The Status Quo hurts Poor, Black and Brown Students

In Support of I-1240 - Public Charter Schools

Eliminating One Status Quo
I put my name and the trust many have in me behind public charter schools. I have supported alternatives to traditional education for many years. After all my B.A. Degree is from Evergreen State College, my Masters in Education was obtained at Antioch University and my Ph.D was honorarily conferred in Nairobi Kenya by the Institute for Cultural Reconnection. All are non traditional but excellent higher education choices.

I have learned many things along the way to being an Elder. (Elders are not just old, they are also learned and wise in the ways that the people need them to be. They care about the entire village, and when entering a place they traditionally ask "How are the children."  Our poor, black and brown children are not as well educationally as they should and could be. 

After 25 years of paying close attention to public education, doing research on parent and community involvement, and raising three children in Seattle, I know that the status quo has not allow African American, Hispanic, Native American, immigrant, and poor children to attain an eduction that brings equity.

Policy makers do not listen to solutions that come from within the communities of these children, they do not listen to teachers, parents education specialists. This is a reality that makes public charters attractive as a choice.  

The Other Status Quo
If I-1240 is passes public funds will follow students whose parents enroll them into a public charter school. And we know there will be many who will be immediately interested in our children. It is called follow the money. 

In about 1991, just before launching my first campaign to become a WA State Representative, a blue ribbon panel was selected to establish school reform. This Blue Ribbon Panel was comprised of those who represented corporate interests. Kerry Killinger, the CEO of the now failed Washington Mutual Bank was the Chair.

The Governor, sent a message to parents gathered from all over the region that parents would not be placed on the commission and would be polled later. Since that time more than 20 years ago, much has occurred. Most significantly, there has been a substantial growth in private school enrollment and in the achievement gap between privileged and low income school age children. And this gap has created an new economy we call the "failure industry."  The many well paying jobs allows many to earn the tuition that keeps their children out of public schools or pay for academic enhancements.

This is a status quo that voting in public charters will correct, in fact if not monitored it will only grow and charters will be just another out for those who are most capable of competing for limited but good choices for their children. 

Students Need an Informed, Intentional and Involved Parent

I spend considerable time on issues associated with parent involvement in education through Parents for Student Success, a non profit I co-founded and Direct in Washington State. The missing link for most students who do not do well in school is an informed, intentional and involved parent. 

Every parent I have met cares about their child's education but lacks the knowledge, a plan and vision needed to manage that education through to a successful young adult.  Parents for Student Success, exists to help parents and schools rethink parent involvement. 

An effectively involved parent understands how to navigate public education systems, they intend for their children to do well in school and in life and they leverage their time, resources and relationships to support this intent.  Their child is clear that their education is a priority for the family.  Our methods are very student based, meaning how does my involvement have a direct and positive impact on my child's education. Many parent involvement programs stop at how parents are attached to the child's school. We call this building based involvement. It has its place and does has an indirect impact. 

If a parent has limited, resources or extended family support, they must leverage their time and energy. For parents of children on education life support, their time must be directed to their child, conversations need to be with their teachers and there must be a plan. 

Getting a child from Pre-School through college or post high school graduation is the most difficult project we will ever undertake.  I have completed that project and have grown children whose success has allowed me to retire early, restructure my life and redirect my resources. 

How we are at home with our children can make the difference between an average education and a great education. Being poor or brown or black or if your parent is designated for special education adds to the challenges of getting the best education. The reasons for the heightened challenge are many but are not reasons that a child can not excel academically and socially. We speak often of intent, a child usually ends up where the parent intends for them to be a failing student or at top of their class. 

Here is an excerpt from research compiled at the Parent Institute,  on the impacts of parents being involved.

 Direct parent instruction of their own children at home positively affects school achievement.
 But parents need specific information on how to help and what to do. 

1. A study of promising parent involvement programs in the southwestern United States identified seven essential elements of strong parent involvement programs: 

• A formal, written policy 
• Administrative support (funding, materials, meeting space, equipment, staff) 
• Training for staff, parents and community members 
• A partnership approach (joint planning, goal setting, definition of roles) 
• Two-way communication (frequent and regular) 
• Networking (to share information, resources and technical expertise) 
• Evaluation (to allow districts to make program revisions on a regular basis).53A study of successful federal, state, school district and school building parent involvement initiatives identified the following key themes: 
• Parents and schools share common goals 
• Parent involvement programs must continue beyond early childhood 
• Programs must include all families 

Parent involvement programs make teacher’s jobs easier 
Program development is not quick 
Grants encourage participation 
Family/school coordinators are crucial 
Programs need rooms for parents 
Programs must reach out to parents without requiring parents to come to school 
Technology (radio, TV, audio- and videotapes, computers) can help improve parent involvement 
Programs need to be evaluated.54 

When parents’ time for school involvement is limited, carrying out learning activities with children at home is one of the most efficient ways for parents to spend their time.  Traditionally, teachers tend to favor parents who come to school. 

