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parents were leery of sending their children back to school and they wanted to understand their rationale the first reason black parents are reluctant to have their children return to school is health and safety more black children are likely to live in multi generational homes this means that even though children are less likely to manifest covid 19 symptoms they can still contract and shed the virus and infect a grandparent or parent with underlying conditions given the high rate of covid infections and death in the black and brown communities black families are not willing to take the risk of transmission also many of the schools our children attend are in buildings that have problems with their hvac systems what evidence do black families have that their children s schools have been retrofitted with upgraded filters and proper air circulation systems what is the evidence of improved cleaning and disinfecting in the buildings who is monitoring ppe in the schools second black families are keenly aware that school was not the haven of comfort and safety that some professionals try to pretend they are yes some children live in unsafe and unstable homes but rather than solve their problems some students find that school exacerbates their problems school is the place some students are stigmatized by standing in the free lunch line or being pulled out of class for special services school is the place where their academic struggles are magnified and what they don t have i e two parents at home new clothes fancy school supplies is on constant display school is a place where adults yell at them for not knowing an answer or not completing an assignment or project no school can be a place of a special kind of violence i understand the american academy of pediatrics encourages students to return to school to address their social emotional needs however what has your local school said or done that suggests students social emotional needs will be a priority how have black students teachers conveyed that to them indeed i have heard from a number of black parents that their children are less stressed and less anxious in virtual school some black parents indicate that the school has reached out to them more during the pandemic than they ever did when students attended face to face school many black parents are finally having a school year that does not involve constantly running up to the school to deal with school personnel the decision to return to in person school is deeply personal we all have our own reasons for why we think it s a good idea or not just don t pretend you want schools opened for those poor black kids when what you want is school opened for your own kids stay black and smart 26 comments successful or significant ct joseph john posted on july 20 2020 by black smart a few years ago a survey of young people learned that many of them were more interested in being famous than being of service when asked if they d rather be the president of the united states a u s senator or famous youth overwhelmingly chose famous the cult of celebrity is so strong in the us that we actually have people who are famous for being famous they are not artists writers inventors scientists philanthropists doctors entrepreneurs or businesspeople their contribution to society is that they exist on an instagram or twitter page they have more likes or follows than everyone else but what they do is of no real significance in 1968 singer dion recorded a song written by dick holler titled abraham martin john the song was a tribute to 4 leaders who were assassinated abraham lincoln john kennedy martin luther king jr and robert kennedy smokey robinson the miracles recorded a version of the song in 1969 i thought of the song upon hearing of the deaths of rev ct vivian and congressman john lewis who both passed away within 24 hours of each other also i recalled that rev joseph lowery died this year in march these 3 giants represent the best of what america not only black america has to offer all 3 lived lives of significance they did not concern themselves with success their life work is significant it has helped change the world and made it a better place for everyone black people are rightly proud of each of them rev lowery was 98 years old when he died he along with dr martin luther king jr founded the southern christian leadership conference sclc he was the organization s vice president chairman of the board and president today many will remember him for giving the benediction at president obama s first inauguration with his many accolades one might expect dr lowery to be prideful but he was not after arriving home in atlanta from receiving an international honor he realized that he had lost his parking ticket he approached the parking attendant s kiosk begging for some grace to be allowed to pay what he thought he owed but before he could get his request out the parking attendant said oh go ahead man you don t have to pay rev lowery asked of the attendant you know me the attendant responded sure you work third shift don t you the parking attendant did not recognize him as someone famous he looked at him like any other brother who worked at the airport rev ct vivian died a couple of weeks shy of his 96 th birthday i remember him vividly from the civil rights documentary series eyes on the prize rev vivian is seen being assaulted on the steps of the alabama courthouse as he attempted to escort a group of african americans inside to register to vote he declared there is nothing we haven t done for this nation but we kept knowing the scriptures we kept living by faith we kept understanding that it s something deeper than politics that makes life worth living for his bold stance rev vivian was punched in the face by dallas county sheriff jim clark clark punched him so hard that he broke his own hand rev vivian was a freedom rider who founded the nashville christian leadership conference an affiliate of sclc he worked alongside of dr martin luther king jr who declared the ct vivian was the best preacher he d ever heard rev vivian didn t strive for success he worked toward significance congressman john robert lewis died on friday night at the age of 80 he began a career in civil rights in his early 20s and was the youngest speaker at the historic 1963 march on washington he was severely beaten as he led a march for black voting rights he was also beaten in a bus station where he participated as a freedom rider that beating left him unconscious but lewis never gave up on democracy he never gave up on non violence and he never gave up on fighting for justice he served as a us congressman from atlanta for over 30 years unlike many civil rights leaders congressman lewis was not known for his eloquence instead he was known for his passion and moral commitment his kindness was immeasurable i ran into congressman lewis in the atlanta airport in 2016 i must confess i was so giddy seeing him that i could hardly form a sentence i just wanted to tell him how important his work has been to my thinking and understanding of democracy and justice he looked at me and said well don t you want to take a picture of course i did but i did not want to presume he insisted that his assistant take the picture and wished me well he wasn t trying to be successful he was continuing to be significant if i were to sing dick holler s song i d update it to say has anybody here seen my old friends