“The Black Male Crisis: Building Self Image; part 1”
By Junichi Lockett, Jr.
Response to the Baby Moses Project by Eddie Griffin (BASG)
The issue of the “Crisis of The Black Male” is truly one that is tearing at my heart, and provoking my aggression to cause a change, “by any means necessary.” I recently read an article that quite frankly expressed that we have lost a generation of black boys. It further expressed that the adverse effects of factors such as negative media, gangs, drugs, poor education, unemployment, father absence, crime, violence and death have snatched the unlimited potential that our young black males have inside them. Strikingly, statistics show that young black men are graduating from high school at all time lows, which testifies that the dropout is high. This further connects to the low percentage of black males who attend and complete higher education. In a deeper glance, it is these statistics that gives strong explanation to the causes of the filtration system into U.S. penitentiaries of our black males, which well over 1 million.
As a young black man and a father of a young son, this reality is heartbreaking and scary to say the least. It is clear that as a whole we have to get aggressive about ensuring that we do not lose any more generations of black boys.
As we now take a look into ourselves, and look into the eyes of our black boys to effectively set them on the path to success let’s look at strengthening “Self Image”. It is first crucial that we strengthen not only the self-image of our black boys but also our own self-image. In self-image, I am simply talking about our self-conception or how we see ourselves. It is the emotional and mental view that one has of his or herself. As fathers, mothers, teachers and mentors for these black boys we should have the confidence in our own ability to reach our highest potential. It is just as important for us to express to our young men our goals and aspirations and allow them to experience and be exposed to our journey to reach greatness or our “pursuit of happiness.” The first stage of life for our young black males is extremely educational, through what is seen and heard.
Think about it, if you are a dominant figure in a young brother’s life and what he receives from you is mainly complaints about your life, job, relationships and your should have, could have, and would haves, then the chances that he will connect his self-image to the possibility of success is lowered. Believe me, I know that there are many obstacles that confront us in life and many more come when you are walking in purpose in pursuit of your passion. But complaining and making excuses only perpetuates a cycle of low self-images in those who look to us for guidance.
As a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, I know that before troops can go into a hostile situation they are “Briefed” to make sure that they are prepared, focused and confident about accomplishing the mission at hand. Consequently, saving our black boys is a battle with live ammunition and as fathers, mothers, teachers and mentors, we have to be “Briefed” in which we must get prepared, focused and confident in ourselves and in accomplishing the mission.
AAAAttention!!!
We are faced with the mission of “Saving our Black Boys,” so get into full combat gear and build Self Image…..
Battle Practice 1:
Let’s evaluate and write down our goals and aspirations for our own life and begin to figure out the sources of our happiness as well as our unhappiness. Figure out the sacrifices and additions we must make to begin or future the pursuit of our highest potential. It is key that we include our black males in this process and explain to them the importance of building Self-Image. In addition let’s challenge ourselves to stop complaining and spend that energy finding the solutions to our frustration solutions to our frustration.
The next “The Empowerment Vessel” will continue exploring the importance of building Self-Image in “Saving our Black Boys.”
Always remember that “We were not put here to toss pebbles, we were put here to move mountains.”
Please feel free to forward the “The Empowerment Vessel” E-newsletter to those you care about and invite them to subscribe! To subscribe, send email to junichi@successmovement.org
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
Zero for Tolerance
In the Sunday’s edition of the Star-Telegram, the headliner read: “Does Zero Tolerance go too far?” Staff writer Terry Webster examines the net effect of school’s “zero tolerance” policy since the Columbine shootings in 1999, and how school disciplinary practices have actually panned out in the state of Texas, and its impact on minority students.
In “Small breaches, big penalties”, the reporter cites a Texas Education Agency report that shows between the 2000-01 and 2005-06 student discipline reports have climbed from 1.7 million to 2.6 million, which follows a national trend. A sample of the type of disciplinary actions being taken includes a middle school student was arrested on felony charges of making a “terroristic threat” after removing a fire alarm cover, and a high school student sent to disciplinary boot camp after a cigarette butt was found in her car. (Disciplinary boot camps are like prisons).
In a related article, “Minorities are disciplined at a disproportionate rate”, Webster looks also at the case of Shaquanda Cotton, the 15-year old Paris native, convicted of felony assault and locked up for a year for pushing a teacher’s aide. The reporter writes: “Of all student groups, blacks are most likely to be expelled, suspended out of school, or placed in disciplinary alternative education programs, data from the Texas Education Agency show.”
In Fort Worth, black students account for 27.8 percent of the student population. Yet 43.6 percent of students disciplined are black. This report comes amid a hotly debated issue about why 617 students in the district failed to graduate. Fort Worth school Trustee Jean McClung said sadly, “We have failed African-Americans.”
Commentary by Eddie Griffin
The pattern of African-American students being disciplined in disproportion numbers come as no surprise to anyone who has been watching the trend. As for the Fort Worth ISD, in May 2006, we went before the school board to register a protest about the low performance and high disciplinary incidents related to black students. In April 2007, we issued a STATE OF EMERGENCY, calling attention to these problems.
We have many reasons to believe that black students can perform as well others, behaviorally and academically. In other words, there is no mark of the beast on black children to cause them to be treated like lepers. We have too many successful alternative models as proof.
The disconnection may appear to be in the area of cognition. Educators, administrators, and teachers may not be conscientiously aware of this disproportional punishment leveled against African-American students. Or, they take it as something “natural”. Therefore, there appears to be no conscious effort to understand why.
By my estimation, we have already lost half of our young black men, between the ages of 18 to 25. And, there appears to be no interdiction strategy, but rather a playing of the blame game like musical chairs.
There is a solution, even if we consider it as Mission Impossible. Our next assignment, whether we accept it or not, will be to find the best education model and teaching system that work for black boys and implement it- above, beyond, and irrespective of obstacles, debates, and inadequacies.
Keyword: Baby Moses Project
In “Small breaches, big penalties”, the reporter cites a Texas Education Agency report that shows between the 2000-01 and 2005-06 student discipline reports have climbed from 1.7 million to 2.6 million, which follows a national trend. A sample of the type of disciplinary actions being taken includes a middle school student was arrested on felony charges of making a “terroristic threat” after removing a fire alarm cover, and a high school student sent to disciplinary boot camp after a cigarette butt was found in her car. (Disciplinary boot camps are like prisons).
In a related article, “Minorities are disciplined at a disproportionate rate”, Webster looks also at the case of Shaquanda Cotton, the 15-year old Paris native, convicted of felony assault and locked up for a year for pushing a teacher’s aide. The reporter writes: “Of all student groups, blacks are most likely to be expelled, suspended out of school, or placed in disciplinary alternative education programs, data from the Texas Education Agency show.”
In Fort Worth, black students account for 27.8 percent of the student population. Yet 43.6 percent of students disciplined are black. This report comes amid a hotly debated issue about why 617 students in the district failed to graduate. Fort Worth school Trustee Jean McClung said sadly, “We have failed African-Americans.”
Commentary by Eddie Griffin
The pattern of African-American students being disciplined in disproportion numbers come as no surprise to anyone who has been watching the trend. As for the Fort Worth ISD, in May 2006, we went before the school board to register a protest about the low performance and high disciplinary incidents related to black students. In April 2007, we issued a STATE OF EMERGENCY, calling attention to these problems.
