Village Radio  

Kamau and AKilah will discuss the obstacles to Black fatherhood and probe some of the possible strategies for encouraging some Black men to rejoin the lives of their children.

Much has been written and researched regarding the raising of African American boys. Kamau and Akilah will discuss the obstacles and strategies to raising healthy African American boys in an often hostile American context.

Today, I was on my way to school to work on my dissertation and I came across a young African American boy who couldn’t be older than 16 being arrested by some of Chicago’s finest, one Black cop and one white cop. For those who know the South side of Chi town, this is unfortunately a regular occurrence. However, what made this situation Strange was the glee that was coming from one of the police officers over this apprehension. One of the officers was so extremely happy that she had captured this young boy that she could barely contain her joy.  To my surprise it was the African American officer who was expressing this totally inappropriate jubilation. It was so out of place that it made me wonder what’s going on here. Why is this Black officer so excited that she is putting a Black boy in jail? Now, I realize that I don’t know this young man’s guilt or innocence nor do I know the severity of what he is accused of, but what I do know is no matter the situation the Black officer’s joy made me very uncomfortable. To me it suggested a deeper problem. It suggested that some Black people in positions of authority actually get some pleasure in controlling the possibilities of Black people they deem less powerful than them.  

This incident made me think about my own situation in school. There have been many Black professors who have helped me, but there have been some that have attempted to sabotage me. These would be the same individuals who would shout “we need more minority representation in the academy.” I would just shake my head and say amazing! You see what these professors and that officer don’t realize is that my success is connected to their success. When Black professors don’t help Black students they inadvertently reinforce the stereotype that Blacks can’t excel in academia which makes those professors’ scholarship suspect by their colleagues. Their white counterparts will say “oh he does the Ethnic or race work.” And snicker. Further, That young man who was being arrested is connected to that Black cop because the more young Black men we put in the prison system, the more we reinforce the perception that Black men are criminals thus making African American profiling and police harassment more prevalent and since that officer probably has Black family members, it makes it more likely they might get stopped, harassed, or worse. Instead of reacting with glee and joy, maybe that officer should dedicate some time to talk to that young man about the poor decisions he is making and ways to make better decisions.

Either way, we are connected to one another as a people. Therefore, Rejoicing in one another’s failures is not the answer since you will soon realize that you are only laughing at yourself!

The number one reason relationships fail is money. They say money is the root of all evil, but is it really? In this segment Kamau and Akilah will discuss relationship money matters. This week we have a very special Guest, Derik Coffey, Business Manager of the Investment Solutions Department in UBS Financial Services. Mr. Coffey will give you his expert take from the inside on the current financial crisis, how it will affect your family and what you can do about it. Make sure you don't miss this.