Kroger closings in SE Raleigh

As a resident of Knightdale/southeast Raleigh, I was very saddened to see in the news this week that Kroger grocery stores are planning to close two of their Southeast Raleigh stores.  This saddens me not only because Kroger is where I regularly shop and track points for coupons and gas discounts but even further upsets me because it is yet another resource being stripped from the people who live in this region.  According to an article on the WRAL website (linked below), Southeast Raleigh is recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a "food desert," an urban low-income area where the poverty rate is at least 20 percent and at least 33 percent of residents have low access to a supermarket or large grocery store.
For many Southeast Raleigh residents, this is the only walkable grocery store from their homes and they do not have transportation and will therefore have to use public transit to get groceries.  This WRAL article:  http://www.wral.com/kroger-stores-closing-in-southeast-raleigh/11826959/ shows a map with the lack of grocery stores in the Southeast Raleigh region.  For some, the next nearest grocery store is several miles away.  Some local residents are interiviewed in this article and mention that they'll have to take a bus or two buses just to get food home.  Terrible.  I look at the jobs that will be lost by these employees, many of which are already considered to be in a low-income bracket, now left fearing for their futures just as the new year begins.  The stores are slated to close in mid-January. 

Per the article previously mentioned:  http://www.wral.com/Raleigh-nonprofit-gets-refund-ahead-of-Krogers-closings/11849844/  Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane and members of the City Council are working on a letter to send to the Ohio-based company asking it to reconsider closing its stores on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and New Bern Avenue.

City leaders and residents say they are concerned about the local economy and about the ease of access to food for the community.  According to one of the articles, "Carl York, advertising and public relations manager for Kroger's mid-Atlantic marketing region, said in a statement Thursday that the two stores that are closing operated for more than a decade without a profit and that keeping them open is no longer 'financially feasible'."  I am actually surprised to read this since the store along New Bern Avenue I shop at is always busy; the parking lot always full.  The location along Martin Luther King Blvd seems to be busy often too.  I don't understand, however, why they need to close both.  Perhaps they should keep at least one of them open; especially the MLK Blvd location as it's the only grocery store for several miles in that vicinity. 

This is an absolute concern for me as well and I plan to advocate for those stores to stay open.  If you want to join my Twitter march to advocate for residents in SE Raleigh and for Kroger to stay open:

Send messages to Kroger on Twitter at:  @KrogerCo 

And send messages to Raleigh Government & Governor Nancy McFarlane at:  @RaleighGov

Thanks!

Intoxication Destination

With so much discussion this semester about Hurricane Katrina and the shambles it's left New Orleans in on so many levels, I thought it was interesting to find this recent episode of Drugs, INC. that discusses briefly the increases of drug abuse that have resulted. 

The full episode "Hurricane Blow" aired a week or two ago and according to the National Geogaphic channel's website will air again on December 11th if anyone is interested in viewing it.  Here is a brief 3-minute excerpt:
http://www.hulu.com/#!watch/427081

It states that nearly 400,000 people were displaced from their homes due to Katrina.  As we know, mental health issues increased drastically following the storm.  Many suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.  As a result, according to the feature, many became addicted to drugs as a way to stay numb and avoid thinking about the pain and stress.  One of the dealers they interviewed discusses how he personally knows many people who accept money from the Red Cross and instead of buying homes or food they would support their drug addiction.  It's truly sad.

So much devestation has effected the people of this region and even now, seven years after the storm they are still struggling with what it did to them emotionally and psychologically.  They need help and so I wanted to share with you some organizations in that region that are specifically working with victims of the storm and people in NOLA with drug addictions.

If you'd like to support, here are a few of the many organizations offering support to residents of this region:

REACH NOLA: http://reachnola.org/

Healing Hearts NOLA:  http://www.healingheartsnola.org/

Addiction Recovery Resources, Inc.:  http://www.arrno.org/

Louisiana Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters:  http://lavoad.org/services/

Get Up & Get Moving!