We have many reasons to believe that black students can perform as well others, behaviorally and academically. In other words, there is no mark of the beast on black children to cause them to be treated like lepers. We have too many successful alternative models as proof.
The disconnection may appear to be in the area of cognition. Educators, administrators, and teachers may not be conscientiously aware of this disproportional punishment leveled against African-American students. Or, they take it as something “natural”. Therefore, there appears to be no conscious effort to understand why.
By my estimation, we have already lost half of our young black men, between the ages of 18 to 25. And, there appears to be no interdiction strategy, but rather a playing of the blame game like musical chairs.
There is a solution, even if we consider it as Mission Impossible. Our next assignment, whether we accept it or not, will be to find the best education model and teaching system that work for black boys and implement it- above, beyond, and irrespective of obstacles, debates, and inadequacies.
Keyword: Baby Moses Project
Friday, June 1, 2007
A Case of Crime: Who against Whom?
A comparison between the six Jena African-American male youth and a Fort Worth boy
Another early morning phone call, another crying grandmother, and young black man went to jail last night. The grandmother was in a murderous rage as she described how “they took my baby to jail… and he’s never been to jail in his life… he’s never ever been in trouble with the law”. But a Macy's security guard swore that the young man was trying to steal a pair of shorts.
The recent high school graduate was on lunch break when he decided to look at buying a pair of swimming trunks. He worked inside the Hulen Mall down the hall from Macy’s Department Store. He had $500 in his pocket, having just gotten paid. A security guard claimed that he was attempting to steal the item, so they detained him until the FWPD arrived.
He was taken to the downtown jail and interrogated. They promised him that if he gave a statement of confession, they would not lock him up- a story that sounds all too familiar. And, when he signed the paper, they locked him up anyway. It would $100 to walk out the door with a Class D Misdemeanor, but not until the next morning.
Don’t worry, Son… a Class D Misdemeanor is nothing… it won’t cause you to lose your job, which is what will happen if we keep you locked up… and no, you cannot call anyone on the jail phone because phone privileges start at a certain time in the morning… not even a lawyer. This is Texas.
What I cannot understand is “Attempted Theft”. How does a person attempt to steal something and never go outside of the store with the merchandise? Was it because he was black, and black people look suspicious in the eyes of the security guard? This was why the grandmother sounded so hysterical when she called me at 7:30 am.
She cried and sobbed and shouted at me. What she wanted I could not deliver. She wanted someone to undo her grandson being locked up all night with other harden criminals. She wanted a Do-Over. She wanted an unsigned confession, because he was coerced by fear. It took everything I knew to calm her down.
GOOD MORNING to you too, World- This is the way I started today. As I prepared for another strategy session, on another side of town, on a whole different set of issues, I had to keep running, so I gave the grandmother a list of things to do- I’d get back with her later. ANOTHER BLACK BOY on the bubble of trouble. Why is it the story of our lives?
JENA, Louisiana -- Tears streamed down Melissa Bell's face Monday as the judge ruled in favor of LaSalle Parish District Attorney J. Reed Walters' motion to continue her son's trial more than a month. (“Racial demons rear heads”, Chicago Tribune, May 18, 2007)
Racial tensions in the small lumbering town of 3,000 residents erupted when three hangman’s nooses were dangled from the school’s courtyard, after African-American students had requested to sit under the tree.
Howard Witt, the Chicago Tribune reporter who unveiled the story of the little Paris, Texas girl named Shaquanda Cotton who was sent to prison for up to seven years of her life for pushing a teacher’s aid, has discovered yet another small southern town teeming with racism and charges of disparity in justice.
According to the story, the white students guilty of the rope incident were suspended for three days. Black parents, who felt that the nooses signified a greater danger and threat, protested the ruling. It should have been treated as a racially motivated hate crime, in light of these subsequent events and chain reactions:
First, a series of fights between black and white students erupted at the high school over the nooses. Then, in late November, unknown arsonists set fire to the central wing of the school, which still sits in ruins. Off campus, a white youth beat up a black student who showed up at an all-white party. A few days later, another young white man pulled a shotgun on three black students at a convenience store.
Finally, on Dec. 4, a group of black students at the high school allegedly jumped a white student on his way out of the gym, knocked him unconscious and kicked him after he hit the floor. The victim—allegedly targeted because he was a friend of the students who hung the nooses and had been taunting blacks—was not seriously injured and spent only a few hours in the hospital.
But the LaSalle Parish district attorney, Reed Walters, opted to charge six black students with attempted second-degree murder and other offenses, for which they could face a maximum of 100 years in prison if convicted. All six were expelled from school.
What I see is the Charge of Crime. What is “attempted second-degree murder”? In Texas, they like to stick the prefix “aggravated” upon everything blacks are charged with.
I would assume that “second-degree murder” is a lesser offense than “first-degree murder”, but note that the maximum for “attempted second-degree murder” can run up to 100 years (a nice round number, similar to Texas infamous sentence of “Life and One Dark Day”).
But no- it was not “second-degree murder” or manslaughter- but “attempted” manslaughter, “attempted second-degree”. (How can we tell the difference between first and second when neither actually physically occurred?) In both cases, there is no intent to cause death (if there were intent, it would be first-degree). So, by connotation: Attempted Second-Degree Murder an attempt to cause an “unintended” death. It’s an oxymoron… a self-contradiction.
The Fort Worth African-American youth has already received punishment for “attempted theft” that never occurred as an actual theft. But with $500 in his pocket, why did they make him sweat it out until morning? Why would they assume culpability when he had proof of his ability to make the purchase?
I can almost hear grandmother Rosa scream when she first got the news. Knowing her as I do, it must have been as heartbreaking as the news of the death of a close love one.
Another early morning phone call, another crying grandmother, and young black man went to jail last night. The grandmother was in a murderous rage as she described how “they took my baby to jail… and he’s never been to jail in his life… he’s never ever been in trouble with the law”. But a Macy's security guard swore that the young man was trying to steal a pair of shorts.
The recent high school graduate was on lunch break when he decided to look at buying a pair of swimming trunks. He worked inside the Hulen Mall down the hall from Macy’s Department Store. He had $500 in his pocket, having just gotten paid. A security guard claimed that he was attempting to steal the item, so they detained him until the FWPD arrived.
He was taken to the downtown jail and interrogated. They promised him that if he gave a statement of confession, they would not lock him up- a story that sounds all too familiar. And, when he signed the paper, they locked him up anyway. It would $100 to walk out the door with a Class D Misdemeanor, but not until the next morning.
Don’t worry, Son… a Class D Misdemeanor is nothing… it won’t cause you to lose your job, which is what will happen if we keep you locked up… and no, you cannot call anyone on the jail phone because phone privileges start at a certain time in the morning… not even a lawyer. This is Texas.
What I cannot understand is “Attempted Theft”. How does a person attempt to steal something and never go outside of the store with the merchandise? Was it because he was black, and black people look suspicious in the eyes of the security guard? This was why the grandmother sounded so hysterical when she called me at 7:30 am.
She cried and sobbed and shouted at me. What she wanted I could not deliver. She wanted someone to undo her grandson being locked up all night with other harden criminals. She wanted a Do-Over. She wanted an unsigned confession, because he was coerced by fear. It took everything I knew to calm her down.
GOOD MORNING to you too, World- This is the way I started today. As I prepared for another strategy session, on another side of town, on a whole different set of issues, I had to keep running, so I gave the grandmother a list of things to do- I’d get back with her later. ANOTHER BLACK BOY on the bubble of trouble. Why is it the story of our lives?
