’s youth are making decisions about academics and employment that will directly affect their adult lives. However, In my hometown community of Bertie County, there are few activities available for students once they leave school for the day. If a student doesn’t play sports or participate in band, there are very limited options for non-academic participation. In addition, growing up in a rural town limits a student’s ability to travel for extra help, sports, or even employment. One crucial change I hope to see in my community is the creation of a youth center. The youth center would be a place where our youth can learn that there’s more to life than joining a gang, teen pregnancy, or even working at the local poultry plant. There are many kids who go home to broken families, hunger, or even an empty home. The community center will be the place where a child can get homework help, a student can be provided with SAT prep, a ten may just find someone with whom he or she can talk to. Imagine if we could keep our youth of the streets for a couple hours each day: what a great impact it would be! When people think of Bertie County, they see poverty and despair, but the creation of a youth center will bring hope and prosperity to the ones who need it …show more content…
Nowadays, in my hometown of Bertie County, former high school graduates are now teen mothers or even criminals. The idea of actually going to a four-year university or even a two-year institution seems like a foreign concept to most. However, a higher education is the new wave of the future. Coming from a predominantly black community, and knowing the history of how African Americans had to fight for equal education, it angers me to see my fellow minority classmates and graduates not accepting this once forbidden opportunity. We fought for an education, but people are still not taking advantage of something we fought so hard
As both Tracey Reynolds and Audre Lorde have emphasized, Black women are not perpetually passive victims, but active agents. It is totally possible for Black women to seize a form of empowerment, whether that be alternative education, or the creation of organizations that weren’t situated in either the Civil Rights movement or Women’s
Degrees,” and therefore encouraging the idea that the Black community does not support education as one of its main priorities.
Obtaining higher education is regarded as the ultimate symbol of status in the United States (US). Access to a college education in this country is seen as an expression of academic excellence and can provide access to unlimited possibilities. In the US, Ivy Leagues are considered the elite and represent the most powerful ideogram of educational opportunity. According to the National Center for Education Statistics [NCES] (2012), from 1999–2000 to 2009–10, the percentages of both master's and doctor's degrees earned by females increased from 1999–2000 to 2009–10 from 58 to 60 percent and from 45 to 52 percent. The NCES report (2012), found that in 2009-10, of the 10.3 percent Black students who earned Bachelor degrees; 65.9 percent were women. Of the 12.5% of Black students who earned Master’s degree in 2009-10, 71.1 percent were women; and of the 7.4 percent of Black students who earned doctoral level degrees (this includes most degrees previously regarded as first-professional, i.e. M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees), 65.2 percent were women (NCES, 2012)...
Often times in the black community we like to avoid talking about topics that effect us because of the fear of “scaring the community”. Hooks shows the readers of Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery that we shouldn’t be worried about scaring the community and we need to inform the community to prevent them from being ignorant of the issues that are prevelant in the black community. This book allowed me to open my eyes to the issues that all African American women are facing on a day-to-day
As cliché as it sounds, it is true that many African American students come from very harsh and poverty stricken environments. They tend to go to under resourced schools as well that do not provide the proper knowledge for them to further their education. And even worse, these schools tend to be segregated since they are usually in the harsher parts of a neighborhood. Sadly, it’s the segregated schools are one of the main reasons why black students decide not to go on to pursue a higher education. According to "The Way Out of the Black Poverty Cycle", a black student that attends an integrated suburban school is six times more likely to graduate compared to a segregated under resourced school. An African Americans family structure and the opinions of family members affects if their decision to further their education as well. Many African American children grow up un...
Imagine this; the year is 1836. You are a 17-year-old student interested in learning more about the world around you; however, such an opportunity won’t come your way because you are black. Due to this fact you have no hope of furthering your education past the reading, writing, and arithmetic their slave masters taught your parents. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. The minds of many African American’s go to waste due to individual ignorance of their people and thus of themselves. Historically Black Colleges and Universities were put into effect to educate the black mind and eliminate the ignorance. The discussion of whether Historically Black Colleges and Universities are still necessary in the 21st century has taken place in recent years. Within the discussion many debate that due to the fact that the world is no longer like it was in the 1800’s, the time period in which Historically Black Colleges and Universities were created, the purpose of them no longer exists. However, the cultural significance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities seems to be overlooked by those who argue their importance and relevance in a time where blacks have the option of attending predominantly white institutions (PWIs). The purpose and grounds on which Historically Black Colleges and Universities were developed are still being served. The need to increase efforts to not only rouse, but support Historically Black Colleges and Universities is necessary now more than ever in order to preserve our past, fulfill the purpose of our present, and ensure our future.
