An education agenda is a terrible thing to waste.

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You all need to stop sending me links like this. A brother is trying to concentrate on writing his post. Eco Soul, I have mad love for you, and I know the point of your post was sisters getting their work out on, but sometimes a picture can get in the way, if you know what I am "sayin".

Anyway, let me stop before folks start calling me James Vine. James, you are one sick dude.

Anywhooo, tonight I am not going to chase my man racism. He is too easy to catch. Hell, when he starts f#*&^%g with black celebrities without a care in the world, I might as well leave his ass alone. There is nothing I can do from here, so go on with your bad self Big R. It's your world.

I do want to talk about a serious subject, and if we overcome it, we can tell Big R to kiss our collective black asses. Why? Because then it really won't matter what he does; we will already have ours, and thanks to the laws in this great country, there is not a damn thing he will be able to do about it.

The serious problem is education; or a lack of it among young black males. I heard Brian Williams yapping about it on NBC Nightly News, and I already knew there was a problem, but damn! Only forty seven percent of black males are graduating high school in this country. And, in my hometown of Philly- and in places like New York- it's twenty seven percent. Now that is some scary stuff. Oh we talk about it, and we are aware of it, but can we really do anything about it?

I know one thing; the HNIC's that are in charge aren't doing the job. It's one fancy program after another, and none of it is doing any damn good. "No Child Left Behind";"Race To The Top", what's the difference? None of them are working. I suspect that the folks implementing these programs with their fancy Ed.D's and assortment of letters have no clue about motivating young black men to learn. A think tank here, a think tank there, and people trying to score cheap political points at the expense of our children.

Some programs, to be sure, have been working. Urban Prep in Chicago comes to mind. And apparently the charter schools up in Harlem are kicking butt. So, help me out here, why aren't the folks who were instrumental in starting some of these schools not in serious decision making positions in Washington? Whose job is it to find these people and put the brightest and hardest working people together to come up with solutions? One problem, to be sure, is ego. I have been in the room and seen the my degree is better than yours interplay that takes place among folks who are supposed to be about the business of educating. It's depressing. And folks like me who -just want to give a helping hand- throw our hands up and say f*&k it! That's almost where I was, (almost) until I watched Brian Williams yapping about it on Nightly News, as if it was all taking place in some foreign country and not right in his back yard. (Well, not his back yard, but you know what I am saying; it's here in A-merry-ca. )

Education is still the great equalizer, and it's time these youngsters realise it.

*Pic lifted from a wingnut website. Sorry, I don't remember the name.