Taste the Rainbow

Submitted by:  Tyniasha Womack

According to Wikipedia, a rainbow flag is a multi-colored flag consisting of stripes in the colors of the rainbow.  The use of rainbow flags have a long tradition; they are displayed in many cultures around the world as a sign of diversity and inclusiveness, of hope and of yearning.  The world's best known version of the rainbow flag is the 'pride' or 'freedom' flag, which was popularized as a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pride and diversity by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978.  The different colors symbolize diversity in the gay community, and the flag is used predominantly at gay pride events worldwide in various forms including banners, clothing, and jewelry.  Although the flag is meant to represent diversity and equality, I believe it also represents struggle and inequality because for decades, homosexual men and women have remained second class citizens as they have little to no rights to solidify their relationships in marriage, which is supposed to be a cornerstone of American society (not heterosexual society, but American society. Let's not get the two mixed up).

Merriam-Webster defines marriage as (1) The state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law.  (2) The state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage.  Notice that the definition says nothing about what marriage is for, just about who can marry.  So long as two people are adults, not close blood relatives, consenting and not already married, almost any man and woman can marry.  If they are incapable of having children, just met the night before in Las Vegas, or have had a handful of failed marriages between them, they can wed.  "Convicted felons on their way to the chair can marry", quips Jonathan Rauch, author of a new book "Gay Marriage: Why Is It Good For Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America".

What is this country coming to when your sexual orientation puts limitations on what your life can mean or how much you can show your spouse you love them? The definition should be as follows: Marriage - The state of being united to another non-related person in an intimate, consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law. I guess instiutionalized discrimination doesn't just affect African Americans.  Leaving me to ponder this question.  Is gay the new black?  Is the fight for same-sex marriage the new civil rights movement??

The fight for gay rights fits into a long history of liberal struggles.  According to Thomas Schaller of the Baltimore Sun," the movement for sexual-orientation based equality is part of a proud, progressive tradition that includes abolition, women's suffrage, racial integration of the armed forces, the civil rights movement, and anti-mescegenation laws."  Anti-gay activists are quickly losing the debate due to many straight Americans who are coming to the defense of homosexuals, much in the same way that whites pushed for abolition and men marched for women's rights.  The Youtube video I chose as my media for this blog shows a gay married couple celebrating the ground that homosexuals have made for gay rights, specifically, the recent winning of marriage equality in New York.  Finally, we are  realizing that we have gay co-workers and classmates, and are related to gays and lesbians.  I have a gay cousin and a lesbian cousin.  They are both younger than me and I want them to be privy to the advantages I have as a heterosexual person.  So, wave that rainbow flag from every gay bar all the way to the White House.  It's time to make these tight wads taste the freaking rainbow!



Who's fault is it, really?

The education system in the inner city has been declining since the wealth gap has been increasing, but who should we blame for this? Fingers could be pointed at a lot of people or reasons for that matter in this societal failure. I have chosen to focus only a few root causes I believe that can attribute to the failing school systems in America. To look at this problem I figured smaller sample would be better so my true focus will just be on Philadelphia’s schools. This shouldn’t be a problem since I personally attended schools and also grew in Philadelphia’s inner city section.
First I would like to blame the parents in the inner city for allowing this travesty to continue while knowing it is wrong. I love when I hear people complain because after listening to their bickering I like to ask this question, “So what are you going to do about it?”. I always get mixed answers if I get one at all. The response I really hate though is, “I‘m going to send my child to another school”. The reason why I hate that response so much is because I feel that parents are running away from the problem instead of addressing it. Nothing is simple to accomplish alone , I know that, but as a group things are so much easier. So with me saying that I also ask these questions:
How many parents know there children’s teacher outside of their last name?
How many parents know the mother and fathers of their children’s classmates?
How many parents actually help their kids out with the homework given from the schools?
and regarding conditions and lack of supplies in schools:
How many parents complain to the school district instead of their friends about changes that need to be made?
Small things like petitions, protests, and volunteer work can help schools get on the right track. I know the difference parents can make first hand by going to both black and white schools in my lifetime, its priceless.
Second, I would like to turn my attention to the people we expect to have our best interest in mind at all times, politicians. We vote and vote and vote for them every election, but can we really say that do for our educational system? I understand we need police to protect our streets, firemen to put out the fires, doctors, and nurses to heal us. While looking for people to fill those jobs did they forget that we also need teachers to educate us? With more education its proven that there will be less crime and with health always being an ongoing concern I know we could use more people in the healthcare field than in law enforcement. I personally have never confronted someone in office about the current state of inner city schools but I can bet you that if I did happen their response would be something like: “We don’t have enough tax dollars”. Ok, maybe so because it is true that Philadelphia’s population has been in a decline. But, there is always a but, money can always be diverted from somewhere. People in power such as mayors, senators, state reps, council members, and superintendents can always take pay cuts. Its not like they buy their own cars, pay for gas, and have the time they don’t pay their utilities anyway. Plus Arlene Ackerman, School District of Philadelphia’s Superintendent, salary of $500,000 is higher than both the city mayor and the state governor. So a big finger, not the middle, gets pointed at the people in power for allowing our city schools to continue to rot like garbage.
Finally, I have to point my finger at the wealthy people in the Philadelphia area not the rich but the wealthy. Just to make sure we all understand the difference in the finance levels; William Smith (the Fresh Prince) is rich and, William Gates (Microsoft co-founder) is wealthy. To clear the air just in case it’s a little foggy Bill Gates gets a pass in the city of Philadelphia thanks to the school he helped build in a very poor section of city nicknamed “the bottom”. The man is worth upwards of $90 billion dollars and gave up some of his hard earned money to help fund a $61 million dollar The School of the Future in West Philadelphia. So Bill Gates thanks, we cool! Now the people I do have issues with are Mary Alice Dorrance-Malone and Brian L. Roberts to name a few. Mrs. Malone is worth 2 billion dollars plus which was inherited from her grandfather who ran the Campbell Soup company from 1914 until his death. So besides the luck of being born into wealth she would probably be just as normal as you and I. She spends her current days as a chair member of the Campbell Soup company and raising horses. I’m not hating but it just would be nice for a little help to be given to the city you live in. Then there is Mr. Roberts who inherited the Comcast Cable company from his father Ralph J. Roberts who founded it. Roberts is worth 650 million dollars and his company continues to grow into many field outside of cable. His company owns the Philadelphia Flyers hockey club, the Philadelphia 76ers(sold this past June), the Wells Fargo Center, and AT&T just to give you an idea of how wealthy he is. These people and other wealthy people from Philadelphia can afford to help with our schools like Bill Gates a non-Philadelphian did.

