FAMILY AND COMMUNITY THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

African American

Leadership Course The Kwanzaa Gallery Instructor: Frank M. Johnson

INTRODUCTION
Candidates in the Rite of Passage will learn to adopt and integrate personal skills developing family and community to enhance our capacity for good work and service to in this life.

SUMMARY OF COURSE
Importance of the Family Unit
The Value of Parenting: The Price of Children How to Enhance The (Village) Community

Developmental Issues of Families and Community

Strategic Planning for African American Family

and Community Development Becoming and Engaging Developmental Contributors

WHO IS IN ATTENDANCE?
Candidates in the Rite of

Passage Program learning to adopt and integrate personal skills to enhance their capacity for good work and service to family and community in this life.

AGENDA
The Family Unit Parenting: The Price of Children The Community Family and Community Developmental

Issues Strategic Planning for African American Development Developmental Contributors

OVERVIEW
Candidates in the Rite of

Passage will learn to adopt and integrate personal skills developing family and community to enhance our capacity for good work and service to in this life.

CONNECTIONS
Just as the individual is a product of the family

and community, so the current status of the community is the result of family and individual development, to date. It takes a village to raise a child, and a well raised child to advance the village (community). Everyone must find and play a role in the development of the community, as well raised children aspiring to or becoming adults.

VOCABULARY
Contributors
Strategic Plan Sectors

Societal Roles
Consumerism Unqualified Member

Organizations
Synergy Networking

Process Improvement
Cohesion Accountability

Miscommunications
Underemployment

Role Models
Inappropriate Leader

VOCABULARY
Empowerment
Impotent Research &

Development Insufficient

THE FAMILY UNIT

Defining Family Author G.K. Chesterton Politician Giuseppe Mazzini Pope John Paul II Bill Cosby Author/Poet Maya Angelou

FAMILY
The family is the test of freedom;

because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself.
G. K. Chesterton (18741936), British

author. Fancies Versus Fads, Dramatic Unities (1923).

FAMILY
The Family is the Country of the heart. There is an

angel in the Family who, by the mysterious influence of grace, of sweetness, and of love, renders the fulfillment of duties less wearisome, sorrows less bitter. The only pure joys unmixed with sadness which it is given to man to taste upon earth are, thanks to this angel, the joys of the Family.
Giuseppe Mazzini (180572), Italian nationalist

leader. The Duties of Man, ch. 6 (184458; tr. 1907).

FAMILY
As the family goes, so goes the nation

and so goes the whole world in which we live.

Pope John Paul II [Karol Wojtyla] (b.

1920), Polish ecclesiastic, pope. Quoted in: Observer (London, 7 Dec. 1986).

Traditional African Family Structure

Family is extended to the community, as an

integral part of the whole Family includes totality of political, social and religious activity of the community Males: Economic providers, disciplinarians and teachers Females: Socialization process of children, marketing and community childcare All member dependent on each other, living and deceased as a Sociological brotherhood

Black Families in the Slave Community

Established brotherhood continued and

maintained Elders respected and honored Slavery introduced psychological trauma of separation and conflict of values imposed Family roles shifted, males became subservient; females dominant

Effect of Emancipation on the Black Family

Family bond slightly strengthened and

improved Marriages became legalized A documented (married) family cold not be sold away Some families managed to achieve a stable form of family life

Effect of the Northern Migration on Family

The family as a unit was severely impacted
Families broke apart due to the search for

job opportunities Member were willing to depart to get away from persecution Whatever stability was recovered, was now disrupted again

Geographic / Social Mobility

Enabled some families to move toward

stability and achievement Educational potential was a means of upward mobility Occupational opportunities were opening Income became paramount to education and opportunity Overcrowded ghettos were created for housing.

The Contemporary Black Family

The Extended Family provided: Home for the Elderly Family Counseling Services Social security Adoption agency Childcare center Loans and economic assistance

The Contemporary Black Family

Strengths of Black Families Strong kinship bonds Strong children / sibling bonds Strong leadership bonds w/Elderly Strengthened Work / Religious Orientation Family roles were adaptable to whomsoever is available Strengthened Achievement Orientation

The Contemporary Black Family

Competition between males and females
Family lines more matriarchal vs.

patriarchal Matriarchal families viewed by white society as inferior system Blacks are not offended, nor reject a matriarchal family leadership - some stability vs. none

PARENTING
The Price of Children
Exchange Value of

Children PARENTS in the Front Row Seat PARENTS: In Image of God in the eyes of a child

Children Live What They Learn

If a child lives with criticism, If a child lives with praise,

he learns to condemn. If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight. If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to feel shy. If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty. If a child lives with tolerance, he learns patience.

he learns to appreciate. If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice. If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith. If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself. If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world. -Author Unknown-

If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.

THE PRICE OF CHILDREN

This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely positive for a change. I have seen the breakdown of the cost of raising

a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice. The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down.

