April 23-30, 2009

n L usiessoxc.ngby illRee


Page 4 Ms. Perry's Free Press


 If you walk around most college
campuses throughout the country
you will see the same scenario -
many more black females than
males. Black males on college
campuses are becoming endan-
gered species.
 Historically black colleges and
universities (HBCUs) are strug-
gling to graduate students, but it
gets much worse when you look at
the rate black males are graduat-
ing. The federal government desig-
nates 83 four-year colleges and uni-
versities as historically black.
 Recently, the AP analyzed
Department of Education data on
black colleges that shows that just
37 percent of their black students
finish a degree within six years.
 It is hard to imagine that less than
half of the black students who are
entering college are graduating. In
fact, the percentage is 4 points
lower than the national college
graduation rate for black students.
 Again, back to black males One
of the reasons the numbers are so
bad is because black male are only
graduating from college at a rate of
29 percent within a six year period.
 Certainly, that is cause for con-
cern. Not only are black males not
entering and graduating from col-
lege, but they are being jailed at a
rate four times higher than any
other race. The black male crisis is
upon us and no one seems to have
many answers on how we solve it.
 The statistics I just outlined are
very disturbing because throughout
history, black colleges have been a
strong foundation in the African
American community. Because as


 Na

 Can'

 Earl Ofari
 Hutchinson
 The only rea-
son that Somalia is in the news
these days 'is the spectacular des-
peration and criminality of the
Somali pirates, an American sea
captain held hostage by them, and
Hollywood image sharp shooting
by American Navy Seal comman-
does to free him. This news will
quickly fade but the reasons the
Somali pirates exist and make news
in the first place won't fade. In the
past year nearly forty ships have
been hijacked off the coast of
Somalia and millions have been
paid out in ransom.
 But the Somali pirates are not the
modern day's sea going Robin
Hoods that some have tried to por-
tray them as who rob from the rich,
booty laden European and Asian
ships and turn their riches over to
their impoverished kin and vil-
lagers on the shore. They aren't
motivated as some Somali pirate
mouthpieces have hinted, and
backed up by some writers, as a
kind of unofficial Coast Guard pro-
tecting their sea waters from plun-
dering fisherman, and trying to halt
illegal chemical and radioactive
waste dumping off their coast.
 A Somali pirate leader candidly
told interviewers in Kenya last
October after hijacking a Ukrainian
freighter loaded with tanks,
artillery, grenade launchers and
ammunition that their sole motiva-
tion was to grab the ransom money.
 It's more than a money grab
though that drives the pirates. It's


Black Males Struggling to Finish College -

 A Microcosm of a Much Larger Issue


James Baldwin once said, "A child
cannot be taught by someone who
despises him." Often we couldn't
get educated anywhere else.
 James Comer once said, "Being
black in America is often like play-
ing your home games on your
opponent's court."
 You can still win the game when
you play on your opponent's court,
but you have to work a little harder
to win. Unfortunately, not enough
young black males are realizing the
need to work harder in order to be
successful. It almost seems like an
entire generation of black males
didn't get the memo.
 What memo you ask the memo
from Dr. King, Harriet Tubman and
Dubois that stated that hard work,
determination and education are all
critical ingredients to success in
America for black folks.
 Like many HBCUs, Edward
Waters College has a rich history of
educating blacks. The college was
founded in 1866 to educate African
Americans who had been recently
freed from slavery.
 One of the challenges at Edward
Waters is that most students enter
college unprepared. The AP study
found that the majority of EWC's
students have to take remedial
courses prior to taking regular col-
lege level courses.
 And speaking of EWC, the black
male graduation rate at the school
along with Texas Southern,
Voorhees and Miles College is less


than 10 percent. That's right less
than 10 percent!
 Now don't be mistaken, I am not
blaming the institutions for
attempting to create educational
opportunities for students who in
many cases simply do not have the
financial resources or academic
history to attend college. The issues
are much deeper than what is hap-
pening on the campus at EWC and
other HBCUs.
 Both low enrollment and dismal
graduation rates for black men are
byproducts of the social, historical
and economic conditions that
Blacks deal with every day.
 On many college campuses black
women outnumber black males by
a 2-to-1 ratio and on some HBCU
campuses the ratio is 3-to-i.
 Sometimes it hurts to turn on the
light and look at the man in the mir-
ror, but that's exactly what we have
to do. "The dueling realities of our
history steady progress and devas-
tating setbacks continue to burden
many black men in ways that are
sometimes difficult to explain,"
said journalist Michael Fletcher.
 If you attempt to get to the root of
the black males in college dilemma
you will see that those social and
economic factors are impossible to
ignore. Black men are entering
college unprepared and not mental-
ly focused.
 There is an unrealized self-
esteem issue with many black men.
We seem to have fewer role models


