Heading To The Voting Booth? Bring Your Photo ID NPR | June 6, 2011
Several states have passed a new law requiring individuals to show government-issued photo IDs to vote. The law’s supporters say it will help deter voter fraud, while opponents argue it will make it difficult for minorities, students and the elderly to cast their ballots. Host Michel Martin discusses both arguments with long-time civil rights activist and former Presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson, as well as Republican political strategist Ron Christie.
President’s Record On LGBT Issues Gets Mixed Reviews NPR | June 3, 2011
This week, President Obama formally proclaimed June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. Advocate and writer Kenyon Farrow and R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, a group that advocates for gay and lesbian rights among conservatives, discuss the current challenges facing the LGBT community.
Getting To Chicago’s Boys Before Gangs Do Cheryl Corley, NPR | April 22, 2011
In some of Chicago’s troubled neighborhoods, it’s not unusual for boys to join gangs at a young age. For many, it’s a road fraught with violence. But a group called Becoming a Man (BAM) is working on getting to those youngsters before they’re drawn into gang life or drop out of school.
Are San Francisco’s gang injunctions working? Ali Winston, Kawl News, April 19, 2011
Four years ago, San Francisco faced a stubbornly high crime rate. To fight back, City Attorney Dennis Herrera and the police department turned to a controversial crime strategy – the gang injunction. It’s a public nuisance lawsuit filed in civil court that restricts the movements and actions of individuals accused of membership in a street gang. Violators are charged with a misdemeanor and face fines or up to six months in jail.
Poll: Students Grade High School Down, College Up Associated Press, NPR | April 19, 2011
Young adults say high schools are failing to give students a solid footing for the working world or strong guidance toward college, at a time when many fear graduation means tumbling into an economic black hole. Students who make it to college are happy with the education they get there, an Associated Press-Viacom poll says.
The Price Of Funding Jails Over Schools Latoya Peterson, NPR | April 11, 2011
As federal, state and local governments across the nation slash their budgets to close looming shortfalls, there is one clear winner in the budget battles: correctional systems, which cost the nation nearly $70 billion annually. During the last two decades, funding for prisons eclipsed spending for higher education sixfold.
Town Relies On Troubled Youth Prison For Profits John Burnett, NPR | March 25, 2011
Prisons are filled with stress and violence; without proper supervision they can revert to primitive places. That’s what happened at Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Mississippi, an NPR news investigation has determined.
Documentary reveals everyday life of young black Chicagoans Staff Writer, WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio), February 25, 2011
Eight Forty-Eight often talks about the big problems facing Chicago – the lack of jobs, the safety and quality of our public schools or the level of crime on our streets. Right or wrong, most of these issues are associated, in varying ways, with the city’s black youth. But black youth are rarely part of this conversation. They’re at the center of debates they don’t have a voice in.
The new film Woke up Black aims to change that. It premieres Friday at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Mary Morten’s feature documentary chronicles the lives of five young people — some poor, others privileged, all of them black. The idea is to let them speak about their everyday lives and the connections they see between black people of diverse backgrounds. Sheldon Smith is one of the people Morten’s film crew followed. When Eight Forty-Eight’s Alison Cuddy spoke with Smith and Morten recently, he began by sharing what it was like having to live on camera.
Dear Chicago: Stop criminalizing our youth Robin Amer, WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) | February 4, 2011
Allegations of police misconduct are not new to Chicago. Recently, former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for lying about his role in the torture of prisoners during the 1970s and 80s.
But some Chicagoans say they endure a more routine kind of mistreatment during their day-to-day interactions with police.
Muffin is my two-year-old cousin. Her real name is Jah’leah. Her mama had her young – at the age of 13. I knew her mama wasn’t ready for a baby, but her mind was set. She used to say “I’m having this baby for me.” And I’d say, “but can you handle taking care of this baby?” “Yeah I can.” I couldn’t talk her out of it, so all I could do was be there for her, and for Muffin.
Young People Greet 2011 With Caution NPR | December 30, 2010
In 2010, education funds have been cut as tuition has risen, and youth unemployment levels neared 20%. Signs of economic progress are on the horizon, but many young people will have important decisions to make about where to live, what to do and where to study that can’t be put on hold any longer.