JENA, Louisiana -- Tears streamed down Melissa Bell's face Monday as the judge ruled in favor of LaSalle Parish District Attorney J. Reed Walters' motion to continue her son's trial more than a month. (“Racial demons rear heads”, Chicago Tribune, May 18, 2007)
Racial tensions in the small lumbering town of 3,000 residents erupted when three hangman’s nooses were dangled from the school’s courtyard, after African-American students had requested to sit under the tree.
Howard Witt, the Chicago Tribune reporter who unveiled the story of the little Paris, Texas girl named Shaquanda Cotton who was sent to prison for up to seven years of her life for pushing a teacher’s aid, has discovered yet another small southern town teeming with racism and charges of disparity in justice.
According to the story, the white students guilty of the rope incident were suspended for three days. Black parents, who felt that the nooses signified a greater danger and threat, protested the ruling. It should have been treated as a racially motivated hate crime, in light of these subsequent events and chain reactions:
First, a series of fights between black and white students erupted at the high school over the nooses. Then, in late November, unknown arsonists set fire to the central wing of the school, which still sits in ruins. Off campus, a white youth beat up a black student who showed up at an all-white party. A few days later, another young white man pulled a shotgun on three black students at a convenience store.
Finally, on Dec. 4, a group of black students at the high school allegedly jumped a white student on his way out of the gym, knocked him unconscious and kicked him after he hit the floor. The victim—allegedly targeted because he was a friend of the students who hung the nooses and had been taunting blacks—was not seriously injured and spent only a few hours in the hospital.
But the LaSalle Parish district attorney, Reed Walters, opted to charge six black students with attempted second-degree murder and other offenses, for which they could face a maximum of 100 years in prison if convicted. All six were expelled from school.
What I see is the Charge of Crime. What is “attempted second-degree murder”? In Texas, they like to stick the prefix “aggravated” upon everything blacks are charged with.
I would assume that “second-degree murder” is a lesser offense than “first-degree murder”, but note that the maximum for “attempted second-degree murder” can run up to 100 years (a nice round number, similar to Texas infamous sentence of “Life and One Dark Day”).
But no- it was not “second-degree murder” or manslaughter- but “attempted” manslaughter, “attempted second-degree”. (How can we tell the difference between first and second when neither actually physically occurred?) In both cases, there is no intent to cause death (if there were intent, it would be first-degree). So, by connotation: Attempted Second-Degree Murder an attempt to cause an “unintended” death. It’s an oxymoron… a self-contradiction.
The Fort Worth African-American youth has already received punishment for “attempted theft” that never occurred as an actual theft. But with $500 in his pocket, why did they make him sweat it out until morning? Why would they assume culpability when he had proof of his ability to make the purchase?
I can almost hear grandmother Rosa scream when she first got the news. Knowing her as I do, it must have been as heartbreaking as the news of the death of a close love one.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Francis L. Holland Blog: Black Louisiana Blogger Covers Jena Violence
Reginald M. graduated from Jena High School on May 14, 2004... Today, he writes:
RESPONDING TO THE CRISIS IN JENA, LOUISIANA
On the morning of September 1, 2006, three nooses dangled from a tree in the High School square in Jena, Louisiana... Read how role reversal turns criminal justice system upside on black victims in small Louisiana town.
[From Listen to Me for a Minute]
For the latest update on the Jena Black Boys facing a 100-year sentence, read
Jena Six Trial Continued to Next Month
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Are Black Boys Expected to Fail?
From the Baby Moses Project
From Tommy La'Pola, Teacer, Seattle Schools:
In those places around the country where black boys are succeeding, to what extent is this the result of “cultural segregation”? In other words are these schools where parents have had to apply or otherwise work to get their children enrolled, thereby indicating a family culture that puts a premium on education and where families are willing to work to assist their child with their education? A follow up question: can a school expect to be able to overcome the influences of a student’s family if the family and school have contradictory expectations of a student?
Michael Holzman:
Some are. Others are not. Those that are can be quite minimally so, with admission based just on application. A school can strive to become as positively influential an environment as possible: open evenings, on weekends and in the summer; offering challenging course with high expectations and a variety of other activities, including sports, field trips and technology.
Eddie Griffin:
Notice how the question is framed: Can a school expect… to be able… to overcome… influences of a student’s family?
Expectation begins in the mind. Ability relates to levels of skills and talents. Overcome signifies the challenge. In other words, do you think that you have what is takes to overcome the challenge?
What is the challenge? We assume, from the question above, that the challenge is a student’s family expectations that contradicts to the school’s expectations.
Instead of a Catch-22 scenario, this is an Escape-22 clause for a teacher’s expectation. In essence, no one expects the schools to do the impossible. The teacher here is absolved of taking on such a challenge, when the challenge is perceived as homegrown. Therefore, any difficulty in teaching a child is chalked up as a problem of poor parenting, poor home life, and socio-economic factors outside of the realm of teaching.
How can schools be expected to overcome these forces?
Maybe we see the problem through a distorted prism. Instead of being a home environment problem, it could very well be a learning problem and lack of socialization skills. A child with a limited vocabulary may not understand as readily as a literate student and his verbal expressions may be a bit cruder. It all depends on how we see the challenge and the expectation to surmount it. Like students, some teachers may perceive the problem as “too hard” and find creative ways to give up. (The dog ate my lesson plan).
Family and school should never have “contradictory expectations” of the student. Contradictory expectation presupposes the one group (parents) has high expectations of the black male child and the other group (school) has a low expectation, or visa versa. Universally speaking, the standard should always be high- therefore, no contradiction in expectation.
In terms of marked academic achievement in “class segregated” schools, this is obvious. The haves have always provided better for their children over the have-nots. It is not a matter of the elite black families placing a higher premium on education, as it is the upper-to-high middle-income families are usually more educated and have more of the financial wherewithal to send their children to better schools. Better schools usually equal higher academic achievement.
The lower-income student may have parents who equally appreciate the value of education and the student may reach the top of his class. However, he will still be qualitatively disadvantaged in not having access to the same resources provided to the upper-income class student.
We note here that the inequality is not necessarily the product of an unequally bias budget for educational materials and supplies. Educational spending must be proportionate, according to law. (No more "Separate but Equal" disparities in education funding). But the high-income parents is able to provide more supplemental resources in their schools, through PTAs and various other charitable and business groups. This disparity in resources makes equal achievement nearly impossible, which leaves us forever trying to close an ever-widening achievement gap.
It must be our conscientious effort to put the black boy ahead of the pact in achievement, by developing his innate skills and talents. The learning style of African-Americans is traditionally different from Middle America. I have found that some black students learn in clips, fragmented, and disjointedly. Simply trying to pound knowledge into the head of a student does not always penetrate. (I have explained this to you 100 times. Why can't you understand?) Therefore, another angle of delivery might be necessary.
Can the current instructional mode of delivery carry a student forward along an individualized learning path? One classroom teacher alone cannot do it. Such expectations are unrealistic because most teachers are too focused on classroom management, behavioral controls, curriculum, testing, staff issues, and a myriad of other distractions. Babysitting and spoon-feeding individualized curriculum is just not in the job description, otherwise the teacher may have bitten off more than he or she can chew. Such a challenge goes far above and beyond the personal expectations of the average teacher.