ct joseph or john can you tell me where they ve gone didn t you love the things they stood for didn t they try to find some good for you and me and we ll be free someday soon it s gonna be one day i thought i saw them walking up over the hill with malcolm martin and medgar i am glad that all three men rev joseph lowery rev ct vivian and congressman john lewis had a chance to receive the presidential medal of freedom from president barack obama they didn t receive the medal for their success they received it because they were significant leave a comment in the room s where it happens posted on june 26 2020 by black smart if you are a devotee of the broadway musical hamilton or have paid attention to the recent release of former national security advisor john bolton you have heard the phrase in the room where it happened it refers to the rooms where the most powerful decisions are made these are the seats of power and what happens in these rooms ultimately impacts us all black people are rarely in the rooms where it happens in the days before emancipation and then before state sanctioned apartheid i e legal segregation ended we sometimes were in those rooms as part of the servant class as cooks maids butlers and valets we were sometimes in rooms where it happens because the privileged and powerful needed someone to serve them god forbid they should be required to pour themselves a glass of water or clear their own plates and in their arrogance they refused to acknowledge our humanity our intellect and our interests as citizens thus although we were sometimes there they acted as if we weren t but those folks in the room where it happened helped black folks to plan and execute slave revolts they helped black folks plan their civil rights strategies when we are in the rooms where it happens we can respond in ways that serve our own best interests today under the guise of representative democracy we are regularly excluded from the rooms where it happens we are not in corporate board rooms we are not in legislative caucus rooms we are not in executive offices of mayors governors or presidents and when we are not in the room or at the table we are often on the menu decision makers are determining how to slice up our schools our neighborhoods our communities and our rights and serve them up to the rich and powerful the civil uprisings happening today are a demand to be in the room where it happens we want to be in the room where police contracts are negotiated we want to be in the room where school superintendents are selected we want to be in the room where housing development is discussed we want to be in the room where tenure and promotion decisions are made indeed instead of just being in the room we want the room to be open and available to stakeholders regardless of their social stature the rooms where it happens are rooms where people may refer to us using the n word like the police in wilmington nc who declared they want to slaughter us the rooms where it happens are grand juries that fail to indict police for shooting unarmed black and brown people the rooms where it happens issue no knock orders that result in the death of innocent people like breonna taylor on may 25 2020 17 year old darnella frazier put us all in the room where it happened when she filmed minneapolis police officer derek chauvin kneeling on the neck of george floyd for 8 minutes and 46 seconds i cannot imagine how that murder would have been spun if we had not been able to be in the room where it happened the black community is tired of being kept out of the conversations where people make life and death decisions about us we like hamilton s aaron burr want to be in the room where it happens the room where it happens the room where it happens stay black smart leave a comment time for a hard reset posted on may 25 2020 by black smart for those of us accustomed to working with computers laptops desktops tablets and or smart phones we have heard the dreaded words you need to do a hard reset this phrase speaks to the fact that everything you have tried to repair a challenging problem on your device has failed to work many of us have seen a frozen screen or the icon of death that suggests the device has failed for lesser problems you may be able to do a soft reset indeed just the other evening i was having a problem with my ipad although most of my applications were working correctly i was not able to hear any sound via my headset after trying various headsets i determined the problem was in the tablet itself not the headphones i sought out some online support and was advised to do a soft reset the soft reset would return a number of my applications to their original settings without losing my data photos contacts saved emails etc i followed the directions and was able to get the sound to work however if i had to do a hard reset i would turn my tablet into a device that was like it was when it first left the factory my previous data would be gone i would need to start from the beginning the situation we are in the midst of covid 19 the novel corona virus pandemic calls for a hard reset far too many people keep talking about how to get back or return to normal without understanding there can be no return to normal with the level of devastation this virus has wreaked upon the world and particularly black people as a people with less resources and the least able to work remotely we find ourselves deemed essential in jobs like public transportation sanitation grocery and pharmacy store clerks and health care workers we are also a group of people with less access to quality health care and are likely to be treated unfairly by the health care system because of this limited access to health care and other financial resources black people have accumulated a number of underlying health challenges hypertension diabetes heart disease and cancer that place them at greater risk for contracting covid 19 and dying from it the pandemic has forced a drastic change in our lifestyles those who can work from home our children are unable to attend school many of our churches are closed yet there are calls for returning to what we had before this disaster this is not possible millions of people have lost their jobs students without computing capacity and access to wi fi have been unable to keep up with school work schools have been unable to offer full service instruction and lurking just beneath the surface of all of this trauma is a giant ticking mental health bomb just opening the economy will not restore businesses that have gone bankrupt it will not replace bank accounts that have dried up it will not fix homelessness it will not fix food insecurity the stimulus checks reflect emergency money but do not put people on secure footing our children have seen death without proper closing rituals they have seen sickness without comfort they have suffered abuse without help from caring adults we need a hard reset a hard reset for this society means we have to first and foremost forgive all debt that has accumulated during the pandemic debt that continued during the pandemic e g inability to pay student loans car loans mortgage debt credit card debt etc must be forgiven next in the world of education a hard reset means we do not penalize students for conditions beyond their control we must ignore the test scores and grades coming out of the pandemic we all need a clean slate and a fresh start there is no going back there is only going forward ...