Language, Poverty, and Parenting

The Igbo and Yoruba tribes of Nigeria are credited with the proverb “It takes a whole village to raise a child.” I don’t think that it is fair to blame parents for the language failings of their children. This concept of success via communal effort is a key factor to support greater accountability placed on the public education system. Hart & Risley (1995) reported a widening gap in the vocabulary growth of children from professional, working class, and welfare families throughout the first three years of life. Based on the figures provided by the authors, the direct correlation tween vocabulary size and socioeconomic status begins around two years old and follows a trend from that point forward (p.234).

According to the American Psychology Association (n.d.) school conditions contribute more to SES differences in learning rates than family characteristics. Although parents should bear responsibility for their children’s education this charge is eventually inherited by the education system thanks to compulsory schooling requirements. From early as the 1830s the purpose of a common curriculum, as seen by those supportive advocates, has included transforming children into moral, literate, and productive citizens (Kober, 2007). Kober also states in the report that public investment would make schools accountable to the American People. As long as the trend carries into the public school system as reported by Hart & Risley the American people, not just parents, should be held accountable for student language acquisition and literacy.

Although parents are a stakeholder at the table when it comes to public education it should be the responsibility of the school system to ensure equal access to academic programs. The Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 as defined by the Office for Civil rights glossary (US Department of Education, 2015) requires school districts to take action to overcome barriers to students’ equal participation. If the trending gap in the vocabulary growth of children from professional, working class, and welfare families continues to carry over into the Pre K-12 public school system, parents should not be held primarily responsible as long as student learning is funded by the American tax dollars. The U.S. Department of Education reports the President’s budget request for fiscal year 2017 to include $69.6. billion in discretionary funding (2016).

 

References

American Psychology Association. (n.d.). Education and socioeconomic status. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/factsheet-education.aspx

Hart, B., & Risley, T. (1995). Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. Baltimore, MD: P. H. Brookes.

Kober, N. (2007). Why  we still need public schools: Public education for the common good. Retrieved from http://www.cep–dc.org/

US Department of Education. (2015, October 15). Developing programs for english language learners: Glossary. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ell/glossary.html

Us. Department of Education (2015, October 15). Developing programs for english language learners: Glossary. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ell/glossary.html

US Department of Education. (2016, February 9) About ED: Budget office. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/index.html

#PointZero

What if I told you that this temple is point zero?Will you believe me when I break it down how in my mind we’re each’s own true heroes?

It’s seems so many of my people seek a life never meant for them. 

because a life well lived is a night well spent.

And that’s the funny thing about reality

The only thing that makes it real is the intentions coming out, you see

Therefore You is. Yes You is. 

Because your perception is literally the only thing you did and by now, one can only hope it’s soaking in. 

Ironically in existence we are the result of absorbed omnipotence

and half of you can’t live without permission and even then 

you gotta sip again, or dip again…shit we are supposed to die daily 

but some of yall wont die so you can live again. 

Meanwhile I’m striving to break all 7 of my seals.

 6 of my senses steer the five on both sides of the temple to lay the foundation in these 4 earthly elements to bring the great spirit upon man until the 3 wise men show me where I’m really destined. 

Blessed be and lucky me for I’m able to speak on my divine twin soul hanging out in Gemini. And please don’t misinterpret I’m not missing any vital pieces or broken I’m just seeking the moon to my sun. 

I just know the story I don’t got the answers so it’s okay in my head to talk to strangers while I’m on the run because really are they really? 

Can’t pray for heaven on earth and be expected not to walk and talk freely. The sooner you realize that the universe extend outward we can keep it trill, B. 

