You heard people say Jesus is the reason for the season. In the 2^nd chapter of Luke, starting at verse 41 it tells the story of Jesus as a boy, when his parents were visiting Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. This was something they had done every year and according to the information provided, Jesus was twelve years old so he was not a small boy. Yet this year, Jesus was left behind. Now you can imagine, Joseph and Mary, the parents, having a good time at the feast within a celebrating atmosphere, the same as we do on Christmas. Even though these are two separate events of His life, our behavior tends to be the same.

In our current celebration of Jesus’ birth, we sometimes get caught up in the festivities of the celebration that we forget the initial beginning of the event. Today we sing about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, I’m dreaming of a White Christmas instead of Silent Night or Joy to the World. We no longer have a Christmas break from school but a winter break. We no longer have religious stories about Jesus’ birth on major television but we do have other secular stories of giving as the reason for the season. We have the family dinners of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, not to mention the numerous amounts of deserts to eat. We buy gifts for each other and especially the kid’s, oh don’t forget members of the family you haven’t seen all year. I cannot forget the holiday cheer of drinks to liven up the celebration. We have even gone so far as to say happy holidays or holiday season instead of Merry Christmas.

All of these things are good and they are outward signs of expressing love to one another, yet many don’t recognize the one who’s birthday we are celebrating.

Now think of what we would say about Joseph and Mary today if they had been celebrating for several days and then discovered one day later after starting home that they had misplaced their son. Then when they went back to look for him it took another three days.

You as believers have the opportunity to not make the same mistake as Joseph and Mary made. You can do all of the things that make you feel good while recognizing that Jesus is the reason for the season Just in case you have forgotten the story or would like to refresh your memory read Luke Chapter 2:1 to 24. It is wonderful accounting of our Savior’s birth and the reason God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son which no other gift can match. Take a few minutes during the celebrations to acknowledge Him and share it with your family. Then throughout the year as you reflect on the good times you shared with family and loved ones, you will not have to look very hard to find Jesus, the real reason for the Christmas Season.

Merry Christmas From The Black Voice News Family To Yours

Last week I wrote about the Black community being in a state of Depression based on the unemployment rate along with the unprecedented home foreclosures, high drop-out rate from our schools and other social indicators we use to measure the lifeline of people.

Having said that, I want to commend the ten African American Congressional members on the Financial Services Committee, who walked out of a meeting in protest because of under-funding to the African American community. Their protest held up the vote and sent a powerful message that we are tired of supporting the good health of others all the time and not speaking up for our own.

With that in mind I wish to point out that the Black Press has been discriminated against, ignored, and used as an afterthought by our federal government when it comes to advertising dollars. Back in 2000 then President William “Bill” Clinton singed Executive Order 13170 directing all agencies to take aggressive measures to ensure substantial participation in federal advertising when it came to minority and women businesses. The senate sub committee chaired by Senator John Kerry later did and investigation that discovered the Small Business Administration had taken little action to implement these policies under the George Bush administration. A report by the federal government given to the Standard Directory of Advertisers in 2001 showed the government spent $435 million dollars in advertising with none going to the Black Press. That year the government was ranked as the 45^th largest advertiser in America.

In 2007 the federal government reported to Advertising Age that they spent $1.7 billion dollars in advertising and ranked 29^th as and agency while ranking 13^th in the category of industries. They spent money with everybody and everything but the Black Press. Being in 29^th place puts them just behind private giants like Procter & Gamble, AT&T, General Motors, Walt Disney, Toyota and other leaders in the industry.

I know you are asking what does the federal government spends so much money on advertising since they have no products for people to buy. Have you seen those Army, Air Force, Marines, or Navy commercials on television? Or have you seen the ads in other venues like newspapers, magazines, billboards, and sides of buses? These are paid ads not public service announcements like they want us to place in our papers.

This also includes other educational messages they spend money on to make the public aware of when it comes to public safety, as well as drug related or health issues. Most of the money is tied up with large advertising and public relations firms in contracts that don’t trickle down to media outlets on the community level.

I agree with Representative Maxine Waters,” we can not sit back in silence while our people suffer”. I might add that the bonus money the fat cats on Wall Street will give themselves this year alone is more than the federal government has ever spent on advertising in the Black media. Even the protest walk out by these ten members was for a measly $4 billion dollars and that was to help 35 million African American United States citizens that was born and raised here.

One of the benefits that would come from those advertising dollars are jobs at these papers. The reason we cannot employ more people is lack of revenue. With a sizeable stimulus advertising contract over 300 reporters could be employed with a sales force to bring in private advertising to obtain other funds to make our industry grow. We are already self sustaining and have done so for almost 200 years, but with additional assistance from advertisers we could do much more in educating our public. We could help lift them out of poverty, reduce the drop out rate, increase employment, and improve the trust level between our people and the government.

We are not the enemy, nor are the special interest groups. We are hard working, faithful American that contribute to the general welfare and security of this great nation that sometimes do not trust us. To paraphrase what Danny Bakewell, Chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, said “we are not asking for a bail out nor hand out,” we are seeking respect and reciprocity from what we have already given from our investment thorough taxes, blood, sweat and tears.

Last week, The Black Voice News reporter Chris Levister reported that the African American community is suffering an unemployment rate equivalent to that of the great depression. This is an accurate picture of what Black America has faced since we had full employment during enslavement. At every turn since then people have developed policies that appear neutral and fair in writing but accurately discriminate in application. For the past sixty years, the Black unemployment rate has been double that of our White citizens whether in good or bad economic times with the current statistics bearing the same bad news. As reported by Levister, the unemployment of Whites is at 9.5% and Blacks at 15.7% with the overall rate standing at 10.2% for the nation.

