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Father’s Day
Today, Father’s Day is celebrated here in the United States.
For many years, I have not celebrated Father’s Day since the death of my father in 1985. Yesterday, I visited his gravesite for the first time since the day of his funeral all those many years ago. Like the Legend of the Phoenix, It is the beginning of the end, the start of my healing journey, and the end to brokeness.
I was totally heartbroken when my mother said “Daddy’s gone.” I don’t remember my response to the news but I know my world was turned upside down. My life drastically changed on that March day.
My friend held me accountable for my healing
My friend came with me to the cemetery yesterday. I cried, talked with him, and broke up one of the cigars I had with me as a gift. He smoked cigars and I love the smell of them. Visiting the gravesite lifted a weight in my heart.
I will visit my father more often to talk with him, cry about his absence (I have not cried), and laugh about how his baby girl is all grown up now. I’m going to plant something atop the grave. I miss him so and it’s time to heal. It all ends with beginnings.
Pray for the women who lost their daddy as a little girl. We have daddy issues too although we had a loving relationship.
Juneteenth ❤️🖤💚
Juneteenth is a day that commemorates June 19, 1865 when the enslaved people in Galveston, Texas found out they were emancipated from slavery.
We celebrate freedom!! ❤️🖤💚
Opal Lee is the Grandmother of Juneteenth
At the age of 94, Ms. Opal Lee’s efforts came to fruition, and Juneteenth became a national holiday in the United States of America.
Opal Lee is responsible for making Juneteenth a national holiday in the United States. The journey for this to become a national holiday started with a 1400-mile walk from Fort Worth, TX to Washington, DC in 2016 when she was 89 years old. In 2021, she began a 2.5-mile walk to recognize the number of years it took for the news to reach the enslaved people in Galveston, TX in 1865.
Opal Lee is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc
Which way?!?
I learned the hard way about…
#submission to a greater purpose
#surrender to a better plan
#obedience to a wise method
It has made a major #difference in my #life with a sense of #wellness for my #soul
Self talk Tuesday
Today and each #moment of the #day you’re given another opportunity, speak positive #affirmations and affirm the #truth that God made you beautiful and wonderful
Self-talk daily
one thing, just one thing
one thing at a time is needed to focus on and do just ONE THING
I am one who always multitasks. Yes, I watch or listen to something while I’m working. Honestly, it helps me focus and get into a groove. Some people tell me when I talk to them I’m not listening although I say I am because I am “multitasking”
Is there too much to do or do I want to do too much?
The one time I can do ONE THING is when I’m sleeping. As I am on my way to sleep, I pray to quiet my mind from a busy day.
At this time, it is challenging to do one thing at a time. One day, someday I will, we will get to do one thing at a time.
in the mean time, do the best you can with the time you have
The measure of one’s worth
Let’s define VALUE
Value according to dictionary.com is relative worth, merit, or importance
being LIKED is of the same form, appearance, kind, character, amount, etc according to dictionary.com
Based on the definitions being valued is always better than being liked. It is the VALUE that sets you apart since being liked is considered the same as others.
Measure your worth by being different and important.
Value is PRICELESS
Memorial Day
By Sewell Chan, May 26, 2018, The Unofficial History of Memorial Day
The official history of Memorial Day goes like this: In 1868, three years after the Civil War ended, a group of Union veterans established a Decoration Day for the nation to adorn the graves of the war dead with flowers. A retired Union major general, John A. Logan, set the date of the holiday for May 30, and the holiday’s first observance was at Arlington National Cemetery.
David W. Blight, a historian at Yale, has a different account. He traces the holiday to a series of commemorations that freed black Americans held in the spring of 1865, after Union soldiers, including members of the 21st United States Colored Infantry, liberated the port city of Charleston, S.C.
Digging through an archive at Harvard, Dr. Blight found that the largest of these commemorations took place on May 1, 1865, at an old racecourse and jockey club where hundreds of captive Union prisoners had died of disease and been buried in a mass grave. The black residents exhumed the bodies and gave them proper burials, erected a fence around the cemetery, and built an archway over it with the words, “Martyrs of the Race Course.”