Diverse neighborhoods, segregated schools
Linda Lutton, WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) | December 17, 2010
In neighborhoods across Chicago where development and gentrification have taken hold, middle-income families are staying in the city and raising children. But there’s one aspect of city life many have been slow to embrace: their nearby public school. WBEZ looks at the dynamics that come into play when higher income neighbors don’t feel the neighborhood school is good enough for their kids.
The Launch Of The Hip-Hop Express And It’s Importance To Education [Podcast]
Bakari Kitwana, News One | December 15, 2010
In this week’s edition of Rap Sessions, NewsOne contributor Bakari Kitwana speaks with Dr. William Patterson about a new hip-hop and civic studies project modeled after the early 1900s Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver’s Jessup Agricultural Wagon. Whereas Washington and Carver brought Tuskegee University via a horse-drawn wagon to sharecroppers in the South, Patterson’s In Search of Hip-Hop Express brings civic studies from the University of Illinois Urban Champaign to Black youth around the US through a mobile airstream trailer retro-fitted with the latest technology.
Hip-hop Express teaches Black youth civic engagement and community-building while investigating and archiving the Black experience from a hip-hop perspective. Patterson emphasizes here that his focus is to engage descendents of the sharecroppers: “Booker T Washington believed if sharecroppers were better educated about finance and the science and technology of agriculture then it would improve their quality of life.” (Read more)
Mayoral candidates grade Chicago Public Schools Kristin Moo, WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) | December 15, 2010
The handful of mayoral candidates who attended a mayoral forum at Walter Payton College Prep Wednesday night just barely gave Chicago public schools a passing grade.
Separate Is Not Equal; Black Colleges Sue State
Larry Abramson, NPR | December 12, 2010
Students and former officials are suing Maryland for not adequately funding the state’s four historically black colleges and universities. The plaintiffs charge that the state has essentially maintained two separate systems of higher education, and has duplicated programs in order to make it easier for white students to avoid attending black universities.
The Short-Lived Fame Of Pint-Sized Rap Stars Brandon McFarland, NPR | December 8, 2010
Everyone has heard of those child performers whose uber-involved parents are convinced that their baby should be a star. YouTube is the perfect vehicle for that. Parents can just upload a video of the kid’s act — the cuter the better.
In “Eight Forty-Eight’s” new series, Mayor Mondays, the show explores life in Chicago, how it’s changed under Mayor Richard M. Daley and how it will change under new leadership. Over the past few weeks, “Eight Forty-Eight” talked about food and health. This week, it’s focusing on crime.
Jury selection in the trial of one of the teens charged in the beating death of 17-year-old Derrion Albert begins Monday. A 14 year old is one of the accused charged with murdering Albert. Chicago made national and international news for that and other high-profile crimes involving young people recently. While youth violence continues to rip some neighborhoods apart, not a whole lot is known about how young people cope with violence.
So that’s exactly what Dexter Voisin from the University of Chicago set out to study two years ago; his findings are out now in “The Journal of Interpersonal Violence.”
Voisin is an associate professor at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration and he joined “Eight Forty-Eight” to discuss his new study looking at how black youth on the South Side cope with community violence.
Let’s Meet: Chicago Police’s New Approach To Gangs Cheryl Corley, NPR | December 3, 2010
At a news conference, former gang member Reginald Akeem Berry Sr. lashed out against Chicago’s new policing initiative to reduce gang-related violence, which he claims offers gang members an “ultimatum” rather than an “alternative.”
Where’s The ‘Village’ For Our Youth? Allison Keyes, NPR | November 22, 2010
Young men grieve in Chicago near the spot where police stood guard over the bodies of two alleged murder victims believed to be boys in their late teens this past summer.
Scapegoating Black youth Black Agenda Report | November 10, 2010
Michael Eric Dyson, who claims to have recovered from Obama-ism, blames Black youth for failure to save the Democrats from themselves in the past election. Perhaps Dyson and his ilk should consider that non-stop police beatings, imprisonment and frameups of young Black people may “have had something to do with Obama’s ‘enthusiasm gap.’” He should also ponder whether “45% unemployment for Black teens might be part of it.”
Report Details Black Male Achievement Gap Larry Abramson, NPR | November 9, 2010
Black male students are nearly twice as likely to drop out of high school as their white counterparts. A new study says that statistic and others call for a different approach to help black men and boys succeed.