What Made Me Smile This Week

Living in Seattle Washington as an African American means that much of what occurs in daily life is not about me. As African American, my experience is so often not included in many ways. An example, I was all up for a talk given by a woman I had great respect for, a white woman who I thought was well researched on women's issues. Not far into her talk, she spoke of the time when women did not work outside of the home.

Well, it is nice that she recognized that work inside the home is indeed work, there has never been a time in American history for African American women where as a distinct population we did not work outside the home. We were brought to the United States to work for white women and their husbands.

Though never getting used to be an oversight in the minds and mouths of others, as all humans do, I have adapted and accept that yes, people can be quite ignorant and still be in positions of influence.  It is known as privilege.

So I seek out things that allow me to relate to those who represent the full spectrum of experiences of those living in the African Diaspora.  Today seeing the video of the young people dancing at a mall in Silver Springs MD made me smile.  Take a look they are quite talented.

Harriett Hodge who taught me how to win at Word with Friends (be a bit more focused on excellence) also for the past 6 years has taught a young woman classical piano and has sent her off to Japan for a world competition. We expect that she will come home even a greater pianist because of this great experience. Harriett keeps crying. What made both of us smile is that I finally mastered the game and beat her handily.  A real teacher loves to see the student go a bit further.

Being with two Ethiopian American women who brought me with them to WA Dept. of Developmental Disabilities to advocate for the rights of one of the woman's son with multiple and complex disabilities. I was so proud of  this mother who expressed her determination with the help of a translator. She was not taking no for an answer and had done her homework. As a former public official and known in many circles, I am often asked to help with some issue. Most often, too often the requester wants what they are not willing to fight for. We left and had a great Ethiopian lunch complete with a glass of beer. This coming together across differences in language and origin of birth was diminished by the clear understanding that one woman in the room was of no help, and had no intent of being of help to this mother. I will write her up appropriately for her lack of support to this deserving mother.

Yesterday, Rainier Valley Rotary (Seattle)  celebrated 50 years of existence in the Rainier Valley community of Seattle.  This is a very white, very male organization but I enjoy the people who are members because they are committed to doing good.  It was a fun event and I knew many of the past presidents. Rotary and especially RV Rotary because  Rainier Valley is a community that has vast race and culture diversity.  It is not easy working with white's even those with great hearts. Privilege of being white in America allows them to want and often get their way in how things get done.  They do not know that others who have high regard for them, consider them friends, are much more tolerant of them they they are or have to be of others.  So, Howard Gutkneckt who has become a great friend is a rising abolitionist and keeps me at Rotary because, he buffers so much for me. This makes me smile. And Ruth Moen another abolitionist friend is fun to do anything with.

It is still early in the day. I am sure I will find many other things today to make me smile.

Who Owns the Achievement Gap?

Dr. Maxine Mimms a Washington Elder of Distinction and long time educator in Tacoma and Seattle told a room full of parents following an excellent demonstration of brilliance by African American children; "If I were a parent I would not send my children back to public school on Monday." What and how the children presented defies what the "Standards" outcomes tells us about African American children. 


Dr. Mimms has been said to be the most effective teacher in the USA. (Anyone teaching African American children in Washington State should be required to spend time with her) She was Seattle's first African American teacher (Leschi and Coleman). She has remained relevant and in touch with our public school system Founding Director of Evergreen State College Tacoma Campus, and has conferred more Doctorate Degrees upon African Americans than any educator in WA State. Besides Evergreen she has designed and taught education based programs at Pacific Oaks College, Fielding Institute, Antioch University,  Union Graduate School, and Institute for Cultural Reconnection. She is an advisor to the Obama Kogelo Secondary School in Kenya and founder of Maxine Mimms Academy for middle and high schoolers who have been expelled from public schools. 

There Was a Time When Black Children Were Taught to Read and to Understand Math

Seattle has 248 African American third graders. Of concern is that after 4 years of primary schooling 282 of them (42.5%) still can not read at grade level. There was a time in America when former slaves who because of laws against teaching blacks to read could not read themselves raised children who could read. Large numbers of black children completed high school ready to attend what has become a network of 103 Historically Black Colleges and Universities spread across the Southern and mid Atlantic States. They learned to read, write, spell, do complex lab experiments and mathematical equations in small racially segregated schools with books and equipment cast off from more endowed white schools. Many teachers had certificates from two year Normal School teacher programs. and sometimes less. Large numbers of these students went on to get degrees at all levels including medical and terminal degrees. They went on to be creators of art, own their own businesses, invent technical solutions that helped America become a rich and industrious nation. 

Many of these HBCU were endowed by privileged whites but these contributors to the education of black students knew the importance of having African American communities and educators contributing to the design of methodologies and pedagogies for teaching, counseling and advising African American students. Today, we have whites who are concerned about the outcomes of African American students, but lack a willingness to surrender to African American community the solutions, funding and implementation of fixes that will work.  

