How to Survive & Develop in an Urban Society: The Blueprint

As an activist for almost four decades at the core of my body of work and mission is the creation of a user friendly interactive guide that provides a template for living the best possible life as human being in an urban environment.


Activism as a public endeavor has a legacy of defining problems yet Activism also has failed legacy of  not producing and creating outcomes that address the issues and shortcomings of a society.  Plane Ideas is unlike any progressive organization in the country today. We provide an interactive hands on series of instructions for creating and producing outcomes that matter and address the myriad of shortcomings in urban venues for all.


Plane Ideas : 10 point  Interactive Blueprint  to survive and develop in an Urban Society.


1. Let the community know who U R


2. Interact with the Young and Old in the Community


3. Volunteer in the Community


4. Read everything that circulates in the neighborhood from newspapers to local blogs  


5. Create a ‘Safe House’ in the community 


6. Share with others in the community from coupons to ride sharing.


7. Develop an weekly newsletter for the community 


8. Find a Friend that is not of your RACE in the community 


9. Know the police officers in your neighborhood.


10.Report all crime incidents to the police 

 

 

New Qualitative Indices for Urban America

One of the discouraging realities of modern day life in our nation is the constant theme of publishing data and statistics on the demographics of urban life from the lens and perspectives of those who lack depth, scope and authentic insight and real time data about the lives and realities of people in urban America. Far too many people seek to report and publish a Misery Index especially for urban venues.

Far too often these narratives are full of sterile and empty statistics which purport to cover the economic and quality of life for residents of the city yet just the opposite happens. The paradigms and templates many of these urban planners, non-profit executives, academics ignore the reality of life in the corridors and avenues of the city. Many of these inferences are based upon models which do not replicate the real life metrics of life in the city and of course many of the architects of these white papers and studies lack the authentic insights from the people who are the subjects of these metrics and statistics.

When this paradigm is focused on the urban communities of America the demographics are depressing and too often negative. There is always a sense of despair, failure and crisis in most articulated demographics about Black folks in the city. Grievance reporting is something I will never endorse or affirm.

I believe this constant theme of decay and failure creates a collective sense of failure and hopelessness in to many Black venues. Therefore I propose a new set of standards, lists, metrics and rankings be created that articulate the positive attributes and accomplishments of the urban residents especially its Black residents. There is a place for the metrics of love, happiness, progress, civility, solidarity, and community.

The architects of these new metrics must reflect not only the demographics of the city (read majority Black folks) but they must be comprehensive, novel and free from the metrics and contamination of the past templates and paradigms that indicted and demonized every behavior and aspect of life for city residents.

Let's run numbers and create metrics and paradigms on those in the community who are happy, productive, and engaged in activities that promote progressive outcomes. Designing a nation with our ideas is my canvass for the community

Black Sudents in Peril

The media accounts documenting the disproportional rates of suspensions between Black and white students in our country's school districts of course is not a newsflash to many interests including of course Black parents in school districts all across America.

The contempt for Black students is similar to what their parents encounter. The soft bigotry of low expectations shares the lesson plan with disparate rates of expulsion and suspensions for Black students. The landscape of academic success in our nation for Black students is full of obstacles navigation is perilous in all levels of education in our nation from kindergarten to the university venue for Black students.

The more important issue now is how Black families and their students can navigate around these inequities and obstacles. Black parents must develop their own lesson guide to disarm educational officials, teachers and even students who discount the educational goals of Black students. We must embrace our own self-worth that we are worthy of respect and our offspring deserves superior educational efforts and outcomes. Black parents must develop strategies that equipped them to combat, reject and influence educational systems that have contempt for our offspring. Instead of lamenting the horrors of a destructive pathological educational system that has contempt for Black students now is the time to develop our own lesson plans that produce motivated students and students who can themselves defeat the waves of contempt for them that exist in our classrooms across our nation.

The revelation of systemic disproportional suspensions of black students in the DC region's school districts is disturbing and troubling on a number of layers beyond and above educational concerns. One wonders if this same horrid disparity exists in private and parochial school venues. The portrayal of black students has always been contaminated with ugly themes some of which include themes regarding genetic inferiority.

In our nation the incongruent levels of parity and inequality have often received attention in the criminal justice area and in some health care terrains to observe this inequality surface in our educational systems is truly a concern worthy of state and federal intervention. Our government must create a reporting metric that provides transparency and disclosure to minority parents about the incidents and comparable rates of suspensions between student racial groups. One of the constructive attributes of recent federal educational legislation was the right to make evaluations and contrast academic outcomes based upon racial groups.