Some 10,000 black people then staged a procession of mourning, led by thousands of schoolchildren carrying roses and singing the Union anthem “John Brown’s Body.” Hundreds of black women followed with baskets of flowers, wreaths and crosses. Black men, including Union infantrymen, also marched. A children’s choir sang spirituals and patriotic songs, including “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“The war was over, and Memorial Day had been founded by African-Americans in a ritual of remembrance and consecration,” Dr. Blight wrote in a 2011 essay for The New York Times. “The war, they had boldly announced, had been about the triumph of their emancipation over a slaveholders’ republic. They were themselves the true patriots.”
The African-American origins of the holiday were later suppressed, Dr. Blight found, by white Southerners who reclaimed power after the end of Reconstruction and interpreted Memorial Day as a holiday of reconciliation, marking sacrifices — by white Americans — on both sides. Black Americans were largely marginalized in this narrative.
“In the struggle over memory and meaning in any society, some stories just get lost while others attain mainstream recognition,” Dr. Blight wrote.
His claim is not universally accepted; the fact-checking website Snopes says of the 1865 remembrance: “Whether it was truly the first such ceremony, and what influence (if any) it might have had on later observances, are still matters of contention.”
What is clear is that the holiday is about freedom. Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day in 1871, Frederick Douglass laid to rest what today we would call a false equivalency — the notion that both sides were engaged in righteous struggle.
“We must never forget that victory to the rebellion meant death to the republic,” Douglass said. “We must never forget that the loyal soldiers who rest beneath this sod flung themselves between the nation and the nation’s destroyers.”
sistateacher’s thoughts
Memorial Day is the last Monday of May each calendar year in the USA. It marks the unofficial beginning of Summer, the start of vacation season, and a time for family to gather and have a BBQ in the backyard. However, it is to observe the death of soldiers who fought in a war. Since the US Civil War, there have been a number of wars where soldiers lost their lives.
In times of war, lives are lost for different reasons. Some are casualties while others are due to engaging in combat. With Memorial Day as we observe the lost lives of soldiers in combat, let us remember that Black History is U.S. History and vice-versa, “…Memorial Day had been founded by African-Americans in a ritual of remembrance and consecration, (Sewell, 2018)” Today, we honor those who sacrificed their lives in war. It is my prayer there will be less war with increased diplomacy to resolve conflict.
Happy Memorial Day
The WORK
Being an advocate, activist, and organizer is righteous WORK. It is on behalf of the voiceless, disenfranchised, marginalized, vulnerable, poor, and needy. Yes, God’s work.
God’s plan and purpose for my life
There are some who believe righteous WORK is only within the context of religion and anything connected to it.
However, righteous WORK is being a light in darkness, showing love to the unloved, and serving others without reciprocity.
There are those who want to be the passport to another’s destiny. Two sides to the passport, you and God.
It’s with your righteous WORK that your destiny is heaven or hell, you determine that cause can’t nobody else put you there.
It’s with your righteous heart that your destiny is God’s plan and purpose for your life, determined by surrender and submission. In essence, still you but God is in control.
hidden work manifestation
Sowing and reaping is a principle that operates. Righteous seeds produce righteous fruit. Reap a plentiful harvest with sowing righteousness.
Let your love life and work be proof of His love. Do the WORK with being a light of love. Shine bright like a diamond. A reward will be openly provided with fruit that manifests.
KEEP PUSHING and KEEP PRAYING
Watch Yeshiva University – Wurzweiler School of Social Work 2022 Commencement
MY GRADUATION
Fact: Black women are the most educated demographic in the USA.
Check out the commencement https://vimeo.com/706327635
That was a great day, history was made. Hard work pays off. #PhD 🧑🏽🎓 Feeling great that I made it over the finish line.
Like the Legend of the Phoenix, it all ends with beginnings. Now, the next chapter.
When I win, we all win!! 🙏🏽
Period Poverty
Lilo H. Stainton, NJ Spotlight April 21, 2022
When New Jersey Assemblywoman Shanique Speight was a child, she and her four siblings became homeless after a fire gutted their apartment. She saw her single mother struggle to feed the family as they shuttled between the YMCA, shelters and other temporary housing. Even essential items — like menstrual pads — felt out of reach.