But then, expectations are relative, and challenges are the way they are perceived. Can it be that we expect more of the students and less of the teachers, or vice versa? If we expect more of the teacher, how can we expect more of them than they expect of themselves? When they expect failure, they can get it without even trying.
From Tommy La'Pola, Teacer, Seattle Schools:
In those places around the country where black boys are succeeding, to what extent is this the result of “cultural segregation”? In other words are these schools where parents have had to apply or otherwise work to get their children enrolled, thereby indicating a family culture that puts a premium on education and where families are willing to work to assist their child with their education? A follow up question: can a school expect to be able to overcome the influences of a student’s family if the family and school have contradictory expectations of a student?
Michael Holzman:
Some are. Others are not. Those that are can be quite minimally so, with admission based just on application. A school can strive to become as positively influential an environment as possible: open evenings, on weekends and in the summer; offering challenging course with high expectations and a variety of other activities, including sports, field trips and technology.
Eddie Griffin:
Notice how the question is framed: Can a school expect… to be able… to overcome… influences of a student’s family?
Expectation begins in the mind. Ability relates to levels of skills and talents. Overcome signifies the challenge. In other words, do you think that you have what is takes to overcome the challenge?
What is the challenge? We assume, from the question above, that the challenge is a student’s family expectations that contradicts to the school’s expectations.
Instead of a Catch-22 scenario, this is an Escape-22 clause for a teacher’s expectation. In essence, no one expects the schools to do the impossible. The teacher here is absolved of taking on such a challenge, when the challenge is perceived as homegrown. Therefore, any difficulty in teaching a child is chalked up as a problem of poor parenting, poor home life, and socio-economic factors outside of the realm of teaching.
How can schools be expected to overcome these forces?
Maybe we see the problem through a distorted prism. Instead of being a home environment problem, it could very well be a learning problem and lack of socialization skills. A child with a limited vocabulary may not understand as readily as a literate student and his verbal expressions may be a bit cruder. It all depends on how we see the challenge and the expectation to surmount it. Like students, some teachers may perceive the problem as “too hard” and find creative ways to give up. (The dog ate my lesson plan).
Family and school should never have “contradictory expectations” of the student. Contradictory expectation presupposes the one group (parents) has high expectations of the black male child and the other group (school) has a low expectation, or visa versa. Universally speaking, the standard should always be high- therefore, no contradiction in expectation.
In terms of marked academic achievement in “class segregated” schools, this is obvious. The haves have always provided better for their children over the have-nots. It is not a matter of the elite black families placing a higher premium on education, as it is the upper-to-high middle-income families are usually more educated and have more of the financial wherewithal to send their children to better schools. Better schools usually equal higher academic achievement.
The lower-income student may have parents who equally appreciate the value of education and the student may reach the top of his class. However, he will still be qualitatively disadvantaged in not having access to the same resources provided to the upper-income class student.
We note here that the inequality is not necessarily the product of an unequally bias budget for educational materials and supplies. Educational spending must be proportionate, according to law. (No more "Separate but Equal" disparities in education funding). But the high-income parents is able to provide more supplemental resources in their schools, through PTAs and various other charitable and business groups. This disparity in resources makes equal achievement nearly impossible, which leaves us forever trying to close an ever-widening achievement gap.
It must be our conscientious effort to put the black boy ahead of the pact in achievement, by developing his innate skills and talents. The learning style of African-Americans is traditionally different from Middle America. I have found that some black students learn in clips, fragmented, and disjointedly. Simply trying to pound knowledge into the head of a student does not always penetrate. (I have explained this to you 100 times. Why can't you understand?) Therefore, another angle of delivery might be necessary.
Can the current instructional mode of delivery carry a student forward along an individualized learning path? One classroom teacher alone cannot do it. Such expectations are unrealistic because most teachers are too focused on classroom management, behavioral controls, curriculum, testing, staff issues, and a myriad of other distractions. Babysitting and spoon-feeding individualized curriculum is just not in the job description, otherwise the teacher may have bitten off more than he or she can chew. Such a challenge goes far above and beyond the personal expectations of the average teacher.
But then, expectations are relative, and challenges are the way they are perceived. Can it be that we expect more of the students and less of the teachers, or vice versa? If we expect more of the teacher, how can we expect more of them than they expect of themselves? When they expect failure, they can get it without even trying.
Saving the Black Boy: Performance Based Litmus Test for Educators
From the Baby Moses Project
From Lorraine forte, Deputy Editor, Catalyst Chicago:
What teaching strategies are most effective with young black men? How do you get a large urban system to address the needs of these youth on a significant scale?
Michael Holzman:
Dr. Rosa Smith has suggested that making the success of African-American male students "the litmus test" for the success of the entire system is one approach to systemic change. We could take a leaf from the corporate handbook and tie administrative compensation to the value they add in this regard.
Eddie Griffin:
When educators focus as much importance on the bottom 10% of the student body as it does the top 10%, we might see a shift in resources and more concerted and collaborative educational effort, especially if administrators pay is tied to performance.
If an administrator lost 50% of his or her compensation for a 50% dropout rate for African-American male students (the “litmus test” group), there would probably be a shift in administrative priorities, policies, and strategies. But if failure is as well compensated as success, why succeed- which may be why we keep getting the same results.
Pay for Performance should be part of the overall reward strategy. As we reward our students for their performance, we should also reward our teachers and administrators, based on performance. In a school system with high expectations, our expectation of education professionals should also be high.
Merit base pay in Texas should be viewed from the financial standpoint that each student is allocated about $6,000 a year for the purpose of public education. The pro rata breaks out at so many days per year a student is enrolled in school. There is a hidden financial incentive to keep dropouts on the enrollment books, long after they have disappeared during the school year. The school still gets paid as if the child were present.
The school should be paid only for the days that the student attends classes, and whatever hours the student miss in school or class should be deducted from the school’s allocation. Maybe there would be more a financial incentive to lower the dropout rate.
From Lorraine forte, Deputy Editor, Catalyst Chicago:
What teaching strategies are most effective with young black men? How do you get a large urban system to address the needs of these youth on a significant scale?
Michael Holzman:
Dr. Rosa Smith has suggested that making the success of African-American male students "the litmus test" for the success of the entire system is one approach to systemic change. We could take a leaf from the corporate handbook and tie administrative compensation to the value they add in this regard.
Eddie Griffin:
When educators focus as much importance on the bottom 10% of the student body as it does the top 10%, we might see a shift in resources and more concerted and collaborative educational effort, especially if administrators pay is tied to performance.
If an administrator lost 50% of his or her compensation for a 50% dropout rate for African-American male students (the “litmus test” group), there would probably be a shift in administrative priorities, policies, and strategies. But if failure is as well compensated as success, why succeed- which may be why we keep getting the same results.
Pay for Performance should be part of the overall reward strategy. As we reward our students for their performance, we should also reward our teachers and administrators, based on performance. In a school system with high expectations, our expectation of education professionals should also be high.
Merit base pay in Texas should be viewed from the financial standpoint that each student is allocated about $6,000 a year for the purpose of public education. The pro rata breaks out at so many days per year a student is enrolled in school. There is a hidden financial incentive to keep dropouts on the enrollment books, long after they have disappeared during the school year. The school still gets paid as if the child were present.
