Madame Noire | Black Women's Lifestyle Guide | Black Hair | Black Love

I’ve never been a fan of Gabrielle Union, but I’m really starting to like the actress more and more.

On Twitter she dropped some knowledge on parenting and education yesterday that’s not typical of her Hollywood peers. Here’s what she tweeted:

“When a parent can tell me their childs fave basketball player/rapper/actor but doesn’t know the name of their kids teacher #RAGE.”

“Great ur kid wants to model…but is she a MODEL STUDENT?! We’ve gotta get serious about education! #RAGE.”

“You can’t blame the kids if the adults are the ones distracted from what’s truly important…education is key!”

“It takes a village…even if u don’t have kids or urs are grown, sometimes its just a word, gesture, lil effort 2 show kids the way #education.”

“Looks fade, money runs dry, fame leaves, entourage moves on 2 stuck some1 else dry…Education is forever.”

Of course people threw a few speculative responses at her, but she handled them well, letting the twitterverse know, number one, she was the one tweeting: “What assistant?! I do things 4 myself darlin.”

And number two, she has the credentials to back up her rant: “Sociology degree from UCLA paid 4 w/ student loans & job at the book store.”

I also love that she shut down rumors that she paid for D Wade’s lavish 30th birthday party last week:

I WAS NOT responsible 4 the car or party, I’m on a blk actress budget! #education

I never thought I’d say this, but I actually wouldn’t mind seeing more of her now. These are the type of actresses that need publicity.

Are you a fan of Gabrielle Union? What do you think about what she had to say about parenting and education?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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If other inner-city school districts are anything like the one I witness several days out of the week, it’s understandable why many parents are opting out of the education system completely for an opportunity to educate their children a variety of curriculum in the safety of their own home.  More students are in the hallways than in the classroom nowadays (and that’s if they even bother coming to school at all).  Political power plays leave educators and supporting staff who are actually invested in students unmotivated, powerless and in the worst case, jobless.  Confusion and competition at the top of the education chain leads to a chaotic learning environment where students often fall at the losing end.

In my own childhood I had the chance to be both a student of a catholic school for 10 years (grades Pre-K to eight) and a high school student at a small magnet school in Philadelphia whose curriculum focused on college preparation and world relations.  I often take for granted the advantage that having a solid, well-rounded basic education gave me.  As a parent, you’d like to believe that everyday you’re sending your child to a place where for seven to eight hours a day they’re gaining the skills necessary to be critical thinkers and competitive players in the real world.  Unfortunately, with all of the stories of sexual assault and molestation, violence and bullying, I often wonder how much learning is actually being achieved.  We all know that children thrive on routine and structure, so I’m also troubled by the idea that many children who are already coming from unstable family situations can no longer find security and safety in the “typical school day.”

As an African-American woman, I’ve always been aware of racism and prejudice, small instances as opposed to disheartening big ones. From a young age you know how it feels to be treated differently because of the color of your skin. Luckily, I lived in neighborhoods where my neighbors were of all different cultures, so I never experienced outright racism. So when it was time for me to go to college, I was excited to move out of my house and be on my own. I was ready to take on the world and be enlightened as college was supposed to be full of liberal and open-minded people. I was ready to be around people who I could learn from and share experiences with.

When I got to college, like many who go to a majority of large or public universities, I was the only black girl in almost all of my classes. This never bothered me because I’m really not the kind of person who needs to be around black people to feel comfortable. To my surprise, my being black seemed to make my classmates somewhat uncomfortable and shut off. I came into all my classes with a smile on my face, ready to make friends. What I found was that my smiles were not returned and instead, I was given the cold shoulder. I was pretty much invisible. Most students in my classes never talked to me, and when we were forced to have interactions, you could tell that it was just that, forced. I always had to make the first move and speak to them first.

My classmates were always surprised by my responses in class. They were always shocked when they saw that my grades on tests were higher than theirs. It was clear that they made assumptions about me based on the color of my skin. I’m not sure exactly what these assumptions were based on though. Maybe they were used to seeing black women in a non-academic setting. Maybe they thought that as a black woman I was supposed to fit the stereotype they saw on TV. Maybe they assumed that I wasn’t smart enough to be where they were.  Because I never spoke to them about their qualms, this question remains unanswered.

The eyes of disapproval never changed how I felt about myself though.  Throughout college I had numerous friends of different races and continued to say open-minded. My experiences in class did not dictate the rest of my college experience, and I was not jaded by the fact that people who were not black may have looked at me differently because I knew who I was as a person. I refused to walk around with a chip on my shoulder because I knew what I represented. I can’t be the spokesperson for the entire race and do the absolute most to get any and everyone’s approval and admiration, but instead, I can only be me. I just wish that I could have educated or enlightened some of my classmates who preferred to stay with their own people and who went out of their way to NOT give me a chance.

College was a great experience for me altogether. One lesson that I took away from it is that in this world, whether I am in school or at work, the color of my skin will always precede me. People will automatically judge me in some way because I’m black, including other black people. I know now that it’s not my job to fight the stereotype. The best way to negate a stereotype is to just be you. No matter what stereotype people think I am, I know that once they get to know me they will see that they are wrong, which brings me all the satisfaction I need.

