GSULYP

February Mixer 2011

2011-02-17T11:36:00.000-08:00

Current Events and You

2011-02-11T10:42:00.000-08:00

The Breaking news this morning was the announcement by Egyptian officials that President Mubarek had stepped down and handed over power to the military after 30+ years as President of the country. This is a new defining moment in world politics and as the generation who will be most affected by this change tell us: What does this mean to you? Have you been following the protests in Egypt? Why or Why not?

HBCUs vs. Non-HBCUs

2009-10-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

From the founding of the first HBCU to the slow integration of black students into predominantly white institutions, students of color have contemplated what the best place is for them to develop their academic and professional potential. Feelings of pride and respect are felt by students that attend either institution, with many being satisfied with the decision that was made.

As someone who was raised in a predominantly black neighborhood, who attended school with both latinos and blacks, attending an HBCU was never at the forefront of my mind. After all, I was constantly surrounded by folks who were smart, motivated, strong, independent, as well as those who weren't...and they were all people of color. In a way, attending a Non-HBCU allowed me to get out of my "comfort zone".

So what were the factors in your decision?
How have you benefited professionally, culturally, and/or socially from your institution?

Check out the Root's "Why I Went Black" article.

~Camille

YP in DC at the Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference

2009-09-24T05:15:00.000-07:00

Camille here, blogging from DC. The politics, the parties, and the people. Lots to do and lots to see!

The 39th annual Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference is under way in Washington, DC for the next 3 days, and yours truly will be blogging about all the interesting topics of benefit to young professionals in Sacramento and around the country.
This is my 3rd annual trip to DC for this event and it has been much anticipated!

Here's a quick list of all the discussion sessions that I'll be stopping in on:

* Diane Watson : Entertainment Entrepreneurs - Images of African Dispora created by the media and entertainment industry and how that influences the greater community.
* Jesse Jackson Jr : Reclaiming our Families - Fatherhood in the African American Community
* Bobby Rush : Rescuing our Youth
* Eleanor Holmes Norton: Single Women, Unmarried Men: What has happened to Black Marriage
* Kendrick Meek: Education on the Frontline
* Maxine Waters: The End of Maximum Minimum Sentences
* A Dream Deferred? - The Future of Housing Opportunities for African Americans
* Donna Edwards: Water - The Next Big Environmental Fight for Communities of Color.
**********************************************************************************************************

If there are any of interest to you, let me know and I'll grab so info and some notes for you!
For those not familiar with this Conference, here's a little more information for you:

"The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation each year produces the Annual Legislative Conference, a four-day event held in September at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

Thousands of elected officials, business and industry leaders, celebrities, media, emerging leaders and everyday Americans descended upon the Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) and its dozens of policy forums, general sessions, massive exhibit showcase, job fair, book signings and vast networking opportunities."

Visit www.cbcfinc.org/alc-09.html for more info

Camille

May 19th Ballot Propositions

2009-05-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

On May 19th voters will decide the fate of 6 ballot measures set to bring in an estimated $6 billion in revenues to the state of California, to offset the estimated $21 billion deficit.

To make up the funds, the State must consider cutting state jobs, reducing health care programs, eliminating certain social services, laying off teachers and increasing class sizes. Similarly, vital investments like building roads and bridges, investments in public health, crime prevention, and education, may be ignored.
In other words, the decisions that will be made in the coming months will affect residents of this state for years to come.

Take a moment to share what services/programs/expenditures you think the State should retain when trying to balance the budget.

Violence: The Community and The Police

2009-04-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

Given the two highly publicized events that have taken place in Oakland - the murder of Oscar Grant by the an Oakland police officer and the recent deaths of four Oakland police officers by an African American suspect - how do we feel about the relationship between law enforcement and people of color in our communities?

Consider the following:
*What is our collective responsibility to prevent violence as a whole when a majority of violent crimes committed in our neighborhoods are committed by members of our own communities?
*How do we get people to prioritize the accountability we have to one another?
*As we start to assess the role that our culture plays in violence and begin to discuss how to turn it around, does that dialogue hamper our ability to continue pressing law enforcement for better treatment of people of color?