Phillip, Mary-Christine. "Yesterday Once More: African-Americans Wonder If New Era Heralds," Black Issues in Higher Education. (July 1995).
Schmitt-Wilson, Sarah (2013). Social Class and Expectations of Rural Adolescents: The Role of Parental Expectations, Career Development Quarterly. Volume 61, pages 226-239.
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. (2006).Black Student College Graduation Rates Remain Low, But Modest Progress Begins to Show. Retrieved from: http://www.jbhe.com/features/50_blackstudent_gradrates.html
Not only has she graduated from two exceptional Ivy League colleges (Princeton and Harvard), she is also a lawyer. She was raised on the South Side of Chicago, had opportunities to study at prestigious universities, returned to her hometown, married, and raised two beautiful daughters. Unlike Barack, Michelle has two black parents and a black sibling, and she comes from a city readily associated with black life and politics. She even has a family tree that traces back to American slavery. Observers comfortably frame Michelle Obama as angry Sapphire figure, but how is that possible when she is one out of the few mothers who hold degrees from the most reputable schools around the world. Again, her critique was taken as evidence of her ideational anger. Michelle Obama is the most known example of an African American woman who has worked hard to become who she is today and is probably the most idealistic perfect woman. Still the success and difficulty she has experienced in gaining accurate recognition is emblematic, if not typical, of black women’s citizenship struggles. She is still only seen as the stereotypical black woman in the eyes of supremacist even though she has out succeeded the majority of people today. One could assume that Michelle Obama is someone who could be looked to as faultless representation of how black women can achieve and obtain such incredible power. Unfortunately, not even the first lady is respected even with her credentials. For example. there were attempts to frame her with the common trope of hypersexuality. In the heat of the general election fight, Fox News referred to her as “Barack’s baby mama”. Instead she fights strong against these over rationalized comments because she knows she is better than what they say. If Michelle Obama, the First Lady of the United States, is not recognized as credible, than it is clear that no black woman will ever be
However, many may argue that Michelle has not had a pivotal roll in the African-American Community. That she is just her husband 's wife. Only doing what a First Lady is “supposed” to do. Some also may argue that her success is only due to the success of her husband, President Obama. “When you look at me, you see me now as the first lady, but there are still doubts- There are still peopled who
Living and growing up in a small town is better than doing so in a big city.
In comparison to other communities, I love living in Cincinnati. It is a culturally diverse community in close proximity to suburbia or urban living. However, I would like to make a change to the intimate township I live in. From my perspective, the people have become stuck in a rut. Many students in my high school are generational, including myself, where my mom attended the same middle school and high school that I have attended. In addition, I have talked to many friends and family members and noted how people feel it is a great town, so they never choose to move or make any drastic changes. For many people, this is the perfect style of living, but I think it has caused our township to become stagnant. One solution I would present to
The most significant difference in the way today's student spends his/her time is that of employment. Seven out of every ten students in urban America and eight out of every ten students in rural America above the age of sixteen work after school (Parker “Homework Gets in the Way” 21). Most students sixteen or older spend at least twenty hours per week in menial jobs like grocery sacking, fast food service and custodial work (25). In a study of one thousand high school students, Paul Barer and Justin Funne found that at least six hundred students owed more than three thousand dollars each for automobiles and clothes (121). While most employed students say they intend to use their earnings primarily for college (Hardfax and Lesson), few actually attend respectable colleges (Barer and Funne 123). Perhaps the reason for this is that teachers are so insensitive to the fact that students need to work, that they fail students who do not learn the material, regardless of the excuse, thus keeping them from attending colleges.
As I started out researching for the paper, I realized that most importantly, data would need to be collected comparing the educational opportunities and achievement of the rural youth and those of urban youth. For instance, high school grades and SAT scores could be compared, as well as college applications and attendance. Beyond this, the actual school systems of rural and urban areas would be compared - the differences in funding, ideology, resources, etc., would grant insight into the students’ experiences and goals there.