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Loved, LOVED, the story done yesterday called “9 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before Jumping the Broom”! Loved it so much in fact that it made me think…what are other big leaps in life do I wish someone would have warned me about before I jumped? Then I thought about college. Such a sheltering place, yet and still, your first big foray into something of a “real world.” If you are paying for yourself to attend school, taking out major loans or hustling from internship to internship, then you’re already getting a taste of the struggles of adulthood. But for those who didn’t, things are going to be a lot scarier than what you’re used to. If someone would have warned me about these things, it “sho’ll” would have helped in my introduction into adulthood. For starters…

Higher education used to mean going to college and getting a Bachelor’s Degree. But now more than ever black students are earning graduate degrees and beyond. Some more than others. The Council of Graduate Schools reported that during the 2010-2011 academic year, 176,836 of graduate students were African-American with more than 70 percent being black women. Women get it. And for good reasons. Here’s 10 of the best:

CAREER ADVANCEMENT:
Career advancement used to come with hard work and determination. And although both play a role in promotion, an advanced degree is now required for many higher level, management level positions. In fact, many companies not only encourage their employees to go back to school, some even pay a portion if not all of the tuition costs.

IN A NATION OF SINGLE MOTHERS, MORE FATHERS MUST STEP UP AND PROVIDE.

By Wayne Hodges

“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody. I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat…we must find each other.” – Mother Theresa

The passage above, quoted by one of nature’s finest, Mother Theresa, basically summarizes our nation’s rising epidemic of single-parent homes; more specifically young mothers. And boy, the statistics don’t lie. According to the Single Parent Center, there are roughly 14 million single parents in the U.S. today; responsible for raising approximately 21.6 million of our nation’s children.

And the correlation between one-parent homes and financial despair is even more dire with 27.7% of custodial single mothers living in poverty.

Before I proceed, the intent of this column is not to cast a vote of judgment against anyone. Instead, I’d just prefer to relay the following message to the parents of our community: OUR CHILDREN NEED YOU!

I repeat: OUR CHILDREN NEED YOU!

Yes, this statement is probably a tad bit redundant. But, who cares? When it comes to the topic of child development, anything is worth repeating twice. And the young fathers and mothers of our community, quite frankly, must come to understand its importance.

There’s no question the morality of today’s youth is significantly different than the “Brady Bunch” days of 40 years ago. For this futility, I point the exclusive finger of blame at parents, corporate America, MTV, BET and VH1 for their careless and irresponsible contributions.

First, let’s start with latter.

In an effort to boost television ratings, the aforementioned networks have made a sick hobby of portraying our men and women as a bunch of money-grabbing, violent, unethical malcontents. See “Basketball Wives.” Even worse, too many boys have bought into the “Get Rich or Die Trying” mentality that permeates urban communities. Speaking from personal experience, like many, I too shouldered the ponderous burden of growing up in a fatherless environment. My mother raised yours truly, my brother and sister on one income; while pursuing a college degree part-time. Even though mama did one hell of a parenting job, the atmosphere at home was far from stress free.

After all, the daunting task of trying to ‘make ends meet’ with moderate income and three mouths to feed is bound to wear a person down sooner or later, right?

But, here’s where the trouble begins; particularly in the case of young black men. To break confinement from the ghetto, too many boys feel obligated to become the “man” their father never was; thus causing them to resort to a series of “quick money” tactics as a means to financially support the home.

Of course, quick money is usually dirty money; which often leads to residency inside a 6′ X 8′ concrete block cell laced by iron bars with a stinking toilet embedded to the floor. Not convinced? Let peek at some more statistics. The Separated Parenting Access & Resource Center (SPARC) reports 85% of youths in prison grew up in fatherless homes. Other studies have shown fatherless children to be customary victims of poor mental health, unsatisfactory educational performance and substance abuse.

Although today’s feature is single mothers, I’d like to shift some attention to dead-beat daddies for just a moment. Guys, the madness has to stop. Children don’t ask to be here. As fathers, it’s absolutely critical we maintain some form of regular contact with our children, regardless how vulgar the socioeconomic conditions. This includes stressed relationships with the biological mother, inadequate finances and substandard education.

Apologies, to be candid, are not good enough. Neither are excuses. Gentlemen, as a byproduct of our laziness, too many children have gone without. To enact positive change, it’s imperative we abstain from leaving these women alone to raise our kids.

Now, back to ladies. In an effort to discourage young women from making poor economic decisions, organizations such as the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) in Kansas City have set up a variety of educational workshops in the areas of home-ownership, child development, finance, building self-esteem, budgeting and college prep. Charlzetta Hall, the Director of the WRC, believes it’s time for women to take control of their lives. And it starts with confidence.

“Too many women are desperate to have a man, and it impedes their progress,” said Hall. “The primary goal of the WRC is to help these ladies understand their inner-beauty first, then everything else will fall into place.”

Wayne Hodges is the editor of MassAppealNews.com