The school should be paid only for the days that the student attends classes, and whatever hours the student miss in school or class should be deducted from the school’s allocation. Maybe there would be more a financial incentive to lower the dropout rate.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Texas Youth Commission Reform Passes
Texas Youth Commission Reform Bill Moves to Governor’s Desk
The Texas Legislature closed out its 80th session in a whirlwind of activities, among bitter and angry bickering, down to the midnight wire. As a result, some legislative proposals died on the operating table. Of the 10,854 proposals presented this session, only 5,023 passed, most during the waning hours of the deadline. Fortunately, the main series of Texas Youth Commission (TYC) bills won approval of both Houses before the logjam.
In a May 26 email from Jerry Madden, House Corrections Committee Chairman, He writes:
There is nothing in the TYC Bill that builds any prisons. We do have in the Appropriations act that 2 facilities, Marlin and San Saba will be turned over to TDCJ and so will not be used for incarcerating youth. We also expect that there will be added closings of facilities by TYC probably 2 or 3 units. We do have in Appropriations money to build one new unit close to a metropolitan area so that we can keep youth closer to home. I think that is a good idea and we would not have to house them in old worn out facilities that in some cases may not be safe; We have a lot more money for integration and juvenile probation to try to keep youth from being sent to TYC...We also have all the funding we requested for our diversion beds which will have a major positive effect on our communities. While there is still more to do we have come a long way in a short time this session.
At last, some of our juveniles are coming home from prison. Also, the legislators have put in place a safeguard to prevent youth offender with misdemeanor offenses from being incarcerated like Shaquanda Cotton, the 14-year old high school student locked away for up to seven years of her life for pushing a teacher’s aide. Cotton was among the first of 473 juveniles released, after it was discovered that she had been held past her sentence for a minor institutional infraction- to wit, possession of a contraband extra pair of socks.
TYC came under sharp criticism after it was discovered that high level administrators were coercing the children into sex- in some cases, by threatening their loss of freedom. When the scandal first came to light, there was a hurried response to cover the situation up. But a brave Texas Ranger, who originally investigated the allegation, persisted until he found justice.
Governor Rick Perry appointed a conservator Jay Kimbrough to get to the bottom of the scandal. In the process, the TYC board of directors was forced to resign and several top level administrators were ousted. In a May 2, 2007 reported, Kimbrough sums up his efforts.
Over the past two months we have taken numerous actions, including:
1. Conducted new background checks on all TYC employees.
2. Organized surprise inspections of all facilities.
3. Named a new TYC Inspector General.
4. Began a reorganization of agency leadership by requiring top executives and facility superintendents to reapply for their positions.
5. Banned the hiring of convicted felons.
6. Established a command post of special investigators, created a toll-free hotline that is answered around the clock, and documented 3,000 complaints.
7. Arrested 11 employees and suspended or fired others.
8. Released 473 youths who had met their sentencing requirements or were confined for misdemeanors.
9. Created an independent panel to review TYC’s process for sentence modifications.
10. Established a statewide hotline where youths in TYC facilities can call to request free counseling services.
11. Implemented an Agency Integrity Program and informed all employees how to report issues to appropriate state and federal oversight agencies.
12. Received input on the complaint and grievance policies through focus groups with parents, youths, and staff.
13. Established a health care task force with the assistance of Senators Ogden and Duncan. Experts from Texas Tech and the University of Texas Medical Branch will expedite recommendations for an integrated health care system.
14. Identified critical internal data that can provide an early warning of how individual units are functioning.
Source: http://www.tyc.state.tx.us/about/conservator_report.html
Correspondence: Before the TYC Scandal
Subject: Proposed Legislation to Reform Texas Prison System
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 08:53:17 -0600
From: "District67 Madden"
To: "Evans Rosedale"
Eddie
We hope committees will be announced this week and we can get to work. We are working hard on rewriting chapter 37 of the Education code dealing with Alternative Education Programs. We are also advocating a wonderful program called CARY in the schools and are working on putting it in the Appropriations so TEA can implement it It will provide counseling for up to a year for kids sent to In School Suspension or the District Alternative Education programs. It is aimed at middle school and should be available to the FWISD when implemented. We are looking at a complete review of TDCJ and the TYC as part of our session. I also have HB277 which is the virtual school bill which would be a great assist for alternative education programs. That is part of our new and innovative delivery systems.
Jerry Madden
________________________________________
From: Eddie Griffin
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 5:01 PM
Subject: Proposed Legislation to Reform Texas Prison System
Dear Jerry,
Thank you for your continuing interest in the prison situation and for consideration of the young lives wasted through the cycle of crime and punishment.
As I have explained to Brother Tatum, we need a three-fold strategy___ before, during, and after incarceration. Successful re-entry into society is the back end component we are now working on, trying to build a community support system and provide a safety net against recidivism.
Another component is the preventative side, stopping young people from going into prison to begin with, by recognizing and dealing with delinquent behavior at its earliest stages and working with schools and parents to provide viable avenues into society and away from prisons.
The third component is what happens to the inmate while incarcerated, what programs and provisions are made available that will better enable him or her to seamlessly re-integrate in society. We have been looking at the role of Project RIO and what it was legislated to accomplish and how it is being implemented in the prison system.
The Tarrant County Re-entry Council is currently studying and working on these issues. Other organizations, such as the FWISD is playing a collaborative part in their dropout prevention initiatives. The FWPD is also playing a role in crime prevent among youth and gangs. In fact, our entire community is focused on solving these problems. We are also active in solving the problem of youth in the education system, why they are not making the grades, and why so many give up before graduation. As I have written before, we need a new education delivery system and more constructive ways to engage our youth. Technology education will help keep our kids engaged in the learning and discovery process, and maybe divert them away from illegal activity, or maybe attract them into a high tech field of interest.
Thanks again,
Eddie Griffin
District67 Madden wrote:
Eddie
Thank you. Actually we probably have a little luxury in that we still have some time to react to the problem. The great thing that is happening is that a majority of our state leaders now realize that we have many prisons and they cost a lot more than good community programs would cost. The alternatives to building are looking very attractive to most of the legislators. One of the big things we will have to do is provide the alternative treatments, and the other more difficult one is to change society to keep more young people from being tempted and caught in the drug cycle. These are the areas I am really looking closely at during the coming session and will need all the help I can get in making the cultural change at the state level.
Jerry Madden
________________________________________
From: Eddie Griffin
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 5:12 PM
TO: State Representative Jerry Madden
FROM: Eddie Griffin
RE: Proposed Legislation to Reform Texas Prison System
Friday, January 12, 2007
Dear Representative Madden:
I recently read about the reform plan for Texas ' crowded prison system and your comments in an AMERICAN-STATESMAN article entitled “Lawmakers Close to Proposal that Would Increase Prison Treatment Programs” by Mike Ward.
You are quoted on the purpose of the legislation: "Our goal is fewer prisoners in the next decade . . . slowing the growth of prisoners," Madden said. "If more inmates can successfully complete programs and successfully re-enter society, then we spend less on prisons and society is the better for it.”
Shall I say, “Alas, the day is come that we do something about this trend of putting and keeping more and more people in prison." Again, we have reached the breaking limit with our prison population, and just to think we could depopulate one and a half prisons if there were accommodations on the outside world for them.
The Tarrant County Re-entry Council has also been studying ways to successful reintegrate ex-offenders back into society. I was also happy to hear that you have enlisted the help of two of our local ministers, Tatum and Franklin, to assist in finding the optimum ex-offender re-entry strategy.