Political policies for education and processes for funding are flawed and work against education systems that bring about equity and excellence for Black children and their Brown classmates. The history of African Americans as former slaves, living in a segregated America, surviving in the face of cruel inequities and except for Native American Indians, the only residents to not have immigrant or refugee status as part of their heritage. This makes our existence in America unique. Seattle for several decades has refused to educate African American children. There is no reason that we can not teach a young child to read. My experience putting in place a routine that brought a child from pre-school literacy to proficiency in reading within 7 months. What it took most of our funded solutions are not putting in place. I will write more about this in another blog entry.

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, a person we elect, reports each year in detail the failure of our our schools to educate with equity all the children whose education they are responsible for.

 Reading for SY 2010-11 Africa American third graders attending Seattle Public Schools.

664 Black 3rd Graders tested in Math

134  exceeded Reading Standards. 

225 met standards

282 tested below standards

120 of the the 282 are well below standard

Math Outcomes for Seattle Black Students Third Grade 2010 - 11

685 Black 3rd Graders Tested in Math

52 Exceeded Standards

236 Met Standards

428 tested below Standards

246 of the 428 are well below standard

Actually, African American children are much more intellectually proficient than the tests given reveal. Place the same children who are failing in a setting with high expectations and within a short time they excel academically and socially. How they are in African American cultural systems far exceeds what the standardized tests reflect. It is not because we have lower standards; conversely our expectations for our children fare exceed public schools.
When children are seen as incapable or with lesser ability they will not be taught to excellence.

It is well known by researchers that children entering 4th grade without a grade level proficiency as readers have  problems moving forward in their academic development.  Kids at Risk Action writes about this in their Report on Invisible Children. They report that the solutions we fund are not working effectively for the children these funds are established to help. 

The solutions that come from community partners have the greatest positive impact on our children and their families. Knowing this, the manager of Title I funds (Federal) and Family and Education Levy funds (local)  should totally reverse their funding allocations and processes. Currently a disproportionate amount of these funds are awarded to organizations not seeking solutions from among African Americans or any communities of color. Their solutions are well packaged but lacking in making the kinds of significant differences these children need. The Family Support Workers Program works well for families because most are from the communities they are serving. While the favored and well funded math enrichment program Explorations in Math is missing the boat on bringing African American and children who need enriched learning to proficiency or excellence. While they receive funding for math African American parents and students have found their way to the Saturday Math Academy located in SE Seattle. Children taught by its founder and teacher Norman Alston are known to show elevated understanding of math with African American, Latino and Pacific Islander children as young as 8 years old grasping algebraic concepts.  Their parents learn enough along with their children to not teach them math but to support them by knowing ways to apply what their children are learning.

A Real and Recent Example 

Our family attended a Math and Science Fair for elementary children with our grandson. The gym was filled with non white children. It was funded in part with Title I funds. A Partnership made up Pacific Science Center and Explorations in Math. Without apology or shame they placed before these children of color about 12  white presenters to entertain children and parents with math and science activities. They want the children to know that yes, they too can one day be scientists and mathematicians. These presenters most likely do not really believe this to be true. If so their colleagues would be the many existing non white science and math professionals who live and work among us. One adult participant said that if they can not find even one math or science major at UW who is Asian American they really are not looking. 

If the Pacific Center and Explorations in Math will not solve their problem with diversity in hiring, they should not be able to use public funds because children deserve to be exposed to many cultures in this country where European Americans the minority residents in America. To use our children's funds for the benefit of employment for those living outside of their communities, and beyond their daily reach is wrong. This is the lack of achievement that adults present and that creates the Achievement Gap. I am sure that Technology Access Foundation with instructors who look like the children who need math, science and Technology enhancement would connect better with brown and black children.

So we place our children to  public schools that fail to elevate their brilliance because our public schools are accessible and affordable for families of non privileged children. Public schools are the basis of our democracy because they create the working class.  This is what public schools were established to do that is not bad, but they no longer are doing a good job at that. The new jobs require an intellect different from that of factory workers. How do we prepare children for a technical work place when teachers fear the use of technology in teaching their students?

Our children are learning what they are being taught, if they are not being taught to be successful, they will struggle by nature to get to that place. When they are labeled as failures, when the local media places them on the front page as the subject of failure rather than the victims of low achieving adults they lose self esteem.  Next Year let the headlines either be African American students are surviving a system designed for their collective failure, or maybe. Seattle Public Schools again fail to educate African American student for equity and Excellence.

Thank you for reading my blog. I hope that you got something from it that you can use or apply in your own interest and caring for a child's right to a free, public and effective education.

Dawn Mason, M.Ed, PhD (hc)
Founding Director of Parents for Student Success

Why are our School Systems Failing African American Children?

The answer to this question is complex but let me share  insight gained from living long. 

The failure of African American children comes from multiple directions. I will speak to a few of them.

