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‘Ten Years of Growing Greatness Through Giving’: PVAMF’s Third Annual Fundraising Gala Highlights Student Impact
To be clear: Prairie View A&M Foundation’s Third Annual Fundraising Gala was a clear call to action. From its opening remarks delivered by the Master of Ceremony, KHOU TV Anchor Len Cannon, to the closing remarks delivered by one of the Foundation’s Trustees and Vice Chair, Dr. Donetta Goodall, the message was clear: donations, like those made to the university through PVAMF, directly impact the ability of the university to offer a quality of education to its students and ensure future success in their chosen fields, communities, and the world-at-large.
Labor Day Classic: Deeper Than a Rivalry
I’m so glad I went to PVU! I’m so glad I went to PVU! Singing glory hallelujah, I went to PVU!! If you’ve ever attended or have otherwise affiliated with a Historically Black College or University (HBCU), then you likely recognize the tune in my intro. Beyond simple recognition, the tune may even evoke a level of nostalgia unparalleled by thoughts of any other period in your life. I know for me, when I think about my alma mater, Prairie View A&M University, my heart swells with pride.
Money, Power, and Sex: The Imperfect Trifecta, Which Enables Jeffrey Epstein’s of the World
To be clear: money, power, and sex have been longtime bedfellows. No matter where you look, on the blocks, in churches, schools, boardrooms, politics, Hollywood, the music industry, you name it and you will likely see them together. From the pimp on the street corner using his money and power to both dominate and dazzle ‘his’ women to the president admitting that powerful men can walk up to women and do whatever they want, in almost every aspect of life, you can find scenarios that validate the fact.
Mental Health and the Law - Untreated Mental Illness and the Criminal Justice System
To be clear: untreated severe mental illness places a great burden on our legal system. The Treatment Advocacy Center, a national nonprofit organization founded in 1998, dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness captures the issue succinctly: “Fifty years of failed mental health policy have placed law enforcement on the front lines of mental illness crisis response and turned jails and prisons into the new asylums.”
Love It Or Leave It: Is This Our Nation’s New Slogan?
To be clear: I have given my share of benedictions. I have told people where they can go and how fast they can get there. My benedictions normally followed something hurtful that was done or said to me and the dismissal was for self-preservation.
Race in 2020: What Impact Will Identity Politics Have On the Upcoming Elections?
I’m black and I’m proud! Some of you may recognize my intro from James Brown’s popular 1968 hit, “Say It Loud!” The song was an anthem with a call and response chorus that was not only infectious but also empowering. It starts with James Brown saying “Uh! Your bad self!”
Op-Ed: Quanell X: Help or Hinderance?
HSM op-ed writer, Nicole Gray, takes deep dive into Quanell X's role in the disappearance of Maleah Davis.
Safer or Scarier: How Will Children of Color Feel About Armed Teachers?
To be clear: I agree that immediate action is needed to protect our children from recurring gun violence in our schools. In fact, just two weeks ago I wrote a call to action, here, urging that “Our Schools Have Become Warzones, Our Children at the Front Lines: Question Is, When Are We, ‘The Adults, ‘ Going to Join Them?” Is the best course of action to put more guns in our schools without any restrictions on gun purchase or ownership though?
Election 2020: With Hyper-Partisan Politics, Who Needs Russian Interference?
To be clear: hyper-partisanship poses a greater threat to our elections than any foreign government ever will. As the race for 2020 comes to a slow boil with 23 Democratic candidates currently vying for the nomination to oppose President Trump, the partisan politics have already begun to shape the issues we are supposed to really care about.
Our Schools Have Become Warzones, Our Children at the Front Lines: Question Is, When Are We, ‘The Adults, ‘ Going to Join Them?
To be clear: this is not an attack, rather a light that, hopefully, sparks a sense of urgency in adults across this nation to step up to the front lines of this war against increasing gun violence in our schools. Our children are already there.
White Privilege and the Law: Will the Scales Ever Balance for People of Color?
To be clear: white privilege is severe and pervasive. In almost every facet of American society, there is an invisible infrastructure, which supports the majority. No beef; just facts. White privilege and the law, particularly, was all the buzz on social media last week as news broke that two white men, in separate instances, pled guilty to crimes against teenage girls and will serve no jail-time. Both cases had arguably heinous facts.
If Sparing the Rod Spoils the Child, What Does Getting Them a Helicopter for Prom Do?
To be clear: senior year is a time of grand celebrations for students and their families. The demand now-a-days for seniors to have pristine resumes to be considered for top colleges, scholarships, military programs and/or mentorships is taxing on the entire family. The family’s schedule and budget are often augmented to support its senior’s pursuits of extra-curricular activities, part-time jobs, and interest groups. So, naturally, when it comes time to celebrate the grand finale, families show their pride in their students’ accomplishments and rites of passage by showering them with parties and gifts. Prom is one such rite, with no exception.
The Court of Public Opinion: Where Punishment is Almost Certain, Actual Guilt Not so Much
To be clear: the court of public opinion is always in session. The court’s docket stays full and public jurists are always ready to decide cases based on ‘evidence’ presented by the media. The call to public jury duty is rarely dodged, unlike its true civic counterpart.
Millennials: Lost In the Struggle, Or Leading It?
To be clear: Millennials get ‘it’ more than they are given credit for. Like generations before them, millennials have been labeled everything from entitled to lazy, with elders remarking that millennials don’t want to work or otherwise do what it takes to succeed. But, I write this as a challenge to those of us on the outside looking in, to think back to the thoughts our elders had of our generation and us.