by UrbanFaith Staff | Apr 10, 2014 | Feature, Headline News |
“People sold for sex in this country are American children who are disproportionately black and brown. They are between the ages of 12 and 13 — middle school aged.”
That was a statement from Malika Saadar Sar of Rebecca Project for Human Rights at last year’s Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Caucus. She is regarded as an anti-trafficking hero for the work she did to shut down Craigslist ads that led to kids being sold for sex. Just a couple weeks ago, I attended a conference and was embarrassed at how little I knew on this issue: the statistics on sex trafficking were so alarming, the only question I had was “Who the heck is publicly speaking up about this?” The unspoken truth is that there are blocks–even communities–of black children straight up MISSING…and very little national noise is being made.
Look at these stats from a recent FBI report:
83 percent of victims of confirmed sex-trafficking cases were U.S. citizens;
40% of victims were black;
62% of suspected perpetrators were black.
Factors like poverty and abuse, as well as aging out of foster care facilities, increase the chances of young girls (and young boys) being lured by traffickers into sex and labor industries. But believe it or not, those are not the only victims. Many of the women we call “video vixens” have been subjected to some form of sexual abuse or assault prior to entering the “business.” And in a culture where the smooth crooning of Drake and his ilk glorify the girl who has to strip her way through college, the line between voluntary and involuntary participation in the sex industry becomes more blurry. (Check out this article called “Human Trafficking Brings Easy Money, Hard Lives for Teenage Girls”). And then there is the collective silence of the “R. Kelly” syndrome.
Selah.
You done selah-ing? Ok, I’m back.
Can I be real? Our actions, as a community, show that we are failing to adequately protect our children. While we have overcome picking cotton and sitting in the backs of buses, we have not fully ripped off one of the most detrimental badges of slavery: the exploitation, undermining, and minimizing of black sexuality. Even when alarming known acts of sexual indecency occur, we are afraid to call out the Lawrence Taylors of the world. We attend events like the Super Bowl and World Cup–set to be in Brazil this year–where unknown numbers of black girls will be violated and unfortunately unaccounted for once the games are over. Many can still buy an R. Kelly record, and “Step In The Name of Love” at every wedding because frankly–we don’t care or “because his music is still good,” many often say)! Little underdeveloped girls are considered “fast” if caught in the wrong crowds. We ignore the pockets of girls dressed like grown women on 
the corners of Atlanta, Baltimore, Philly, Houston, and New Orleans. Talk of modern-day “sexual liberation” conveniently leaves out how one girl’s curiosity can often lead to unwanted attention and harsher consequences. We assume that in a day where “we should know better,” little girls lured into the cars of local pimps and celebrity pedophiles deserved what they got–’cause they should know better. So quick to call a woman a “video hoe,” we have no idea–or desire to find out–what trauma she is being subjected to on a daily basis…just to make a couple coins. And with the news of children literally being picked up by strangers at day care, learning, and homeless facilities–like the recent abduction of 8-year-old Relisha Rudd–we are constantly reminded how little value our society places on innocence. (Note: we continue to pray for Relisha, and hope that she is not being subjected to torture or abuse).
Relisha Rudd, last seen a month ago.
I really don’t need to bring a scripture into this, but I do have one that comes to mind. While no longer here on the earth, the blood of Abel cried from the ground to God’s ears. God asked Cain the whereabouts of his brother. When Cain replied to God “Am I my brother’s keeper?” after killing his brother Abel, he did so, not out of curiosity, but out of both indifference and guilt. Are we our brother’s keeper and our sister’s shield? No longer can we be church mothers and fathers waving the church fans of sorrow after a loved one is gone…or indifferent congregants waiting for others to fix our problems. We have to talk…to our family members, especially those uncles that we KNOW our children shouldn’t be around (every family has them, so please, don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about)…to our children, about love, identity, poverty (yes, believe or not some kids are really just trying to get something to eat for themselves and families)…to our caretakers, schools, and homeless shelters…to our local law enforcement…to our local legislators..heck, maybe even to our local strip clubs. We have to talk…
This is no longer just an international issue, or an “other” issue. While the ads don’t have kids who look like us on the posters, we need to start creating our own billboards. Our children–black children–are modern day slaves.