That experience is part of what led Speight, an Essex County Democrat, to introduce a package of legislation designed to address “period poverty,” defined as a lack of access to sanitary products, places to use them and education about period health in general. “I can just remember the struggle she had in trying to raise us,” Speight recalled of her mother. “I know she couldn’t afford to buy these products. I just want to make sure those who are in this situation have access to these things.”
One of the bills, introduced in early March, calls for public support programs like Medicaid, SNAP (or food stamps) and WIC — which supports low-income new moms — to also cover the cost of pads, tampons and pantiliners. Another requires these items to be available for free at homeless shelters. There is a proposal to create a public-awareness campaign around period poverty. Other measures seek to expand screening for endometriosis, a condition that can cause serious pain, heavy monthly bleeding and increase infertility risks, and other concerns related to period health.
Three of the five bills have Senate versions as well. But none of these bills has been scheduled for a hearing, the first step toward becoming law. Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) — who largely controls what measures get legislative attention in the Assembly — has pledged to review the measures, according to officials.
‘It’s about not being afraid to say ‘period.’’
“I just want to make sure woman are more comfortable talking about their period,” Speight said, “and that there is someone to talk to, instead of thinking you have to experience heavy bleeding or clotting.”
No need to suffer in silence
Particularly important, Speight said, is that girls and young women know that they do not have to suffer in silence. “It’s about not being afraid to say ‘period’,” she said. “I just want to make sure our younger generation has the information that they need to guide them in whatever choice they make.”
Speight’s work aligns with a wider, national movement to raise awareness of period health in general and highlight the racial gap in diagnosing and treating conditions like fibroids, uterine growths that can cause pain, bleeding, anemia and other complications. Eight out of 10 Black women develop fibroids during their lifetime, but they are less common among white women. Up to 40% of all women experience heavy bleeding or pain so severe they regularly miss school or work, according to Healthline Media, and medical providers urge them to speak up and seek help for these concerns.
‘I just want to start merging menstrual health and maternal health.’
Speight said she is also motivated by the connection between period health and maternal health, another area where she has played a leadership role. In 2018 she and other lawmakers compared their own birth experiences during a powerful hearing that painted a clear picture of how systemic racism impacts maternal health. Legislation she has since championed with colleagues enabled the state to expand access to doula care for low-income women, enhance and diversify the maternal health workforce and reduce racial bias among health care providers.
“I just want to start merging menstrual health and maternal health,” Speight said. “It’s a direct connection.”
Diagnosing endometriosis
A diagnosis of endometriosis, for example, increases a woman’s chances of infertility by 30% to 50%, according to Healthline. “I’m not sure women are aware of that,” Speight said, stressing the need for early detection. “Women need to know so they can be treated early, or to know what choices they have if they want to start a family.”
New Jersey has one of the nation’s highest maternal mortality rates and Black women are seven times more likely than white women to die from childbirth in the state. Lawmakers, community leaders and maternal health experts are working to change these numbers and have reported progress in improving some maternal health outcomes, like reducing unnecessary cesarean section deliveries. But the effort continues, coordinated in part through the Nurture NJ campaign founded by first lady Tammy Murphy in early 2020, which seeks to cut in half the death rate and eliminate the racial gap in five years.
“Institutional racism is 100% the root cause” of our maternal health crisis, Murphy told NJ Spotlight News last week, and she said elevating Black women’s voices is critical to the reform process.
Speight is also elevating Black women’s voices through her own “period packing parties”; last weekend’s gathering evolved into a photoshoot and brunch for some 50 people. She gathers friends and supporters to sort pads, tampons and pantiliners and create individual kits that her office distributes to women’s shelters and schools in Newark and Bellville. Another event is scheduled for May 21.
Speight said she feels lucky to be able to provide these things for herself and her daughter, but she thinks about the struggle facing low-income families, especially those with multiple teenage girls. Quality products are not cheap and bulk discounts are hard to get when cash is tight. While most products cost around a quarter each, women can go through a dozen or more a day, for several days, during their monthly period.
If Medicaid or WIC or another government-sponsored program could help relieve some of these costs, “that would definitely be helpful to young girls and the mothers of young girls,” Speight said. “And if they’re dealing with formula and Pampers, that all costs. It actually becomes a burden.”