I also have served on the Council since its inception and worked on Tatum’s Faith-Base Sub-Committee. To refresh your memory of our dialogue on this problem, I have included our last correspondence in September ‘05 about the plight of ex-offenders, and also attaching a copy of Mike Ward’s article, in case you missed it.
Thank you again, for your concern and commitment, and for your effort in getting this legislation passed.
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin
P.S. We also ask your support House Bill 484 to give official recognition to the sector of US 287 to be permanently named Martin Luther King, Jr. Freeway, as proposed by Representative Marc Veasey, Fort Worth. Although this stretch of highway has been known as MLK Freeway since 1983, without official state recognition, the freeway could some day be renamed.
District67 Madden wrote:
Thank you for the good comments.
________________________________________
From: Eddie Griffin
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 12:51 PM
To: District67 Madden
Subject: Thank You For Relief with HB 2193
Dear Representative Jerry Madden:
Thank you so much for all of your hard work. You and your staff have contributed volumes of good legislation in this Congress, such as HB 2193 and the "Virtual School Network". In giving poor kids a chance to overcome past mistakes and opportunities to make good their hopes and dreams and expand their horizons, you in fact provide us with renewed strength not to give up. One day, we’ll be able to get in front of these kids and lead them, instead of always having to work from behind.
I have included a copy of my letter to Rep. Dan Gattis who opposed HB 2193. Why is it so hard for some people to even “think compassion”? We are not asking favors. We are asking the ex-prosecutor to have a “thought of mercy”, as you yourself have shown the way.
Thanks Again, Eddie Griffin
--------------------------------------------------------------
Representative Dan Gattis
Room EXT E2.804
P.O. Box 2910
Austin , TX 78768
Dear Honorable Dan Gattis:
In response to House Bill 2193, which would bring relief to the poor and the state’s overcrowded prison system in Texas , you are quoted as saying: "Years ago, when we had prison overcrowding, we just turned everybody loose."
Well sir, years ago, I would have been one of those “turned loose”. After serving 12 years for bank robbery, kidnapping, and hijacking a police squad car, I was released early on a 50-year sentence; otherwise, I would still be incarcerated till the year 2022. Since my release, I have successfully served a 10-year parole, which ended in 1994.
I began as a ditch digger in 1984 because there was pressure on me to find employment or return to prison. By 1990, I was Chief Operating Officer of a highly successful black engineering firm, all because another black man gave me a chance. I have since been a business consultant to over 12 companies, and some 25 or 30 tax clients. When I retired, I began volunteer community service. As a computer school volunteer, I trained and placed over 700 students from the ranks of the poor and unemployed, over 100 kids in advance computer skills, and some 20 senior citizens in restoring cognitive abilities through computer technology.
I have no reason, however, to boast of my personal accomplishments except to put my words into perspective. Everyday I thank God for the Ruiz ruling that brought relief to the Texas Prison System, A Few Years Ago.
Let’s go back A Few Years Ago to where the problem of overcrowding began.
Freedmen's Bureau Report of an Inspection of the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville , Walker County [Feb 26th 1867]
There are confined in the Prison in all including both white and black four hundred and eleven convicts. Of these two hundred and twenty five are freed people. Fourteen of the freed people are females and two hundred and eleven are males. There are no white female convicts (so considered) in the prison though two of the females that are classed as freed people are almost as white as any caucassian. They were however, before the war and until its close, slaves.
The Superintendent of the prison is Jas. Gillespie. By his permission I first examined the prison records. From these I could obtain nothing more definite than the general charge which is generally theft.
[For the rest of the report, see http://www.freedmensbureau.com/outrages.htm and http://www.freedmensbureau.com/texas/texasstateprison.htm]
A Few Years Ago, before the Confederate State of Texas surrendered to the U. S. Government forces, slave owners converted their plantations into prisons in order to preserve slavery. The plantation prisons were packed with “convicts”___ freed slaves who never got their freedom, but instead convicted on trumped up and fabricated charges. “Theft” charges usually grew out of black-white disputes over payment under the sharecropping system. To black people, at the time, if a man did not pay, the freedman took payment directly in terms of crop and livestock. This was usually their defense in court. [As an ex-prosecutor, you should know this history, since it is a living history behind the walls of TDC even today]…
The laws have since changed. The get-tough stance has led to 2.1 million people incarcerated, over 50% for minor drug possession. Along with petty thief and “joy-riding” crimes, 80% of our prison population is comprised primarily of our youth [not your kids, but our kids].
Recently, an undercover agent asked a young black kid on the street if he knew where he (the agent) could purchase some drugs. The kid punched him. The kid was arrested for assault. Back in the old days, the agent ran the risk of being shot by revolutionary street squads, whose job it was to keep drugs off the street and eliminate the traffickers.
In passing this way, let me say that I am opposed to “undercover drug operations”, not only because of the Dallas fiasco, but because agents sell on the one hand and buy back on the other. The kid who buys from undercover and turns around and sells to undercover is caught in the middle of a game he neither controls nor understands.
This is why I plead for mercy on behalf of these kids…
Sincerely, Eddie Griffin
Correspondence: Look under the Rock
Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 12:30:59 -0800 (PST)
From: Eddie Griffin
Subject: Safeguard Children in Criminal Justice System
To: "Jerry Madden"
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Dear Jerry,
I read the following release on AP Texas News and I realize how busy you must be at this time. Thank you for your concerns and actions.
YOUTH COMMISSION
Law officers would be stationed at Texas Youth Commission facilities to investigate abuse allegations and prevent employees from covering them up under proposals the governor put on the fast track Monday.
The legislation calls for establishing an inspector general's office at the troubled agency, where investigations showing agency officials molested young inmates went unheeded for years. A companion bill would allow counties to ask a special prosecution unit to help take the inspector general's cases to court.
Rep. Jerry Madden, a Richardson Republican and chairman of the House corrections committee, said the proposals would make it easier to bring abusers to justice.
Gov. Rick Perry declared the bills an emergency Monday to expedite the process of making them law. But several committee members said they weren't sure they could support the proposals if the inspector general reports to the commission's board.
"Are we putting the fox in charge of the hen house?" asked Rep. Pat Haggerty, a Republican from El Paso.
The Texas Senate asked Perry to fire the board and take over the troubled agency last week, after budget discussions drew attention to reports showing top officials covered up investigations showing employees had molested inmates.
Instead, Perry demoted the board's chairman, appointed a special master to conduct an independent investigation and ordered the agency's acting executive director to design and implement a rehabilitation plan.
I am reminded that we are talking here about juvenile offenders- children abused by law enforcement agents for their own personal and wanton pleasures. How many inmates in the prison system are assaulted, raped, and murdered each year? We will probably never get straight numbers, because there are cover-ups for obvious reasons. Look under the rock, you'll find the core of the problem with the Criminal Justice System.
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin
Subject: Safeguard Children in Criminal Justice System
Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 08:08:09 -0600
From: "District67 Madden"
To: Eddie Griffin
Eddie
… We are looking under the rock at TYC and finding a lot of worms. We are at least moving forward with them. The one major difference we have with them at TDCJ is that their IG are commissioned cops and they have a legal requirement to investigate any criminal allegation. Doesn't mean they get great results but they have a lot more reported incidents than TYC had and I think that is due to the fact they are legally bound to do it. I can get you the number of deaths and we have the highest percentage of rape reports of any state which leads me to believe at least they are reported where other states are not.
