The Fleecing of America Part #1: High School Graduations

Some of you may know that my oldest "baby" graduated from High School this past year. Friday, June 11, 2010 to be exact. To make a very long story short, I calculate that I shelled out close to five thousand dollars on her during the course of her senior year.

I know. You're sitting there with your mouth agape. And though I can't remember ALL the fees, I do remember getting a "checklist" when she was a junior. Many of those activities, events and items cost well over $500. There were at least ten things on the list. Now, even though she didn't do all of them, she did enough. Coupled with her cotillion which took place that Sunday, June 13, 2010, I can safely say I spent well over $4,000 on baby girl.

Now, I'm not a penny pincher. Though I am not living as glamorously as I did when I was working in corporate America and getting bonus checks that were 5 digits, I still like to have nice things. I drive a late model car, that I purchased brand new. In fact, out of the five cars I've purchased in my life, three of them were brand new. Though I maintain my hair at home now- it's mostly because I'm trying keep it healthy and getting it fried, dyed and laid to the side every week at Maria's Dominicana Salon or Bonita's Bump N Curl kinda counteract that goal. However, I get my pink and white manicures, pedicures and eyebrows done on the reg. I still shop, eat out, purchase gadgets, do a bit of traveling, tithe (yes, 10%. Praise God from whom all blessings flow). But I'm sorry, thousands of bucks for a graduation, especially in this economy is some bull.

Keep in mind, I just got married last September. We're still paying for something things from that event. Though we paid for a lot of things cash and many other things were gifted to us from family and loved ones- we still paid a pretty penny for our wedding. We had about 100 guests, give or take 5 or 10. We had an open bar at a restaurant that overlooks the water and has an amazing view of the Miami night sky line. We had a lavish buffet, a stretch Hummer... yadda yadda yadda. So yeah. We already paid out the wazoo for our wedding. After all, me and the marriage thing is a ONE time event. So fairy tale it had to be. But over the top graduations... No.

I'm going to her THIRD graduation this year next Tuesday. She graduated from basic training back in September. She graduates from AIT next week. I'm sure the Army will have another 5 graduations before it's all said and done. And of course, she'll graduate from undergrad, grad and hopefully post grad schools. So...

I guess what I'm ranting about is the fact that these companies are pimping the hell out of these kids and their parents. We are not rich. When I had my big corporate America job I was upper middle classed at best. Now that I'm doing my own thing I'm scraping along the fringes of lower middle class, and POOR. So imagine my surprise when my 16 year old junior called me yesterday to tell me that HER ring is pricing out at a cool $700? Her sisters, just last year was $600. Are they mad?

And then if you try to get yours done with another vendor, they bar your child from participating in the ring ceremony which is supposed to be the "official moment when juniors become rising seniors". I saw the sadness in my 16 year olds eyes when I said "Hell to the no!" Well, actually I said "Absolutely not!", but I was thinking the former. Of course, after thinking about it, I can NOT deny her what her sister had just last year. Especially when she's doing so well in school, and balances all her activities and studies to perfection. In fact, because she's such a super girl, she's being honored at an event this Saturday. She won't even be around to accept the award (I'm accepting it on her behalf). She'll be out of town at a weekend conference for one of her organizations. Did I mention she's also been tapped to be on the Board of Directors at a non-profit that mentors inner city youth? So yeah, she deserves to get the ring she wants. But why does it have to be so damned expensive?!

Last point- after my oldest graduated last year there was this vendor outside selling replicas of their diplomas at $35 a pop. I know how much it costs to make those little plaque thingys. En masse- probably about $5 each. So do the math. 700 graduating seniors x $30 profits = $21,000 at ONE graduation. These companies are coming up on us and pimping us for every dollar in our pocket and we just smile and ask may we have another. I promise if we have more kids we won't even get sucked into this mess. And they won't know any better because we never exposed them to any of it to begin with.

#END RANT#

She's Apologized, Let's Move On.

You'd have to be living in a soundproof room in your mother's basement not to have seen or heard about the Seattle police officer caught on tape punching a teen who was resisting arrest in the face.

This blog will be brief. I agree that old girl was WRONG AND A HALF for resisting arrest. But the officer needs to be retrained. Punching a female in the face should never be an answer for any man unless his life is at risk. And don't get me started on the fact that this was a little girl and he's a grown MAN. I mean come on now.

I don't even want to spend too much time on the subject, because she's apologized and he's back on his beat. But word to the wise young world, when a police officer tells you to comply- just do it. You'll have your day in court later. And to officers who think that young black women are punching bags- find another profession. Next time you might not get to skate on the situation so easily.

Self Destruction 2010

The following note was taken from my surrogate brother's Facebook page after we witnessed a mob inciting a riot near JFK Middle School in North Miami Beach Florida. Parents, WHEN WILL WE STEP UP AND TAKE CHARGE OF OUR CHILDREN SO THAT THEY NO LONGER BEHAVE AS BLOOD THIRSTY ANIMALS INSTEAD OF YOUNG KINGS AND QUEENS WITH THE WORLD AT THEIR FEET? ENOUGH!

