Flatbadgers Flashbacks and Fascinations: It's just how we rolled in the 70's!

Flatbadgers Flashbacks and Fascinations: It's just how we rolled in the 70's!

TIME TO VOTE!

Here are the books, in alphabetical order; vote NOW for no more than THREE (3) books. We'll meet on Saturday, January 21 at UR, at 5 p.m., meet for no less than two hours, and then go hang out:

1. Days of Grace by Arthur Ashe

2. Brother, I'm Dying - Edwidge Danticat

   
   

   Foxy: My Life in Three Acts - Pam Grier

   
   

   He Talk Like a White Boy - Joseph C. Phillips, Tavis Smiley

3. Michael Seth Starr, Black and Blue: the Redd Foxx Story

   
   

   Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet
   

   
   

   Jerald Walker, Street Shadows

4. Richard Wright, Black Boy

How the ANC Lost Its Way

I wanted to share this story with you about the ANC. At the back of my mind, there's always this troubling question.. when will we as black people be able to pull ourselves together and run / established governments without (corruption, violence and third world wars..)? A friend and I had a long discussion about our track records as Africans has been spotty (i.e. Haiti - Over a 100 years of independence, etc..,etc..) Now, I know there are many other factors that go into such matters, but when I'm looking at this from a high level it just begs the question.. can Africans govern a society? I know.. someone will retort with stories of great civilizations, but I'm talking about now.. 21st century. What are your thoughts?

NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN

Happy New Year, gentlemen! Nominations are hereby open for our March, 2012 selection, for our March 17, 2012, meeting, 5 p.m. in Ryland Hall, room 500, at the University of Richmond. Nominated books should be MEMOIRS this time. You are free to nominate two (2) books. Nominations will stay open until Wednesday night. On Thursday and Friday we will vote on the nominated books.

The End of Men

I've read articles similar to this one over the years. The part of the article that mentions the boys eyes as "glazed over" is the reason I do what I do for a living. One of the main culprits to the decrease in the number of males seeking post-secondary education is the format of our educational system. The educational system is more suited to the learning style of females (passive, listener). Teachers, predominately, continue to stand and lecture in classes from elementary school through high school. Males are most suited for active engagement in the learning process. For a variety of reasons, people learn best by doing, but considering the way children are raised, females adapt better to being auditory learners when necessary than boys. One of the possible solutions to meeting the multiple learning styles and intelligences of learners is through technology-based interventions which is where I come in. I won't digress.

Society has become more driven by information and the skill of communicating that information. Research has long shown that females are more verbal than males. The reason for this could be debated with the classic "nature vs. nuture" theory/ born that way or developed that way. For those of you who are married, this may carry over to your household. Honestly, everything doesn't have to be a debate with spouse and shouldn't be, but it can be if you allow it sometimes. Sometimes it's best to just agree to disagree and keep moving.

So, one of the issues to consider initially is relationships. Relationships in the classroom, workplace, and home with females. They all start early in the life of males.

Just my initial thoughts. Feel free to join in or not.  :)

Still reading the remainder of the article.

TIME TO VOTE!

Here are the books, in alphabetical order, nominated for our January 21 meeting. Please vote for no more than three (3) books:

Rob Bell, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived

Milan Ford, 83 Things I Wish the Black Church Would Stop Doing

Toure, Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness?: What It Means to be Black Now

NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN

Nominations are hereby open for our January 21, 2012 selection. Nominated books should be "TOPICAL" OR "ISSUES NONFICTION this time. You are free to nominate two (2) books. Nominations will stay open until Wednesday night. On Thursday and Friday we will vote on the nominated books.

This Saturday, of course, we will meet at 5pm in the usual space to discuss Is Marriage for White People, by Richard Ralph Banks. Looking forward to it!