and many feel that success is a
dream and not a goal. There is a
stigma of not being an academic
achiever that is attached to being a
black male.
 Then there is the blue-collar fac-
tor; many seek out many profes-
sions that do not require degrees to
be successful, which I applaud,
however education clearly puts you
in a better position to accomplish
your dreams and goals.
 It's critical that we address this
problem at a very young age. We
need to increase mentorship in the
black community. And, we have to
stop using the racism crutch, yes,
sometimes there are discriminatory
issues, but as Arthur Ashe once
said, "Racism is not an excuse to
not do the best you can."
 Going back to the man in the
mirror concept, we have to face the
facts that not everyone is made for
college. The U.S. Department of
Education's National Center for
Education Statistics reports that
over 75 percent of students who
enroll at the college leave without a
diploma.
 The parallel facing black males is
unprecedented and troublesome.
The more we achieve, it seems as if
the more many of us are left
behind. Maybe President Obama
can inspire a new generation of
black males hopefully it's not to
late for the current generation.
 Signing off from EWC,
 Reggie Fullwood
 on shore bases. However the recent
 announcement by Defense
 Secretary Robert Gates, of defense
 budget cuts, puts that up in the air.
Even if the ships are built that
wouldn't do much to stop the pira-
cy. There are always hundreds
more desperate, impoverished and
violence scarred young men who
, would happily take the place of the
pirates who American combat
forces knock out.
 Meanwhile, President Obama's
tough talk to frontally combat pira-
cy is welcome and applauded by
all. But the ,far bigger problem
remains the never ending crisis of a
broken, war torn nation that pushes
thousands of men to high sea gang-
sterism. Navy Seal sharpshooters
can't do much to end that crisis.
 Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author
 and political analyst.


 the never ending Somali crisis. The
 UN has described the security situ-
 ation in Somalia as the worst the
 country has experienced since the
. early 1990s, while the UN's Food
Security and Analysis Unit (FSAU)
 has described the level of human
 suffering and deprivation in
 Somalia as "shocking".
 In the best of economic days
 Somalia still ranked near rock bot-
 tom on every economic and social
 scale of the world's poorest coun-
 tries. The same month that the
 Ukrainian ship was hijacked 52 non
 government organizations doing
 relief and humanitarian work in the
 country implored the UN to inter-
 vene in the crisis.
 There is good reason for the
 urgent appeal. More than 3 million
 Somalis, or about half the country's
 population, are in desperate need of
 emergency aid. This is a near one
 hundred percent increase in the aid
 stricken numbers from the start of
 2008. The reasons for the despera-
 tion are well known; a devastating
 drought, record-high food prices,
 and a horrific and expanding war
 by gangster militia bands. The
 fighting in 2008 drove hundreds of
 thousands from their homes in the
 cities. The war fleeing refugees
 pushed the total of displaced per-
 sons to a staggering 1.1 million.
 The greatest impact of the suffering
 as always has fallen on the chil-
 dren. One in six children under
 five, or approximately 180,000
 children, is acutely malnourished in
 South and Central Somalia.
 Somalis are not the only ones


who are in mortal danger from the
raging violence. In 2008, 24 aid
workers were killed and scores of
others were kidnapped while carry-
ing out their work. There were
more than 100 reported :security
incidents directly targeting aid
agencies. The majority of the aid
workers are Somali nationals, but
European workers have also been
the victims.
 The non government organiza-
tions did not simply beg the UN to
intervene in the country's crisis.
They also lambasted international
agencies for not doing more to pro-
tect civilians and aid workers alike.
 The piracy escapades have made
things worse in a couple of other
ways. They have taken the glare off
the dire conditions in the country
since much of the Western press
has fixated on the sensationalism of
the piracy acts and President
Obama's response to it. Worse, the
sea violence and the threat posed to
shipping could disrupt the always
precarious flow of food and med-
ical supplies to the 1 million and
daily increasing displaced persons
in the country.
 Several international donor
groups have appealed to European
and American donor groups to
increase pressure on governments
to formulate a plan to insure that
the piracy doesn't stop the flow of
the aid.
 A year ago, the Navy announced
plans to build dozens of new small-
er, more mobile combat ships to
better chase down the pirates near
the shore and maybe even hit their