A traditional public school system is complex with funding sources that reward schools failing to educate with equity.  What would it be like if those who make up the public school systems were passionate and intentional about educating African American children?  What if we had a society that really believed that diversity was key to our longevity as a leader nation?  I saw recent footage of an interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when asked about the elements that drove his movement for nonviolence he said that it took passion and intentionality. Intentionality means to be informed by intention and to act on it toward a specific end. When teaching parent classes I use the example of bonsai to bring this point home. Most get it. 

I live an intentional life committed to an excellent education for children our public schools policies cheat and have been cheating for decades.  What we offer our children does not have to be filled with gimmicks or even fancy.  It just needs to be an education offering that allows a child to know the joy of reading, writing and problem solving.  

We look but can not find the level of intention and passion modeled by Dr. King, in the reversing the wrong of a failed system we know as public education. No creative thought, no responsibility for multiple generations of failure, that have locked whole families into sustained poverty.  Chattel Slavery was a system that lasted for 400 years. Can America sustain as a world leader without freeing children and their teacher to learn what is easily teachable. Reading, writing, mathematics and problem solving? Of course we can and we should not need a civil war and emancipation proclamation to do this. 

Though complex, the public school system is one that parents must learn. Even bad systems will work for those who become familiar with the "work arounds."  This ability to work around what is not working in a system is the reason why the same system failing a child at Van Asselt is educating children at View Ridge. First of all, the populations of white and privileged parents dictate what goes into the system, they are the primary users. Parents, teachers and principals of brown, black and poor children have to learn and understand a system for which they are at best tertiary users.  Intentionality will create the work arounds. Unfortunately as soon as the system is learned, it is again changed and again fixes and new systems are not put in place to favor those who need most a system of education geared toward equity and excellence for all children. 

it is a learnable system and little expectation should be placed upon teachers to anything other than teach. They are not hired to apply skills learned or to practice for proficiency. They are not a constant relationship for children parents and families are and families are the greatest determinant of whether a child will grow to be a successful contributing adult in society.  That is not a race based assertion it is true for all children in all parts of the world. 

Children learn from other children and model up only a few years. So the children your children play with make a difference. I knew that the children in our neighborhood who could walk to the store alone and cross Rainier without an adult before they were two digits, were on a slippery slope toward mediocrity other indicators were sure indicators of total failure and yes in two instances early death. Then there was the one child in a terribly functioning family who has done well among the many.  When asking this now 30 year old man why? He tells me, she was not my real mother, and that he knew his father who did not raise him but talked with him about things the other children did not hear from their mother or father.  I found that quite interesting and I observe him to be a devoted father. So all not visibly present to others can be very present to a child. 

Back to education of African American children and even others who are cheated of what it takes to function well in society, any society.  Time on task is missing in too many homes. We have all witnessed the baby who is said to be turned around, they are awake all night and sleep all day. This is how so many parents are. They seem to be turned around doing things backwards with their children, even though doing things more to the norm would be easier.  A child who reads is much easier to manage than one who does not read or one who watches television of hours without interruption.  Reading calms and television agitates. A child who understands numbers, learns to see the complex as less complex because they learn the art of problem solving.  

Okay, I make it sound as if it is easy, it is. And as my friend Josie always says "Dawn, you surely are not a social worker." Meaning, I can not hear the excuses, though I am empathetic and a good support system for many. Why help a person be less than God intended. In a nation where it is said the average person is using only 10% of their brain's ability, why help a person use 5%. How harmful could a push to 15% be?

I write a blog now because I used to share these ideas with a broad spectrum of people. I was surprised by those who found it bothersome and almost an insult to receive these "long messages."  Long? I thought they were short given I used to write snail mail letters that were multiple pages and receive the same from people. I am old enough to hold on to communicating in full words and sentences. By the time the world is speaking only in abbreviated phrases I will be blind, old and babbling and maybe not. One of the great possessions I preserve from my time as a Legislator is a letter from constituent, Iola Davis, in the letter she wrote and mailed she told me she is 92 years old, and proud of to see one of us doing so well." It was a two page letter I guess it should be in a museum.  She lived to be 101 and I attended her 100 birthday party.  

So within families and communities comes the push for excellence. In an Essence interview with President Barack Obama when asked about education and poor families, after saying his daughters do not watch television on school nights, he responded "A poor parent can turn off a television."  

Here is an article written by a parent in 1984 it continues to guide me in my work helping parents learn new skills. Just like with anything it takes many times doing something to change a habit or pattern of behavior. 

Fear No Number - A Math Academy is Born

When Seattle Public Schools posted for public view and analysis, yet another year of failure for African American students and others living and attending school in Rainier Valley, Norman Alston knew it was time to return home.

For the past 12 years prior to 2010 much of his time and energy had been spent on teaching the children in East King County home to Microsoft, and many who make their wealth in the technology industry. They had hired Mr. Alston, a former teacher at Zion Prep Academy, an African American private school, his reputation as an excellent teacher with a unique way of transferring his love of math to any who entered his sphere of influence.