Let us not wait for the blood of our still enslaved to cry from the ground any longer.
Shoutout to the many organizations and leaders who are raising the awareness on this issue, and trying to pass meaningful legislation to eradicate this injustice. We need more of you…
Ify Ike is a former Capitol Hill advisor and counsel, with experience on a variety of social justice issues. She is an original blogger of the faith-blog “The Bold and Fabulous,” founder of the policy and communications firm, Ike Professionals, LLC, and has assisted numerous ministries in program creation, youth outreach efforts, community service, and natural disaster relief. At least once a day, you can find her in a debate about politics or religion.
by Jeneba Ghatt | Apr 8, 2014 | Feature, Headline News |
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testifies before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington in this file photo taken May 15, 2013. The Obama administration on Thursday threw its weight behind a proposal that it says could cut the average prison sentence for a federal drug defendant by 11 months, a change designed to help reduce the massive U.S. prison population. (Photo Credit: REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/Files)
In March, the Department of Justice announced another aspect of the Obama Administration’s “War on Drugs.” Attorney General Eric Holder endorsed a plan to reduce prison sentences for low-level drug dealers, as part of the Justice Department’s “Smart on Crime” initiative.
The announcement supports a January proposal from the United States Sentencing Commission to alter the federal guidelines to reduce the average sentence for drug dealers by about a year, from the current 62 months to 51 months.
If adopted, the change would impact nearly 70% of all drug trafficking offenders and reduce the average sentence by 11 months, or nearly 18%, Holder said in a statement to the Sentencing Commission earlier this month. The Bureau of Prisons said if the proposal was adopted the prison population would drop by 6,550 inmates at the end of five years.
“This straightforward adjustment to sentencing ranges – while measured in scope – would nonetheless send a strong message about the fairness of our criminal justice system,” Holder said during his testimony. “And it would help to rein in federal prison spending while focusing limited resources on the most serious threats to public safety.”
The plan has bipartisan support from the two main political parties in Congress, which are equally interested in putting a dent in the United States record of being the world’s largest incarcerator of its citizens. America has held that honor since the 1970s and currently one in every 100 adults in the US are in prison. Currently, roughly one third of the Department of Justice’s budget is allocated to the prison system, a fact that has enabled Holder to gain supporters among fiscal conservatives and Libertarians. Consider that in 2010 alone, the federal government and states spent $80 billion on incarceration, and of the 216,000 current federal inmates nearly half are serving time for drug-related crimes. The effort is also in line with other relatively new policies since President Obama’s first term.
Back in 2010, Congress unanimously voted to reduce the 100 to 1 disparity between sentences for crack cocaine offenses compared to powdered cocaine. Before the Fair Sentencing Act passed, Blacks automatically received harsher sentences for the same crimes as a White offender given that crack was a drug more prevalent in black neighborhoods while powdered cocaine was more used in White ones. In response to the Fair Sentencing Act, last December President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of eight federal inmates convicted of crack cocaine offenses and imprisoned from 15 years to life. The relief also set free a man who was only 22 years old when he was sentenced to three life terms over a drug deal.
A year after the Fair Sentencing Act passed, the Obama administration also expanded the number of drug courts as part of the five-year plan. Back then, the nation’s 2,600 drug courts diverted about 120,000 people each year into treatment facilities instead of prison, a white paper from The White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) observed. Given that many of the drug offenders would not be there if they were clean, the effort focused on getting people treatment to reduce the recidivism rate.
The Second Chance Act, which Congress passed with bipartisan support, supports state, local and tribal reentry courts, as well as family-centered programs, substance abuse treatment, employment, mentoring and other services that improve the transition from prison and jail to work to reduce recidivism.
Also, the ONDCPhas been working with HUD to encourage home leasing to ex-offenders who aren’t registered sex offenders or were in jail for manufacturing methamphetamine (otherwise known as “crystal meth”). Meanwhile, the Justice Department awarded $100 million to 178 state and local reentry grants and another $83 million to 118 new grantees this past September.