 Black Caucus See Advantage

 ... -of Lifting Cuban Embargo
 A recent Black Caucus delegation visitation to Cuba
 S. V .has riled up America's anti-Fidel Castro forces. They
 are against lifting the 47-year-old trade and travel
 embargoes of that island nation. President Barack
 Obama proposes lifting travel restrictions on Cuban-
Americans, but Black Caucus delegation members say the larger economic
blockade of Cuba should also be brought to an end.
 Over the years the Black Caucus has sought trade and travel with the
Caribbean country just 90 miles off US shores. A Congressional Black
Caucus 2000 delegation set up a model for the two countries working
together. Regarding the subject of underserved medical needs of American
inner cities, Castro suggested granting scholarships to low-income youths
selected by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to come to Cuba and
study medicine. The 2009 delegation found over 100 American students -
more than half of them black enrolled in the program at the Latin American
 Blacks'views ofrela- School of Medicine (LASM). LASM is a
 Blacks' prominent part of the Cuban healthcare sys-
tions with Cuba differ tem and is possibly the largest medical
vastly from those of school in the world. The CBC's scholars
most Cuban immigrants receive free educations as doctors, nurses
and Cuban-Americans. and dentists. Rev. Lucius Walker, executive
 director of the Interreligious Foundation for
 Community Organization, the New York-based group that receives and
 processes the applications for the scholarship says "We see it as a tremen-
 dous opportunity to help provide quality medical care in underserved com-
 munities". (According to the U.S. Census, only about 5% of U.S. doctors
 are black)
 At the recent Summit of the Americas, President Obama suggested that the
 U.S. could learn a lesson of goodwill from Cuba. In 1998, Cuba's govern-
 ment began programs to send large-scale medical assistance to poor popula-
 tions affected by natural disasters. Each year some 2,000 young people
 enroll at the school, which operates from a former naval base in a suburb of
 Havana. Cuba's 21 medical faculties all train young people of poor families
 from throughout the Americas, as well as hundreds of African, Arab, Asian
 and European students. The country sends teams of doctors all over the
 world to respond to natural disasters. Cuban doctors have provided medical
 services to the underserved in Africa for over a decade.
 Blacks' views of relations with Cuba differ vastly from those of most
 Cuban immigrants and Cuban-Americans. The former lily-white upper crust
 of Cuban society wield political clout in Florida and are dead set against nor-
 malizing relations with Cuba's government. Consequently most politicians
 have chosen to adopt Cuban-American views. From 1960 to 1979, hundreds
 of thousands of Cubans began new lives in the US. Most of these Cuban
 Americans came were from educated upper and middle classes and form the
 backbone of the anti-Castro movement. Cuban Americans are America's
 fifth-largest Hispanic group and the largest Spanish-speaking group of white
 descent.
 Back home, Black Cubans made great advances in the past four decades
 and are often cited as one of the signal accomplishments of Castro's revolu-
 tion. The medical programs are an example. Cuban officials report there
 being 13,000 black physicians among the country's 11 million people, com-
 pared to America's 20,000 black doctors in its population of 290 million.
 At present, the embargo limits American businesses from conducting busi-
 ness with Cuban interests. It is the most enduring trade embargo in modem
 history. Despite the embargo, the US is the fifth largest exporter to Cuba
 (5.1% of Cuba's imports are from the US). Polling indicates that the
 American public is ambivalent about continuing the embargo. A 2007
 AP/Ipsos Poll indicates that 48% of Americans favor continuing the embar-
 go, against 40% who favor ending it.
 Mainstream media joined anti-Castro hardliners denouncing the Black
 Caucus position on Cuba, but that view is also opposed by business leaders
 who claim that freer trade would be good for Cuba and the United States.
 Like the Black Caucus, US corporate interests are impatient to do business
 with Cuba. Oil companies want to drill offshore, farmers to export more rice,
 vegetables and meat, construction firms to build infrastructure projects.
 Young Cubans from families exiled to Florida are less radical than their par-
 ents and also advocate ending the policy.


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vy Seal Sharpshooters


t End the Somali Crisis


CONTRIBUTORS: Lynn Jones, Charles Griggs, Camilla Thompson,
Reginald Fullwood, E.O.Huthcinson, William Reed, Andre X, Brenda Burwell,
Dyrinda Sapp, Marsha Oliver, Marretta Latimer, Phyllis Mack, Carlottra
Guyton, Brenda Burwell, Rhonda Silver,Vickie Brown, Rahman Johnson,


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