A meeting was organized by Twanda Hill, the parent of one of his former Zion students and with her help the first Saturday Math Academy was established back at his old stomping grounds, Zion Prep Academy the Saturday Math was extended to Summer Math Camp.  For Mr. Alston a gifted teacher, something was still missing for him and out of frustration and other challenges he decided to not proceed with this foray into the area of King County with the greatest need for math enrichment.

By chance, I (Dawn Mason) read a message he posted on Facebook seeking 10 computers for teaching.  I responded and through Parents for Student Success, an education organization I founded and direct I acquired 10 laptops licenses for Microsoft Word and Excel and placed them on loan with Moving Beyond Arithmetic through which Mr. Alston consults on issues of math enrichment.  This struck up a relationship that eventually created a joint venture between MBA and PFSS the Fear No Number Math Academy was born.  What had been missing and what PFSS was able to supply was the engagement of parents in their children's math education.

Yvette Duiobate stepped up as Coordinating Parent to work with PFSS to help inform, organize and represent parent interests, concerns and contributions.  With only Norman as the teacher with no real skills in managing, parents took on the responsibilities along with Marilyn Alston in the management of Fear No Number Math Academy.  Without a hierarchy of officers or a membership dues and rules, parents worked together and with Mr. Alston to improve weekly FNNMA, they paid a tuition of $100 a month.  Parents unable to pay supply sweat equity as an investment in what is being established.

FNNMA remains in inquiry without any absolutes on what it takes to reverse the downward spiraling of math literacy for children who deserve so much more for their time spent in school. We know that parents can make the difference but we needed to know would they make the difference for their children. In most cases they are making that difference and experiencing joy in the elevations of their children's love for numbers and eagerness to attend class.

The Academy, is established to address the critical condition of math literacy for African American children who are at the bottom of every outcome for math and science.  They are leaving school non competitive for admission to four year colleges, academic scholarships, or gaining the kind of education that prepares them for future technical based careers or creating employment for self and others.  Though African American students are the reason for the establishment of FNNMA, and the instruction is based on African cultural norms for education, the classes attract children from other race and ethnic groups and span the economic spectrum.

The first school year is ended but Saturday Math continues throughout the summer. Mr. Alston will teach 1 or 100 students so a drop of students for the summer, does not shut the doors of the Academy.  The Academy moved at the end of the school year to the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club. This arrangement should attract even more students to FNN Math. It will take careful oversight to make sure that parents are clear that the Academy is not a drop off enrichment kind of learning. That to work, the parents must be invested in some way and shed their own fears of numbers.


 and using shape the methods that would bring parents into the classroom with their children. This immediately appealed to some parents, for others it was not so easy, but eventually there were classes in which there were as many adults in the classrooms as children.

The name Fear No

Meet Those Who Inspired Me This Week.

Grateful for Inspirations

Being mid 60's gives me a major benefit and privilege on life. I am still young enough to enjoy learning and doing and being retired allows me to do what it is I want and to leave on the side of the road that which I do not.  I do realize that it is more than just age the state of being with God and centered in self is key at all phases of our human development.  Being spiritually centered diminishes the vestiges of victimhood.  I want to introduce to others some of the people who inspired me this week and for who I am grateful.

Dr. Melody Ivory
Consider walking away a job that pays well and gives you high levels of respect, because you see a life well lived with purpose a higher calling?  Not in a "Take This Job and Shove It" kind of way, but a response to a life altering crisis.  A conversation with Dr. Melody Ivory a person relatively new in my life, is a young brilliant woman who is a very special person with many gifts.

Melody Ivory's website is worth looking at. She has many products as a result of her gratitude for life and brilliance. I am I think addicted to her great tasting herbal teas and I am sure they are instrumental in my much needed weight loss and renewed energy.  To her credit she is the first and so far only African American woman to receive a PhD in Computer Science from Berkley.  She is moving forward on the expansion of her vision and with intent. To me intent is having a vision and doing whatever it takes to make it happen.

Cultural Village
Marcia Tate Arunga inspires me in her growth around her work with Cultural Reconnection. She is a testimony to what occurs when a person follows purpose and takes full responsibility and is able to elevate humanity through their work. Here is an article in March Seattle Magazine  which gives insight into how she has made a difference for many through the work she does with the Vision And Planning Team and The Institute for Cultural Reconnection and the 78 CR Delegates made up of African American women. A publication is being developed that will tell of the 12 years and beyond of inspired, focused, and active participation in the development of relationships within the African Diaspora.

Rev. Harriett Walden
New knees can make the difference for quality of life for we who are aging in good health but worn out body parts. Last August I had a spinal fusion to rid myself of the pain of spondolythesis (slipped disk) it made a major difference for my well being. Harriett, a long time sister in the struggle for justice,  followed suit and went and got herself some new knees. I spoke with her today she is at Washington Center a culturally competent rehab facility in Rainier Valley, Seattle.   I think Harriett wore out her knees over the many years of walking for justice we especially love Harriett for her inspired creation of Mothers for Police Accountability.  It is now up to our younger generations to pick up the baton and keep the movement alive. Which brings me to my young friend Marselas.