The cost of treatment drug abuse (including research, training and prevention efforts) was estimated to be $15.8 billion. That’s a fraction of these overall costs of drug abuse which are estimated at about $193 billion a year through lost productivity, health care related costs, and incarceration. Researchers reveal that residential treatment is more cost effective if offenders attend post-release treatment.
The outcome of all of these efforts should mean a significant drop in the incarceration of African American men and women and with the state of the black family always in a fragile balance and state, more unified families will be a good thing.
by UrbanFaith Staff | Apr 7, 2014 | Entertainment, Feature |
c. 2014 Religion News Service
(RNS) The new “Noah” movie has everything you’d expect in a biblical blockbuster.
Big Hollywood stars. Extravagant special effects. An apocalyptic flood. There’s even a few rock monsters for good measure.
But the Rev. Wil Gafney sees something missing: a hint of ethnic diversity.
“In this version of Noah, black people do not exist,” she said.
While much of the conversation about the “Noah” film has focused on theology and the degree to which it strays from the biblical text, few people seem to notice the all-white cast, said Gafney, an Episcopal priest and associate professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.
That’s worrisome, she said, especially at a time when the United States is becoming more and more multiethic.
“I hoped that at least there would be some beige people in the movie,” she said. “But there was no one visibly of color.”
Add to that the so-called “Curse of Ham,” a troubling Bible passage from Genesis. It tells how Noah settled down after the flood and planted a vineyard. One night he got drunk and his son Ham saw him naked, a taboo in the ancient world.
Noah curses his son Ham, and Ham’s descendants, including his son Canaan. That Bible passage, also known as the “Curse of Canaan,” was originally understood to justify the subjection of the Canaanites to the Israelites. In later centuries, the narrative was interpreted as an explanation for black skin, and in the United States, as a biblical justification for slavery. White Christian slaveholders argued that Africans were descendants of Ham, and therefore cursed by God.
The new film strays from the Genesis account of the confrontation between Ham and Noah, said Gafney, so there’s no curse.
Instead, she said, the movie simply erases people of color from the story.
Efrem Smith, president of Los Angeles-based World Impact, a Christian nonprofit, and author of “The Post-Black and Post-White Church,” sees “Noah” as part of a pattern.
In the past, biblical epics such as the 1956 classic “The Ten Commandments” featured white actors playing Moses and Pharaoh. Smith said that he’d hoped for something more authentic in this movie.
“When it come to films on Bible stories and biblical figures, we are going back to the days of Charlton Heston,” he said.
Smith said he respects pastors that encourage people to see the film. But he wished they’d been a bit more critical of it, especially on the issue of race.
The Bible, he said, is the most multicultural piece of literature that most people will ever read. So a film about the Bible should reflect that diversity, he said.
But recent films about Bible characters, such as “Noah,” “Son of God,” and a planned version of the Exodus story starring Christian Bale, star white actors in leading roles.
Smith finds that disappointing.
“We need sensitivity from our evangelical brothers and sisters about how white images of Bible figures have impacted people of color in the past,” he said. “We are too comfortable with a white biblical narrative.”
Nashville, Tenn.-based writer and speaker Trillia Newbell, author of “United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity,” also was concerned about the lack of diversity in “Noah.”
Seeing Jesus or Noah or other biblical characters portrayed by white actors has consequences.
“It shapes how you read the Bible,” she said. “Every time you pick up the Bible, those are the images you see.”
The Rev. Enoch Fuzz of Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church in Nashville, said too many Christians don’t pay attention when it comes to diversity. It’s like a blind spot, he said.
“We want heaven to be a place of diversity — and then we don’t see it when it is missing here on earth,” said Fuzz.
Some of his pastor friends had encouraged him to see “Noah,” in hopes of getting people to talk about the Bible. But he’d decided to skip it, because of the lack of diversity in the cast.
