ltyoungknows-blog

[ltyoungknows-blog]

Don’t think about what can happen in a month. Don’t think about what can happen in a year. Just focus on the 24 hours in front of you and do what you can to get closer to where you want to be.

Eric Thomas (via perfect)

[ltyoungknows-blog]

Something to chew on. ..

Have you ever noticed how those in higher level positions brainwash those lower level positions to believe that service is good? In reality, this is only good for those in a certain position. I will use City Year as an example.

The goal of this organization is to get 17 to 24 year olds to donate are year of service to a cause . I am NOT saying this is not in noble deed. I am saying these youths are oftentimes privileged and very far removed from the community they serve. This is City Year’s 8th year in the arena of education reform. I have witnessed an increase in organizations jumping on the “education reform” bandwagon to see where the money lies for those in higher positions.

These 17-24 year olds are being asked to work for way below minimum stipend at a the amount of 564 bi-weekly. (It cannot be legally called a wage, but taxes are still take out of these monies. )

[ltyoungknows-blog]

My journey and TFA

Long story short, I am not sure how I feel about the decision to align myself with this organization. TFA claims to be grassroots, but I have an issue with an organization that takes millions from big corporations.  Are we politicking with urban kids lives now?  The same organization that disenfranchises Black and Brown folks you feel secure in taking money from them?  I guess it's for the cause, right?  Wow, I feel absolutely part of a system that uses Black and Brown bodies to gain more money for their "causes". Damn....

[ltyoungknows-blog]

Research Says: Actually, Where You Go To College Matters

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One day... Fairness is the aim, not equality. We have seen what equality has done thus far. It created laws that forced the dominant community to bend to the will of the state. “All men are created equal" is a wonderful face plate, but these men are not treated equally or fairly in my eyes. The equality of this statement is the term “created", which in reality is a truth, but as we delve deeper into the application of “fair" this is when all becomes a farce. If we take a look at the criminal justice system, the prison apparatus and the education institutions we see a lack of fairness. With this being said, each one of these institutions will say their rules and policies are applied equally to each citizen. Some advocates would disagree, but are these applications fair? Of course not. As an educator and an advocate I surely laugh at this attitude, especially with the gross miscarriages in disproportionate spending in relations to the goods and services different districts provide. As I reside in Jacksonville, Florida assisting with educating those whose fairness has been denied through a corrupted system of selfish application, I am taken back to my time in California where this same “equal" rhetoric was been played repeatedly. What is fair when children of color or children with disability are collateral damage in a war against the other. Audrey Lord says it best, “The master’s tools will never bring down the master house." Equality advocates have been trying to use the tool of education to bring down the master’s house, but this tool being equal is not fair in the attempt to destroy status quo. How can a tool that lacks accurate historical accounts, applicable Mathematical principles and slanted standardized tests help children of color “catch up" with their non colored counterparts and replace status quo with real change? It can’t. We are using a white instrument to destroy a white society. Does this even seem logical? In reality this instrument of education creates those who will believe the lies created to continue the cycle of white privilege even as they become the minority. One day is right. One day the tokenized students of color and students with disability will feel beholden to keep the same institution that disenfranchised them in tack. Awesome plan is it not? What is the solution? Creating a bug that infects the system. The bug being power placements. White privilege still permeates the institution of education. Black principals does not equate to destruction of status quo. It is the continuation of status quo through tokenism that forces the colored to submit to white rule. I laugh at the idea of change even through organizations like TFA, Urban Teachers and others who aim to save the other. The stench of white guilt surrounds these organization and leaves a sickening remnant of white man’s burden in its trail. Now what is fair about this picture? If I have to ask then guess what, it’s not. Kwame Ture aka Stockley Carmicheal says it best in his book Black Power. Black folks cannot continue to be beholden to white society and expect change. Change will only come when the tables have turned and we have acquired political, economic and social gains in the US. I am not interested in bringing down the master’s house. This will happen on its own through low birth rates and continued ethnic blending. I am interested in allowing my community to thrive and not just survive. This will be victory. One day...

[ltyoungknows-blog]

The change unchanged

It has always been interesting to me about change. Some change comes slow. Other change takes awhile to manifest itself. But how can you rationally say you are making change when what you use to measure is small stints of success? This is the current state of affairs. The organization I am affliated with deems their success this way. The small successes they have equated to an overall change. The motto is to ensure all children will be afforded a quality and equitable education. How will you know if you are not following them throughout the whole process? The goal is to create this reality, but what if the product they seem to sell is filled with racist undertones and guilt ridden privilege? Those you serve rarely look like you and the incorporation of those who DO is likened to quota? You never really know an organization until you step into it's belly. This belly is filled with a lot of unanswered questions surrounding inclusion, guilt, institutionalized racism and equality. How can you want equality when your organization lacks what it presumes to project? These questions I mean to answer-soon.

[ltyoungknows-blog]

Mary J. Bilge

Can I say this concert was incredible! Eric Benet rocked it as the opening act! One for the memory books!