I think most of us become more sedentary in the winter months. If you're anything like me, you find it difficult to maintain a workout routine in the winter either because it gets dark early so your outdoor activity is limited, or because it's so cold in the morning that you hate leaving your cozy, warm bed to go out into the cold to head to the gym.   All of this is true for me.  That, and my travel and recruitment with work is over and so I find myself sitting, day-after-day at my desk reading files, answering calls and emails.  I always joke that I feel myself gaining weight as I sit there; sitting and snacking when I get bored of sitting.  If you find yourself sitting more than you used to, this blog is for you........

Weight gain isn't the only negative result of being more sedentary.  Someone took it upon themselves to bring a little truth to the walls of our office a few months back and hung up a very insightful, yet somewhat depressing (especially to those who are required by work to sit all day) set of statics and data about sitting. 
I was able to find it online; here is the link to it if you'd like to read it:  http://brainz.org/truth-about-sitting-down/

Some of the statistics it quotes are:
*Sitting increases risk of death up to 40%  (sitting 6+ hours/day makes you 40% more likely to die within the next 15 years than someone who sits less than 3; even if you exercise. 

*People with sitting jobs have twice the rate of cardiovascular disease as people with standing jobs.

*Those who sit 3 hours or more per day watching TV are 64% more likely to die from heart disease


Theses are some staggering statistics!  So, because your health should always be a top priority to you.  I wanted to share some helpful tips I use to get up and moving and some new techniques I found online that I plan to incorporate in my routine as well:

1-- Park far away and walk to office/class
2-- Get up once an hour to walk around & get blood flowing
3--Take stairs instead of elevator
4--Flex muscles (abs, legs, glutes, biceps) and hold for 10-second intervals when sitting at desk
5--Do wall-sits
6--Leg lunges or squats
7-- Push-ups against wall
8--Do dips on a chair or table (dips= arm workout for triceps)
9-- Go walking over your lunch break (I sometimes bring a change of clothes) or hit the gym at lunch
10-- Use stretch bands to works legs/hips while sitting (see below)
11--Replace your chair with an exercise ball--or-- heighten your desk so you can stand instead of sit
12--Prepare healthy snacks:  raw veggies and fruit, yogurt, almonds or mixed nuts, wheat crackers and peanut butter-- healthy snacks fill you up more quickly and often times provide fiber and protien for energy. 

This  helpful website shows videos of workouts you can do in your office:
http://www.sportsandfitnessideas.com/video/fitness/strength-endurance-training/exercises/tips-exercising-office

Get up and get moving!  It could save your life!



If I have to sit on my bum all day, I may as well work-it while I'm workin!  Stretch bands and yes....that's right folks, a thigh master!!!!!  LOL LOL



From Cellblock to Campus

I recently came across this article:  From Cellblock to Campus... when reading a monthly publication "The Chronicle of Higher Education" that my Director regularly passes around the office.  This particular article grabbed my attention for several reasons.... First because it makes reference to university admissions processes collecting background information on applicants and secondly because it's a common hot topic in higher education to create pathways to success and mentoring programs to increase college/university enrollment, retention, and graduation rates for minority males. 

Over the years we've heard news programs and politicians quote statistics that indicate there are more black men in prisons across the US than in colleges.  This article addresses some of those statistics which thankfully are no longer true and overviews some of the true challenges young Black and Hispanic men face today.  Of course, considering it's title, the main purpose of the article is to prove that there are many young men out there who may have committed crimes but have served time and paid their debt to society and learned from these mistakes and while they may want to move on and put this crime behind them, so many barriers prohibit them from doing so and moving on.  A great success story told in the article is that of Walter Fortson who was arresed on drug charges at the age of 25 but served his time and during his six years in prison he was fortunate to meet an associate professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey who tutors inmates and runs a re-entry program that helps felons go from prison to college.  What an awesome program!  I would love to learn more about this program and others like it that exist.  Fortson is now an honor student in his senior year at Rutgers and he aspires to attain a PhD and inspire other young men. 