As head of the Council of the Great City Schools, Mike Casserly has seen lots of depressing numbers about achievement for minority students. But he says performance for black males is shockingly low.
Black Vote Crucial For Dems In Mid-Term Elections NPR | October 15, 2010
On the eve of midterm elections, reports show that the African-American vote is pivotal to the outcome for Democrats. President Obama has been reaching out this group of voters who often feel neglected. Host Michel Martin speaks with David Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and Joel Dreyfuss, managing editor of The Root.com.
Obama Takes His Message To Young Black Voters
NPR | October 8, 2010
College students played a pivotal part in the historic turnout and result of the 2008 presidential election. With less than a month to go before midterm elections, polls show a flagging interest in the vote on campuses. Host Michel Martin explores the Black college student perspective on midterm elections with Stefanie Brown, national field director of the NAACP’s Youth and College Division, and Kirk Pressley, president of the Student Government Association at Bowie State University where President Obama spoke yesterday.
A Bleak Picture For Young Black Male Students NPR | September 12, 2010
A report from the Massachusetts-based Schott Foundation paints a bleak picture of how young black men fare in school: fewer than half graduate from high school. And in some states, like New York, the graduation rate is as low as one in four. The foundation’s John Jackson and David Sciarra of the Education Law Center discuss what’s needed to improve educational attainment among African American children.
What Digital Divide?
Michael Martin, NPR | July 22, 2010
To wrap up this week’s Tell Me Mobile series about technology in communities of color, host Michel Martin explores the downsides for a new generation living in a wired world. She speaks with S. Craig Watkins. He’s a professor of Radio, Television and Film at the University at the University of Texas at Austin, and the author of The Young and the Digital: What the Migration to Social Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future.
Parents Push For Diversity In New Orleans’ Schools NPR| August 30, 2010
The New Orleans school system has been almost completely remade since Hurricane Katrina hit five years ago: Test scores are climbing, new charter schools are opening all the time, and facilities are being upgraded.
How Black People May Or May Not Use Twitter NPR | August 19, 2010
Whenever you have a news headline that starts with three words, “How,” “Black,” and “People,” someone’s bound to get upset.Not to mention the addition of a controversial illustration — the little blue Twitter bird, colored brown, holding a smart phone, and wearing an oversized baseball cap, cocked to the side ever-so-slightly.
Nashville Schools See Racial Disparities In Suspensions NPR | July 12, 2010
According to a Department of Education report, some 40 percent of students who received out of school suspensions are black. In Tennessee, the racial disparity in suspensions is even more profound. There, black students are four times more likely to be suspended than other students. Host Michel Martin discusses the statistics and what influences them with Maury Nation, a psychologist and professor of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt University; David Martin, a principal at Jerre Baxter Middle School in Nashville and Pedro Noguera, professor in the Steinhart School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University.
Youth Violence: Students Earn an ”A” in Peace
Linda Lutton, WBEZ | June 1, 2010
Chicago schools have wrestled with how to stop youth violence in the city. The school district is spending $60 million dollars over two years to mentor kids and create a “culture of calm.” Fights are a daily occurrence in many Chicago high schools. But one school in a tough neighborhood on the city’s West Side is celebrating a victory: 153 days of peace.
Youth Violence Prevention: Getting WA Teens to Sign On Public News Service | June 1, 2010
The one group that could most benefit from organized summer and after-school programs turns out to be the hardest to sell on the idea. Accordingly, teens are the focus of a seminar in Seattle this week on how to get them interested in activities to prevent bullying and violence.
Congressman Has Billion-Dollar Vision For Youth Summer Jobs NPR | June 1, 2010
Summer vacation holds all manner of possibilities for young people. They can spend the months productively, learning new skills that will help them down the road. Or they can idle away the hours — and spend them getting into trouble. The difference between the two scenarios, for many young people, is the availability of summer jobs. Missouri Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver and Blair Hamilton Taylor, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League join host Michel Martin to discuss a proposal to direct $1 billion towards the creation of 300,000 summer youth jobs.
Juveniles Need A Chance, Not Life In Prison NPR | May 21, 2010
R. Dwayne Betts is a poet, memoirist and teacher. At 16, Betts pleaded guilty to carjacking and was sentenced to nine years in prison. He is the author of A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison.