$160K TRANSLATES INTO:

$8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month $171.08 a week $24.24 a day! Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice

is, "Don't have children if you want to be rich." Actually, it is just the opposite.

WHAT DO YOU GET FOR $160K

Naming rights. First, middle, and last! Glimpses of God every day. Giggles under the covers every night. More love than your heart can hold. Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs. Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and

warm cookies. A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate. A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites.

FOR $160K YOU NEVER HAVE TO GROW UP

Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no

matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day. You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, and never stop believing in Santa Claus.

FOR $160K YOU NEVER HAVE TO GROW UP

You have an excuse to keep reading the

Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney movies, and wishing on stars. You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets Collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas Hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

FOR $160K THERE IS NO GREATER BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

You get to be a hero just for retrieving a

Frisbee off the garage roof taking the training wheels off a bike removing a splinter filling a wading pool coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

YOU GET A FRONT ROW SEAT TO WITNESS THE:

first first first first first You You

step word, bra date, and time behind the wheel. get to be immortal. get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren.

IN THE EYES OF A CHILD YOU RANK RIGHT UP THERE WITH GOD

You get an education in psychology,

nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits. So one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price! Love and enjoy your children and grandchildren

FATHER
If the new American father feels

bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.
Bill Cosby (b. 1937), U.S. comedian,

actor. Fatherhood, ch. 5 (1986).

A FATHERS LOVE
Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong

enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; One who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be

A FATHERS LOVE
A son who will know Thee - and that to know

himself is the foundation stone of knowledge. Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here, let him learn to stand up in the storm; here, let him learn compassion for those who fall. Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men;

A FATHERS LOVE
One who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to

weep; One who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past. And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself to seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. Then I, his father, will dare to whisper: "I have not lived in vain."

THE COMMUNITY
Developmental Issues Strategic Planning for

Development Organizational Development for Development The Importance of Individual Involvement

COMMUNITY
All of childhoods unanswered questions must finally

be passed back to the town and answered there. Heroes and bogey men, values and dislikes, are first encountered and labeled in that early environment. In later years they change faces, places and maybe races, tactics, intensities and goals, but beneath those penetrable masks they wear forever the stocking-capped faces of childhood.
Maya Angelou (b. 1928), U.S. author. I Know Why

the Caged Bird Sings, ch. 4 (1969), said of ones hometown.

COMMUNITY SERVICE
The High Performing Person
FAMILIES
NEIGHBORHOODS SCHOOLS

ORGANIZATIONS
PEOPLE GROUPS

BUSINESSES
CHURCHES

FAMILY / COMMUNITY DEVELOPEMENTAL ISSUES

Insufficient Parental

Involvement Ineffective Education Inappropriate Leadership Inadequate Organization Unqualified Membership Undeveloped Societal Roles Soft Critiquing Negative Intragroup Relations

SIGNS OF ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR

Jealousy Quick Involvement Isolation Hypersensitivity Verbal Abuse Use of Force in Sex Rigid Sex Roles Past Battering Threats of Violence Breaking or Striking Objects

Use of Force during

Argument Controlling Behavior Unrealistic Expectations Blaming Others for Own Problems Blaming Others for Own Feelings Cruelty to Children or Animals Dr. Jekyll/ Mr. Hyde Behavior

INSUFFICIENT PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Miseducated
Violent Violence and Abuse

Lack of Involvement

Single Mothers
Absent Fathers

in Youth Development Lack of Accountability for Child & Youth Development Poor Parenting Skills

INEFFECTIVE EDUCATION
Miseducated Youth
No Afro Am R&D No Parental

System Unresponsive

Involvement Impotent Teachers Violence in Schools No Empowerment Program

to Needs No Workforce Training No Cultural Synthesis No Community Orientation

INAPPROPRIATE LEADERSHIP
Irresponsible Business Lack of

People Few Positive Images for Youth No Sponsorships Need for Role Models Lack of Professionalism

Accountability Religious Disunity Drug Lords as Leaders Violent Leaders Selfish Politicians Ineffective Representation

INADEQUATE TEAM ORGANIZATION

No Unity
No Cohesion No Networking

No Working Together
No Sponsorship No Mentorship

No Cultural Activity
No Economic Focus Historically Un-

Church vs. Business

Church as Business Need All-for-One

successful Ventures Women as Competitors No Economic Base

Mentality No Process Improvement System

UNQUALIFIED MEMBERSHIP
Failure to Give Back Rite of Passage
No Professionalism Building

to Community Fear Faint-heartedness Pro-Racism Building Accountability

Responsibility Leeches Criminals Unethical People

UNDEVELOPED SOCIETAL ROLE

Selfishness
ME Generation Erroneous Publicity

Unemployment
Underemployment Downsizing

Government Handouts
Lack of Information Consumerism

Crime
No Prayer in Schools No Rite of Passage

No Cultural Heritage

like Kwanzaa

SOFT CRITIQUING
Recognizing Success
No Hospitality Unresponsive to

Lack of Pride
No Lessons Learned Wrong Lessons

Caring Lack of Professionalism

Learned

NEGATIVE INTRAGROUP RELATIONS

Unresponsive to Group

Lack of Involvement
Males vs. Females Community vs.

