The Essence Music Festival is a star-studded Fourth of July weekend celebration that is unmatched. The line up of entertainers includes Chris Brown, Kanye West, Patti Labelle, Morris Day and the Time, Chris Rock, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna and Frankie Beverly and Maze, just to name a few. But something else goes on for those three days that doesn’t get as much hype—the free empowerment seminars.
Friday morning through Sunday, the Convention Center opens its doors and gives the public a chance to participate in panel discussions, hear provocative speakers and get their church on with guest hosts, moderators and speakers that include Tyler Perry, Soledad O’Brien, Bishop T.D. Jakes, my wife Donna Richardson Joyner, Bill Cosby, Rev. Al Sharpton, Juanita Bynum, myself and many more.
Whenever I’m asked to participate in a seminar, it reminds me of call I got from a listener when we were promoting The State of Black America. She said, “Tom, every year you and Tavis put on the State of the Black Union, and I’d like to know if you’ve ever solved anything. I hear a lot of talking, but I want to see a list of what you’ve achieved.”
I think bringing a variety of people together to share their thoughts has a real purpose. But I also understand the caller’s frustration. We’ve been talking about the same issues for a long time —the education gap, the health gap, the economic gap — and it may appear that it’s all talk and no action. That isn’t really the case. I know that the majority of the people participating in the Essence seminars are actively involved in an organization, a program or a movement that is doing something to make Black America better.
My topic on Saturday is “Taking Back Our Community and Classrooms.” Most people know about my commitment to HBCUs. But the reality is unless we do something to save our public schools, the pipeline to black colleges, the entire system will continue to decline. With record numbers of black students dropping out of public schools and too many graduating without getting a quality education, HBCUs will have an even harder time increasing their already faltering enrollment.
Like most people who no longer have school-aged children, I don’t really know what’s going in public schools. All I know is what I read and hear about. If you have no personal involvement with inner-city public schools, it’s probably because you don’t have kids, you live in the suburbs or your children attend a private or charter school. Whatever the reasons, the schools and the students are suffering, and it’s going to take more than the members of their communities to save them.
Those of us who are out of the public school loop sometimes have a tough time even understanding how large the problem is. We picture in our mind the school we went to 30 years ago. Because of our ignorance, we try to apply old-school logic to new-school realities and say things like, “The parents need to be held accountable for their kids.” The truth is, in many cases, the parents cannot be held accountable because they’re addicted to drugs, are selling drugs, are gang members or are incarcerated. Their children are being raised by grandparents, sometimes as young as 30, siblings or even neighbors. Their caretakers are nearly as bad off as the parents or just doing what they can to survive. PTA meetings and parent teacher conferences are the last things on their minds.
I’m certain that a lot of people who write and talk about solutions do not have an honest, real-life understanding of what the problems are. That itself is a problem.
So, I include myself in a challenge to pay a firsthand visit to an inner-city public school to see what it’s lacking for yourself. It’s not a solution, but it’s a step in the right direction.
