Plea To The Visiting NNPA Black Publishers: “How To Grab Over The Education of  Black America”

By Sean C. Bowers

 Some of the answers to the complex educational issues facing African-Americans today are right here in Hampton Roads, waiting to be exported and implemented nationally.

The programs could feature a four-quartered approach. First, Hampton Roads poet, Nathan Richardson, would provide a “Know Y(Our) History” portion program. Showcasing interpretive performances of Fredrick Douglass’ more famous speeches, from memory, followed by a question and answer segment. Staying in costume and period, Nathan answers pressing questions of today in Douglass’ persona.

Second, would be the “Find Y(Our) Voice” portion of the program where the national success of the Hampton Roads Youth Poets program would be highlighted and detailed. This “Teens with a Purpose” program gives our youth the training and tools to not only express themselves, but teaches them how to begin articulated calls for positive change. Beginning with middle-school and into high school, the implementation of how to speak out and stand up for justice on a local level.

Phase three is to be the goal-setting and tracking mechanism portion of the presentation. By using the free “V1ZUAL1ZE Power of Dreams blueprint” (a ten-page empowerment tool with follow-up questions), users would be armed with a plan for battling obesity, bullying, drop-outs, suicides and youth gang violence involvement. This is a plan designed for all young people that can be personalized and includes a most important time-management with calendar usage. A kid nurturing a dream is much easier to incentivize and discipline, and, is therefore, a lot less likely to fall prey to the many pitfalls that exist. (This is the “Plan, Track and Control Y(Our) Own Destiny” portion of the program.)

Lastly, the 757 area would offer its “How to Develop Y(Our) Own Local H.E.A.R.T. (Humanity Empowerment And Resources Team) Consortium” in any and all locations, presentation. These varied consortiums would begin to work together to help women, children, the elderly and those from the community most in need. They would network and share resources to reach and benefit the maximum number of people as quickly as possible.

This traveling road show would network through the NNPA publishers’ network, coming to each and every city as requested.  It can be properly scheduled and pre-planned by calling the New Journal & Guide and requesting Sean C. Bowers. The only expense would be the cost of bringing the 757 empowerment training teams out to the different areas of the nation. The programs themselves just need local community activists to replicate what has been working here in the 757 for years, under the guidance of two of the three program creators.

Blacks in America have been under attack since they arrived on these shores, no matter the route or arrival time. That being said, Black America, (can’t as much as they want to) do this entirely alone, in a vacuum. The White power structure now in place is not listening or responding to the needs of Black America. Black America is the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the nation.

African-Americans can choose to implement this bottom-out-and-up solution that is controlled by Black Americans through the trusted Black-owned and operated NNPA (which was created for this kind of forward movement and has stood the test of time in defense of Black Americans).

The process is no longer dependent on White America’s non-working top-down system. The rest of America will have no choice but to respect the obvious progress made on these issues that face all American young people within the educational system.

Black America is more than strong enough collectively, and therein comes the rub. When working together in harmony on this type of grand endeavor that can’t be tracked, traced or stopped by the existing unresponsive White power structure, Black Americans empower themselves by using the digital tools and new resources available together. Black America grabs control of their own destiny from within, once and for all.

The key is using Black-owned and operated powerful Black Press as the informational highway to distribute these kitchen-table solutions that all Americans can begin to understand and use. The Black Press will enlarge its proper position in the Black community as its most trusted resource – the glue holding the community together.

Black-owned Radio and Television can be brought on board to further speed up the whole process. Staying true to the goal – on point – and  getting all the local and national players’ resources to work together in unison is the major challenge. It is only without egocentric and controlling individuals that true success in this mission can be achieved ultimately by and for Black America.

By replicating what has worked here and across the nation, we can create a “Best Practices Blueprint” of how to make the type of change to protect, nurture and grow our communities. The rest of the nation can learn from and will come to respect these efforts.

NNPA publishers, now is the time to take hold of the reins and steer America to her rightful position by (Y)our  commitment to all of us but especially to our young people-our future. This can and will work with our combined will, commitment and efforts.

What is needed now is our commitment to begin the self-empowerment process, followed by the organizational building process, tracking our commitment to our stated goals, and finally, taking it to scale for All of Black America and beyond.

WACONDA is not a fictional movie myth; it is a yet-to-be-realized-self-evident-truth, carried in our entire DNA,  WACONDA FOREVER!

The author gives his consent for this article to be reprinted in any and all NNPA publications and requests the Black publishers please consider being a part of making this happen.

Sean C. Bowers is a local progressive youth development coach, author and poet, who has written for the New Journal and Guide the last eighteen years. His recent book of over 120 NJ&G articles detailing the issues is available at V1ZUAL1ZE@aol.com and he does do large scale solutions presentations.