The importance of superior educational outcomes is heighten more by the troubled economic realties of the new world order. Parents of black students must be in the vanguard of programs and laws which impact the future of their children this focus must involve best practices and uniform guidelines which ban disparate punishment and remedies for troubled students to the delivery of superior educational programs .

Navigating in Hopelessness

Right here..Right now...For many Black people living in America from the gritty urban venues of neighborhoods like Detroit to the contours of cul de sacs of suburbia these are perilous times even in the post racial era of a Black Man in the White House. The velocity of negativity is at web speed from the media accounts of entire industries collapsing and people being laid off into forever to tales of young children body parts being tortured and burned in shabby 3rd world urban shacks. Life in America is perilous the revolution is being televised and it is on every channel with surround sound and 3d pictures.

Right here..Right now..This is a moment for the community to step away from the insanity and madness and the aura of hopelessness and decadence and confusion and reach out and hold on to each other from family to friends to associates and maybe even strangers. People are under enormous stress and duress all manner of thoughts, excuses, plots are in the heads of even normal responsible people. The dreams people have now are nightmares full of nothingness.


Right here..Right now..The Black community more than any other aggregate of people in this nation must get a grip and stop the descent into raw insanity. Our pastors, uncles, aunts, cousins,sons and daughters must reach into their collective souls and memories to create a place where a safe refugee exists not just a real place but a sphere where the unspoken word is supreme and positive thoughts are cultivated and rewarded and embraced .The Black community needs a life altering transfusion of humanity and hope. This force must be new and novel and life altering . It must be more than prayers, testimonies and tired sound bites. We have to create a harvest of love even in dirt of concrete streets and alleys. We must crave out a new real time miracle that enters in our homes and our minds. We need a sound, a noise, a creation of powerful bond that elevates us from the present day insanities. We are in perilous moments 24/7 everywhere in America.


Right here..Right now...The Black community must regroup and create a safe haven where love, honesty, civility, decency, trust, sharing, all the ingredients of civility and love must break though. We are in dark era where fear, anger, frustration, pain, and evil is becoming an accepted norm and custom. Our values and purpose are floundering. We are shaky and unreliable for each other.


Right here..Right now.. Across this great nation in every enclave , backyard, front porch, pew, gym, office, basement, church, temple, playground, bedroom, kitchen our community needs a cultural reset and return to the genius of basic truths and straight forward truth. Our community must step up and correct all the wrongs which have us at the end of cliff.


Right here..Right now....We must save ourselves from each other .....This is where our lives must change ..Right where YOU are when YOU read this...Reach Out and help our community navigate to a new promise land..Right Here..Right Now.


Navigating though Hopelessness- Together

Story Teller

Chapter I

We both have been searching for this for years..Curtis was a true believer his travels brought him to this moment. The cell call came in late Tuesday night it was a frigid nite the moon was full the the chill was a deep raw cold.....I picked up the phone Curtis was breathing through his nose and his echo was heavy..."I got"..."I got it"....

Chapter II

Like the rest of the world of sleepy people waiting up to a wee morning phone call brings anxiety...I was even more concerned hearing the voice was Curtis..'What ya got Curt"..I have found the secret to the universe he yelled in my ear..I have found the sound and it is forever all around...Curtis started to sing this words"I found the sound and it is forever all around"...'I found the sound and it is forever all around"..Now I could not get this out of head..

Chapter III

I tell Curtis to meet me at the coffee shop on the Blvd cause I have a bucket list of things I need to happen right now..Curtis tells me that he tried the mystery sound at an art fair yesterday according to Curtis he approached a street musician to play the mystery sound on his drums and right after the sound was played people just started to dump money in the street drummer's hat!!

9/11 Memorials Deconstructed

I refuse to wave my flag and be a brain dead patriot cheerleader today on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The dead of 9/11 and all who suffered deserve better. I will deconstruct 9/11 with an analysis that seeks to understand and explore why people would do such such horrific deeds this is how I intend to honor 9/11 today...

Peace & Love

The Help- Film Review

If you want a fictional protrayal of some aspects of life for Black woman working as domestic servants in the Jim/Jane Crow era of America this film provides a peek hole to observe.

Film as a historical and educational vessel works well in some situations when the subject matter is about the reality of race in America.

The Help is limited yet functional on some levels. I recommend the film for all ages and I would give it a 4 star ranking on a scale of 5.

Go see the movie and begin a discussion afterwards...