Anthea Butler, a blogger and associate professor of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said the filmmakers seemed to treat the story of Noah more like a science fiction story such as “The Lord of the Rings” than a retelling of a biblical tale.
That may explain why the cast doesn’t fit the movie’s setting in the Middle East, she said.
But their casting decisions send a troubling message, she said.
“It’s a world where only white people get saved,” Butler said. “This doesn’t look like the world that God created.”
Butler suspects that filmmakers may have made a major marketing error.
A new report from the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture found that African-Americans are the most likely to read the Bible. So they care about Bible stories and may be turned off by this new “Noah” movie.
“Black women carry their Bibles around and read them all the time,” she said. “And they cannot see themselves in this movie.”
She had some advice for Hollywood producers looking for the next biblical blockbuster.
“If someone wants to make a ton of money right now, they should go out and remake ‘The Queen of Sheba.’”
Copyright 2014 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be reproduced without written permission.
by Jeneba Ghatt | Apr 7, 2014 | Feature, Headline News |
Who knew that the school to prison pipeline started at pre-school?
That is the overarching message that some have taken away from a recent Department of Justice report indicating that even though black students represent 18% of preschool enrollment 42% of them have been suspended once, and 48% suspended more than once. It was also discovered that black and Hispanic schoolchildren are more quickly referred to law enforcement.
The report from the Civil Right Division’s Educational Opportunities Section analyzing its 2011 to 2012 Civil Rights Data Collection database discovered that even though African-American students made up just under one in five preschoolers enrolled during the 2011-2012 school year, they accounted for nearly half of all preschool students who faced more than one out-of-school suspension. And for many the punishment is dished out beyond the principal’s office.
“This critical report shows that racial disparities in school discipline policies are not only well-documented among older students, but actually begin during preschool,” Attorney General Eric Holder said at an event presenting the findings at J.O. Wilson Elementary School in Washington, DC. “Every data point represents a life impacted and a future potentially diverted or derailed. This Administration is moving aggressively to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline in order to ensure that all of our young people have equal educational opportunities.”
The findings came from analysis of a comprehensive collection of data from 97,000 of the nation’s public schools in 16,500 school districts and representing 49 million students that the Justice Department recently started assessing and extracting data from to determine trends.
A press release about the data linked it to the prison pipeline, noting that the “data reveals particular concern around discipline for our nation’s young men and boys of color, who are disproportionately affected by suspensions and zero-tolerance policies in schools,” also noting that “suspended students are less likely to graduate on time and more likely to be suspended again. They are also more likely to repeat a grade, drop out, and become involved in the juvenile justice system.”
The pre-school research shows that clearly there is less patience for excited outbursts, a child speaking out of turn or rattling off endlessly to make a point. Black children are punished, put out the class and reprimanded for conduct that may be a natural and incidental to exploratory play and expression. When warnings, parent-teacher meetings, taking away recess and other benefits are options, kicking a child out of enrichment opportunities can be a dangerous thing.
This report came a couple months after another analysis found that participants advanced the age of a child they were told committed a felony, even police. A Journal of Personality and Social Psychology study, released on February 24th found “when asked to identify the age of a young boy that committed a felony, participants in a study routinely overestimated the age of black children far more than they did white kids. Worse: Cops did it, too,” a piece in The Wire summarized.
So something about black children cause people to see them as older than they are and by default expect a different set of actions and reactions from them. We saw this in the Michael Dunn murder trial for the murder of teen Jordan Davis. Dunn said he thought the SUV full of black teens he said was threatening him were older adult men. He shot at them anticipating that they were capable of a lot worse than just usual teen trash talking.
Clearly, these studies reveal a deeper level of pathology assigned to black children that can have wide-ranging impact on them to the point they’d lose out on enrichment activities, become stigmatized and face harsh consequences.
Although some try to isolate the challenges in urban communities to those within them solely, the findings from these analyses reveal that there are institutional and societal influences and factors that add a layer to the uphill battle of surviving a life with less resources, support and opportunities.