Speight’s proposals include:
- A-3208, which would require public assistance programs like Medicaid, SNAP and Workfirst to cover the cost of menstrual hygiene products;
- A-3206 would require hospitals, birthing centers, community clinics, doctors and other providers to screen pregnant or post-partum patients who are diagnosed for preeclampsia to determine if they also have endometriosis;
- A-3211 would require facilities that shelter homeless people to provide free menstrual hygiene products to those in need;
- A-3212 would requires the state health department to establish a statewide screening and education program for endometriosis, polycystic ovarian cancer and possibly other conditions. (Speight said she wants to add fibroids to the list.)
- A-3825 calls for the state Department of Human Services to launch a public education campaign around period poverty and the resources available to women.
sistateacher’s thoughts
Yep, you read that correctly. PERIOD POVERTY is “defined as a lack of access to sanitary products, places to use them and education about period health in general”
Just as everything else, those who live in marginalized, under-resourced, and underserved communities have limited access to necessary items. The availability of sanitary products, pads and/or tampons, are more expensive and a precious commodity for all females.
It may seem less important than food, clothing, and shelter but it is essential just as food, clothing, and shelter. The lack of an adequate supply of sanitary items leads to a number of other problems such as embarrassment, bullying, and SHAME for the inability to meet one’s needs.
Because it is very much a part of life and very much part of being a female, it needs to be fine if someone needs assistance with addressing their needs. So, let’s be better at addressing the needs of females who require hygiene items.
NBOE New Board Member
Catherine Carrera, Chalkbeat May 13, 2022
Helping students rebound after pandemic is top of mind for new Newark board member
Crystal Williams, the newly elected member of the Newark Board of Education, has safety, school culture, and academic recovery at the forefront of her agenda as she takes office.
Williams, who accrued the most votes in the April 19 school board election, was sworn into a three-year term — and her first elected position — at last week’s virtual reorganization meeting. Reelected board members A’Dorian Murray-Thomas and Daniel Gonzalez also took the oath of office. The three ran on a slate backed by powerful politicians including Mayor Ras Baraka, who won reelection to a third term on Tuesday.
Williams said at the meeting that she knows there is a lot of work to be done to help students rebound from the pandemic. “I am just here ready to serve, ready to do what’s necessary to make sure the kids get what they need. We need to emerge from this pandemic not the same, but stronger and smarter and kinder, with the commitment to do what’s right for the kids.”
Williams, a network technician at Verizon for more than 20 years, sees her role on the board like that of a customer service representative.
“If you don’t give your customers a quality product, then your customer service is lacking, and a competitor steps in and takes your customer,” she said during a recent interview. “It’s the same way for the students and parents of the Newark Public Schools system. They are our customers and we should be providing them with high quality service and education.”
And, in those terms, she says she deeply understands what her new “customers” want from the board.
As a single mom of seven children who currently attend or have attended public and charter schools in Newark, Williams has seen deteriorating school buildings, lunches that make her kids lose their appetites, a lack of classroom resources, and low test scores.
She’s also seen the unsafe routes children take to and from schools and she hopes to address them, though she wasn’t sure how exactly. “This is all new to me, but I’m going to be asking a lot of questions,” she said. She also said the pandemic’s toll on students’ academic progress is a huge concern as is school culture, with low teacher morale affecting students’ motivation.
“I want students’ quality of life while they’re in our schools to improve, making sure that they want to be there and have pride in their school and feel welcomed and loved and valued,” she said.
While juggling full-time work and her children’s needs over the years, Williams found time to volunteer on parent teacher associations and advocacy groups such as Unapologetic Parents, a group of parents who are proponents of school choice.
She met Jasmine Morrison, a fellow parent and the group’s leader, on a school bus to Trenton. Morrison said they were heading to the state capital along with other group members to rally against a decision to block the expansion of some charter schools in Newark.
“Crystal has been instrumental in the group, whether it be for going to rallies or helping to run coat drives and book bag giveaways,” Morrison said in a recent interview. “She has so much energy and you see that energy in her interactions with her kids, and I think she’s going to bring that to the board.”
Board co-vice president Asia Norton said she looks forward to the fresh outlook Williams will bring to the board and its monthly committee meetings.
