On this 99problems.org exclusive, Game tells students to think twice about the street life. There are other options out there.

Last week, Game went on an extented Twitter rant about the American educational system. At one point he even said that he thought school was a “waste of time.” The rapper, who does a lot of behind the scenes community activism, expressed that he felt that public schools are often times little more than glorified “baby sitters.”

While the public school system definitely needs improvement, I think it’s important that Game understand that he has more power to change his local school district than 100 school board meetings. Maybe I need to holla at this brotha to get him involved with his local school board. Because if he stood up lots of things would change.

Check the Twitter rant after the jump.

spotted at rapradar.com Read the full story

You prolly don’t know this because your high-school civics class most likely wasn’t worth sh#t, but every ten years the US government counts every human being within its borders. Over the next several months, we are going to be talking a lot about the 2010 Census because it’s pretty effin important. Billions of your tax dollars are spent on schools and other important community projects. And were not talking fake rich rapper money either; the census adds up to big paper for local communities.

Of course, most times young people and people of color don’t fill out the form.  Were too busy doing other cool sh#t like filling out unemployment forms or waiting in lines at the emergency room. That’s why the good folks at the Census Bureau spend so much money producing commercials that attempt to speak directly to our demographic.

We’re not sure if these commercials have always been successful because the one above sucks really bad.  Maybe were too young to remember, but its hard to imagine that dancing that hard in ugly clothes was ever cool. After the jump is an example of a census commercial from 2000 that is much less likely to make you want to punch someone in the face.

Clowning is no laughing matter for Tommy the Clown (born Thomas Johnson). Instead, it’s a way to combat deeper issues like gang involvement, boredom, hopelessness, violence, and inactivity.

Born in Detroit, T.J. moved to LA as a teenager, where he soon found himself in trouble with the law. He had plenty of time to reconsider his life’s direction while spending 5 years in jail, where he decided to turn his life around. He’s done that and more–he’s changed the lives of youth around the world.

How? By clowning. It started out as a favor for a friend’s kid’s birthday party, but soon evolved into a way to help at-risk youth, youth who were in danger of falling through the cracks the same way that T.J. had been. Young people were allowed to join his clown/krump/hip hop crew on the condition that they did well in school, stayed out of gangs, didn’t do drugs, and acted as positive role models. In 15 years, this has grown to become a world-wide phenomenon, with 60+ dance crews in LA, performances across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and motivational lectures in schools across the country. It has also spawned a new form of street dancing (y’all know it as “krumping”) and even a 2005 movie by Dave Chapelle, called “Rize”.

Tommy is more than just a red-nosed, smiling face–he’s entertained millions, inspired thousands to get off the couch and off the streets, trained, guided, and helped countless urban youth, and spread a message of peace to us all: “You got problems? Don’t fight no more. Bring it to the dance floor.”

Aren’t you glad summer’s finally here? The recent reemergence of the sun makes me crave days at the beach and nights spent camping. But the recession means that for many (hell, most of us) a vacation simply isn’t that feasible this year.

We should consider ourselves lucky if that’s the worst recession can do. It’s hit a lot of people a lot harder. Every year, the number of families who are homeless skyrocket at the beginning of summer. This year has been particularly bad. People from 10 000 families will become homeless in New York alone this summer, an increase of more than 28% from last year. At last count, that number had already hit 9420—9420 moms, dads, brothers, sisters, and children on the street in one city. That’s A LOT of people—so many, that if you wanted to meet them all, one a day, it would take you more than 27 years.

But numbers are just statistics. They don’t tell the whole story. People do. Like 11 year old Arielle Figueras, who completed fifth grade one day and was in a shelter with her family the next. Or the Dixon family, who were evicted in April, have been separated in various homes since then, and are now reunited on the streets. Families who had found short-term solutions—like staying with relatives or asking the landlord to temporarily take pity on them—are booted out now that the weather is warmer and the kids are out of school and underfoot. Read the full story

Being a teen is hard enough. Being a teenage mother is infinitely harder—and according to a study by John Santelli of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, there are more and more teens who are becoming moms. Nearly 4 in 10 American teens will be preggers by age 20, and a whopping 445 000 of them will give birth. At those rates, America is the teenage pregnancy capital of the Western World.

