The Time is NOW!

Tonight's meeting with the STARS Leaders went well. On our agenda we were supposed to meet with students from Amundsen High School. I was really looking forward to interacting with the students but unfortunately they could not make it. Although the students were not able to visit, I am not completely sadden by it. Our group had the opportunity to meet with Nicole and two young ladies from the Empowerment Pipeline. The goal of the Empowerment Pipeline is to empower/encourage students to succeed. The Empowerment Pipeline members are there for students to answer questions that they may have about college or life in general. I think that their efforts are commendable! The fact that I was able to hear about the experiences of the young ladies involved in the Empowerment Pipeline was helpful. It allowed me to develop an understanding of what the STARS leaders will be getting into as we talk with students during future visits. I'm excited and ready to share/give the students all that I have!

An ideal place to meditate. (Photo: Lauren Adams)

Meditation: Before reading the article, 'Why We Find It Hard to Meditate' via Mindful.org, I hadn't given much thought about meditation. I am aware of meditation in general but I don't do it regularly. I think that I probably should meditate at least once a week. I'm sure it would make things so much more bearable. I believe it will be beneficial to me to organize my thoughts or at least just be aware of what's going on in my life. Often times I become overwhelmed by the many tasks I have to complete and just being aware of them I think will remove some of that stress. Next week, I'm going to try meditating for fifteen minutes. I will definitely take advantage of having such a beautiful campus at Loyola (Chicago) and meditate. I'm really looking forward to that experience.

Finding a balance in life has been especially challenging for me. I would say that the pendulum theory developed by Dieter Pauwels is completely accurate and applicable to me. In my life there are times where I feel great, other times not so much. Moments where I feel accomplished and moments where I feel like I haven't done anything. The list goes on, but bottom line is I have to remember that I will bounce back and get on the right path. My not so great moments are just as much apart of my growth and development as the high points. The article was uplifting and I will try to remember the important points when I am going through my low points.


W.E.B. DuBois said,

“Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime.” 

I completely agree with DuBois. If we wait for convenient situations we may never get anything done. We just have to jump into things and handle them right away. The final statement shows that when effort and hard work is put in initially, you'll reap the benefits. As a student I take on that type of attitude with my work. I work hard in school now so that I can get a job of my choosing where I am comfortable and satisfied.

Here is a video clip from one of my favorite movies, The Great Debaters.  This clip highlights many of the things I have mentioned in this post. It is appropriate because it also deals with educational inequalities, which is a topic hat we've talked about during our past STARS LEAD meetings. Although it focuses on inequities within education as a result of segregation in America many of the points made are still relevant today. It's a great film and I recommend that you watch it, if you have not seen it before. Enjoy the clip!

Lauren L. Adams

Exploring Inequalities, Gaining Inspiration, and Finding Motivation

Explaining the Inequalities in Education in Chicago http://vimeo.com/27784440

This video is full of statistics that clearly show educational inequalities. As an American you would like to think that all things are equal but in reality they are not. I personally experienced something that clearly shows inequalities in education. When I was in elementary school there was a major snow storm/blizzard and there were many inches of snow everywhere. Since there was so much snow, the school bus services were cancelled and I had to go to my neighborhood school for the day. I was placed in a class of my grade level and the teacher would ask questions that I could immediately answer with ease but the other students had difficulty. Then the teacher gave us worksheets. I completed them effortlessly. The learning standards were no where near the standards I was exposed to at my school. This just shows you that we do have opportunities to learn and go to school but it is NOT equal.

Louder Than a Bomb: High School Training Ground http://vimeo.com/22448349

Malcolm London’s poem was brilliant, accurate, and left me speechless. He brings up many great points but the one I would like to focus on is when he says, 

“I hear that education systems are failing but I believe they are succeeding at what they’re built to do, to train you, to keep you on track—to track down an American dream that fails so many of us, all.”

One of the reasons I think that the ‘American dream...fails so many of us’ is because of inequalities within schools and social barriers, which are considered ‘barbed wire’ by Malcolm London. Regardless as to what the ‘American dream’ may mean to an individual, the chances of actually living it are not equal from group to group. 

Inspiration : How Bad Do You Want It? (Success) http://youtu.be/7X38PCf7kao

This video on success and what it means was very inspirational! I believe it is motivation that allows you to be successful. My motivation comes through many different channels. I am motivated to achieve great things so that I can be the example for others. Gandhi once said “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I have truly applied this to my life because what the world needs is people who are not just telling others what to do, but who are also showing them what is right and acceptable.  As a society we are easily influenced by what we see. Because of this it is important to have an endless supply of great role models to show people the way. I live to be a role model for those in my family, community, and on a larger scale, the world. 

I am also motivated by those who have come before me. As an African-American my ancestors fought for all of the rights I have today. And to do nothing to further the African-American community and to neglect my rights would mean their efforts were in vain. Many have died so that I may have the right to read, to learn, to go anyplace unrestricted, to vote, and to be treated equally. 

Another thing that motivates me is my family. They have faith in me and I feel that I owe it to them to make them proud. 

In the end, GOD is my everything! He gives me the courage to endure and the strength to succeed. Through the numerous modes of motivation, I push to reach my full potential.

Here’s a video someone posted on Facebook earlier today, that I found very revitalizing. 

What Makes You So Strong?

