Why Is It Always Somebody Else's Fault?

I was watching Judge Judy the other day and as she was hearing one of her cases, she questioned herself aloud in her usually sarcastic manner, "Why is it always somebody else's fault?" When I heard her ask what was probably meant to be a rhetorical question, I thought to myself that her question will be my next blog post title. I was already pondering the concept for the post and when I heard her launch that thought into the atmosphere, I had my "Eureka" title moment. 

This is not the first time that I have addressed the issue of no one taking responsibility or accountability for his/her actions or behavior in The Critical Thinker. As a school administrator, I deal with students every day who at some point during the school day willfully and intentionally defy the school rules and policies. When the students are asked what happened or why did they do whatever it is that they did? the response nearly one hundred percent of the time starts with the words "He," "She" or "They." When a student is caught hitting, the first response is "He/She hit me first" as if that is a free pass or the metaphorical Monopoly Get Out of Jail Free card for him/her to hit.  When asked "Why were you running in the cafeteria?" inevitably the answer is because he/she/they were chasing me. Our children are learning at an early age not to be responsible or accountable for anything that they do. Nothing is ever their fault. The reason for their behavior is always predicated on what someone else has done or said. Sadly, our children are not the only ones using this defense. Far too many of us as adults do the same thing. In fact, that's where our children are learning and have learned the tactic from. No one takes responsibility or accountability for anything.

As I stated, I have addressed this accountability/responsibility issue before in The Critical Thinker, so I thought I would put a different twist or spin on this post. I challenge you over the next few days to listen to as many people as you can who are giving their reasons for doing something inappropriate or wrong. It may have been an honest mistake, but see how they respond. It can be on a newscast; a response in a newspaper/magazine article; or overheard in a conversation on the street, bus, office, school, etc. etc. Carefully listen to the reasoning and explanations following some sort of inappropriate behavior or mistake by our children and adults and keep a tally of how many times you hear the explanation start with "he," "she," or "they." Compare what you find with the number of times you hear the explanation start with "I," or "It was my fault." If you decide to take me up on my challenge, I ask that you please share your findings with our readers by writing them in the comment section of this blog. I would love to read about your results and I am interested to see what you learn.  I agree with Judge Judy on this one, "Why is it always somebody else's fault?"  Something to critically think about. I invite you to join me live each Saturday at 6:00 a.m. ET on gobrave.org and WP88.7 FM. You can also follow me on Twitter @thinkcritical01 and @readingcircle01.

Is It Children First or Money First?

The article below appeared on breitbart.com and when I read it as an educator I struggled with whether or not I would write this post. The more I thought about Governor Christie's commentary about his adopting the Common Core because New Jersey needed the federal funds that would come in exchange for adopting the unpopular education reform, the more I could not rest. Many school districts around the country tout slogans such as "Children First," but statements such as those made by Governor Christie in the article below really makes one wonder is it "Children First" or "Money First?" Where does the best interest of the children enter the picture when you read statements such as these? As an educator and critical thinker, I find this article and these statements something to critically think about.

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CHRIS CHRISTIE ADMITS ‘REGRETS’ ADOPTING COMMON CORE, SAYS NJ NEEDED THE MONEY

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by DR. SUSAN BERRY26 Feb 2015279

In an interview at CPAC with conservative show host Laura Ingraham, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) acknowledged why many governors likely adopted the unproven Common Core standards were dangled before them by the Obama administration: He signed onto them because his state needed the federal funds that would come in exchange for adopting the unpopular education reform.

Ingraham asked Christie about his prior support for the nationalized standards, and observed that he did sign his state’s Race to the Top application for the federal funds.

“I know you’ve had some hesitations, but why did you sign it?” she asked the governor.

“In New Jersey we’ve always been for the standards, for high standards, and we had standards beforehand,” Christie replied. “My concern now as we travel toward implementation is not only the heavy foot of the federal government coming in, but it is not doing all that we need to have done in New Jersey.”

“So it was all teed up when I came in by Governor Corzine,” he said. “We signed on and tried to get funds during a really difficult fiscal time.”

“Regrets, do you have regrets?” Ingraham asked.

“Sure, or course,” Christie responded.

“Political regrets?” she pressed.

“Implementation regrets,” he said. “Unlike other people who just get to talk about this stuff, we actually have to do it. Once you start to do it, what I’ve seen — the concerns that I have are significant — and I set a commission up that is now coming back to me with some recommendations, but my charge to them is that we have to keep government at the local level.”

“With education it is most important to have parents involved, there have to be teachers involved as a part of this process and it needs to be part of this process and will be I think as we move forward in New Jersey,” Christie added.

As Breitbart News reported Monday, the New Jersey Assembly voted 63-7 to delay the use of the tests aligned with the Common Core standards to evaluate teachers or students.

During a recent trip to Iowa, Christie, who has a Democrat-led state legislature, said he has “grave concerns” about the Common Core standards. The only action he has taken in his state, however, has been to order a commission to study student testing. At the end of January, the commission announced New Jersey schools could be testing students too often, and recommended that a research study be conducted to determine the extent of testing in the state.

New Jersey was one of 46 states whose state boards of education adopted the Common Core standards, a federally promoted education initiative introduced in the Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus bill through a competitive grant program called Race to the Top (RttT). States could apply and compete for federal grant money as long as they adopted a set of uniform, “common” standards and aligned testing and teacher evaluation programs, as well as massive student data collection systems.

February 21, 2015 Marks the 50th Anniversary of the Assassination of Malcolm X

Malcolm X was murdered 50 years ago today in the Audubon Ballroom in New York. Malcolm founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) after leaving the Nation of Islam. Can you imagine what might have occurred if the Organization of Afro-American Unity and the SCLC and other groups had joined forces? Something to critically think about.  Rest in Peace Malcolm.

