Okay, the brother in the picture above has not impregnated 115 women. I just thought the above pic goes well with this next story. From the looks of it, this brother is in for an early grave as he hopefully works himself to death to provide for his children. Yep, what you see above in my opinion should be plastered on a billboard in urban communities as an ad for either Trojans or the county child support prosecutor. But like I said, this isn’t about him, but instead yet another negative and troubling story coming out of Chicago Illinois. What is it about all the negative stuff coming from the Windy City lately?
Check it out:
Teen pregnancy is obviously not a welcomed situation; and yes, ideally it would be best if teenagers waited until they’re responsible adults before taking on the task of child rearing. But this is the real world, and it just doesn’t happen that way; and the story above leaves you with the feeling that Black teens are out of control, did it not? Yep, I saw this as another one of those “look at the Negroes,” exposes. Which they did a damn good job at I might add; they even went as far as to highlight the fact that the school principal himself was born to a 15yr old mother.
But you see, to me this is what I call irresponsible journalism. They highlighted what they saw as a “problem” within that school, but were unable to present you any empirical evidence or information as it relates to teen pregnancy in the entire school district. Instead, you’re supposed to walk away with the impression that, well, Black teenagers (because that’s the only ethnic group represented in the piece) are rather promiscuous. Which goes right along with the idea that Black folks are hyper-sexual beings – yeah, it’s exclusive to our DNA.
And then there was this tidbit from the piece:
“LaDonna Denson and two other Robeson students say parents not talking to teens and, in some cases, the pursuit of public assistance also factor into the pregnancies. None of them thought they’d be moms at such a young age.” – (Source)
Yep, they identified the possible causation, and they had to include that “the pursuit of public assistance also factor into these pregnancies.” Uh-huh, Black people love them some welfare don’t they? Did they really have to include that opinion in the piece? They never provided any solutions, and yes I know three minutes isn’t enough time to even go there. But at least they did offer us a bit of hope by way of highlighting the fact that a one-time crackhouse will soon be used as a daycare center for those students who intentionally got pregnant just so they can get welfare.
What say you?
Originally Posted Here
Article by Rippa
Every once in a while you’re come across a writer who isn’t afraid to convey to his readers how he really feels about a subject. One who doesn’t stick to the belief that everything in life has to be about being politically correct and sugar coating the real issues that society believes in handing people on a tarnished silver platter. Born in Trinidad & Tobago, and raised in the New York City area, RiPPa’s life hasn’t been, how Langston Hughes wrote “a crystal stair”, but that stairway has enriched him with life experiences that have shaped his point of view on various subjects. Whether he’s writing about the injustices African-Americans face, politics, and the reverent or irreverent, RiPPa uses his sense of humor and sarcasm to convey his opinion, and whether others agree with him, it isn’t his concern. If you’re looking for someone who keeps up with what’s going on in society and approaches it without being political correct, then The Intersection of Madness & Reality (rippdemup.blogspot.com) should be a part of your daily reading!
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Eff the coverage. I'm more concerned still with the background of the story. What is really going on in these schools? The girls spoke about knowing someone will truly love them, and that's a shame. These babies having babies. Sure the baby will love you, but will you misguide it like your mother and father did to you? What is your relationship like with your mother and father now that you are 15 and pregnant. The honeymoon phase with having children ends really fast.
Not to mention the same act that takes getting pregnant can also lead to serious diseases. These children are not THINKING. They are caught up in emotions. Boys who want so bad to feel it "raw" that they risk themselves and their partner in convincing them not to use a condom. This is reckless behavior! I mentor a group of children and one of them is 13 in the 6th grade (WDDDA?) and we were talking about the Zodiac randomly. She said "I heard scorpios are freaky." I was stunned for a second. I couldn't lecture her, but I couldn't keep it "real", I didn't know what to say. I just told her that she shouldn't concern herself with that yet, and that Leo was clearly the best sign in the zodiac. She kinda saw where I was headed with that and left it alone. But clearly, she and I need to have some private conversations.
SMH. We have so much work to do.
I saw the story and I thought the anchorwoman handled the situation with finesse. I didn't notice anything in her coverage to suggest these girls were out of control.
Moreover, the study doesn't list possible causation, she describes those things as as factors – which is a distinction. And I don't doubt that parental talk and public assistance (a proxy for socioeconmic standing) has a strong correlation to teen pregnancy. In fact, several studies have documented this.
I'm shocked that this article focuses so much on the media and how they reacted…fuck the media…the media has not and will not give us the appropriate coverage, so stop expecting it. The focus of the article should be on these misguided little girls who are obviously not receiving adequate parenting. As the product of a mother who had 4 children by the time she was 21 years of age, I'm well aware of the mentality(though conversations with my mother) that some of these girls may carry. The lack of love from daddy, the lack of attention from mommy because she didn't get attention from her daddy, the irresponsible young men who got these young women pregnant, the lack of responsible leadership from one of the most conscious black cities in America. These are just some of the issues. This article should not focus on the fucking media, our community is in danger, this is not a media matter, this is reality where I'm from and its obvious that my city is not the only one that experiences high teen pregnancy. Teen Pregnancy in the black community has been a problem since the 80's and you're still focusing on the media. If we tighten up the problems in our community, rely on our own media sources(which right now we dont have), and quit expecting white media outlets to portray us in a positive light then we could possible get somewhere. This is ridiculous, as the "assumed conscious" few I expect the real issue to be attacked here which is these little girls and not focus on our enemy so much…
@David Oxner, Agreed.
@David Oxner, Nino, I share your sentiments
Ha!
The reactions to this article is in fact what I expected by design.
Are any of you aware of the fact that teen pregnancies have been on a decline since the 90's with only a 3% increase between 2005 and 2007? Nope, none of you probably knew that. But believing the HYPE that was the news story as it was presented obviously had an impact.
The point: as a people we have become our own worst enemy by internalizing our oppression. In doing so, we accept what we're fed as indicative of the state of our collective socially. Hence the reason for the piece, or the direction I took with it. In Massachusetts last year a group of white girls all made a pact to become pregnant before they were 18yrs old. Where was this "rage" then?