I’m pretty sure they’re plenty of other reasons of why the education problem is a mess in Philadelphia but those few gives you, the reader, an idea of where the problem lies. Another issue I have to mention before I finish is regarding parents is the single parents homes which does effect the children in immeasurable ways. The majority of that blame is the dead beat dads we have walking around today like they don’t have any kids at all. They put too much pressure on mothers to do everything for their children. For me to write all of this I know someone might ask me the question of, “What are you going to do to help the situation?”. Now I’m not wealthy let alone rich enough to donate money to the cause, but I do intend to aid the situation in my lifetime. So my honest reply to that question would be, “become a middle school teacher”.

Are African American Males Endangered Health Wise ?

Submitted by Steven L. Pate

     There exist a longstanding literature that focuses on the plight of the African American in the United States. Mortality data for the United States reveal that compared to the white population, African American/blacks have an elevated death rate for 8 of the 10 leading cause of death. Especially disconcerting is evidence revealing that black-white disparities in health have not narrowed over time. For example, age adjusted all-cause mortality for African American was one and a half times as high as that of whites in 1998, identical to what was in 1950. Racial residential segregation is a fundamental cause of racial disparities in heath. At the core of the black male crisis is our failure to assume total resposibiliy for the destiny of our children, our future. By any mean necessary, Black adults must teach children to take hold of their lives. While we should continue to acknowledge the debilitating effects of racism, we cannot afford to live as victims. We must forge a world of self-determination paralellell to that of society's racism, an evil that is not disappearing any time soon 

The lack of education in america

Submitted by: Hansel Frias
    

  

  Education plays a major role in our society since its one of the main components of succeeding in life. Someone’s success can sometimes be determined by the quality of their education. The better the quality of someone’s education, the higher the chance they would have to succeed in life. Therefore, the quality of someone’s education can affect the performance of the students .In fact, students who attend school in the suburbs scored higher on tests compared to those students in urban city public schools. This difference in scores can sometimes be partially due to the lack of resource in these public schools, which directly affects student’s achievements as well as their learning. Therefore, the students who go to suburb schools will most likely have a better success in life then the student from public school due to the difference in the quality of their education.

     This following video illustrates the result of poor education and how it drastically affects not only kids, but also our society. Students who do not receive a proper education in school are more likely to Drop out since they have no motivation and feel as if continuing school is useless. These students then end up taking a wrong path in their life and end up in jail or even pregnant.

     As you just saw in the video, the lack of education can cause many bad outcomes to come out from it since a lot of the people who become either pregnant or early criminals usually are drop outs.  These drop outs can be managed by making each school district more equally funded. This will provide students rich and poor an equal education system nationwide. I believe that if we give each school the same amount of money that it is needed to properly function, poor students will have a less chance of dropping out and a higher chance of being successful in life, because the quality of their education will improve.