Symphony Announces 2008 Celebration of Soul Honorees

GRPS Board Says Yes To GREAAT

The Grand Rapids Times
2-22-2008

At their regular meeting, Tuesday, February 19, members of the Grand Rapids Board of Education added another new option for learning opportunities for the district’s students.

The Board passed a resolution to establish the Grand Rapids Ellington Academy of Arts and Technology (GREAAT).

Named after Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, an American composer, pianist, and band leader who was one of the most influential figures in jazz, the school is to open this fall starting with approximately 120 students in 6th and 7th grade.

GREAAT is modeled after The Winans Academy of Performing Arts in Detroit and the Visual and Performing Arts models in California, Illinois, Kentucky and New York.

The school will be located on the former Grand Rapids Catholic Diocese property on Burton Street.

ENROLL TODAY Call 245-0573

[read more in the print edition of the Grand Rapids Times or click here to log in if you have a subscription or want to buy a subscription]

Comic Michael Jr. Comes Home To GR For Two Performances, Book Signing

February Is Black History Month:  Remembering Local History

The Grand Rapids Times
2-22-2008
By Richard Pulliam

Did you know?

… In July , 1966, A $207,272 grant from the Office of Economic Opportunity was approved to finance an Upward Bound Program ad Aquinas and Calvin Colleges. Aquinas would enroll 100 student and Calvin, 110.

…On September of 1966, 450 parents came to Ottawa High School for a public showing of a film dealing with venereal disease. The film entitled, “A Quarter Million Teen-agers,” portrayed a story of VD, primarily syphillis and gonorrhea. The parents were invited to the showing of the same presentation that students had seen earlier that day.

…On October 15, 1966, The NAACP launched its All Ghetto Project opposed Public Housing projects exclusively in Negro areas. “We reject any plan for public housing solely or predominately in the Campau area,” the resolution read. “Any public housing in the Campau area should be preceded or at least accompanied by low cost units outside the ghetto, a similar proposal was also presented by the Grand Rapids Urban League. The basic fear was that the public housing would lead to a perpetuation of the ghetto area.

…On October 6, 1966, ninety-one percent of Campau residents questioned in a survey indicated they would like public housing in the area as soon as possible. The Campau resident’s survey was conducted by Mrs.Louise Jefferson, and landlord William M. Glenn. The survey workers contacted 92 persons and received 87 favorable signatures.

…In June, 1966, a 51-member citizens committee studying racial balance in the schools presented a 31 point plan to the Board of Education. The plan did not recommend busing pupils away from their neighborhood schools. Recommendations included:

1. Using more multi- ethnic textbooks in the schools.

2. That selection of future school sites take into consideration further racial integration and that the school board should restudy the possibility of realigning elementary school district feed patterns for junior and senior high schools.

3. Additional pay or release time for teachers in predominantly Negro inner city schools for home visitations.

4. More male teachers and teachers be employed in inner city schools because of a needed male image for the children; and that all teachers be required to participate in programs that promote better racial understanding.

5. Include more Negroes in supervisory staff and assign a greater proportion of Negroes to predominantly White schools.

… In November, 1965, Mayor Sonneveldt proclaimed an Anti-Poverty Action Day in Grand Rapids in recognition of the opening of the Michigan Welfare League’s annual conference at the Pantlind Hotel. More than 1,000 persons from throughout the state were expected to attend the one-day conference.

Tom Joyner, NAACP Launch Voter Empowerment Hotline

Domestic Abuse: Men's Hidden Pain, Silent Shame

Dallas (NNPA) - An estimate of over 5.83 million Americans have experienced some form of domestic abuse, whether it is physical, emotional or sexual. But what happens when the man is slapped, pushed, punched, stabbed, threatened and/or degraded by his intimate partner? What is it called then?

It’s still domestic abuse.

Though intimate partner abuse occurs primarily against women, the Bureau of Justice reports that around 15 percent of the victims are men. In a survey, the bureau found that three percent of all violence against men was committed by an intimate partner.

Men are much less likely to seek help or report domestic abuse when they are the victims. The reasons listed were: shame, denial, being taught to “man up” or be a “man about it,” trying to keep the family together and the thought that he can “fix it.”

Reports indicate that men in heterosexual relationships use the same excuses or are in denial for the same reasons as those in a same sex relationship. And just like female victims, male victims generally have a familial history of domestic violence.

FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION

Lawrence remembers being very young and witnessing his father abusing his mother. Though it would hurt him to see them fight, he thought it was normal. He recalled at age 4 or 5, when his parents had been arguing almost non-stop for several days, he walked out of his room and yelled, “Just be quiet!” And as he walked back to his room, they just continued arguing. After his parents divorced, his mother was worried enough for her safety that she would enter and exit their new home through the window rather than the door.

She soon remarried, but died five months later, sending him back to his abusive father.
“I didn’t feel that he was abusive toward us children, I just felt like he had a temper. He had arguments and arguments turned into fights,” Lawrence said.

It was common for his father to be arrested for domestic violence. He recalled incidents when his father would become violent toward one of his many girlfriends. And though the sentiment was more or less, “Oh, Dad’s going to jail again,” the girlfriend would go back to her home and the boys had to fend for themselves while he was locked up.

At times when he would realize that the police had been called, he’d gather the two boys for a ‘ride’ or an impromptu camping trip.

But usually it wasn’t quite so exciting. Lawrence said that his father spent most days and many nights on the couch, either drunk or passed out. He said that his father used drugs as well, but Lawrence did not know what they were or how much he used. He did recall being embarrassed and not bringing friends to his house.

As he grew older, not only did his relationship with his father and brother suffer, he had difficulty connecting with others, as well.

“Because my life was kind of rough, it certainly hurt my self-esteem, so I wasn’t as confident as I needed to be to have girlfriends and even friends,” said Lawrence. He said that seeing his father abuse women had a reverse effect on him. “I had this almost complete supreme respect for girls. I put girls on a pedestal.” In an attempt not to follow in his father’s footsteps, Lawrence became the exact opposite of his father.

While he was in college, he met a young lady that intrigued him. He said that he lost sight of his goal and began to focus on her and decided to cool things off for a while.

She strongly disagreed and punched him in his mouth.

[to read this article in its entirety, CLICK HERE]

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