Coming from the university admissions perspective, I understand the need to ask for background checks on people with criminal backgrounds.  This office and the Office of Student Conduct is responsible for the safety of all students on campus and must monitor who we are admitting. I would certainly hope, however, that they're fully evaluating the situation to be fair and provide an opportunity for a second chance to someone who has served their time and/or has been rehabilitated.  It would be wonderful if on our campus a mentorship program for incarcerated students to later enroll existed, especially considering our close proximity to a state prison. 

What I found most compelling about the article reminded me of a conversation I had with Dr. Hayes a few weeks ago about the push-out of students from school.  Yes, the high school drop out rates are high for minority males but it's because they're not receiving the support and the resources they need in school or oftenly not at home either.  They are essentially being pushed out, not dropping out.  One doctoral candidate is quoted in the article as saying that "when a suburban white boy acts out, people say 'Oh, boys will be boys...' and they are allowed to grow out of those immature behaviors like smoking weed or getting in fights but in urban areas the penalty for those infractions is quite severe.  They get expelled and the expectation of being a bad child continues."  The article talks about zero-tolrance (of bad behavior) schools having high-stakes testing which provides and incentive to push out lower-performing students to raise overall test scores.  According to the article, the ACLU found that some schools use "selective discipline" to keep low-performing students out of school on testing days.  This is absolutely appaling but I'm sure it happens!  I agree that just as the article states, these youg men are criminalized before they've done anything wrong.  When they don't do well in school there aren't many opportunities for them and these zero-tolerance policy schools seem to better prepare them for prison then for college because the policies just dispose of them.  When students can't compete in school or for jobs, the criminal justice system absorbs them. 

It's really quite an impactful article but my take-away from it is that we absolutely need to advocate for young minority men who face so much adversity.  There are an increasing amount of programs to support these young men on many levels:  personally, professionally, academically.  I believe the programs match mentors with young men will be most influential to them.  This is one organization I've heard of that seems to be amazing:  100 Black Men of America, INC:  http://www.100blackmen.org/home.aspx  they have 116 chapters in cities all across America and ar working to build relationships and mentor future leaders who are successful in all areas of life.  Donate, be a mentor, or at least follow them on Twitter....
#100BlackMen
#Collegiate100 
#100Youth

Dreamcatcher Workshop & Kwanzaa Celebration Announcement

The photos below are uploaded from my phone and were taken at a Dreamcather Workshop I attended tonight on campus in honor of Native American Heritage Month (November).  Shame on me for not sharing with all of you all the fantastic events that were going on this month! Many of them conflicted with my work travel or prior personal engagements so this is the only event I was unable to attend and it was the last one offered.  Here is a link to all the events that occurred on campus.   NCSU Native American Heritage Month events

The Dreamcatcher workshop tonight was a fun, creative event and we learned that Indians believed that all bad or evil dreams would get tangled up in the dreamcatcher and only good dreams would go through the center hole and travel down through the feathers to the dreamer.  The workshop was hosted by Sigma Omicron Epsilon, Inc. (Native American sorority) and has been an annual event on campus for nearly ten years.  I was expecting a small intimate group of about 15-20 people but was surprised to find the entire Witherspoon Multipurpose Room full of "dreamweavers".  About 60 people attended and the result was a sharing of culture and alot of creativity.  It was an uplifting and positive environment with everyone encouraging and complimenting each others' creations.  I attended along with two of my colleagues, Admissions Counselors Tia Bell and Rachel Ensing (from the Haliwa-Saponi tribe of NC).  At first we struggled to figure out how to weave our dreamcathers but with a little coaching by the hosts, we figured out the pattern and had a blast.  I can't wait to attend this workshop next year!  I hope you will watch for these events next year and plan to attend!

Since I was slack about getting the word out about these events, I'd like to promote that tomorrow evening on campus there is a Kwanzaa Celebration on campus from 7:00 to 9:00pm in Witherspoon Cinema.  The event will highlight traditional Kwanzaa rituals, storytelling, and food and will feature Donna K. Buie (aka) Mama Koku, African American Master Storyteller and Writer.

