Statement by Carla Ranger  (Dallas ISD District 6 Trustee) Conflict of Interest of Board President Jack Lowe Presented Thursday, April 24, 2008 at Dallas ISD Board Meeting Sometimes we must speak inconvenient truth simply because it is the right thing to do. I believe this is such a time. There is a difference between what is legal and what is right or ethical. For example, the doctrine of "Separate But Equal" was once legal in America. However, it was never right, and finally on May 17, 1954, nine judges dressed in black robes took a moral stand and declared that "in the field of education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place." This Board now has the opportunity to declare that in Dallas ISD the doctrine of mixing "private gain with public service" has no place. On Sunday, April 20, 2008 an article appeared in the Dallas Morning News under the headline "Dallas ISD hands millions in contracts to top leaders' firms." In that article the Board President is quoted as saying "to ask the company to support me while I'm doing this rather time-consuming volunteer job (at DISD), and also to ...

Frederick Douglass Academy located at 616 Kiest BLVD in Dallas held their first oratorical contest on Thursday. Students grade Pre K-3 through 4th grade competed in 7 age groups and the winners received trophies. Ms. Sheila Gaskins (oratorical contest coordinator) served as moderator for the competition. After she opened the program, Isaiah Williams presented a welcome. Participants were judged in five categories - Posture, Projection, Expression, Memorization, and Originality. There were 24 participants in the contest. The following students were winners in their grade levels. Pre K3 - Alleyah Turner (Just Too Smart) Pre K4 - Tonya Kirk (Little Soul Sister) Kinder A - Marcus Johnson (The Black Child Pledge) Kinder B- Isaiah Williams (That's my boy ya'll!!! - excerpt from I've Been to the Mountaintop) 1st Grade - Dylan Freeman (Excerpts from I Have a Dream) 2nd Grade - Destini Murray (Harriet Tubman) 3rd Grade - Carrington Stephens (Black is Beautiful) 4th Grade - Rodney Jackson (excerpt from I Have a Dream) Ms. Donna Bailey, Mrs. Dwala Brown, Mrs. Debra Peek-Haynes, Mrs. Billie Henderson, Mrs. Teresa Wash, and yours truly served as judges.

Congratulations to the South Oak Cliff Golden Bears on winning their 4th straight state title. Coach James Mays II guided the team through a tumultuous season, keeping them focused on the things they could control on the court. After being down to Fort Worth Southwest by 11 points with 4 minutes left in the game, the Bears showed us all what champions are made of. SOC rallied with tough pressure defense, timely baskets, and clutch free throws to prevail by a 80-77 margin. SOC (25-8), started the season 6-6, even falling out of the local Top 10 at one point. But when district rolled around, they found themselves in familiar territory, and proceeded through the playoffs like a team who had been there before. As for the investigation into SOC's 2nd championship, the statement continues that "Dallas ISD will forfeit the title." To my knowledge there has been no UIL investigation into the matter and DISD has not done its due diligence either. Forfeiting the title helps them (DISD) in their effort to clean up their image before proposing a huge bond package to Dallas voters. South Oak Cliff has been ...

This morning America is dealing with another shooting on a college campus.  Northern Illinois University searches for answers as a seventh person has now lost their life. No matter how much we try to close our campuses, we won't be able to shut out students (and former students) with ill intent.On July 19th, 2006, I wrote a post titled "No Guns, No Glory." I reran the post last year after the events at Virginia Tech, and I would like to post my thoughts again here today. Two shooting events that occurred early last Sunday morning have dominated the headlines this week. One involved an apparent carjacking attempt where Dallas Cowboy safety Keith Davis was shot twice as he drove his Impala along 635. The other was a fatal shooting that occurred at Club Angel in downtown Dallas. Two people died and 4 were hurt in what apparently ended up as a beef between rival gangs. Throughout the week media outlets have speculated on both incidents. In the case of Davis, some have found it odd that anyone would attempt a carjacking speeding down LBJ Freeway. The sports talk shows have been skeptical, in part because Davis was shot outside of a Dallas strip ...