“Although she is new to politics, she’s not new to motherhood or to the workforce,” Norton said. “Ms. Williams exudes pride in being a mother and making sure that her children have everything that they need whether it be in the classroom or on the football field or applying to colleges. And I think she’s going to do the same for children across the district.”
Williams’ children range in ages from 3 to 23. Her oldest, Brooklyn, graduated from Rutgers-Newark in May 2020 and struggled with the switch to remote learning during that time.
Her son Jayson, 16, did well with remote learning but had serious difficulties returning to school in person, she said. After considering several options, Williams transferred him to Leaders for Life Academy in the South Ward, a school that helps students earn a high school equivalency diploma. He graduated in December and now attends Universal Technical Institute, a trade school campus in Bloomfield.
“He took a different path,” Williams said. “I’m not going to make him fit into anything he’s not. Now, he comes home excited from school and makes money at his part-time job.”
With seven kids, Williams said, it becomes quickly apparent that all children learn differently and require different supports.
During a recent phone call as Williams drove her second oldest, Autumn, 17, to Temple University in Philadelphia for a campus visit, she shared some advice that she often gives her children.
“Sometimes, we have to detour and a detour is not necessarily a bad thing — you might find where you want to live along the way,” she said. “Sometimes a detour works in your favor. Keeping an open mind and a positive attitude is key.”
Williams said she never imagined running for any public office, especially because she doesn’t enjoy public speaking and would rather stay away from the limelight.
But after getting COVID early in the pandemic and seeing her children persevere through their struggles, she decided she didn’t want to “hide” anymore. When she was approached by other parent advocates and community members to run for the open Newark school board seat, she decided to go for it. Having guaranteed support from influential political players, including state Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz, and the money that comes with that backing, played an integral role in her successful campaign.
“I’ve never been on the board so I don’t know a lot of stuff and I’m going to look to my board members for help,” Williams said. “But I do know I want a better quality of life for the children, and I’m going to stand true to my promise.”
sistateacher’s thoughts
As a parent and activist, advocate, and organizer, I’m a bit confused with Chrystal Williams desire to serve on the Newark Board of Education Board when she has used her contrary efforts for the students of the NBOE. As a Board member, what efforts will she use to destabilize and destroy the NBOE under the auspice of quality education and choice? Neoliberalism has been detrimental to public school education.
First, I would like Ms. Williams to know I am not a “customer” and neither is my son. In fact, I am a taxpayer in the City of Newark which provides me with a particular level of authority and power. She is an elected official and not a customer service representative. The Newark Board of Education is a public entity and not a company despite the size of its annual budget. Ms. Willisams appears to have her roles confused and it poses a real threat that impacts real lives. Education in the NBOE is a matter of life and death so it needs to be taken just that seriously and not as if it is a product.
Honestly, I am offended and feel disrespected that Ms. Williams think of the families whose children attend NBOE schools as “customers” Is she looking to profit from being a NBOE Board Member and will sell out the families of whose children attend NBOE schools to the highest bidder? Inquiring minds want to know.
As she said she has “never been on a board,” and I don’t believe she ever attended a NBOE meeting. I believe it would be best for her to resign from the NBOE Board because any of her efforts are disingenuous to help the families of whose children attend NBOE schools especially since she considers them a “customer”
Ms. Williams may contact me for any future discussion about her role as a NBOE member to serve the families of whose children attend NBOE schools.
Community Schools
Peace and blessings
Prayers and condolences to the family of Wilhemina Holder and the Newark community.
- The Board must embody its governing power with its only employee, the Superintendent, Chief Academic Officer. Poor governance will lead to Newark losing it under QSAC and NJDOE will appoint a superintendent. You all are responsible and accountable for the proper allocation of resources that are necessary for success and a positive impact on children’s lives. The amount of funding received for mental health services was squandered on services that do not address mental health, SEL. The consequences of that squander will be felt in the lives of students, families, faculty, and staff for years to come, SOCIAL and EMOTIONAL LEARNING is a tool, not treatment and does not replace a mental health professional who can provide appropriate tools, skills, treatment, and support to the students, families, staff, and faculty which is a sustainable solution. Some of those supports are treatment, education, referrals, and consultation in times of crisis. I am disgusted that the choice between a tool and treatment happened. The choice perpetuates mental health stigma and shows the negligence of your fiduciary responsibility as a Board. Also, it creates an impediment to learning and academic success. Again, which one of your friends or someone in your network received that contract? Inquiring minds want to know. The community fought hard to acquire full local control and FULL LOCAL CONTROL is necessary to maintain and sustain. You all need training. Hopefully, you all know the consequence of losing Governance and will make the necessary changes for governing NBOE.