Marselas Owens
Marselas inspires not only me but millions. Last year he received  major media attention for his advocacy that moved forward the Health Care reform bill.    Marselas and his grandmother Gina are personal friends of mine. Marselas has a Mii on my Wii. He is again in the news after walking 50 miles to Olympia with his grandmother Gina to again give a real voice to why the wealthy should be taxed and that our legislators should not put the biggest burden of the economy on the backs of the poorest among us. Meet my friend Marsalas and think, "If Marsalas and his grandmother can walk 50 miles surely I can click on www.leg.wa.gov and send a message to my legislative delegation.

President Barack Obama
I hear people make uninspired statements about this inspired man and I want to gag. I am gearing up for re-election 2012. Election 2008 consumed much of my life and I expect the same level of involvement.  So the first task is to get as many people as possible to "GET IN" that is get involved with Organizing for America; sign onto the campaign. If you are not ready to make your financial donation, sign on anyway the key to getting out of the donation page is to click on 2012.  

*Village is used to denote African Americans living along the I-5 corridor. Villages are usually denoted in spacial terms but for us who are scattered off the many exits of I-5 it is our cultural connection that makes us a Village.  

The Village Movement is Evolving

In the Puget Sound region, along the I-5 Corridor from Seattle to Tacoma there is a movement afoot African Americans are evolving from being externally defined as a community to self defined existence as A Village. The Village as we know it,  is based on human development, needs and contributions. A community is a  concept externally and politically defined with determinations about the people without regard to culture, or the people's ability to self diagnose problems and create solutions.

The Village that has emerged along the I-5 corridor is a vibrant emergence of talent and accomplishments with many generations coming together to sustain longevity.  In a recent gathering with Village Elder Dr. Maxine Mimms, she eschewed the word legacy and has replaced it with longevity. We liked that open ended view of what we bring to human development. A legacy sort of has a beginning and end where longevity just keeps on going without end.

What determines our Village is how we are as a people together. How we determine the outcomes of what we do and what occurs for us. An example, a report came out from Seattle Public Schools and is recorded by the WA Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction on their website. The report is data that would have any who read it  assuming that where there are majority populations of non white children who live in the margins of material prosperity, then these children can not learn math and science or how to read and write.  The Village looked at this and went into action, there is a crisis among those who are teaching our children, they do not know how to teach them. We must then make arrangements to teach them our selves. We start with math, and intellectual expression. We call on the parents to step into this thing they call an achievement gap. We bring in the best and brightest among us to create learning labs.

Fear No Number Math Academy
  is created at the Zion Preparatory Academy campus on Saturday to enrich African American children, and other children who will benefit from learning to have no fear of any number. The parents have to see this as important in their vision of an accomplished child able to compete in a global society.  The children learn to calculate using an abacus and go back to the basics of how to count. They have not been taught how to count, nor how to calculate up to the nth degree, they have been taught fear and failure; these the ancestors of those who built great pyramids and just now toppled a despot within a month without funding or too much bloodshed. The teacher is Mr. Norman Alston, the parents are managing the Academy with Yvette Diaubate guiding parents to see the worth of excellence.

Parents for Student Success has existed for a quarter of a century, it is a conceptual and methodical way of having parents see their worth in getting children through the rigors and challenges of Pre-12th grade education. It is a method that says to a parent; "Your are the constant adult figure in your child's life, you are the one who determines if your child will be a successful adult. Your are the Coach, it is your team."  Co-founded by former WA State Representative Dawn Mason, the author of this blog.  She sees too many organizations funded based on the failure of African American children and other children and their parents who face many levels of trauma associated with failed learning and the inability to think and reason.  Organizations that have been in our midst for decades even not more than a century have led us to this level of failure in our children, yet too many parents allow their children to be used to the tune of billions of dollars granted to organizations, agencies, organized religious institutions, without evaluations that include us.
When this concept of giving money to people to fix other people's problems started African American children were learning and performing socially better than they are today. We did not have huge numbers of children in juvenile justice systems, we did not have children not knowing how to read and write or of all things, killing their grandmothers and brothers and using lewd language in the presence of elders or their little brothers and sisters.  The village did not tolerate any of this. Now others are getting money and creating employment for themselves and their friends saying we will fix this for them.

The Village movement once fully established will question this use of our our children's failed intellectual and social development, teach parents the ways of the ancestors in child development and learning and reclaim our children.  It is already occurring.

