June 2019

If Mayor Pete wants more South Bend police officers of color in the future, he’s going to have to start with improving the academic outcomes for Black and Brown students in his city so they can graduate having the skill sets required to become a South Bend Law enforcement officer.

“My mother peeked out and she saw them, the truckloads of black people, and she saw them dump them into a common grave at the cemetery,” Prewitt tearfully said into the mic in her elderly voice.

Somehow, the cops were more afraid of black, unarmed Isaiah Lewis than they were of white, armed 19-year-old Jackson Morris.

The five-part miniseries beautifully unveils the history of the Black Wall Street in all its splendor and glory, then takes the viewer through the horrifying destruction of this once prosperous black township.

Research shows the testing era had a laser-like focus on language arts and math, with less time devoted to social studies or civics education. Many argue that social studies content is easily woven into literacy units.

Although some people view encouraging people to buy black as racist, I see it differently. I recognize that catering to a particular cultural niche market is an opportunity to rebuild my community and simultaneously leverage our own buying power so we can all compete in today’s globally competitive market. 

Until you see their faces when you look at these numbers, until you see your child being treated suspiciously, until you see your child being deemed dangerous to the point of the use of force as a result of simply expressing common human emotions and frustration, you don’t feel this urgently enough.