Should be a pretty neat cultural event!  Perhaps I'll see you there!?

Wal-Mart: super center or super offender?

We're always hearing in the news about Wal-Mart not paying their employees well or providing benefits at an affordable cost to their employees.  As if the hard-working, underpaid employees of this super-center chain aren't disgruntled enough, now they have yet one more reason to be frustrated. Wal-Mart stores all over the US opened their doors at 10pm Thanksgiving day this year forcing employees out of their homes and into work their vacation day.  According to this story on CBS:  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57553714/walmart-workers-protest-wages-benefits-on-black-friday/
several dozen protests occurred across several states.  The protests were organized by United Food and Commercial Workers Union and a group called OUR Walmart and they were protesting unfair labor practices and low pay.  Although Walmart employees are not unionized and Walmart does not recognize these union groups, UFCW had anticipated 1,000 protests across the nation.
Not as many protested as they had hoped, but walk-outs and protests did occur by both employees and consumers.  The article portrays a mix of opinions of the protests from various employees; some who are satisfied with their job and others who are very frustrated.  One story I watched on the local news last night interviewed one Walmart employee who stated "It's not right that I work full-time and still have to live off of food stamps!"   Another man is quoted in the WRAL article:   http://www.wral.com/wal-mart-protests-grow-amid-black-friday-shopping-frenzy-/11805567/    
explaining that he can't afford the health benefits provided by Walmart because if he paid for those, he couldn't afford his home.

It's unclear to me whether more employees didn't protest because they fear losing their jobs if they did or if they're satisfied with their income, benefits, and working conditions.  I couldn't truly know without surveying Walmart employees.  However, one thing seems clear to me based upon the frequency that this same topic pops up in the news media......many Walmart employees feel underpaid and can't provide for their families on the salary/benefits paid by Walmart.  Sometimes the voices of few aren't heard until they're united together.  Consumers are the ones that could be most influential in creating change in this situation.  It's our presence and our money that keeps these stores in business and it could be our lack of presence and purchases that could really make them listen to the needs of employees if we stand by them and agree not to patron stores opening on Thanksgiving Day.  Despite efforts by protesters, Walmart sales this Black Friday were reported to have been the highest yet.  It's pertinent that these employees not go unheard and that the massive profit of these stores trickles down to the people who are working hard to operate these stores everyday.  Although this Black Friday has past, this new trend of Thanksgiving-day sales will surely continue.  Please stand with me in support of these employees and make a decision NOT to shop at Walmart on Thanksgiving Day.  

GOP Chairman in Maine

Oh my goodness!  There are so many things about politics and the views of conservatives that are so ignorant that they're laughable.  It's sad and the injustice with blocking the vote needs to stop.  It is every person's Constitutional right to vote.  The conversations on this topic in the news media, online, etc......have been endless and now that the vote is over and Obama has been re-elected, the GOP is trying to find reason to blame losing the election and some of the things they're coming up with are far-fetched to say the least.  On Friday night I was watching Al Sharpton's Politics Nation and they showed clips of Maine GOP Chairman Charlie Webster:

I tried finding the exact clip from Politics Nation but couldn't find it.  Al Sharpton showed that when asked about these comments, Charlie Webster responded that he is not racist, he knows black people, and that he plays basketball with a black guy every Saturday!  Really?!

To speculate that the Democrats are busing in people to vote in different regions is absurd.  What these comments say to me is that these rural communities clearly don't care about the black people in their communities if they didn't even know they existed.  It could be that the two populations are very segregated because the black people haven't felt comfortable or welcomed into the environment but to claim that they're mysteriously showing up to vote is ridiculous.

