Rep. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.
Georgia, Rep. G.K. Butterfield, North Carolina, Rep. Julia M. Carson, Indiana,
Rep. Donna M. Christian-Christensen, Virgin Islands, Rep. William L. Clay, Jr., Missouri,
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, II, Missouri,
Rep. James E. Clyburn, South Carolina,
Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (founding member)
Michigan, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland,
Rep. Artur Davis, Alabama, Rep. Chaka Fattah, Pennsylvania, Rep. Harold E. Ford, Jr. , Tennessee, Rep. Al Green, Texas, Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, Florida, Rep. Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.
Illinois, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas,
Rep. William J. Jefferson, Louisiana,
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas,
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Ohio,
Rep. John Lewis, Georgia, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Georgia, Rep. Kendrick Meek
Florida, Rep. Gregory W. Meeks
New York, Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald
California, Rep. Gwen Moore, Wisconsin,
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington, D.C.
Sen. Barack Obama, Illinois, Rep. Major R. Owens, New York, Rep. Donald M. Payne
New Jersey, Rep. Charles B. Rangel (founding member), New York, Rep. Bobby L. Rush, Illinois, Rep. David Scott, Georgia, Rep. Robert C. Scott, Virginia, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi, Rep. Edolphus Towns, New York,
Rep. Maxine Waters, California, Rep. Diane E. Watson, California, Rep. Melvin L. Watt, North Carolina, Rep. Albert R. Wynn, Maryland.
John Conyers, Jr (D-MI) and Charles Rangel (D-NY) the only two founders of the Congressional Black Caucus who are still elected will take on a very conspicuous role in the forthcoming Congress in January.
There are many issues that affect Black Americans that this cohort will have to tenaciously pursue; issues like Affirmative Action, Minimum Wage and closing many of the gaps that exists that prove there is still white priviledge in a nation that professes there are no more discriminatory barriers that preclude anyone from breaking through glass ceilings or, moving beyond red-lines.
One idea that I would give these leaders is a technology credit for the indigent. This would give a voucher to anyone who gets an earn income credit-this would be tax deductible. This would allow millions of this nation's indigent to be able to afford a computer-not a lap top but a desk top in particular.
Every desktop should have a standard amount of equipement meaning a DVD/CD Rom Drive, 40G or higher HD, with at a minimum Windows XP installed.
The goal here is brilliant-reverse the dependency of the nation's poor on the government to provide for them in the long-term. For example, now that many of the single parents who are poor now have a computer they can take courses in schools like Capella, University of Pheonix, the University of Maryland-UC and others-from the comfort of their own homes. Naturally they will have to have a GED or a High School Diploma to qualify for this credit-socio-eco status alone will not cut it-because in order to use the computer for higher education purposes-they must have a basic credential (GED or HSD).
Another Idea that I have is to give HBCUs more funding on average than predominantly white campuses-simply because the number of students who attend a HBCU are statistically more poorer than those white students who attend a predominant white institution. This would ensure at a minimum that schools like NCCU and Howard and Hampton and SCSU and VSU and Morgan State would be able to offer students Pell Grants and Stafford Loans to increase the number of minority students in the nation pursuing Higher Education.
I believe that many of the community colleges need to get more monies as well since studies show that minorities who go here first do better and have a proclivity to graduate since they would have graduated from a two-year school first. Secondly, there are no entrance exams for students who want to go to college if they transfer from a community college and this would strategically enable minority students to circumvent a chief road block that inhibits them from going to a university or four year institution.
One could ensure that the scarcity of funds for higher education students stretched further by mandating that any student getting federal financial aid must take a minimum of 15 credits a semester if you are undergrad and 6-8 credits if you are a graduate student. This would keep students on track and decrease the amount of time it takes to complete a program-currently the average is 5.5 years for a 4 yr. degree. If you instituted my ideas the average would be 4 yrs. or less and the nation's poor would by their own volition and with the savvy help of the Congressional Black Caucus be positioning themselves to contribute to the American Way!
Posted By: B. Dwight Foster, B.A., MS-MANAGEMENT
Thursday, November 9th 2006 at 10:09AM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