According to the most recent report given to us Monday, the unemployment rate has shown a drop of 2 percentage points and according to my research assistant Christopher Kyle Davis the trend is that Whites have dropped to 9.3% and Blacks are at 15.6%. Whites are being hired at a higher rate than Blacks and if this trend continues, it will keep with the status quo in this country that is unacceptable to me. This still leaves the Black community unemployed at a rate double that of Whites. Here in the Inland Empire, the total unemployment rate is 14.6 percent. According to Levister, the unemployment rate of Black males between the ages of 16 to 24 is 34.5%; that is a travesty.

Now we have economists saying that the recession of the nation is turning the corner after the bailout of Wall Street where very few Blacks are employed even though our tax dollars were used to help them out. These same economists have said that the nation was in a recession when the unemployment rate hit 7 percent. Well the Black community has been in a recession for the past 50 years and is currently beyond a depression (if there is such a place) yet our policy makers refuse to address this issue in our community. We have made every effort to address the bankers, investors, stockholders, car makers, teachers, police, firefighters which are all special interest groups. Now I am sure you are saying Blacks are included in these groups however, we are not represented on par with our representation with the population. In all of my research on these groups, over the past several years, none have ever come close to their representation in the communities they serve. Yet the policy makers say to us “be patient” while the majority community is fixed. I think we have been waiting too quietly while the others are screaming and demanding they be saved.

I think we need to write up and demand our own stimulus program for the government to save our small businesses to provide employment in our community. Our inner cities and rural farmers are being left out of the current federal funding in a big way. I know of some funding of small programs but not at the level of other groups. We live in older homes that need weatherizing, cars that are older but due to high unemployment could not take advantage of the cash for clunkers program. Our businesses are too small to qualify under most small business loan programs and do not meet some of the required qualification barriers set in place by agencies. So we need our own stimulus program to meet our unique situation.

I urge congress to look at a domestic plan that will include a special stimulus package that will address this problem in the African American community. I urge our local representatives to request the administration use the unused stimulus money to help us develop short and long range plans that will become self-sustaining. Some of us still believe in the American Dream and the election of President Barack Obama rekindled that dream but we woke up in a nightmare of unemployment, foreclosure and lost savings that has continued to remind us of being kicked off of the sharecropping farm. Let congress reawaken that bright dream of prosperity and that “you can make it if you try” attitude we once had. To the Black community let us get busy and write down our ideas to expand our businesses by employing others. Let us collaborate and to combine our talents and resources to make an argument to show that we are serious. As the Black Press has said for almost two hundred years “for too long we have allowed others to speak for us” let our voices be heard.

The Obama Administration has allocated $4.35 billion dollars in education grants for states to support innovative programs that will lift those districts with students at the bottom on par with our successful students.

States will have to alter the way they have tried to solve this problem by changing policies, allocating resources, measuring results, and involving staff, parents, community and private industry. They will also have to remove the cap on charter schools as well as challenge the well established traditional professional system of educating kids in urban schools as we seek “Race to the Top” funds. Here is the problem in California for African American students: There are 454,780 or 7.3% Black students in California public schools. We only have 13,115 or 4.3% Black teachers in our classrooms. We have the highest drop-out rate of any group at 32.9%, which is 10% higher than the next group. Out of the 26,026 Black students that graduated in 2007/08 only 6,060 had the required courses to enter our UC/CSU campuses of higher learning. This is 23.3% of those that graduated. Our Academic Performance Index rating is at 659 which is far below the target score of 800 we would like for it to be. The sad thing about our failing or low performing schools is the longer Black students stay in school the worse things get for them. For example in our 2^nd through 6^th grades Black students scored at 705; in 7^th through 8^th grade they scored 649 and 612 in 9^th through 12^th grades.

This must be turned around and the Obama Administration program of Race to the Top is a lifeline to help save our children from a life of low wages, high unemployment, poverty, crime, neglected healthcare and the road of second class citizenship. I know that money alone will not solve our struggling educational system but it will help stimulate innovate ideas, programs and people as it provides the resources in these underfunded communities. The funds will have to be utilized in the areas where the worst needs have been identified. Of course I have concerns that when money comes to town you get those well meaning, fast talking people who claim they can change the world and we would have to be aware of them. But to do nothing is not an option in our community.

As a former school board member and member of the California School Board Association, let me tell you, this is not a Black community issue alone. There are 2.5 million African Americans in California. Our schools are where we train our leaders and workforce of tomorrow. The more money we earn the more we spend. The better educated we are the less support is required from public assistance.

In order to even be eligible to receive any of the $4.35 billion dollars the state legislature will need to pass a state law signed by the governor in order to even submit an application for funding. I am therefore urging our state representatives Democrats and Republicans to support SBX51 sponsored by Senator Gloria Romero, Senator Bob Huff, Senator Elaine Alquist and Senator Mark Wyland. I also want there to be some safeguards in the law to ensure that once any money is received the state make sure dollars are also spent with minority-owned and led entities that are committed to the educational advancement of our children and serve as the backbone of our state’s economy. If not, it then becomes just a stimulus program to help the institutions that helped create these low achieving students and schools. So let us “race to the top” together as partners in helping our students achieve, while building a better community for all of us to enjoy.