- I have emailed you all information about NJDOE mental health guides and reports.
My main point is community schools. This model encompasses the school as the hub of the community. If the community had input about mental health resource allocation, the propaganda would have won for it. There are behavioral health treatment providers in Newark. NBOE disregards the voice of the community because the school is no longer the hub, especially under the neoliberalism auspices of “choice” which is destabilizing our communities. Effective, consistent, and transparent communication is necessary that starts with executive leadership. The Board needs more transparency and include the community in making decisions that impact the lives of NBOE students, families, staff, and faculty. Collaborate with parents and invested community members for the success and safety of NBOE schools. It is a matter of life and death.
Belmont Runyon needs a working fax and the nurses’ office phone must be repaired. We need to ensure bus tickets are provided to the school in a timely manner.
The current One Newark Enrollment plan needs to be immediately dismantled. Families being required to choose 8 schools is not a “real choice”.
Practice social distancing, wear a mask, wash your hands for 20 seconds, get vaccinated, get boosted. Peace and blessings.
NBOE Survey
As you know, the Alliance for Newark Public Schools has consistently advocated for Newark students for the past 10 years. As this school year winds up, we have compiled our year-end evaluation tool for the school district and its schools.
The purpose of this year-end evaluation is to examine issues and recommend solutions as well as recognize prevailing strengths. The results will be based on the feedback from those most impacted- students, parents, and staff. We will release the results on Monday, June 13, 2022, and have a conversation concerning the predominant issues revealed. The purpose is not to point fingers or blame. We know our children need all of us to collectively work together. We ask that you encourage the schools to participate in this evaluation via school leaders, teachers, staff, parents, students, and the community.
Here is the link and also attached is a cover flier to explain the process.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Alliance4NPSReportCard
The PDF can be downloaded and shared with others. Please encourage others to complete the survey for NBOE.
sistateacher’s thoughts
It is important the LEA is evaluated by the community on a grassroots level. Besides sharing your thoughts during the public speaking portion of the NBOE monthly business meeting and/or regular meeting, you can also participate collectively in evaluating the LEA. In what ways is the NBOE governing the District to ensure it is happening according to the communities’ desires.
Complete the survey and we can have some ideas to share with the NBOE and LEA for the upcoming academic year.
coronavirus surge forecast
COVID Surges Could Infect 100 Million Americans Later This Year 5/8/22 https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20220508/covid-surges-could-infect-100-million-americans-later-this-year
sistateacher’s thoughts
100 million infections are an astounding prediction
“The 100 million infections slated to come this fall and winter will likely be due to new Omicron subvariants that can escape immunity, officials said. The projection is based on a range of models that assume the Omicron subvariants — not a new or dramatically different coronavirus variant — will continue to drive infections.“
It’s challenging to trust governmental predictions of coronavirus and one must have individual accountability for being proactive about one’s health. That’s the problem, government officials have missed the mark regarding communication about the best ways to handle the transmission of the coronavirus. It is CONGREGATING that’s a major problem. Also, people want to maintain the same behavior and expect different results. More than 1,000,000,000 people will die from this infectious disease. There are domino effects resulting from the deaths that adversely impact families, neighborhoods, communities, etc.
This is not a joke!!!
The people who have recovered from having been infected with this virus have lasting symptoms which is called “long covid.” Get it together people because all of our lives are at stake along with our future.
Based on the article, there are approximately 4 months to prepare and govern ourselves accordingly. Sadly, only time will tell how well we will prepare for what’s next.
In the meantime, pray for all nations, wear a mask, maintain a quarantine, avoid congregated settings, get vaccinated, and get boosted. It is a collective effort for all of our collective health and wellbeing.
sistateacher 