The Koinonia/Maxine Mimms Learning Center is a testimony of  what can occur when adults are clear about the vision and the intent. Dr. Emma Jones has been without doubt that any child can learn and she does not believe that ADD exists or any other thing that keeps a child from being a good person, a smart person. There are no large grants coming her way, she does not write them, may not know how. She just makes a determination that with or without funds the village will assure the education of any child. When the public school says they are unteachable and tosses them out, she and Dr. Mimms reclaims them if only to prove the point that yes, they can be taught. So on February 18th Black History Month program two of the MMHS students stood in front of parents and community and recited some of the most difficult classical poetry written; The Creation and Judgement Day without paper, props or teleprompter.  These girls attended public schools where tax payers are spending $8,000 per student and having them returned to us untaught. Dr. Jewell Hollaway, stood with her students and cried as they took their applause. I surmised from her comments, it was not difficult for them to learn these poems and deliver them perfectly, what was most challenging is to teach them that that yes, my children you are brilliant.

The Village throughout has placed as the most important element of reclaiming our people is letting them know at whatever age they are that yes, you are brilliant, and worthy of being all that you can be and even more than your ancestors who despite being robbed and pillaged and used as slaves to build this great nation, left for us longevity.

The Stolen Ones and How They Were Missed by Marcia Tate Arunga places us in a place different than we were taught. We were not traded - nothing was given for us of any value, we were stolen; kidnapped. The villages where the children were stolen from put out alerts - the Amber Alert was not the first time entire nations looked for their children.

Marcia is important to the Village Movement, it is what I have learned from and with her along with what we both and so many who we work with have learned at the feet of Dr. Maxine Mimms and what we bring from our own parents and ancestors and that make the re-energizing and re-establishing of the Village possible. It is intricate yet easy because it is intuitive. People who survived what people born of African blood have survived  are graced with longevity, with genetic memories of how to create something from nothing, they are close to God because they have not had in modern times the privilege of use of even their own resources. The minerals and natural and resources of Africa have been used by Europeans for centuries in ways that establish them as some superior people, when they are not. So Marcia is telling the story to children and their parents and teachers not to make a bundle of money with a gimmick tale, but to bring truth where it is missing. She says "Had I known that I was not sold or traded, from the motherland, and that I was missed. My back as a child would have been a little straighter, I would has stood a little taller..."  It is this message to the children an allegory that tells them they are a missing generation and we are looking for and finding them.  We have an Amber Alert fully functioning.


Black Girls Rock is inspired by the need to say to each black girl that "You Rock" you are awesome in who you are, how you look and the gifts and talents you bring to the Village. During African American History Month, the Village of Hope a precursor the the Village Movement showcased Black Girls Rock in a packed SRO gathering hall at White Center Heights Elementary School. Sherrell Shell pulled it together and Monica rocked the house as she showcased the many talents of young girls and their role models. Dressed creatively in outfits made for black bodies, bodies. They did precision drill routines in a multi aged performance with the youngest at the front learning from the older girls the way that the Village around the globe has children learn the best of who they are.  And they praised god silently with only movement; the young female Mt. Zion Praise Dancers who despite the turmoil in that part of the Village, God can use a child to show faith and belief. They accepted with grace their shout out "Mt.Zion Youth Praise Dancers Rock!!"  The mantra of Black Girls Rock, because in the Village to "rock" is to be caught being your best self, to be a contributor of talent and energy and to be part of the vision and walking along the path of longevity. 

South Shore K-12 Public School where Keisha Scarlett is Principal and many of the classrooms have some of the regions best teachers with our children, the Village has determined that South Shore is a Village school and will be excellent. To that end on February 14, for the entire morning and into the afternoon, African American parents assembled to receive inspired messages. This was organized by Lisa Robbins, Anita Mwamba and Sabrena Burr with the support of many others. It takes alot to inpire parents who lost inspiration by having to sign one bad report card after another and in ways be co-conspirators in the failure of schools to teach their children.  So they need constant messages that their children were born with a gift, they have within them God given gifts that are buried by concepts and words and methods developed by adults to bring forth that which challenges them. We know that if we showcase the gifts that humans possess, their challenges which we also are born with, will be diminished.  So at South Shore once we have parents knowing the gifts and supporting intellectual skill building in their children, we will bring them out of South Shore ready to walk across the street to Rainier Beach and declare it a place of excellence. The students and parents will let them know that we reclaim our schools as primarily centers of learning for students, over being primarily employment centers for adults. We will bring balance where teachers who teach and elevated learning get to stay, where students who accept instruction rightly given have to practice and apply to life what is taught. Students are respected and respectful because parents are raising them to be successful with full intent that they will maintain longevity of the Village.


The Successful Young Women Program is the brainchild of Danna Johnston. She grew up in SE Seattle and lived a life of many lessons and learned the most important of them all contribute back what was given.  She along with my own daughter who is a produce to SE Seattle and now a Registered Nurse, and Gwen Dupree a retired public School administrator are putting in place model of how in the midst of failed instruction that has rendered Rainier Beach H. S. the lowest performing in the Seattle School District and among the lowest in the state. This is a school that produces championship Basketball teams.  The young women as they are known because they do not fight in the halls, or curse on the public transportation, or give their most precious possession away because they need to feel loved. They have a goal and a vision, they are going to a four year college.  Last year this goal was met by their graduating seniors. This is a model program for the Village, it is self financed by the Danna K. Johnston Foundation. The Seattle Foundation rejected their request for funding. So as we do in the Village we do not let the decisions of others determine the worth or work of the people of the Village.