Needs Elitism Aggrandizement Miscommunications Violence Not Doing Business w/ Black Business Power in Numbers

Business Businesses are Discourteous No Synergy Resistance to Networking

DEVELOPMENTAL COMPONENT AGENTS / AGENCIES

Private Sector Owners / Employers Business Sector Shareholders/ Employees Independent BBOs Black Owned Businesses Black Educators Local, State & Federal Black Operated Non-Profit Organizations Black Churches and Affiliated Denominations Black Media and Marketing Professionals Black Families, Friends & Diverse Neighbors Skilled Black Men, Women, Youth and Children

across the Nation

STRATEGIC PLAN FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT

COMMUNICATIONS ORIENTATION DELEGATION
PRIVATE SECTOR OWNERS/EMPLOYEES

INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES BLACK OWNED (BBO)

BUSINESS SECTOR SHAREHOLDERS/ EMPLOYEES

ECONOMIC EDUCATIONAL CULTURAL

BLACK EDUCATORS/ SYSTEM EMPLOYEES

AFRICAN AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM PROPOENT AGENTS

PARENTS, FAMILY, FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS (NPOs)

MEDIA & MARKETING PROFESSIONALS CHURCHES & AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS

VOLUNTARY PROGRESSIVE

SOCIAL POLITICAL FINANCIAL

Organizations Endorsing The National Black Family Empowerment Agenda

NC Association of Black

Lawyers NC Black Elected Municipal Officials NC Black Publishers Association The National Association of Minority Contractors Association of Black Sociologists 100 Black Men The Women of Color Public Policy Institute The Harvest Institute

Organizations Endorsing The National Black Family Empowerment Agenda

Wilmington

Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance NC Black Leadership Caucus The Federation of Southern Cooperatives Eastern NC Civic Association Pitt County Black Leadership Caucus Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association The Durham Committee

Organizations Endorsing The National Black Family Empowerment Agenda

World Conference of Mayors
National Conference of Black

Mayors National Black Chamber of Conference Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials AME Church, Second Episcopal District Bertie Ministerial Conference West Roanoke Missionary Baptist Association

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
Blacks Against Black New Hope

Crime 100 Black Men Studio Art Grow In My Fathers House Abuse Shelter Cultural Concepts Miracle Making Ministry

Community Center C & J Enterprises Augusta Area Cultural Society Gents Technology Services

CONTRIBUTORS
Hon. Ed McIntyre
Ms. Barbara

Barbara & Alvin

Thurmond Ms. Willie Knox Mr. Johnny Wilson Judge David Watkins Mr. Frank Tomas Ms. Evelyn Ellis

Franklin Mr. Xavier Jones Dr. Deborah Austin Creative Impressions The Augusta Cultural Society Dance Ensemble

CONTRIBUTORS contd
Rev. Robert Williams
Rev. Larry Fryer Mr. Jamie Eatmon

Ms. Sctonda Kelly

Coach James Quarles

SUMMARY
Just as the individual is a product

of the family and community, so the current status of the community is the result of family and individual development, to date. It takes a village to raise a child, and a well raised child to advance the village (community). Everyone must find and play a role in the development of the community, as well raised children aspiring to or becoming adults.

Belief System
The High Performing Individual or System
Whatever A Man

Can Conceive and Believe, he can Achieve. Divine Revelation Imagination Inner Vision Conceptualizations

Managing Time
The High Performing Individual or System
Personal Time
Marriage Family

Physical Health
Mental Health Social Exchanges

Vocation / Job

Improved Personal Values

The High Performing Person
Family
Friends Church / Religion

Education
Skills Beliefs

Activities / Hobbies
Culture Experiences

The Family of God

Divine Order / Decree
Mirror of Self Training Ground

Fruit of Life / Living

Expression of Love

Outside Self Teachers, Coaches, Trainers and Guides

WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION

Cohen, D. (1991). The circle of life: Rituals from the human family album. San

Francisco: Harper
M.E.C.C.A. (n.d.). African Americans resurrect rites of passage through a

comprehensive family & community development model.

Quinn, W. H., Newfield, N. A. & Protinsky, H. O. (1985). Rites of Passage in Families

with Adolescents. Family Process, 24, pp. 101-111.

McConnel, B. (1989). Education as a cultural process: The interaction between

community and classroom in fostering learning. In J. Allen & J. M. Mason (Eds.), Risk makers, risk takers, risk
Som, M. (1993). Rituals: Power, Healing and Community. Portland, OR:Swan/Raven

& Company.
Warfield-Coppock, N. (1994). The rites of passage: Extending education into the

African American community. In M. J. Shujaa (Ed.), Too much schooling too little education: A paradox of black life in white societies. (pp. 375-393). Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc.

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