Fifty Years Later, SNCC Renews Its Youth Kathy Lohr, NPR | April 18, 2010
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee has its 50th reunion this weekend. The civil rights group dates back to the first lunch counter demonstrations in Greensboro, N.C., that quickly spread across the South. One of the goals of the reunion is to get young people involved in tackling social, political and economic issues.
College Worries
Verity Lister/ Youth Radio WABE Atlanta | April 17, 2010
I’m about to finish the tenth grade and I’m already worried about college. Though I have a 4.0 grade average, I’m afraid it won’t be high enough. My sophomore class is known for having some of the smartest students at school, so the competition is fierce. I’ve been watching the elite group of scholars in my grade. They participate in the debate team, mock trial – the works. But that’s just not for me. I don’t think I am the Harvard or Princeton type: I am more of an artsy kind of student. I am passionate about my fashion design and my painting. I have a creative and imaginative side, so no one has ever said to me, “Wow, you’ll make a great doctor or lawyer.”
Job Prospects Grim For Youth, Especially Black Teens
Yuki Noguchi/NPR | April 2, 2010
The Labor Department reported that the while the country gained 162,000 jobs in March, the overall unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.7 percent. And it’s much tougher for teenagers; The jobless rate for those between ages 16 and 19 rose to 26.1 percent. For African-American teens, it’s even worse: That rate stands at 41.1 percent.
On the Radio
Heading To The Voting Booth? Bring Your Photo ID
NPR | June 6, 2011
Listen here
President’s Record On LGBT Issues Gets Mixed Reviews
NPR | June 3, 2011
Listen here
Getting To Chicago’s Boys Before Gangs Do
Cheryl Corley, NPR | April 22, 2011
Listen here
Are San Francisco’s gang injunctions working?
Ali Winston, Kawl News, April 19, 2011
Listen here
Poll: Students Grade High School Down, College Up
Associated Press, NPR | April 19, 2011
Listen here
The Price Of Funding Jails Over Schools
Latoya Peterson, NPR | April 11, 2011
Listen here
Town Relies On Troubled Youth Prison For Profits
John Burnett, NPR | March 25, 2011
Listen here
Documentary reveals everyday life of young black Chicagoans
Staff Writer, WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio), February 25, 2011
Listen here
Dear Chicago: Stop criminalizing our youth
Robin Amer, WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) | February 4, 2011
Allegations of police misconduct are not new to Chicago. Recently, former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for lying about his role in the torture of prisoners during the 1970s and 80s.
But some Chicagoans say they endure a more routine kind of mistreatment during their day-to-day interactions with police.
Listen here
Raising Muffin
Denise Tejada, Youth Radio- KQED-FM | January 6, 2011
Muffin is my two-year-old cousin. Her real name is Jah’leah. Her mama had her young – at the age of 13. I knew her mama wasn’t ready for a baby, but her mind was set. She used to say “I’m having this baby for me.” And I’d say, “but can you handle taking care of this baby?” “Yeah I can.” I couldn’t talk her out of it, so all I could do was be there for her, and for Muffin.
Young People Greet 2011 With Caution
NPR | December 30, 2010
Diverse neighborhoods, segregated schools
Linda Lutton, WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) | December 17, 2010
Listen here
The Launch Of The Hip-Hop Express And It’s Importance To Education [Podcast]
Bakari Kitwana, News One | December 15, 2010
Mayoral candidates grade Chicago Public Schools
Kristin Moo, WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) | December 15, 2010
Separate Is Not Equal; Black Colleges Sue State
Larry Abramson, NPR | December 12, 2010
The Short-Lived Fame Of Pint-Sized Rap Stars
Brandon McFarland, NPR | December 8, 2010
Study looks at how South Side adolescents cope with violence
Eight Forty-Eight, WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) | December 6, 2010
Let’s Meet: Chicago Police’s New Approach To Gangs
Cheryl Corley, NPR | December 3, 2010
Where’s The ‘Village’ For Our Youth?
Allison Keyes, NPR | November 22, 2010
Young men grieve in Chicago near the spot where police stood guard over the bodies of two alleged murder victims believed to be boys in their late teens this past summer.