There are so many others individuals and organized efforts occurring as we re-claim our selves and our future and longevity. We got off the path for a moment, we allowed others to define our worth and our vision, we allowed others to determine our problems and the solutions and to gather money in the name of our children without respect or regard for any but their own determination of our children as lesser beings, incapable of learning at high levels. A visit to any of the learning centers mentioned will prove differently. The ways that funds are granted make it difficult for those who are doing effective work with our children to get these funds which really belong to us. Those who determine who gets what, do not always give to those who will strengthen the Village or the people. They seem to like those ways that enable and require nothing much of anyone involved in the equation.

The Urban Academy of Life Long Learning exists through Dr. Maxine Mimms and the thousands of human lives she has touched in some direct way since the mid 1950's. She is our Chief Elder, a recognized Elder of Distinction and a model and mentor of excellence.   Life Enrichment Books, owned by Vickie Willams and Aaliya Messiah,  has become the campus for university learning; many seminars are held here.  Dr. Mimms on the third Fridays, sits and listens and applauds the greatness of African American effort and excellence. She guides our way of thinking to see the greatness within and among us as African Americans. On the occasions when others of ancestry not African join the conversations she reminds them that they are at their best when they are not invoking the privilege they have acquired, they must learn to follow, because their leadership has created what we are now experiencing in the world.  They listen but seldom return, it is hard to go from being the reference group the determining factor in all that occurs to living with true equity. So they go back and use their money to fund what often does not work.  It is an interesting concept that has existed too long. There is more than one village for African Americans in the Puget Sound region. The Village that is emerging as one of collective action, and shared dialogue, and excellence, has gained the favor of the people and respect of other clear thinking people.

The Institute for Cultural Reconnection comes from the philosophy that people of African ancestry must visit the motherland and reclaim our rightful place in the universe if we are to maintain our worth and continue as a creative people in the world. There is a privilege that Africans in America possess and that is freedom of travel around the globe that no other people of color possess. It is this gathering to travel home to Africa and centering ourselves in Kenya that has created the Institute for Cultural Reconnection. The Institute as we know it, is based on four principles that guide the reclaiming of a good and supportive culture; a natural and peaceful way of being, a way that is respectful of human dignity. The research is based on participation in the reconnection to a culture that makes natural sense, and respects the rites and rituals of that culture and knows that gender specificity brings balance and that ongoing dialogue solves problems and grows the village in dynamic ways.  The Institute is a creation for the longevity of learning and I am proud to have had bestowed upon me by the Institute of Cultural Reconnection an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy Degree.

Being a Cultural Custodian requires a respect for human dignity a way of being that assures success and the well being of the elders, and the intellectual development of our young people.  As functioning adults we bring energy and balance to who we are. We operate within the protection of the Village,  we are expected to give the best of who we are and to maintain our longevity by creating sustainable solutions to problems that naturally occur along the continuum of human development.

There will be more to report and document on the re-emergence of what has always been in place, but dormant. The Village is a natural way of being for people of African Ancestry and for the good of all humanity. The European way of being evolved out of a lack of many things which created fear and then greed. Now as we are facing a time of limited fiscal resources, many things must be re-ordered. Within the Village there is no lack of anything, because the abundance that ceases to be was never shared with us in the first place. We we are the Stolen Ones who for more than three centuries toiled to build a nation on a land stolen from the indigenous people of what is now North, South and Central America.  The history having been revised, re-written, or not taught at all, does not erase the facts nor the genetic memories and the culture passed on by the millions of mothers who gave birth to millions of humans who have been denied equity in the Americas.

Any who have been denied equity have this phenomenal way of rising up spontaneously and recreating justice in the face of injustice.  The life of J.T. Williams the ancestor of the indigenous people, a man who sustained culture through his art, was taken by one whose mother passed to him a culture of human privilege. He believed he could take a life without retribution.  But this life was taken at a time when the people are looking to themselves in the collective around the world as capable of regaining human dignity in the face of greed.

So we are part of a world movement to reclaim for our children what was stolen.  And we will continue in this vein until our purpose is restored. I thank God and three people who sustain me in my purpose; My husband, Deacon Joseph Mason who God has raised up to be a man able of supporting this woman. Dr. Maxine Mimms who I love and who loves me in ways that I can not enumerate, and Marcia Tate Arunga who challenges my thinking, and pushes me forward, so I am out of the way and she can grow and expand. Each generation must do this for the next grow out of the way.We are so pleased at the way that the Village is growing in an organic and spirit filled way. How there is room for the many and material desire diminished so that the people can flourish based on non material greed and need.