The Law of Conservation

*Based on a study of Psalm 95*

We all know within each of us what it is that keeps us going. For some it’s love, and for others it can be anger, rage, joy, curiosity, etc. The point is God has a revelation for each of us that is as unique as stripes on a zebra, though many of us like to look at revelation as a barcode that can be marketed and consumed like a brand name. 
Whatever it is we feel that keeps us going, we must understand that the law of conservation is karma with an uppity accent and a sense of entitlement. It is the wind created by a wave of our creator’s hand. A truth in this is that we must ride that wave with grace and a gratitude for all that had to drown in order for us to keep afloat. We could be cursed not to be able to feel or see or hear our Truth. We have to remain thoughtful of that which keeps us moving whether it’s a demon of our imagination or our personal angels walking us in our own special way. Regardless of how we see it, it is what it is. 5+4 is 9 just as much as 3 x 3. 
Far too often people look high and low for the root and cause of circumstance when the answer is in them all along. The image in which we are made is the one that trickles out to whatever reality we live in. Clouds and oil spills are made by the same hands and we are so busy looking for the gloves we don’t think abt what hand it’s on. That’s all that matters. 
The sea of emotions we mistake for worship are no more important than the desert of our struggles and yet we as humans think we are so special to be deserving of one and not the other. 
A conversation on the inside is due for us all at some point. That reconciliation of our soul is something imperative to it’s preservation. without it we will not grow or even maintain. The only constant we can know by isolating ourself from the rest of creation is to wither away. What flower blooms away from the sun?

-Yours in catharsis

Pleasant when Contained

Love is one of those things that can never be fully understood. Many people take the positive side alone and call it love exclusively, but a much deeper understanding can be attained when you contemplate the roots and causes from the darker side of love. After-all, love itself is a selfish, jealous beast; one that is only pleasant when contained. That beast however bears an off color type of beauty merely by the fact that it can be a storm and a bed of roses, all depending on which angle by which it is approached, and by whom.

-MJL

On making good life choices

The crazy thing about people is how we disregard and misuse the image in which we were created. Free Will is what separates us from every other creature. Trees are not able to decide when to make oxygen, nor is the water able to exit it’s infinite cycle from the sky through the earth and back. The divine law is that of nature: balance and harmony. Do you ever sit and ponder how awesome it is to be able to CHOOSE to follow or rebel against the divine laws of nature? Do we even care? There is a consequence to every action and that is one law to which we as man are not exempt. There are no accidents, there are no mistakes. There are only choices and the opportunity to make more choices. It’s up to us how easily the laws function in relation to ourselves.

-Mateo

The Blue Dream Project: Something To Believe In

“How you came through just at the right time. I can’t explain escaping the hard way.”

 

Writing the #BlueDream project has been one of the greatest periods of revelation that I’ve experienced. The way I see and exist in the world is different to the point that I feel sometimes as if I’ve transcended the shackles society has placed on my mind, body, and soul. I pray unceasingly that my music speaks to the soul and carries the healing message through the universe.

The ability to bid farewell is a superpower in your spirit by which giants are tumbled and mountains are moved. While we may need something to hold on to, in order to not  wash away and become one with the residuals of life, we also need to understand how empowering we are to ourselves by being able to see things come and go. When one is able to let go of something near and dear to the heart it projects the makings of a strong positive spirit. This simple, powerful intrinsic quality as a human is one of which we are slowly being stripped in efforts to be misled to a codependent mindset.

Sometimes in this human experience we get attached to facets of this world. There is something divine in everything we see and that is what attracts us, be it an object of passion or affection or even merely peace. Whatever it may be, we all need something to believe in. Granted nothing stays the same, we still need an anchor in times where nothing seems to wield the stability we need. We all have been taught to fight for what we believe in, and to never give up, but my walk of faith has taught me to keep loose ties to just about everything because the Creator may have plans beyond our understanding that will grow us in ways we on our own would be incapable.

When you love something you should let it go. If it comes back, you have confirmation that it’s truly yours to have and to hold. The spirit of fear will try to keep you from sending something down the river. Fear will have one believe that captivity is a display of love and affection, when it actually mutilates the sincerity of our actions and the perception of intention. As the song says, “Remember what we told ourselves. Goodbye is only in the name of LOVE.”