Hopefully the information will be used to implement real, measurable change.
by UrbanFaith Staff | Apr 4, 2014 | Feature |
Can the church say Amen? Who’s ready to get “turnt up?” These sentiments and seemingly conflicting statements described the mighty movement of the Hymns & Hip Hop (#H3C) conference hosted by the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church and N.E.W. Leadership Academy in Atlanta that was held on March 28-March 30. In a word, this conference was refreshing! As a part of my thesis and graduate work I have attended various conferences that focus on the recent scholarship and issues in/surrounding Hip Hop. There was the #femhiphop conference hosted by Melissa Harris-Perry in New Orleans. The Hip Hop Literacies Conference at The Ohio State University, and various hip hop sessions at the American Academy of Religion. Each of these conferences offered a variety of valuable, enriching experiences, amazing networking opportunities, celebrity sightings, and brilliant scholarship presented by rising scholars and academic starlets alike. However, there has been something missing. As a minister and theologically trained scholar with a focus in ethics, I constantly search for voices that reflect my own, one that is concerned about the intersection of hip hop and church culture. But it becomes tiring to search and provide the church’s response when it comes to Hip Hop. Though the conferences have been covering a wide range of topics, the church’s response, understanding, and position has gone by with deafening silence. I deeply believe that it is important to the future of the church and we must engage this culture because it influences and develops our congregants.
“Secular” Hip Hop continually mediates and affects our culture and Christian Hip Hop and R&B are steadily developing and changing the game, but our youth are more engaged with Rick Ross than the book of Mark. Both the church and the Hip Hop community are needed to navigate faithfully in this unjust world. So when I heard about the Hymns & Hip Hop conference I was ecstatic and cautious! Ecstatic because I would finally have the opportunity to be in the midst of scholars, lay persons, and clergy who were willing to do the work; to problematize and nuance lyrics, music, dance, and hip-hop culture. I imagined a safe space where like-minded people could come to place of understanding to discuss the prevailing issues that surround the rift between the Church and The hip-hop community. But I was cautious because I’ve never seen the church truly engage with Hip Hop, I’ve only seen the promotion of negative stereotypes, condemnation, and judgment from both sides. As a result, I went into this conference with my eyes wide open yet full of optimism.
Hymns & Hip Hop did not disappoint; they truly represented as they set the stage to begin “bridging the gap between the Holy and Hip Hop.” The leaders of the conference Pastor Mike Wortham and Min. Cassandra Henderson began by highlighting the goals of the symposium. #H3C wasn’t trying to address or solve all of the conflicts that surround Hip Hop and the Church, but rather they were opening up a safe space where both communities could begin to dispel myths and find a common ground on the journey to working side by side in love and acceptance.
#H3C promoted a variety of panels and workshops which were in-depth and invigorating while being centered on the broader concerns of humanity. There were scholars such as Dr. Valerie Bridgeman, Dr Jocelyn Wilson, Dr. Teresa Fry Brown, Dr. Maisha Handy, and Rahiel Tesfamarian. Hip Hop industry veterans such as Chuck D, Kool Mo Dee, and Shanti Das stood alongside younger artists such as Killer Mike and Yani and all shared their gifts and wisdom from time spent in the industry. The panels and workshops ranged from topics like “Thugology 101” where participants critically engaged and interpreted the theodicy and thug theology that is inherent in Hip Hop songs such as “Crossroads” by Bone Thugs and Harmony. #H3C participants got a chance to dialogue in a remarkable panel entitled “A Threat To Justice Everywhere” where some incredible women leaders in Hip Hop and the Church broke down the issues of sexism and misogyny in both communities. These women did not simply address the issues but offered some tangible solutions for resisting the injustice that patriarchy places upon both communities. I could go panel by panel and explain the funny, witty, and thought provoking comments, I could describe the sights and feelings that I had but I would be writing for days and who has time to read that. So here is the most important feature of the conference, in my opinion. Get close, you ready? YOUTH!!! Youth!!! YOUTH!!! I can scream it from the rooftops!!!