  "My Alma mater was books, a good library... I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity."  Malcolm X

African-American Community Leaders Recognized in Black History Month Ceremony

by Jayed Rahman, writer for Paterson Times

Municipal officials on Friday afternoon held a Black History Month award ceremony to recognize nine African-American community leaders for their contributions to the Silk City.

“I think about black history and the struggle our ancestors went through, the hard times they went through, and I always say that no matter what I do in life I hope they are proud of me for what I’ve done,” said Ruby Cotton, 4th Ward councilwoman, who served as the mistress of ceremonies.

Council members expressed their appreciations and a sense of proudness by recognizing four city activists, three educators, a theologian, and a social worker.

Community activists recognized were: David Gilmore with the Medgar Evers award; Dwayne Cox with the Jesse Owens award; Ernest Rucker with the James Forman award; and Gerard Burns with the Ralph Abernathy award.

Educators recognized were: Marc Medley with the Frederick Douglass award; Felisa Villarin VanLiew with the Harriet Tubman award; and William Raheem Smallwood with the Benjamin Mays award.

Psychologist and social worker Kelley Moss-Brown was recognized with the Inez Beverly-Prosser award.

Pastor Randall Lassiter was recognized with the Martin Luther King award.

The awardees shared character traits and similarities with great civil rights leaders whose namesake awards they received.

Medley, like Douglass, has been on a crusade to promote literacy in the African-American community. Medley said he was moved to promote literacy after reading a poster inside the abolitionist’s home in Washington D.C. which read: “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

City’s nine council members each named a candidate for the awards. The same council members also handed out framed resolutions recognizing the contributions of each of the awardees.

Council president Julio Tavarez, who nominated Medley, was absent from the ceremony. In his place Andre Sayegh, 6th Ward councilman, handed the award to Medley. Tavarez’s absence garnered a strong negative reaction from the audience, when it was announced the council president couldn’t make it. One audience member blurted out: “Not surprised.”

“We take pride in our own African-American men and women who overcame insurmountable obstacles and achieved great success” said mayor Jose “Joey” Torres. Torres listed a number of city residents who went on to overcome racism to obtain success. He listed Larry Doby and Johnny Briggs, both of whom made it to major league baseball by cutting through the color line.

“Change was made when William “Bill” Mason led the Charter Study Commission that changed the form of government to our current Faulkner Act Plan D,” said Torres. Mason was a 4th Ward councilman from 1974-76.

Torres highlighted the important roles city’s African-Americans community played not only locally but nationally.

While Torres was reading off his list, William McKoy, 3rd Ward councilman, donned a Nigerian garb, to bring some “authenticity” to the ceremony which began at 11:30 a.m. and continued into the afternoon.

“We don’t do what we do to receive awards,” said Medley, a principal at the Frank Napier Academy, a school named after the city’s first African-American school superintendent. “We do what we do to make life better for others and the awards come as a byproduct.”

Some Thoughts on Valentine's Day and Black History Month

You are invited to join me each Saturday at 6:00 a.m. ET on gobrave.org and WP88.7 FM for The Reading Circle with Marc Medley. Each week I interview authors from around the world to offer unsurpassed book talk radio. I also invite you to follow me on Twitter @readingcircle01 and @thinkcritical01.

All We Need Is LOVE

McDonalds and Coca-Cola got it right during the Super Bowl! I know it's not grammatically correct to use "got," however, their latest campaigns hit on something that the world is sorely lacking and that is LOVE. McDonalds got it right with their Lovin campaign and Coca-Cola got it right with their #MakeItHappy ads encouraging positivity. Interestingly, video game ads such as Game of War - Who I Am and Clash of Clans were about violence, war and fighting. It was noted and observed by many that there seemed to have been a shift in this year's Super Bowl ads away from the predominately humorous ads that we've become accustomed, to more emotional messages such as those mentioned above. Even fathers for once were made to look good instead of being made the brunt of the jokes in campaigns for Nissan, Toyota and Dove.With a world filled with violence, it was good to see major corporations recognizing the need for more LOVE for only love can conquer hate and unfortunately there is too much hate going around.






So, on this February 9, 2015, the fifty-first anniversary of  The Beatles appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show, they had it right too........ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE.   I invite you to follow The Critical Thinker on Twitter @thinkcritical01 and to tune in live each Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. ET on gobrave.org to hear The Critical Thinker live as host of The Reading Circle with Marc Medley.  Each week we bring to you provocative authors who share their work and also give you something to critically think about.

This Is Our Elephant

There was once a group of tribesman who had captured and killed an elephant to take back to their village. The tribesman all grabbed one of the ropes tied to the elephant and they all began walking towards their village. In order to get to their village the tribesman had to climb a steep mountain, which meant they would have to carry the heavy elephant up and over the mountain. To make the task easier, they decided to chant as they labored. They all began to chant “THIS IS OUR ELEPHANT, THIS IS OUR ELEPHANT.” For a while things were going great until one of the tribesmen began chanting “THIS IS MY ELEPHANT, THIS IS MY ELEPHANT.”  When the other tribesman began to hear their fellow tribesman’s chant they all decided, well, if it is HIS elephant, let HIM carry it and they all dropped their ropes and stopped pulling. Now of course all of the weight now fell on this one tribesman and he could not carry it on his own. Realizing his brethren had dropped the ropes and was no longer pulling, he now began chanting “THIS IS OUR ELEPHANT, THIS IS OUR ELEPHANT” and when the others heard this, they picked up the ropes and began pulling again as all of them chanted “THIS IS OUR ELEPHANT”  together until they were able to reach their village.

Think about it.