8th grader Marquis Jay was sitting in his chair, leaning his head back with his mouth open, when his teacher walked over and poured pencil shavings into his mouth. The teacher was suspended, but has since resumed work. Should the teacher be fired?
Every week, the Black Youth Project collects the top news stories about black youth from across the country. This week: “Incarceration is not only answer to urban youth violence,” “Chicago gets ‘F’ for efforts to stop youth violence,” and more!
BYP is pleased to report that President Obama will visit Chicago this Friday to address a variety topics, but will shine a particular spotlight on Chicago’s gun violence crisis.
Michelle Obama’s plan to attend Hadiya’s funeral is a wonderful gesture. But it does not address the systemic issues contributing to gun violence in Chicago. Mr. President! Come home! We need your voice and leadership!
In an op-ed published in the Chicago Sun-Times, Rev. Jesse Jackson urges President Obama to come home to Chicago and address the city’s gun violence crisis.
We are compelled to wonder if Hadiya’s death might have been prevented if she and her fellow classmates had been allowed to stay inside the school after the final bell. How can we help school’s protect students?
The government of Uruguay has remixed the gun buy back program. The new program, called Weapons for Life, allows Uruguayans to receive things like bicycles and computers in exchange for turning in their guns. Kind of an amazing idea, right?
Below is an original poem I wrote after my childhood friend, Naomi Clyburn, was murdered in my hometown.
Parents, students, and activists from cities across the country confronted the U.S. Department of Education, asserting that widespread school closures violate the civil rights of minority youth. Where do you stand on this issue?
A teacher at Las Vegas Academy in Nevada is making headlines for allowing two students to wear KKK outfits for a class project. Was he simply doing his job as a history teacher, or did the project go too far? Should he be punished?
Tennessee state rep Stacey Campfield introduced a bill that would make welfare benefits contingent upon the grades of a recipient’s children, insisting it will hold parents accountable. But it sounds like another attack on poor people, and seems totally heartless and unfair. What do you think?
Several people were arrested Sunday afternoon during a protest at the University of Chicago Medical Center. An estimated 50 protesters occupied the hospital, demanding that an adult trauma center be opened. There are no trauma centers on the South Side of Chicago.