Jerry Madden
The Texas Legislature closed out its 80th session in a whirlwind of activities, among bitter and angry bickering, down to the midnight wire. As a result, some legislative proposals died on the operating table. Of the 10,854 proposals presented this session, only 5,023 passed, most during the waning hours of the deadline. Fortunately, the main series of Texas Youth Commission (TYC) bills won approval of both Houses before the logjam.
In a May 26 email from Jerry Madden, House Corrections Committee Chairman, He writes:
There is nothing in the TYC Bill that builds any prisons. We do have in the Appropriations act that 2 facilities, Marlin and San Saba will be turned over to TDCJ and so will not be used for incarcerating youth. We also expect that there will be added closings of facilities by TYC probably 2 or 3 units. We do have in Appropriations money to build one new unit close to a metropolitan area so that we can keep youth closer to home. I think that is a good idea and we would not have to house them in old worn out facilities that in some cases may not be safe; We have a lot more money for integration and juvenile probation to try to keep youth from being sent to TYC...We also have all the funding we requested for our diversion beds which will have a major positive effect on our communities. While there is still more to do we have come a long way in a short time this session.
At last, some of our juveniles are coming home from prison. Also, the legislators have put in place a safeguard to prevent youth offender with misdemeanor offenses from being incarcerated like Shaquanda Cotton, the 14-year old high school student locked away for up to seven years of her life for pushing a teacher’s aide. Cotton was among the first of 473 juveniles released, after it was discovered that she had been held past her sentence for a minor institutional infraction- to wit, possession of a contraband extra pair of socks.
TYC came under sharp criticism after it was discovered that high level administrators were coercing the children into sex- in some cases, by threatening their loss of freedom. When the scandal first came to light, there was a hurried response to cover the situation up. But a brave Texas Ranger, who originally investigated the allegation, persisted until he found justice.
Governor Rick Perry appointed a conservator Jay Kimbrough to get to the bottom of the scandal. In the process, the TYC board of directors was forced to resign and several top level administrators were ousted. In a May 2, 2007 reported, Kimbrough sums up his efforts.
Over the past two months we have taken numerous actions, including:
1. Conducted new background checks on all TYC employees.
2. Organized surprise inspections of all facilities.
3. Named a new TYC Inspector General.
4. Began a reorganization of agency leadership by requiring top executives and facility superintendents to reapply for their positions.
5. Banned the hiring of convicted felons.
6. Established a command post of special investigators, created a toll-free hotline that is answered around the clock, and documented 3,000 complaints.
7. Arrested 11 employees and suspended or fired others.
8. Released 473 youths who had met their sentencing requirements or were confined for misdemeanors.
9. Created an independent panel to review TYC’s process for sentence modifications.
10. Established a statewide hotline where youths in TYC facilities can call to request free counseling services.
11. Implemented an Agency Integrity Program and informed all employees how to report issues to appropriate state and federal oversight agencies.
12. Received input on the complaint and grievance policies through focus groups with parents, youths, and staff.
13. Established a health care task force with the assistance of Senators Ogden and Duncan. Experts from Texas Tech and the University of Texas Medical Branch will expedite recommendations for an integrated health care system.
14. Identified critical internal data that can provide an early warning of how individual units are functioning.
Source: http://www.tyc.state.tx.us/about/conservator_report.html
Correspondence: Before the TYC Scandal
Subject: Proposed Legislation to Reform Texas Prison System
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 08:53:17 -0600
From: "District67 Madden"
To: "Evans Rosedale"
Eddie
We hope committees will be announced this week and we can get to work. We are working hard on rewriting chapter 37 of the Education code dealing with Alternative Education Programs. We are also advocating a wonderful program called CARY in the schools and are working on putting it in the Appropriations so TEA can implement it It will provide counseling for up to a year for kids sent to In School Suspension or the District Alternative Education programs. It is aimed at middle school and should be available to the FWISD when implemented. We are looking at a complete review of TDCJ and the TYC as part of our session. I also have HB277 which is the virtual school bill which would be a great assist for alternative education programs. That is part of our new and innovative delivery systems.
Jerry Madden
________________________________________
From: Eddie Griffin
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 5:01 PM
Subject: Proposed Legislation to Reform Texas Prison System
Dear Jerry,
Thank you for your continuing interest in the prison situation and for consideration of the young lives wasted through the cycle of crime and punishment.
As I have explained to Brother Tatum, we need a three-fold strategy___ before, during, and after incarceration. Successful re-entry into society is the back end component we are now working on, trying to build a community support system and provide a safety net against recidivism.
Another component is the preventative side, stopping young people from going into prison to begin with, by recognizing and dealing with delinquent behavior at its earliest stages and working with schools and parents to provide viable avenues into society and away from prisons.
The third component is what happens to the inmate while incarcerated, what programs and provisions are made available that will better enable him or her to seamlessly re-integrate in society. We have been looking at the role of Project RIO and what it was legislated to accomplish and how it is being implemented in the prison system.
The Tarrant County Re-entry Council is currently studying and working on these issues. Other organizations, such as the FWISD is playing a collaborative part in their dropout prevention initiatives. The FWPD is also playing a role in crime prevent among youth and gangs. In fact, our entire community is focused on solving these problems. We are also active in solving the problem of youth in the education system, why they are not making the grades, and why so many give up before graduation. As I have written before, we need a new education delivery system and more constructive ways to engage our youth. Technology education will help keep our kids engaged in the learning and discovery process, and maybe divert them away from illegal activity, or maybe attract them into a high tech field of interest.
Thanks again,
Eddie Griffin
District67 Madden
Eddie
Thank you. Actually we probably have a little luxury in that we still have some time to react to the problem. The great thing that is happening is that a majority of our state leaders now realize that we have many prisons and they cost a lot more than good community programs would cost. The alternatives to building are looking very attractive to most of the legislators. One of the big things we will have to do is provide the alternative treatments, and the other more difficult one is to change society to keep more young people from being tempted and caught in the drug cycle. These are the areas I am really looking closely at during the coming session and will need all the help I can get in making the cultural change at the state level.
Jerry Madden
________________________________________
From: Eddie Griffin
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 5:12 PM
TO: State Representative Jerry Madden
FROM: Eddie Griffin
RE: Proposed Legislation to Reform Texas Prison System
Friday, January 12, 2007
Dear Representative Madden:
I recently read about the reform plan for Texas ' crowded prison system and your comments in an AMERICAN-STATESMAN article entitled “Lawmakers Close to Proposal that Would Increase Prison Treatment Programs” by Mike Ward.
You are quoted on the purpose of the legislation: "Our goal is fewer prisoners in the next decade . . . slowing the growth of prisoners," Madden said. "If more inmates can successfully complete programs and successfully re-enter society, then we spend less on prisons and society is the better for it.”
Shall I say, “Alas, the day is come that we do something about this trend of putting and keeping more and more people in prison." Again, we have reached the breaking limit with our prison population, and just to think we could depopulate one and a half prisons if there were accommodations on the outside world for them.
The Tarrant County Re-entry Council has also been studying ways to successful reintegrate ex-offenders back into society. I was also happy to hear that you have enlisted the help of two of our local ministers, Tatum and Franklin, to assist in finding the optimum ex-offender re-entry strategy.