The Republican Party & Voters of Color

2009-03-17T16:03:00.000-07:00

The Republican Party recently selected Michael Steele to serve as the Chairman of the National Party, who becomes the first African American to hold that post.
But in terms of their overall policies, what does the Republican Party need to do to pick up more votes from people of color? How can the GOP increase their appeal while upholding the party's platform of small government, low taxes, social conservatism, and big business in today's economic and social landscape? Can the Republican Party regain relevance in national politics without increasing voters of color in their base?

A Post Racial America

2009-02-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

I came across an interesting article in "the Atlantic" by Hua Hsu called "The End of White America?" It analyzes the cultural shift that has taken place in the US over the last 50 years or so and asks what these changes mean for our concepts of white identity. But after reading it, I found myself asking the opposite question which I would like to pose to each of you: What does post-racial America mean for Black Identity?
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200901/end-of-whiteness

A Sacramento First

2008-08-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know, last week the Sacramento Bee published a story about a report that stated, "Black motorists are twice as likely to be pulled over by Sacramento police as nonblack drivers..." This of course is a prolific finding because the Police Department has for years denied these claims. In light of the report the City Council had a town hall to address the report and to get feedback from residents. Yesterday our YP President and Sacramento resident LaMark Barclay (Sport) attended and wrote an email to us about the meeting, the report and our responsibility to our city. I have posted it below for your reading pleasure.

For the complete article: http://www.sacbee.com/crime/story/1141651.html

Ashe' Young Professionals,

I was able to attend the town hall discussion yesterday (re: Racial Profiling), to my pleasant surprise. Citizens expressed their disappointment, passion, and concern over the lack of progress to curbe this troubling epedimic -- I understood the session was televised. Mayor Heather Fargo began the session with an apology to all communitites of color, specifically the black citizens of sacramento, for the findings and (argued) conclusion that black drivers have been target unfairly.

A few major concerns expressed included:
- Lack of Police Department acknowledgement that this progrem exists
- Lack of community representation within the Police Department (17.9% minorites)
- Lack of officers residing within the city limits they patrol
- Fear of police presence instead of welcome within specific neighborhoods

Laruen Hammond (District 5) dated this agendized issue beginning November '97 -- 11 years later we haven't made many strides. It was reported black drivers were two times as likely to be stopped within the city limits in comparison to the normal standard benchmark for stops. Far more than any other group identified. (I do not have all the report's specifics, just what was generally referenced).

Robert Fong (District 4) called the report's finding "unacceptable".
Ray Treathway (District 1) called this a "Civil Rights" issue. Steve Cohn (District 3) and Robbie Watters (District 7) expressed disappointment that the stopping officer's race was not reported or even considered.

The consultants hired stated the officer's race - even if captured - was not a significant factor in basing any conclusions from the findings of this report. Their professonal experience is that "officers of all races conform to the values, beliefs, and culture of the organization they serve in"; meaning a officer of color is as likely to pull over a citizen of color if that is the practiced, whether taught or observed, habits of the department.

The police chief expressed his intent to move forward to correct this issue, address the major concerns and seek community involvement for resolutions. I offered my 2 cents worth as a citizen, a young adult, and a representative of the Greater Sacramento Young Professionals organization to be a community outreach starting point. As an emerging generation, we should be inclusive of any discussion to fix the social issues affecting the neighborhoods we live and work in. We represent the poeple beign stopped all too often. (I Had my own personal expereience some month and a half ago). Mr. Shelby provided a few words also - the Urban League was in the building - holla!!

The committee, comprised of elected officials (Districts 1 - 8), the city clerk, city manager, and the mayor, adopted the report, its recommendedations, and commissioned the police chief to provide progress reports in October and January regarding the department's efforts to restore the public's confidence on this issue. The committee recomended developing performance measure to institutionalize the philosophy that racial profiling will not be tolerated within the Sacramento Police Deparment (SPD).