[ltyoungknows-blog]

New Journey..

So... here I am again on another journey that derails me from my track.  The feeling of being in a new environment surrounded by new people can only be summed up in one word- weird.  It is not weird in the sense of the odd looking kid with the glasses and the overbite,  but in the sense of not being sure that who you are fits with the mission.  My new journey is filled with bright eyed enthusiast, who believe the current path will lead them to the destination of enlightenment.  While I look at the experience as a way to understand the fervor of the individual to conform to a group for the means of "changing the world".  Has conformity ever changed the world?  This is a question I hope to answer.

[ltyoungknows-blog]

From NPR News

'Nobody Is Listening To Your Telephone Calls,' Obama Says http://n.pr/13hF6Mo

[ltyoungknows-blog]

Sex...

Well, I can say I really enjoy sex. The feeling you get with that person who drives you wild. Climaxing seems to be the ultimate goal for some, but for me it is about pleasuring my partner. Sex should not selfish. It should be giving. The experience is better when it is. This is for that one that understands what I need, want and like. Good job. Keep up.the good work. Smooches... Xoxox

[ltyoungknows-blog]

One day at a time...

Life is filled with moments, but these moments are not in future.  They are in the present.  Have you ever wondered why we are so obsessed with the future?  Of things that have not been brought to reality?  I am oftentimes consumed with the future that I cannot live for the present.  There is something refreshing in contextual learning.  By taking the time to find oneself you live everyday in the new.  If you look over your life and it seems mundane, then it is time to live more in the present and stop wishing for the future.  The idea of things being different in the future is outdated and makes no sense.  You are basing your whole existence on a moment that has occured yet.  This is lunancy.  The time is now.  Live your life everyday with a fresh perspective and an idea of improvement.  Limit the negative interferences from outsiders and engulf yourself in the presence which is you.

Life is already confusing and hard.  Why make it longer by wishing for the unknown?

Stay positive and focused on the now.  Life get better when you do.

[ltyoungknows-blog]

“Time to open your eyes, let your ears hear and your mind take in the madness around you. It only gets more brilliant from here.- La Tonya Young”

Madness, beautiful, magnificent, deafening,

[ltyoungknows-blog]

Cruel and the "Un"usual Punishment

Crime: Blackness Punishment(s): 400+years of slavery, lynching, tar and feathering, isolation, marginalization, criminalization, mandatory maximums, drugs, gangs, unwed mothers/fathers, fatherlessness, HIV/AIDS, prisons, racial profiling, lack of economic,social and political relavance, stereotyping, inequity in education, high foreclosure rates, poverty, masogony, policing, ghettos, projects, hoods, high dropout rates, second class citizenry, poll tax, literacy tests, police brutality, wrongful imprisonment, disproportionate educated women over men, destruction of family and death. Do these "punishments" fit the supposed "crime"?

[ltyoungknows-blog]

Truth is not found in the surfaces but in the creases.

[ltyoungknows-blog]

One day http://lifeandtimesofktyoung.blogspot.com/2013/03/one-day.html

[ltyoungknows-blog]

Unfairness of Relationships

So, this is a reality. Relationships are not fair. Why do I say this? Well, my current situation is a direct reflection of this assumption. I am often worked to a mere shell of myself. My life encompasses kids, work, school, building businesses and, oh yes, having a "partner". The reality is our situation is not a partnership. I say this as to not feel as stupid as I currently do. I put in all the work. I watched "Wife Swamp" last night. It really made me think ALOT! One of the wives had a partner who understood partnership. He was over the top, but I would rather have that instead of little to nothing. My issues lies with the continual need for direction. You can research things your interested in, but not how to be a better partner to me? Ok. So, that explains a lot. He believes he has been absorbed with me. OKAY!!!! As I have done damn near everything to keep things in line.

Where is single life at? I will take that right now.

[ltyoungknows-blog]

High-School Detour

I just took the Cbest on Saturday since I am ready to make a career move to teaching. I know it seems very odd because working in higher education for the last year was my thing. I have not given up on higher education, just needed to take a detour for a moment. A large reason has to do with the job market and another reason is substitute teaching allows me to pick the days I want to work. This second option is beneficial with my starting two projects in business and looking to begin a third, I will need the freedom to chose my days. Now, back to the reason I decided to write….

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p>I took the Cbest on Saturday. This was on a whim, which is evident by my scores. I am sure passing is not the issue as some much the fact of not studying. I can only imagine what I could have done if with more time. Nonetheless, I am on my way to detour number 1, 678,345- respectively. In my young years, the thought of a detour was devastating, but in older age the idea is not the same. It represents a time for growth. This is needed for the next step in my journey. Am I cut out for teaching? I think so. Mentoring, in my opinion, is the same thing, outside the seeing the students everyday. Being able to mold young minds is an honor and privilege not taken lightly. It may seem as though my only reason for teaching is to ultimately gain my ambition, but it also allows me to leave a mark on a young person. I am hoping to learn something on my journey as well.