I just published a review of “The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race In America” by Dr. Michael Dyson. You can read it at:
http://www.afro.com/rating-the-first-black-president/
Let me know what you think.
Tag Archives: Granville Sawyer
The Virginia Festival of the Book
I want to let you know that I will be participating in the Virginia Festival of the Book later this month. Here’s a list of the events, dates, times and locations. I hope you can join me there:
Presentation of College in Four Years at Albemarle High School at 2775 Hydraulic Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901. The presentation will be at 10:30 AM on Wednesday March 16th.
A discussion of College In Four Years as part of the Virginia Festival of the Book at 6:00 PM on March 16th at the Northside Library at 705 Rio Road, West Charlottesville, Virginia 22901. The discussion will be from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM.
Participation in the 13th annual Celebration Brunch 11:30 AM–2:30PM at the Charlottesville Omni Hotel on Sunday, March 20, 2016 sponsored by the Links of Charlottesville where each author will briefly discuss his/her book.
Who Are State Colleges and Universities For?
I recently read an article about a disturbing trend in student demographics at state colleges and universities. Schools have been increasing the number of out-of-state students they accept and reducing the number of in-state students they accept. This is being done for money. Out-of-state students pay more tuition so schools want more of them to enhance their revenue each year. The result is that they are excluding more and more in-state students. At the University of Alabama, for example, 72% of freshman students were in state in 2004. In 2014, only 36% of incoming freshman students were from Alabama. If this trend continues, it will make college less attainable and affordable for state residents who support flagship state universities with their tax dollars.
Dr. Granville M. Sawyer, Jr. Appears on The Thornton Business Hour Wednesday, January 20, 11:00 AM, WOL 1450 AM
I’ll be the guest of Pat Thornton, on her radio show, The Thornton Business Hour on WOL 1450 AM tomorrow January 20th at 11:00. You can also listen to the live stream at http://woldcnews.newsone.com/ if you are outside of the listening area.
Pat and I will be talking about how to earn a college degree in less time with less stress for less money. If you would like to leave a comment or a question that you would like for me to answer during the show please do so in the comments section below and tag it #ThorntonBusinessHour.
A Review of ‘Where Everybody Looks Like Me’
I just published a review of “Where Everybody Looks Like Me” By Ron Stodghill on Afro.com. You can read it at:
http://www.afro.com/where-everybody-looks-like-me-and-the-challenges-facing-hbcus/
Let me know what you think.
African America: What The Media Don’t Tell You
I recently read a report done by the Neilsen Corporation on African American consumers in America which they titled “The Untold Story”. There is so much important information in this report that I am going to do a series of four posts on it. This post is an overview of the report and includes some very interesting statistics.
First of all, our numbers in America are increasing. From 2000 to 2014 the African American population in American grew 35% faster than the overall population of the country and more than twice as fast as the white population in America. You need look no further to better understand the anger and fear some white people are feeling as shown in the news media on a regular basis. By 2060, Nielsen estimates that the Black population in America will be 74.5 million comprising 17.9% of the total U.S. population.
We are also becoming more educated. The percentage of Black high school graduates enrolled in college was 70.9% exceeding that of both Whites and Hispanics. Also, the high school graduation rate rose to over 70% outpacing all other groups in America.
We are also making and spending more money. The percentage of black households making over $200,000 a year increased by 138% and African American income growth rates outpaced that of non-Hispanic Whites at every annual household income level above $60,000. The result is that African American consumers spend 1 trillion 100 billion dollars annually!
This is not the picture of African America you will see in the media but it is the truth – it is who we really are in America today. I’ll share more information with you in the next post. In the meantime, let me know what you think about these surprising facts. I’d like to hear from you.
In addition to the blog posts, I am going to begin podcasting my content in an effort to share information with more people. If you are interested in subscribing, please let me know in your comments about this post below.
A Wonderful Experience
Follow the web link below to hear and see a truly wonderful spontaneous event involving Virginia State’s choir you wont’t soon forget:
http://www.nbc12.com/story/30869185/virginia-state-university-gospel-chorale-serenades-passengers-on-plane
Have a Wonderful 2016
How Good Is That High School Diploma?
I’ve been reading with some concern about accountability for k-12 education going back to the individual states as a result of No Child Left Behind being discontinued. This will make national evaluations of high school students’ abilities harder. Every high school graduate should have some idea of how he/she compares with graduates from other high schools across the nation because the market for jobs is national and becoming more international every day. Allowing states to be individually responsible for assessing what their students know and can do will make this more difficult. An article from the New York Times shows why this is so important.
How can we ensure that all students get the quality public school education they deserve? Let me know what you think.
CARRYING ON THE TRADITION
In my blog post “Talking Good Talk” I shared the important role family dinners had in my life as I grew up. When I had my own family, my wife and I instituted the same rule as my parents—six days a week, Sunday through Friday, our family ate dinner together. The tradition had the same effect on our children it did on me. We talked and laughed about everything which helped us bond as a family. We also talked good talk about what was happening the world and what it meant to each of us. My wife and I intentionally kept the conversation at a high level so our kids could learn from the discussion and the thinking behind comments made.
My oldest daughter, who had a very good public school education, got a scholarship to a university in upstate New York. After a few weeks on campus she called and said “Daddy, I’m going to school with trust fund babies.” When I asked her what that meant, she said these kids were from successful, affluent New York families who provided them with everything they needed. From the day they were born their families set aside trust fund all they would need for the best private schools. “They had and still have advantages I don’t have,” she also told me, “but I have no trouble keeping up with these students academically or socially because of what I learned around our dinner table.” I’m sure some other things contributed to confidence but I believe what she was telling me was that she knew what she had to say was valuable and valued and she could hold her own in any environment – with or without a trust fund.
From her experience and mine, I know that what happens to outside of school is as important, perhaps more important than what happens in school. School is where you get your knowledge but home is where you learn your values. Let me know if you had similar experiences growing up or as a parent.