I left encouraged that progress was made, but that much more work was to be done. Three addtional town hall meetings are scheduled this week:

Today (8.13), 6:00 pm at the Natomas Community Center
Tomorrow (8.14), 6:00 pm at the Oak Park Community Center
Friday (8.15), 6:00 pm at the Meadowview Community Center

I'm planning on attending Friday's town hall.

I (selfishy of course) feel odd encouraging you attend tonight's town hall meeting when we have a general body meeting, but our community is imporant. Our represenation at these types of forums is important. So if you don't make the General Body meeting, I'll understand, otherwise we'd love to see you tonight at 6:00pm.

In the Movement,

Sport Barclay
President
GSUL Young Professionals

Marc Morial Welcome

2008-08-02T06:11:00.000-07:00

Not the best picture of us with the NUL President but its not the last!

A video from the Keynote Address.

Day 1: Wednesday

2008-07-31T06:01:00.000-07:00

To recap the Day 1 Keynote Address as given by NUL President Marc Morial I would say: inspiring. It took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to his address but I didn't notice until it was his turn. Sponsors were introduced, the Governor and Mayor of Florida and Orlando welcomed us along with a Nulite from the Orlando chapter. Marc Morial introduced a new program that 60 affiliate chapters will get the honor of running. It will be called
Restore our Homes and the chosen affiliates will open Homeowner Centers to aid their communities to get fixed affordable rate loans, strenghten advocacy in state governments, develop affordable housing and connect people with that housing. Marc Morial focused his address on the many effects of the housing crisis on our chapters and during the speech he quoted these statistics:

The US spends 275 million per day for the war.
1 month of no Iraq spending would:
fund No Child Left Behind
create 120,000 new units of housing
Fund Health insurance for 6 million children

2.5 days of n spending would:
Fund college for 463,000 children

The US spends 50 Billion per year on incarceration and 35 percent of those incarcerated are African American men.

1 month of prison money would:
Create 400 million summer jobs for our children
Create 100 million new schools to educate our children

Wow. I was shocked but not that suprised. We obviously have some work to do. Morial then noted the importance of the Volunteer Corp of the Urban League. The volunteer corp being the Guild and the Young Professional chapters. He has a mandate of sorts that by "...2012 every Urban League should have both." It is a mandate for the future he stated and we must grow our volunteers in order to effectively continue with our vision.

He left us all with this:

Will We Thrive?
Will We Own?
Will We Prosper?

Urban League Conference

2007-07-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hello and greetings from the Urban League Conference, Influencer summit. I have finally had the time to sit down and upload some photos of this wonderful conference and I will share a summary of some of the events that myself (Christine), James, Jerome, Sport and Melanie have been to.

So far this conference has by far exceeded my expectations. From the opening lunch to the workshops we are definetely being exposed to our peers in the Urban League's world and the nation itself. The pictures to the left are from the Opening Luncheon 1st is Marc Morial and the second is Howard Dean. He was a suprise visit and definetely strove to inspire us all to get involved in the political process. As the resident "google girl" I have taken notes whenever I can and will type them up once we all get back to Sacramento. Many of the things that I have witnessed and recorded can be used to help us stay on track and get out into our community even more than we do now. For those of you that have time go to www.nul.org to look at the web casts of many of the weekend events.

Its now time for a YP dinner so thank you all for reading and I will post again sometime tomorrow.

live from St. Louis,

christine hopkins
GSUL YP
PR Chair

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Check it Out!

2007-07-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

Interested in having/hearing a positive discussion and how black men and black women can begin to understand the dynamics of the development of a relationship whether parenting, society, influences, and other related topics? Then come to Underground Books for this event. It will be a blessing for sure!

Underground Books 7-9 p.m.
Just $3.00 Underground Books 2814 35th Street (35th and Broadway) Sacramento (916) 737-3333

Saturday, July 21, 2007

BLACK WOMEN EXPRESSING TOUR (Emcee Taylor Williams)

Welcome

2007-07-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Sacramento Young Professional blog! On this blog we will include updates on our activities and post articles and things that we think pertain to Sacramento Young Professionals!

Stay tuned and add us to your favorites...

-SacYP