When we hear about high school drop-outs, some people assume that students stop attending because teens are just lazy, or they want to grow up before their time. But we don't usually hear people asking how welcome we feel at school when we do go. According to this article from the New York Times, African-American students have a disproportionately high rate of suspension compared to other ethnic groups in the U.S. But it's not necessarily because we're doing more dirt- we're also punished with suspension more often even when we commit the same violations. (This echoes a trend in the criminal justice system. Coincidence, we think not!) Read more...
This clip from "Don't Be A Menace" is one of our favorite job interviews on film. Next time you're walking into a job interview and you want to throw up from nervousness, just remember it can't be as bad as THIS. Thank you Loc Dog, for helping us keep it all in perspective.
Usually, when we hear people talk about living-wage jobs, it's all about doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses or construction workers... and on the flip side, fast-food workers. But there's a whole world of employment opportunities in between surgeon and burger-flipper, with different education requirements to get in the biz, and lots of possibilities for money-making. So, in our series "WTJ?!? What's This Job?" we interview people with jobs that we might know of, but not necessarily know a lot about. Our first episode is about barbering. And like so many barbers we've gotten cut by, this dude can philosophize!
President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act has been widely criticized for leaving students behind across the nation. Critics say standardized testing became so rigorous and influential for a school's survival that states began to lower their standards. You know the tension if you, or someone you know, go to a public school when those STAR and CASHEE test start to get passed around. At my high school they reminded us that testing helped the school, and they would give up little breakfast snacks before STAR testing to help us relax - and they even made testing days half days.
For all of our Oakland fam- if you've been trying to figure out just what the hell to do after high school, there's a one day conference coming up just for you. It's created specifically for young people from alternative high schools (which means it's focused on students who are struggling to stay in school). The conference will cover stuff like how to choose a career, owning your own business, two-year planning and goal setting and what life is like for working artists like rappers and producers. There's gonna be a performance by Los Rakas- an Oakland hip-hop/reggaeton group. Peep their video "Mi Barrio."
It's going down March 24th, from 1 pm-5:15 pm at Studio One (365 45th St. in Oakland) And it's free, y'all. We're gonna be there... Are you?
A recent study by Northeastern University in Boston has revealed yet another difficult reality facing young black men in today's America. Our country's infamous recession which began in late 2007 has hit no group of people as hard it has young black males ages 20-24. One out of five of these men are both living life without any work, and not enrolled in school. They say numbers don't lie, which is true, but numbers also don't give the explanation behind them, and in order to really digest a statistic like this, we have to dig into the causes that make it true.
Joblessness was particularly rife among high school dropouts aged 16 to 24 who were neither in school nor holding a job, the report said. Family income also had a influence on joblessness.
Only 13 percent of low-income black teenagers in Illinois held a job in 2008 compared with 48 percent of more affluent white, non-Hispanic teens.
The "disconnection rate" -- Americans aged 20 to 24 who were neither in school nor working -- jumped to 28 percent last year from 17 percent in 2007.
This is a video montage put together with voices of both young and old, men and women, touching on the subject of the struggles facing the black job seeker.
Sometimes we treat college like we treat that pile of dirty dishes in the sink- "I'll get to it. I just don't feel like doing it right now." Especially when we still have to do just one last GED test, or a boring class with a 29 year-old textbook is standing in the way of getting those last three credits needed to graduate high school.
In the next few months, the New Options team will be putting you up on game about how to get and keep a job. We'll have plenty of tips about how to act right at job interviews and at the workplace. But first, we wanted to start things off with a little comedy about what NOT to do at work.
Don't try this at home. Um, actually, do try this at home, if that's what you're into. Work, not so much.
Side Hustlin'- The first episode of Youth Radio's series about those extra money getting hustles we get into when our pockets get empty. New Options Host Venus Morris interviews Howard University Senior Pendarvis Harshaw about what he did to make ends meet during the last school year.