This February, Paul Quinn College will launch a Continuing Education program in an effort to expand its offerings and increase community involvement. Youth programs will focus on academic enhancement, fun and leisure, while adult classes offer personal, cultural and professional enrichment. Topics for the non-credit courses range from Computer Literacy and Grant Writing to an Entrepreneur Leadership Institute and a review of the Old Testament.  Classes are open to new and returning students, as well as the community at large. Sessions are to be held once a week in the evenings, late afternoons or on weekends throughout the month of February.   Paul Quinn College is located at 3837 Simpson Road in Dallas.  For more information or a class schedule, please call Dr. Simmons at 214.302.3507 or Raymond Weeks at 214.302.3622 or check out the web site at www.pqc.edu  About Paul Quinn College Paul Quinn College is a four-year private, liberal arts institution.  Founded in Austin, Texas in 1872, by a small group of African Methodist Episcopal Church ministers; the College became the oldest historically black college west of the Mississippi River. Paul Quinn is fully accredited by The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and is one of ...

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post about an Omnibus Appropriations bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.  As I was reading through some of the projects that the bill will fund, one that stuck out was Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) which was allocated $25,043,000. I remember RIF commercials from back in the day but I wasn't really up on what the group actually did.  In recent years I've heard RIF as a punchline on TV and in movies more than anything else.  In 1966, former teacher Margaret McNamara brought a bag of used books to four boys in Washington, D.C., whom she tutored in reading. When she told the children they could each pick out a book to keep, their astonishment and delight led her to discover that these children, and many of their classmates, had never owned any books. Today, through its contract with the U.S. Department of Education to operate the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program (IBDP), now supplemented with private funds, RIF programs operate in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam.  For over four decades, Reading Is Fundamental has provided new books free of ...

I wanted to share with all of you an essay that I found at Electronic Village by way of Phillip Jackson that has made its way around the AfroSpear.  There are some very interesting observations along with a few suggestions as it relates to our boys. "There is no longer a need for dire predictions, hand-wringing, or apprehension about losing a generation of Black boys. It is too late. In education, employment, economics, incarceration, health, housing, and parenting, we have lost a generation of young Black men. The question that remains is will we lose the next two or three generations, or possibly every generation of Black boys hereafter to the streets, negative media, gangs, drugs, poor education, unemployment, father absence, crime, violence and death.   Most young Black men in the United States don't graduate from high school. Only 35% of Black male students graduated from high school in Chicago and only 26% in New York City, according to a 2006 report by the Schott Foundation for Public Education. Only a few Black boys who finish high school actually attend college, and those few Black boys who enter college, nationally, only 22% of them finish ...

December 5, 2007 (Dallas, Texas) – The Underground Hip Hop Academy, a 501(c) nonprofit organization based in Dallas, is hosting a youth outreach event called Break Out 2007. Created by Founder & Director Shanna Poteet, this charity event takes place Saturday December 15th, 2007 from 12pm to 5pm CST at Pike Park Recreation Center outside of Downtown Dallas. As the culmination of a life long vision and continued efforts by Shanna Poteet, the Underground Hip Hop Academy partnered with recreational centers in the city of Dallas for Breakout 2007. Free to the public, the children attending will be partaking in activities centered around the core elements of the Hip Hop culture such as choreographed and/or Freestyle dancing, various forms of spoken word poetry and DJing. There will also be fun workshops for the children as well. Hosted by Music Executive & 2006 Cambridge Who’s Who Finalist Vincent Tucker, Breakout 2007 will also feature appearances and performances by local celebrities and personalities from the Hip Hop community including Headkrack (KBFB-FM 97.9 Radio Personality) and Bruh N Law (of Kin Folk Kru). Phil Jordan, former head of the Drug Enforcement Agency and noted author, will serve as a public speaker discussing ...

Sad to report that Jackson Police say they found a body they believe is Latasha Norman.   Norman was last seen on the Jackson State University campus, earlier this month.  Her ex-boyfriend told police where they body could be found.  He was arrested an charged with domestic abuse back in October.

Latasha Norman, who is a student at Jackson State University, was last seen Nov. 13 in one of her classes. Her car was left on the campus, and the 20-year-old never returned to her dormitory room.   According to the Associated Press, those who know Latasha Norman describe her as a serious, smart student who was seen around Jackson State with pad and pencil, covering stories for the campus newspaper. Black and Missing but not Forgotten reports that Jackson Police Chief Malcolm McMillin said Norman's disappearance should get "the same kind of concern" as that of Stacy Peterson, 23, a white woman from suburban Chicago who has been missing for three weeks.  "As far as the interest by the national media in the story, I think race probably had an impact," said McMillin, who is white. "It's a small college in the South. It's the daughter of simple people who maybe are not important outside of their circle, and maybe we don't attach the same importance to them that we do for other people." Jackson State's Office of University Communications has sent out a series of press releases since Norman's disappearance.   According to their website, Ms. Norman is an ...