Shade Casted: Michelle Williams Extends An Olive Branch to Keyshia Cole! Poor Keyshia – VitaminQ

Shade Casted: Michelle Williams Extends An Olive Branch to Keyshia Cole! Poor Keyshia – VitaminQ.

Who Runs This Motha—?

Reading Isaiah 8 paints a vivid image of the vulnerability by which the modern world is plagued. The National state of emergency in Egypt is painful to watch as this type of social collapse can happen anywhere (especially America, the new Babylon) regardless of faith, partisanship, or social/financial stature. We are all vulnerable as humans. This is an even more dangerous reality in a nation that is running a system on all cylinders that sees fit to place God in a restrictive box. The media and political analysts are asking, “What should America Do?” We need to seek God and reintegrate him into the fabric of society as a focal point. The spirit of love is the only thing that can drown out the fires burning across the globe.

In the wake of disaster and judgment we should wait on God in the context of patience as well as service and attention. When you search for solutions or compromise in the realm of the flesh to be your relief, it will always backfire. An example if this is a modest, yet sufficient river being your water supply. This supply is a blessing because it is not overwhelming but is enough to sustain life. When God’s blessings and sustenance are not enough to satisfy us He will give us more, but it won’t be for the sake of appeasement. Instead it will be strong, forceful, and sometimes overwhelming with shock in aims of teaching gratitude for the little things. One can look to sum this up with the adage “Less is sometimes more”.

When we see trials before us, our reflex as humans is to focus on the impact of what has been sent our way. We should not fear the judgment being passed, or even how it’s the result of our foolishness, but we should fear God. By fear I mean concern for our standing with God instead of the trail. When you lose sight of God in the eye of a storm you run the risk of inviting the enemy to consume the heart with darkness and sorrow. Do not seek comfort in things worldly in nature because they are not sufficient by any means. Often we see in retrospect that we ignorantly have settled into the bosom of our own demise.

No Chains!!!!

I know myself: A spiritual daredevil living on the edge of everything, straddling a bottomless Pit at one point simply for the fun of it. For no particular reason I did it to run from the truth placed before me time after time. I tried to balance the flesh and spirit out of my own pride and foolishness. I had a voice and needed something to fuel its projection. I needed validation of man that I was using my gift to its full potential but i was mistaken in that effort because I was trying to presume a power in them that is only meant for the Most High. By that token I was misusing one of my gifts by aiming to appease man instead of He that bestowed the blessing upon me. I can tell you first hand God will humble you if you don’t do it for yourself. The anointing over my voice was lost by my own foolishness.

My voice is no longer to please the world, but to serve the Kingdom. It just won’t work any other way. I had to realize that God had a different plan for me, much different from my own. Many of us spend the great part of our lives running from what God’s calling because it doesn’t fit what we think is supposed to be. You stop running at some point not because you want to, but because God sees the window snatch you back to his side. The choice to walk in the flesh or the Spirit is the blessing of liberty God has bestowed on man. Galatians 5:16-17 reads:

¹⁶ This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.¹⁷ For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

From there we can continue to walk in that liberty and feed on the fruit of the spirit, or we can relinquish that liberty and settle into the binding chains the enemy has planned for us. The spirit of oppression is one I simply grew tired of. This caged bird picked the lock and still sings, but the melody had modulated to the Key of LIFE. By the grace of my Father I have been able to identify my demons and battle them in efforts to break free and see beyond this world and peek into the next. Truth will reveal itself In due time. I have driven myself to the point of self-destruction physically, mentally, and emotionally. The enemy could not break my spirit, however. Welcome to my truth. I still love.

New Promo Single

With a fresh perspective on music and its state in the industry I’m happy to reveal the lead single for 2013, “Believer.” It features Hiphop artist K-Roq and rides a wave of truth that has begun to take my writing over for the sake of our future. “Believer” will drop soon as a free download. Stay tuned

-:-) MJL