Lauren L. Adams

Instead of Jimmying/Kicking/Hitting Our Toilet We Need to Hire A Plumber

After reading the “Locating the School-To-Prison Pipeline” article it is clear that there is complete disregard for the well-being of children in America. I completely disagree with zero-tolerance policies. Under such policies students are punished severely without looking at the circumstances.

Shakespeare (playwright) viewed the world as a stage and a constant theme seen in his plays is appearance versus reality. The characters in his play seem to be one way but in reality they are another, most times they’re the complete opposite. For example in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth (who was next in line to the throne) and his wife Lady Macbeth planned to kill King Duncan to gain rights to become King. Duncan, upon arriving to Macbeth’s castle, viewed both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as welcoming hosts. The irony in the scene is that they had every intention to kill him and eventually did. To Duncan, the Macbeths appeared to be friendly and hospitable but in reality they are not. Another example is this student (top left) appears to be studying but he's actually texting. My point is we should not automatically make conclusions about people based on limited amounts of information. But we should instead actually investigate what is going on.

One of the major problems that I think comes up when thinking of this school-to-prison pipeline is a term called ‘labeling theory.’ In my criminal justice class I took last semester we talked about the role labeling plays in the criminal justice system. Basically, if you constantly tell a child negative things like, “You will never amount to anything. You’re going to end up in jail. You’re not smart. You’re going to fail,” they will be more likely to exhibit such behavior. If teachers are labeling students with negative roles, there is a great chance that they will be a fulfillment of those roles. I believe that labeling goes beyond the verbal; it is also done through the way you treat people. If a school hires police officers as enforces of punishment, then that would say to a student that they are a criminal. So we MUST be careful about what we say to each other especially to children.

This school-to-prison pipeline is a major problem. I think that having zero tolerance policies and police officers just shows that no one actually cares about students in schools. I think it is just a way to get out of actually working to help individuals. There needs to be empathy and concern for students. We should never handle things by temporarily taking care of the issue. I think it should be our duty as humans to figure out what the problem actually is. When issues are handled on the surface they will never disappear. Let’s say for instance there your toilet isn’t flushing properly. You notice that if you jimmy the handle, kick the bottom of it twice, and hit the back of three times it will flush. Temporarily it solves the problem but eventually you will have to call a plumber to fix the toilet. It is the same thing with this school-to-prison pipeline situation. Imposing zero-tolerance policies and hiring security workers is similar to jimmying/kicking/hitting our toilet. We don’t truly solve the problem we just do something to get it out of the way. I honestly think that we all know that we need to call the plumber―have empathy and care for our students. But in today’s society a majority of us lack compassion and understanding.

To change that I hope to impact some of the students who will be visiting the STARS leaders this Friday. I just want to let them know that they can be successful in life and let them know that all it takes is hard work and persistence. I also want explain to them the importance of building others up when they do reach the pinnacles of their success. I am looking forward to meeting the students from Tilden High School!

Lauren L. Adams

Care's Role in Servant Leadership

“If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.” —Maya Angelou

One of the most important things I gathered from the STARS LEAD presentation given by Dr. Patrick Green this past Friday was the definition of ‘servant leadership.’ Servant leadership according to the findings of Larry Spears (presented by Dr. Green) is defined by ten characteristics:

1. Listening
2. Empathy
3. Healing
4. Awareness
5. Persuasion
6. Conceptualization
7. Foresight
8. Stewardship
9. Commitment to the Growth of People
10. Building Community

At least half of theses characteristics relate to Maya Angelou’s quote because caring for others is important in servant leadership. As a developing leader I hope to master all of these skills but mostly focusing on caring for others. I believe that social justice can only be accomplished if we look out for others and learn to care for them. If we do not care about other people, we are more likely to make decision based on our selfishness. When decisions are made based on personal interests social barriers are created. And these social isolations stunt the growth of social justice. 

Currently, I am a student at Loyola (Chicago) studying Forensic Science. I chose the path of Forensics as a career because of my interest in promoting social justice. While I was in 8th grade I participated in a program held at DePaul University where we were introduced to the basic procedures of Forensic Science. Then during my senior year of high school I took a Forensic Science class. In the class we watched a video on the Innocence Project which is an organization that helps exonerate wrongly convicted criminals though the use of DNA Fingerprinting. The video documented the lives of those who were exonerated. While watching the video I was able to see the difficulties the exonerees faced when returning to the community. They had troubles finding jobs, people viewed them as if they were criminals even though they weren’t, their families experienced the pain of their absence and many other things negatively affected their lives. I felt the pain of these people, and even writing about it now makes me emotional. No one should have ever experienced what those innocent people did. Their lives were ruined because of an unfair conviction, families were broken. This made me want to do something to help and since I had an interest in forensics it was a no brainer that I wanted to do DNA analysis. My hope is to provide a service though this medium to free not only those who are innocent but to also assist in the conviction those who are threats to society.

I know that I will not be the sole deciding factor in court rooms as to if a person will be convicted or not, but I want to be available to provide the service of DNA analysis as an option. To make the technique of DNA fingerprinting widespread and available to all people to promote justice within our courtrooms is my goal. The day I learned about the Innocence Project was the day I found it in my heart to care for someone else, to succeed in promoting social justice.

Here is a photograph I took a while ago that is perfect for this post:

Trees are our communities. The roots are social justice. Without strong stable roots we can not grow together or produce beautiful fruit.

Lauren L. Adams