Sunday, March 02, 2014

Boys and Men of Color Summit aims to help black, Latino students in Long Beach

Boys and Men of Color Summit aims to help black, Latino students in Long Beach: Long Beach  Taharka Anderson, a 22-year-old sociology major, stirred an audience of hundreds of male black and Latino students from local middle and high schools Tuesday in the University Student Union ballroom at Cal State Long Beach.

“Who has found sometimes school teachers are in the classroom for a check and not because they care about the education of their students?” Anderson asked. “Who has sometimes felt like their culture and history was not really represented in the textbooks or classroom lesson plans? Who has sometimes felt like schools are set up to push out rather than push and keep us young kings of color in the classroom? Who has sometimes felt powerless, and like they have no decision-making power when it comes to how their schools operate?”

A roomful of hands shot in the air after each question.