Although this major election has passed, there are always future elections and your vote and voice do make a difference.  I hope everyone is registered and goes out to vote; don't let the attempts of the ignorant prevent you from finding your voice.
#RockTheVote

Tribal Mascots

Every year for ten years I have traveled in the fall
for the purposes of recruiting students to the university or college where I work.  I've worked in admissions & recruitment at NC State now for over seven years. I've never been more acutely aware until this year of how many high schools still use Native American imagery or symbols as their mascots.  Some people I've discussed this with are often of the opinion that they don't understand why it's offensive and why American Indians don't take it as a compliment to be commemorated as a symbol of strength and as strong warriors.  Yet many American Indians will tell you that it's offensive and hurtful and that it dishonors them. My own high school in Pennsylvania were the Millersburg Indians and still are.  I was a cheerleader throughout all of middle and high school and can remember the words to some of our cheers making specific references to Indians.  Looking back on it now, I can see how these cheers could be personally taken offensively; especially when being spoken by non-Indians who have no idea what it means or meant to be Indian in the US and to have historically had your ancestors' land, language, and culture stripped of them and their loved ones killed.....

So in my travels this year to Pennsylvania specifically, I noticed many high schools in the western and eastern parts of the state whose high school mascots are still Indians, Warriors, Redskins, etc...... at the time of these travels I didn't yet have an iphone and my dinky little flip phone wouldn't take good, share-worthy photos so I was unable to capture what I was seeing in these high schools but I did come across this transcript  (below) this week as I was reading applications for New Jersey.   I'll admit that this is one blog I started writing in my head weeks ago but realizing how much extra research it would take I didn't proceed with writing the blog.  I am now but am not fully satisfied that I don't know the history of this land.  I don't know which tribes once occupied this region or if they occupied it at all.  What is the reason so many schools in this region still have Indian mascots?  Are there still American Indian populations inhabiting this land?  I did some online searches but didn't come up with much to answer these questions.  Perhaps our final Call To Action presentation on Monday will have insight on this topic or I can at least ask if they've seen research on this or government mandated motions to change names.  I know there's been a concerted effort in North Carolina to change the names of many schools' mascots.  I'm not fully aware of who mandated these changes but I'm certain that the eight tribes represented in North Carolina were vocal in pressing forward on making these changes.  I'm sure even more mascots have been changed by now but in 2010 State Advisory Council on Indian Education Report to the NC State Board of Education, Appendix A on page 109 indicates that "in 2002, 73 North Carolina Schools in 43 school districts had an American Indian mascot or imagery.  As of May, 2010, 33 NC schools in 20 school districts were using American Indian mascots.  This is a decrease of approximately 59% over an 8-year span."  This is great progress for American Indians in North Carolina!  I'm just wondering why it isn't being done in other states too?  Perhaps it is and I'm just not aware of it?  Please feel free to share articles or federal mandates I may be unaware of.   Thank you!

Confession....

So blogging isn't the easiest thing in the world to me which is probably evident by my lack of posts.  I've never been a blogger and really the only blogs I've ever followed were friend's personal blogs about their travels or family events/children's photos so I've never really noticed the true impact they can have when used for building awareness and advocacy.  Although I'm not in the Social Work program, I'm trying to train myself to think more like an activist for the purposes of this blog and it seems each time I hear a story on the news or read an article that I think would be great to blog about, I'm preoccupied and don't have time to stop and write something.  When I do have time, I realize that the blog I'd like to write requires further digging and research so I actually have some depth and content for my entry and then I get discouraged and end up not writing.  Excuses, excuses but it's all true.  Probably the same claims we could all make but the rest of my classmates seem to be coming up with some great content.  So....I just wanted to take a moment to apologize that I've been slacking on this whole blogging thing.  I'll do my best in these two weeks of class to be more tuned in to this and challenge myself to continue this blog beyond this semester in an effort to continue spreading social awareness of injustice and empowering others to create change.  

Feathers for all tribes!

I serve in various capacities for the University as an American Indian recruiter and advocate, working closely with current Native American students, faculty, and staff and with NCSU Native alumni to build relationships with the 8 tribes across the state of North Carolina.....only one of which is federally recognized.  I certainly do not presume to know everything about tribal relations or the hardships they've endured over the years.  However, I always humbly approach them with an open mind and a desire to understand them, their different cultures and what values and traditions they hold dear.

I know.....as do most people....that feathers are often a significant and symbolic item to Native Americans.  Through my work at the University I've often seen them use feathers in their seals, their organization emblems, and as gifts during ceremonies or to recognize achievements .  The US Constitution even respects the Native Americans’ association with feathers and they are granted special permission to collect eagle feathers where as other people are restricted from doing so.  (--source:  http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/usa/Native-American-Indian-Feathers/3070  )

Knowing the great significance of these feathers to them, I was upset to hear this story on the news several mornings ago as I was getting ready.  A new federal rule just went into effect that prevents non-federally recognized tribes from carrying the feathers of federally-protected birds.  So ridiculous!
http://www.wral.com/lumbees-concerned-about-rule-on-eagle-feathers/11690512/

Perhaps there is more behind the reasoning for this decision (the eagle population dwindling???) but it seems to me that the federally-recognized tribes are just bullying the state-recognized tribes to once again remind them of rights they don't have.  I guess I have a "why can't they all just get along" mindset but I know it's far FAR too complex a history to summarize with such a simplistic comment or suggestion.  While I recognize that each tribe is different and has it's own culture and nuances, I wish they'd respect each other enough to know that as a people they've all gone through a similar struggle and shouldn't make life more difficult for each other.  Like I said.......it's far more complicated then that... It's just the opinion of this peacekeeper.

#LUMBEEPRIDE #FederalRecognition

Boxes, Boxes, Boxes.....

Boxes.  Lots of them; way too many of them.   I spent my weekend moving which meant lots of packing, unpacking, moving and lifting of heavy boxes.  All of this got me thinking of the hyperbole boxes we put people into.  We all do it, but why?  Is it something that society tells us to do?  Really think about the boxes that we put others into, that others put US into.  How often are they really correct?  We see someone and we make a judgement about who they are or what they stand for & how they behave.  How often do we take time to unpack those boxes and really see what's inside?  What's there could surprise us; some real treasures!

 I've moved six times in the seven years I've lived in Raleigh. Often times just moving boxes from one apartment to the other without ever bothering to unpack them.  I finally did that this weekend and what I did find were some real treasures & things I had forgotten about.  As silly as this whole little anaology of boxes seems to be, it really did get me thinking of how we put people into boxes unjustly based upon their appaearance and never get to learn or bother to try to see what's inside.  I learned the lesson to dig deeper and get beyond the outter shell through many interactions throughout my career and classes.  With each new person I've

taken the time to get to know better, I've grown as a person and my assumptions have changed.  My overall mindset has changed to the point that I make a concious effort to try not to put people into these boxes and to just get to know who they are. 
Just think about how heavy a "box" may be to bear for some people.  Some boxes are light; others may be quite burdensome.  I think I've learned to see and consider a different perspective after discussions and readings in this class and a Cross-Cultural class I took over the summer.  We've discussed oppression and priveldege, and cultural identity.  Something I discovered is that as a caucasion, I don't have to deal with my race as often as someone from another race may have to.  My professor this summer said something that, at first, astounded me:  "Everyday I wake up and I know that I'm black and I leave my house wondering how people will treat me because of it....."  We had many indepth conversations about appearance and judgement and race and judgement.  Sadly, it's true....but even in this day and age, people may still treat you differently because of your race.  I hate that.  I hate hate.  I knew prejudice and racial discrimination still existed but I think I was naive to know the extent to which it does still exist because it's not something I have to personally deal with on a daily basis.  I've made it my personal goal to eliminate "boxes" from my mind and interactions and a personal challenge to encourage those around me to do the same.  As I mentioned in class, my family is my current project......they're making progress but have a long way to go.  I challenge you to also "unpack" more boxes and encourage those around you to do the same.  What you find could really impress you.

Post 1--

Hello World!  Just testing this out.  Here's a picture of me doing something I've always wanted to do--  I'm riding a camel while in "Petra" in Jordan while recruiting for NCSU last year in the Middle East.