There are over 300,000 more black men in college than in prison, but you wouldn’t know this watching cable or network news? How come?

In the decade from 1999-2000 to 2009-2010, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to Black students increased by 53 percent, and the number awarded to Hispanic students increased by 87 percent. In 2009–10, Black students earned 10 percent and Hispanics earned 9 percent of all bachelor’s degrees conferred, versus the 9 and 6 percent, respectively, earned in 1999–2000” (NCES, 2012).

Historical Context for What is Going on in Ferguson and New York City: The Kerner Report

The summers of 1964-1967 were marked by civil disorders, rioting and looting in African-American neighborhoods of major cities including Los Angeles (Watts Riot of 1965), Chicago (Division Street Riots of 1966), Newark (1967 Newark riots) and Detroit (1967 Detroit Riots) In all, these disorders resulted in millions of dollars of damage[1] and the loss of 83 lives. In response, President Lyndon Johnson …

The first duty of LOVE is to LISTEN

The first duty of LOVE is to LISTEN. -Paul Tillich. Listening doesn’t mean obeying, it means making a true effort to hear and understand what the other person is saying and feeling. Think how much better relationships would be if parents really listened to their children; if children – minors and adults – really listened to their parents and if …

P0STER: 12 Truths About Lying

12 TRUTHS ABOUT LYING. 1. Honesty may not always pay, but lying always costs. 2. Trust is a tower, built stone by stone, lies take stones from the bottom. 3. There is no security in secrecy; every undiscovered lie is a live landmine. 4. Lies breed a bodyguard of new lies to protect themselves. 5. Lies look very different to …

Insights on INTEGRITY

Integrity is one thing you cannot afford to lose. You can give it away or sell it, but you can’t buy it. Without integrity you become nothing and will have nothing. People of integrity do the right thing even if no one else does, not because they think it will change the world but because they refuse to be changed …

QUOTE & POSTER: Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. – Melody Beattie

QUOTE & POSTER: Gratitude is not a statement, it’s a feeling.

It is so easy to say I am grateful that I often don’t stop to really, really experience gratitude. Saying the words doesn’t mean a thing without the feeling and it takes a moment of genuine reflection to summon that feeling. This Thanksgiving, don’t shortchange yourself with hollow words — EXPERIENCE THE FEELING.

QUOTE AND OBSERVATION: If we take care to repair ourselves with ointments laced with gratitude, humility and compassion, the scars left by healed wounds reveal life insights and experiences that can make us more beautiful.-Michael Josephson

Nietzsche told us “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” and Hemingway wrote about becoming stronger in broken places. A different way of thinking is found in the Japanese concept of kintsukuroi the art of repairing broken pottery with gold or silver lacquer in a way that makes the object more beautiful than it was before. I think this is …

Poster: Five things to teach your children

1. Be a good friend. 2. Be kind even to those who don’t deserve it. 3. Learn from every experience. 4. Do your share even when others aren’t doing theirs. 5. Start and finish a job even when you don’t want to.- Michael Josephson  Click to see poster.

COMMENTARY 899.2: Are You the Father Your Child Deserves?

Listening to 9/11 survivors re-live the horrendous event that shattered their lives should remind us all to treat every day as a gift, and to treasure every opportunity to give or receive love. This is especially true for parents. A favorite story is about a 10-year-old boy who was told by his father not to expect him to go to …