This has to change... if for no one other than my son!!!!

I was reading an article on line that said fewer African-American males are graduating from high school and even fewer are going to college.

For example, as many as 76 percent of African-American males don't graduate from high school in some areas of the nation, according to the Urban Institute. The population is also underrepresented as professionals in the educational system. Monday, April 17, 2006 by Spero News

I didn't need this article to tell me this. All I needed to do was look around my community to see this. But I think that may be the problem. We all are seeing this, but we don't see the NEED to do anything about it.
A college education is simple an opportunity. It does not mean that a person will fair well in life, but it does mean that they could fair better. Look at what life at a four-year college offers. For many it is exposure to a lifestyle, people, books, programs and opportunties that the person would have never experienced if he did not go to college. I also am an advocate of a child leaving home for college, which I think allows the person a chance to develop some independent living skills.
But why aren't are sons looking at college as a place that they WANT to be?

Hosted by Colorado State University, the Center for African American Research and Policy and the Interwest Equity Assistance Center, the conference will provide opportunities to discuss how research can translate into action to better African-American males' experiences at all stages of the educational system, from the early influence their family has on their educational success to their role as university administrators.

"Today, obtaining a solid education determines, more than almost any other time in American history, the degree of social mobility one has or will have in American society as well as quality of life," said Jerlando Jackson, a conference coordinator and executive director for the Center for African American Research and Policy and assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison