THE MISSION OF CULTURAL CHANGE

1. THE MISSION OF CULTURAL CHANGE EMBRACING CHANGE AND APPLYING KNOWLEDGE TO YOUR EVERYDAY LIVES

2. Reproduced with permission from Vernon Jones Director for College Reach Out & the Council for the Social Status of Black Males Broward College Central Campus 3501 Davie Road Building 10 Davie, Florida 33314 Work (954) 201-6743 Cell (954) 588-3728

3. EMBRACE CHANGE Your Perception…must be grounded in a truthful reality You must have a REALISTIC PERCEPTION of Yourself You must become more informed about issues that….DIRECTLY AFFECT YOU! Embrace POSITIVE THINKING and not allow yourself to be mislead You must CHANGE/REDEFINE your culture and contemplate the notion that there is a “Culture of Destruction” EMBRACE CHANGE

4. CULTURE…the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts beliefs, institutions and all other products of human work and thought. American Heritage Dictionary (Houghton Mifflin Company) 2000. What makes your Culture?

5. “Culture is a set or sets of behaviors and ideas which are symbolic, systemic, cumulative and transmitted from generation to generation”. Africanity and the Black Family. Dr. Wade Noble 1985.

6. “A people’s culture is the vast structure of language, customs, knowledge, ideas, and values which provide a people with a general design for living and patterns for interpreting reality. As part of a people’s world view, cultural values particularly help to define, select, create and re- create (or reformulate) what is considered, good, valuable or desirable in the social milieu”. Africanity and the Black Family Dr. Wade Noble 1985

7. The Culture of Destruction… Poor Attitude Inability to Apply Knowledge to Your Everyday Living Attitude Key to Every Success

8. DEGRADING WOMEN IN YOUR DAILY SPEECH • Misrepresenting yourself and your Family • Lack of WORK ETHIC • Behavior/Dress • Vulgar Speech • Trying to solve problems with VIOLENCE • Lack of Respect for Others • SONGS of VULGARITY • Shrinking so others won’t feel small • Rebel against becoming LEARNED (Scholarly) • Not taking an active role to fight RACISM • Not applying knowledge to your everyday life Elements of the Culture of Destruction

9. “ALL ABOUT ME” Selfish Attitude • Joining the “FULL COURT PRESS” in the battle for your peer’s SPIRIT • (It is truly a spiritual war) • Don’t Snitch • Refusing to listen to authority figures… • Disobeying…which Destroys character building moments… Elements of the Culture of Destruction

10. Not embracing the message and learning from other’s mistakes • For many Black and Latino males….life is running on a treadmill that has been constructed over time by Black and Latino males from the past who willingly subscribe to the Culture of Destruction Elements of the Culture of Destruction

11. Successful People Do what Unsuccessful People are Unwilling to do Change to a Culture of Success

12. What exactly are we embracing? • What needs to be Redefined in Your Culture? • Tiger Woods • Dick Gregory • Maya Angelou • Malcolm X • Shirley Chisholm • Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. REDEFINE YOUR CULTURE COUNTERING THE CULTURE OF DESTRUCTION

13. SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE do what UNSUCCESSFUL PEOPLE are not willing to do! Change to a Success Culture

14. The Culture of Destruction is developed from POOR ATTITUDE “AN INABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE TO YOUR EVERYDAY LIVING” The two KEYS to FAILURE for Males of Color

15. DOES LANGUAGE INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR? IF YOUR ANSWER IS YES DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THIS IMPLIES?

16. What Do You See…When You See Her? Perception is Reality

17. Mother of all Nations of African People • Mother of all Nations of Latino/Hispanic People Respect the Black WomanRespect the Latino/Hisp Woman

18. You must change the manner in which you SPEAK about WOMEN • You must change the manner in which you RELATE to WOMEN • That’s NOT what your momma taught you Countering the Culture of Destruction

19. “ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE & SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY” CULTURE OF SUCCESS

20. MAKE INTELLIGENT DECISIONS ABOUT YOUR LIFE CULTURE OF SUCCESS

21. THE THREE BIGGEST LIES • You Live in the “Ghetto” and must fight or poison your brother to survive & solve problems. “Don’t Snitch” • You must shrink so you won’t make others feel small • Racism has been greatly minimized so you don’t need to be overly concerned. EMBRACING/SEEKING TRUTH

22. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. • Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. • It is our light, not our darkness, that frighten us. • We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? • Actually, who are you not to be? • You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. • There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel unsure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God within us. • It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. • And as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. • Nelson Rolinhlahla Mandela, President, Republic of South Africa, 1994 Nelson Mandela

23. REDEFINE EDUCATION for YOURSELF & EMBRACE EDUCATION for POSITIVE CHANGE • SEEK KNOWLEDGE • YOU MUST CARE • MAKE INTELLIGENT DECISIONS FULLY EMBRACE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES

24. Florida ranks 46th out of 50 states…Black Male graduation rate 38% Latino Male graduation rate is 49% High School Graduation

25. Black men enter the criminal justice system in vastly disproportionate numbers despite the fact that as a whole, crime rates are equal among different races. (U.S. Department of Justice, 2008). By Race: White Males 736 per 100,000 (2006). Latino Males 1862 per 100,000 Black Males 4,789 per 100,000 The Mission of Cultural Change

26. Asian $64,200 • Caucasian $52,400 • Latino $37,800 • African American $32,000 MEDIAN INCOME IN U.S.A.

27. Get training to Produce a Specific Characteristic or Pattern of Behavior • Training that produces Moral or Mental Improvement Cultural Change

28. Examine how you view the World • Examine and refine your communication & improve the use of your vocabulary • Examine and improve how you communicate with authority figures at school and in the community • Seek and Share Knowledge and the Good News of the Day A CULTURAL CHANGE

29. Examine and polish your communication • Change your interaction with women • Young Women, Adults, Female Authority Figures at College and in the Community Have discussions about How to achieve success How to master these classes How to develop outside the classroom How to move on to a four year institution or graduate program A CULTURAL CHANGE

30. Polish Your Presentation • Cultivate Your Attitude • Up lift each other with support • Reject FEAR because fear is a destroyer • NEVER QUIT (Winners Never Quit) • REJECT A POOR ATTITUDE FOR IT DESTROYS POSSIBILITIES • APPLY KNOWLEDGE TO YOUR EVERYDAY LIVING CULTURE OF SUCCESS

31. Seek and Share Knowledge & the Good News of the Day • Cultivate your Vocabulary…so you may speak differently with a Winning Attitude…”Brothers & Sisters” • Positively represent yourself and embrace positive labels • Cultivate your attitude for positive change The Mission of Cultural Change

32. Cultivate your thinking so you can VIEW WOMEN DIFFERENTLY • Cultivate your thinking so you can VIEW YOURSELVES DIFFERENTLY • Redefine Education and EMBRACE EDUCATION for POSITIVE CHANGE • Stand Against RACISM in any form The Mission of Cultural Change

33. LIFE is about CHOICES… • WHAT ARE YOU CHOOSING? MAKE INTELLIGENT DECISIONS

34. DISCIPLINE BUILDS CHARACTER & SELF DISCIPLINE BUILDS SUCCESSFUL MEN The Mission of Cultural Change

35. We can not allow a culture to retard our growth, stifle our creativity and destroy our motivation The Mission of Cultural Change