Destruction of Generation Me-Me-Me

Today at 6:04pm

With each passing day, I realize that today's teens are like black holes with nothingness there and quickly need to find Jesus. My sister and I were driving and happened to see a literal mob of about 100 additional teens following one frightened boy walking like he was about to sprint away from them at any minute. We asked if he was okay and he said no. We told him to jump in the car to make a speedy get away from the mob. Apparently, the frightened boy was using the phone of a girl that was deep inside that mob. Once he jumped into the car, the dizzy girl yelled, "give me back my phone." He did that but by doing that, it stopped us for a second and some idiot from the crowd of teens threw a rock at our car. I stopped the car because I was about to wreck shop (but then my sister screamed to zoom off). I thought about it as I was dialing 911 to get this kid some help: Yeah, they were much younger than me but who knows what weapons they may have had and a mob is still a mob. We ended up calling the police. There was a delay in them finding us because I told them an address but gave the wrong street number, which was one block over because that was the last street I saw before turning off. When the cops arrived, they'd told us they came from the original spot from where that fight had taken place. That boy had already been beaten because he had a bruise on his lip that the cops noticed before we did. The cops took it from there and said they would handle it. But the fact still remains that a group of 100 were going to jump, stomp and possibly murder some 8th grader over some simple, silly bull-ish. Had my sister and I not been at the right (or wrong depending how you see it) place at the right time, that 8th grade kid would've ended up like Chicago's Derrion Albert, who if you don't know, was attacked and murdered with a 2x4 as he was walking home from school. We have to wake these teens up and the generation after them to see there is a future out there for them if they just keep their eye on the prize and not try to be the biggest thug on the block or else the world will end like the movie Children of Men.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MEDIA CONTACT: Richard Clarke Tel. 305.594.7615 ext 274 rclarke@SouthFloridaWorkforce.com

South Florida Workforce Launches Youth Employment Program MIAMI-DADE

COUNTY, Fla.) – In an attempt to mitigate the impact of youth unemployment in South Florida, the South Florida Workforce Investment Board (SFWIB) recently launched its Summer Youth Employment Program to assist young people between the ages of 14-24 gain an understanding about careers, the workplace and appropriate employment skills by linking students to employers for work experience and career exploration.

The program is a public/private partnership between the South Florida Workforce Investment Board, the businesses community, and the public sector. The initiative is being supported pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The program’s concept is simple: local employers (both public and private) are being encouraged to provide career exploration opportunities to young people within their organizations during the summer months and the SFWIB will cover the youth participant’s wages for the hours worked.

According to Rick Beasley, Executive Director of South Florida Workforce, “the Summer Youth Employment Program is a great opportunity for local employers to make a contribution to their community and help create a simulative economic impact on the local economy; at the same time providing career exposure to our future workforce. I encourage anyone who is in a position to provide a placement opportunity to contact us for information about the program. It’s a great investment in our youth.”

For more information about the SFWIB’s Summer Employment Program, visit the agency’s website at: www.southfloridaworkforce.com.

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Kick The Truth to the Young Black Youth: Black teen STD rate needs our attention

Black teen STD rate needs our attention

By Yolanda Young

Once again, a study has found a wide gap between blacks and whites, and yet again the news is not good for African-Americans.

The latest study, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that an alarming 48% of African-American girls ages 14-19 have a sexually transmitted disease, compared with 20% of young white and Mexican-American females. The CDC analyzed data on 838 female adolescents who participated in the 2003-04 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The researchers found that black teens had far greater rates of common STDs, including human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes simplex virus and trichomoniasis.

Sadly, this is not a new trend.

Though this study did not include syphilis, gonorrhea or HIV because of their low prevalence in this age group, these diseases strike black women in later years at strikingly high rates. In 2006, the rate of chlamydia cases among black women was more than seven times that of white women; the gonorrhea rate among African-American women was 18 times greater than for whites; and the rate of syphilis cases in black women was 16 times higher than in white women.

Why the disparity?

* STDs are concentrated in poor, segregated neighborhoods.

* Sexuality of teens starts earlier and earlier, heightened by music lyrics and images on television.

* More than 20% of blacks are uninsured. So without access to health care, more blacks with STDs go untreated while the diseases are often undetected.

The significance of this problem can't be overstated, as STDs also can cause infertility and cervical cancer.

What can be done? The CDC suggests sex with an uninfected monogamous partner and habitual condom use. Abstinence, of course, is the surest way to avoid STDs.

But advice isn't enough. With incidence levels already high among young black women, more emphasis should be placed on STD screening, treatment, and vaccinations at health clinics where contraceptive services are also offered. Ultimately, we must reverse this trend of early sexual activity. The CDC suggests that sex education delays sexual activity among teens.

What else might influence girls? Father figures who affirm them and women who demonstrate responsible sexual behavior that girls could emulate. This is not science, just my opinion based on what I've seen.

But one thing we should all agree on is that this is an issue that blacks can't afford to ignore. We need more talking and less doing.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/04/black-teen-std.html