I also have served on the Council since its inception and worked on Tatum’s Faith-Base Sub-Committee. To refresh your memory of our dialogue on this problem, I have included our last correspondence in September ‘05 about the plight of ex-offenders, and also attaching a copy of Mike Ward’s article, in case you missed it.
Thank you again, for your concern and commitment, and for your effort in getting this legislation passed.
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin
P.S. We also ask your support House Bill 484 to give official recognition to the sector of US 287 to be permanently named Martin Luther King, Jr. Freeway, as proposed by Representative Marc Veasey, Fort Worth. Although this stretch of highway has been known as MLK Freeway since 1983, without official state recognition, the freeway could some day be renamed.
District67 Madden
Thank you for the good comments.
________________________________________
From: Eddie Griffin
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 12:51 PM
To: District67 Madden
Subject: Thank You For Relief with HB 2193
Dear Representative Jerry Madden:
Thank you so much for all of your hard work. You and your staff have contributed volumes of good legislation in this Congress, such as HB 2193 and the "Virtual School Network". In giving poor kids a chance to overcome past mistakes and opportunities to make good their hopes and dreams and expand their horizons, you in fact provide us with renewed strength not to give up. One day, we’ll be able to get in front of these kids and lead them, instead of always having to work from behind.
I have included a copy of my letter to Rep. Dan Gattis who opposed HB 2193. Why is it so hard for some people to even “think compassion”? We are not asking favors. We are asking the ex-prosecutor to have a “thought of mercy”, as you yourself have shown the way.
Thanks Again, Eddie Griffin
--------------------------------------------------------------
Representative Dan Gattis
Room EXT E2.804
P.O. Box 2910
Austin , TX 78768
Dear Honorable Dan Gattis:
In response to House Bill 2193, which would bring relief to the poor and the state’s overcrowded prison system in Texas , you are quoted as saying: "Years ago, when we had prison overcrowding, we just turned everybody loose."
Well sir, years ago, I would have been one of those “turned loose”. After serving 12 years for bank robbery, kidnapping, and hijacking a police squad car, I was released early on a 50-year sentence; otherwise, I would still be incarcerated till the year 2022. Since my release, I have successfully served a 10-year parole, which ended in 1994.
I began as a ditch digger in 1984 because there was pressure on me to find employment or return to prison. By 1990, I was Chief Operating Officer of a highly successful black engineering firm, all because another black man gave me a chance. I have since been a business consultant to over 12 companies, and some 25 or 30 tax clients. When I retired, I began volunteer community service. As a computer school volunteer, I trained and placed over 700 students from the ranks of the poor and unemployed, over 100 kids in advance computer skills, and some 20 senior citizens in restoring cognitive abilities through computer technology.
I have no reason, however, to boast of my personal accomplishments except to put my words into perspective. Everyday I thank God for the Ruiz ruling that brought relief to the Texas Prison System, A Few Years Ago.
Let’s go back A Few Years Ago to where the problem of overcrowding began.
Freedmen's Bureau Report of an Inspection of the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville , Walker County [Feb 26th 1867]
There are confined in the Prison in all including both white and black four hundred and eleven convicts. Of these two hundred and twenty five are freed people. Fourteen of the freed people are females and two hundred and eleven are males. There are no white female convicts (so considered) in the prison though two of the females that are classed as freed people are almost as white as any caucassian. They were however, before the war and until its close, slaves.
The Superintendent of the prison is Jas. Gillespie. By his permission I first examined the prison records. From these I could obtain nothing more definite than the general charge which is generally theft.
[For the rest of the report, see http://www.freedmensbureau.com/outrages.htm and http://www.freedmensbureau.com/texas/texasstateprison.htm]
A Few Years Ago, before the Confederate State of Texas surrendered to the U. S. Government forces, slave owners converted their plantations into prisons in order to preserve slavery. The plantation prisons were packed with “convicts”___ freed slaves who never got their freedom, but instead convicted on trumped up and fabricated charges. “Theft” charges usually grew out of black-white disputes over payment under the sharecropping system. To black people, at the time, if a man did not pay, the freedman took payment directly in terms of crop and livestock. This was usually their defense in court. [As an ex-prosecutor, you should know this history, since it is a living history behind the walls of TDC even today]…
The laws have since changed. The get-tough stance has led to 2.1 million people incarcerated, over 50% for minor drug possession. Along with petty thief and “joy-riding” crimes, 80% of our prison population is comprised primarily of our youth [not your kids, but our kids].
Recently, an undercover agent asked a young black kid on the street if he knew where he (the agent) could purchase some drugs. The kid punched him. The kid was arrested for assault. Back in the old days, the agent ran the risk of being shot by revolutionary street squads, whose job it was to keep drugs off the street and eliminate the traffickers.
In passing this way, let me say that I am opposed to “undercover drug operations”, not only because of the Dallas fiasco, but because agents sell on the one hand and buy back on the other. The kid who buys from undercover and turns around and sells to undercover is caught in the middle of a game he neither controls nor understands.
This is why I plead for mercy on behalf of these kids…
Sincerely, Eddie Griffin
Correspondence: Look under the Rock
Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 12:30:59 -0800 (PST)
From: Eddie Griffin
Subject: Safeguard Children in Criminal Justice System
To: "Jerry Madden"
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Dear Jerry,
I read the following release on AP Texas News and I realize how busy you must be at this time. Thank you for your concerns and actions.
YOUTH COMMISSION
Law officers would be stationed at Texas Youth Commission facilities to investigate abuse allegations and prevent employees from covering them up under proposals the governor put on the fast track Monday.
The legislation calls for establishing an inspector general's office at the troubled agency, where investigations showing agency officials molested young inmates went unheeded for years. A companion bill would allow counties to ask a special prosecution unit to help take the inspector general's cases to court.
Rep. Jerry Madden, a Richardson Republican and chairman of the House corrections committee, said the proposals would make it easier to bring abusers to justice.
Gov. Rick Perry declared the bills an emergency Monday to expedite the process of making them law. But several committee members said they weren't sure they could support the proposals if the inspector general reports to the commission's board.
"Are we putting the fox in charge of the hen house?" asked Rep. Pat Haggerty, a Republican from El Paso.
The Texas Senate asked Perry to fire the board and take over the troubled agency last week, after budget discussions drew attention to reports showing top officials covered up investigations showing employees had molested inmates.
Instead, Perry demoted the board's chairman, appointed a special master to conduct an independent investigation and ordered the agency's acting executive director to design and implement a rehabilitation plan.
I am reminded that we are talking here about juvenile offenders- children abused by law enforcement agents for their own personal and wanton pleasures. How many inmates in the prison system are assaulted, raped, and murdered each year? We will probably never get straight numbers, because there are cover-ups for obvious reasons. Look under the rock, you'll find the core of the problem with the Criminal Justice System.
Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin
Subject: Safeguard Children in Criminal Justice System
Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 08:08:09 -0600
From: "District67 Madden"
To: Eddie Griffin
Eddie
… We are looking under the rock at TYC and finding a lot of worms. We are at least moving forward with them. The one major difference we have with them at TDCJ is that their IG are commissioned cops and they have a legal requirement to investigate any criminal allegation. Doesn't mean they get great results but they have a lot more reported incidents than TYC had and I think that is due to the fact they are legally bound to do it. I can get you the number of deaths and we have the highest percentage of rape reports of any state which leads me to believe at least they are reported where other states are not.
Jerry Madden
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