Part of my pedagogy insists that we define and name the issues, words, and communities so that we can provide a firm foundational framework in order to truly embody the conversation. We have been discussing hip-hop in the context of youth but they haven’t been a part of the conversation. If we were going to discuss the Queering of Hip Hop we would invite someone who identifies as LGBTQ. If we were going to discuss sexism within the community we would invite women right? So where are the youth? Well, Ebenezer Baptist’s youth showed up and Turnt Up. The youth were engaged and fully embodied. They participated in panels by asking intuitive questions, got excited in the town halls and sessions, spit lyrics in the workshops. They had fun and got it in (Nae Nae style) at the Artist lounge. In the workshops they gave such poignant critiques on thug theology that I swore they took my seminary class, Evil and God. In short they were a delight. I had such a visceral reaction to the way they embodied the holy and Hip Hop that I am considering moving to Atlanta just to be a part of the mighty move of God that is happening down there.
The highpoint of the conference happened at the closing worship service. Rahiel Tesfamarian preached a moving sermon, but what got me excited was the unique way that the youth led worship. They exemplified bridging the Holy and Hip Hop through music. They took drama, dance, lyrics, and song and remixed them into a wonderful celebration of worship. They created montages of “Oh Happy Day” and Pharrell’s “Happy.” They presented a homage to the fallen such as Trayvon Martin and Renisha McBride through “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and “Heaven” by Beyonce. They showed us that in the end we are all here for the same purpose, we cry the same tears and ultimately are fighting the same fight.
There was so much packed into this three day extravaganza that I could literally spend days rambling in excitement. However, I will leave you with the task that I received at the #H3C. Karega Bailey, a raptivist and teacher proclaimed, “always remember to be a student because we are being studied!” H3C reminded me that we are on a road of knowledge, understanding, and community bridge building between Hip Hop and the Church. Throughout this arduous but indispensible process we must remember to be students because truly bridging the gap means the freedom to study one another in a judgment free space! In other words we got work to do on both sides of the divide!
If you are really interested in finding out more about how the conference went, I and a few others participated in live tweeting the conference, so just search the hashtag #H3C or #HymnsHipHop to revel in the brilliance (I follow back @deannamonique).
by UrbanFaith.com | Apr 1, 2014 | Feature, Headline News |
Avery Coffey
It is only Tuesday but good news abounds. Within the last two days news broke of two black teenage boys who were accepted to multiple Ivy League schools. The first is Avery Coffey, a senior at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington, DC. Coffey was accepted at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Brown and the University of Pennsylvania. Four of the schools have extended generous financial aid packages according to Fox News—Harvard is still working on it. Coffey was raised in a single-parent household in DC’s Ward 8, one of the poorest areas in the city, and has a 4.3 grade-point average and plans to pursue a career in finance.
Kwasi Enin
The second Ivy League-bound teen is first-generation American Kwasi Enin who applied to all eight Ivies and was accepted to them all. It is rare for a student to apply to all eight Ivies and even rarer to get accepted to all eight, but it should come as no surprise for the New York-based William Floyd High senior who is in the top 2% of his class, has an SAT score of 2250 out of 2400 points and will have taken 11 Advanced Placement course by the time he graduates in the spring. Enin plans to study medicine just as his parents who emigrated from New York to Ghana in the 80s did. Enin also applied to three schools within the State University of New York system and Duke and was accepted to all of the schools. In a phone interview with USA Today Enin stated that Princeton has offered the most generous financial package and he is awaiting offers from the other institutions. There’s no word on which school he is leaning toward.
Chad Thomas
And lest we be remiss, or seem like we are privileging the Ivy League bound, congratulations are in order for Chad Thomas, a senior at Booker T. Washington in Miami who was offered 150 scholarships. Thomas, who plays high school football and plays nine instruments, has chosen to attend the University of Miami where he will play football and work on his music.
We hope that this is just the beginning of the good news regarding young black men being accepted not just to Ivy League institutions but to institutes of higher learning in general. But we also hope that as mainstream media covers these stories, they won’t be highlighted as exceptions because of the racial or socioeconomic backgrounds of these young men but as just another application of the rule of US citizens accessing the so-called “American dream.”