Scapegoating Black youth
Black Agenda Report | November 10, 2010
Report Details Black Male Achievement Gap
Larry Abramson, NPR | November 9, 2010
Black Vote Crucial For Dems In Mid-Term Elections
NPR | October 15, 2010
On the eve of midterm elections, reports show that the African-American vote is pivotal to the outcome for Democrats. President Obama has been reaching out this group of voters who often feel neglected. Host Michel Martin speaks with David Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and Joel Dreyfuss, managing editor of The Root.com.
Obama Takes His Message To Young Black Voters
NPR | October 8, 2010
College students played a pivotal part in the historic turnout and result of the 2008 presidential election. With less than a month to go before midterm elections, polls show a flagging interest in the vote on campuses. Host Michel Martin explores the Black college student perspective on midterm elections with Stefanie Brown, national field director of the NAACP’s Youth and College Division, and Kirk Pressley, president of the Student Government Association at Bowie State University where President Obama spoke yesterday.
A Bleak Picture For Young Black Male Students
NPR | September 12, 2010
A report from the Massachusetts-based Schott Foundation paints a bleak picture of how young black men fare in school: fewer than half graduate from high school. And in some states, like New York, the graduation rate is as low as one in four. The foundation’s John Jackson and David Sciarra of the Education Law Center discuss what’s needed to improve educational attainment among African American children.
What Digital Divide?
Michael Martin, NPR | July 22, 2010
To wrap up this week’s Tell Me Mobile series about technology in communities of color, host Michel Martin explores the downsides for a new generation living in a wired world. She speaks with S. Craig Watkins. He’s a professor of Radio, Television and Film at the University at the University of Texas at Austin, and the author of The Young and the Digital: What the Migration to Social Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future.
Parents Push For Diversity In New Orleans’ Schools
NPR| August 30, 2010
The New Orleans school system has been almost completely remade since Hurricane Katrina hit five years ago: Test scores are climbing, new charter schools are opening all the time, and facilities are being upgraded.
How Black People May Or May Not Use Twitter
NPR | August 19, 2010
Whenever you have a news headline that starts with three words, “How,” “Black,” and “People,” someone’s bound to get upset.Not to mention the addition of a controversial illustration — the little blue Twitter bird, colored brown, holding a smart phone, and wearing an oversized baseball cap, cocked to the side ever-so-slightly.
Nashville Schools See Racial Disparities In Suspensions
NPR | July 12, 2010
According to a Department of Education report, some 40 percent of students who received out of school suspensions are black. In Tennessee, the racial disparity in suspensions is even more profound. There, black students are four times more likely to be suspended than other students. Host Michel Martin discusses the statistics and what influences them with Maury Nation, a psychologist and professor of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt University; David Martin, a principal at Jerre Baxter Middle School in Nashville and Pedro Noguera, professor in the Steinhart School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University.
Youth Violence: Students Earn an ”A” in Peace
Linda Lutton, WBEZ | June 1, 2010
Chicago schools have wrestled with how to stop youth violence in the city. The school district is spending $60 million dollars over two years to mentor kids and create a “culture of calm.” Fights are a daily occurrence in many Chicago high schools. But one school in a tough neighborhood on the city’s West Side is celebrating a victory: 153 days of peace.
Youth Violence Prevention: Getting WA Teens to Sign On
Public News Service | June 1, 2010
Congressman Has Billion-Dollar Vision For Youth Summer Jobs
NPR | June 1, 2010
Juveniles Need A Chance, Not Life In Prison
NPR | May 21, 2010
R. Dwayne Betts is a poet, memoirist and teacher. At 16, Betts pleaded guilty to carjacking and was sentenced to nine years in prison. He is the author of A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison.
Fifty Years Later, SNCC Renews Its Youth
Kathy Lohr, NPR | April 18, 2010
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee has its 50th reunion this weekend. The civil rights group dates back to the first lunch counter demonstrations in Greensboro, N.C., that quickly spread across the South. One of the goals of the reunion is to get young people involved in tackling social, political and economic issues.
College Worries
Verity Lister/ Youth Radio WABE Atlanta | April 17, 2010
Job Prospects Grim For Youth, Especially Black Teens
Yuki Noguchi/NPR | April 2, 2010
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5