Having a baby is a wonderful, beautiful act—but there is a time and a place for it. When a teenager gives birth, the odds of her or her baby having a fulfilling life are significantly lower than if she had waited until she was in her twenties. Teen moms are more likely to drop out of school, receive welfare, and have more children within a couple of years. In turn, the children of teen moms will statistically have poorer health and inferior results in school than their peers who had parents who gave birth later on. Children from teen pregnancies are also more likely to end up in prison (if they’re sons) or giving birth while still teenagers (if they’re daughters).

Which is why Santelli’s study is so disturbing. It shows that teenagers are having kids at a higher rate, not necessarily because they desire children at that stage in life but because they are not taking simple precautions to prevent it. The use of contraceptives is going down, leaving health educators wondering where the f*%# they went wrong. Because, instead of using a condom, youth are trying the “withdrawal method,” and even the “let’s not use anything” approach—otherwise known as the “I’m playing Russian Roulette with my girlfriend’s future” approach. Hell, the guys should be worried too, because STIs tend to spread a lot faster when there’s no condom to stop them (and by “tend to” I mean DO). Read the full story

Education as we know it is changing. Remember sitting in class and having your teacher yell at you for listening to music? No longer! If Run-DMC has their way, teachers will not only be encouraging music in the classroom but will be bringing in rap and hip hop of their own.

Darryl McDaniels, a member of the pioneering rap group Run-DMC, was invited by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to attend a conference at the Summer Teacher Institute last week. While there, he spoke to teachers that had gathered from across the country about the importance of using rap as a way in which teachers could better connect with their students, saying that rap made school more interesting, relevant, and personal for students. All I can say is, why wasn’t Run-DMC saying this to my teachers when I was in school?

But seriously, he’s got a point. While he admitted that rap can be “raw,” he also pointed out that it is a form of social commentary and as such has the potential to become an educational tool and a medium of expression for kids who might not have another outlet. In his own words, “real hip-hop is information, education, communication and motivation, whether you’re rich, poor, black, white, Puerto Rican. Hip-hop is the total expression of the existence of what it’s like to be alive on the face of the earth.”

So look out students. This September, it could be your teacher that busts into the classroom with a few Run-DMC lyrics of their own:

One thing I know is that life is short
So listen up homeboy, give this a thought
The next time someone’s teaching why don’t you get taught?
( From Run-DMC:  “It’s Like That”)

Read the full story

It’s understandable to be rejected from college because of your grades, your SATs, or even your extracurriculars - but is it valid to be rejected because you need financial aid?

According to this NY Times article, Reed College in Portland, Oregon is doing just that. As a result of the recession, revenue is dropping at the school, which can’t financially commit to as much financial aid. Long story short, they’ve started rejecting students because they lack full ability to pay. Let’s go into crippling student loan debt after the jump! Read the full story

We have to expect our government to take on the real problems in our neighborhoods. We’re not used to counting on them for change, but we should be able work with them and make something important happen.

There are over 80 cosponsors of the Youth PROMISE Act right now; we’re trying to get up to 150, but that’ll take all of us working together, contacting our representatives and telling them personally that we want their support for this pivotal piece of legislation.

Go to 99problems.org/youth-promise to send a message to your representative. It only takes a few minutes but will mean a world of change.

Ben Gilbarg is the Director of 3rd EyE Unlimited, a film/video producer and socially conscious Hip Hop artist from New Bedford, MA. Ben works in New Bedford to build a movement of young people to organize for the betterment of their communities. Check out: http://www.3rdeyeunlimited.com/

IEP stands for Individualized Education Program. This is a legally binding document that spells out exactly what special education services your child will receive and why. Makes a lot of sense, right? It is supposed to help our friends and children who need a different kind of education to succeed but a lot of school districts are just ignoring IEP’s and setting up young people to fail.

We’re serious about this. The Youth PROMISE Act is the biggest step we can take right now to keep the kids of America out of prison.

Please get involved; speak up for all the youth who’ve been given the right to remain silent.

Stand up for the leaders of tomorrow.

Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to start the discussion in your community.

Write your Congressional Representative to let them know you support the Youth PROMISE Act!

There is something we can do to save our public education system and ensure that not only the arts and music programs we care about are sustained, but that every qualified young person can seamlessly attend college for little to no cost.

This week call your Congressmen and tell them that YOU support President Obama’s stance on education in his proposed budget by calling 1-888-299-1447 or go to www.unionvoice.org/campaigns/studentloans and write a letter. Every little bit counts to save our public education system to benefit US!

For more info on organizing around education issues, check out www.usstudents.org

Here’s a revolutionary idea: get to know your town’s teachers. They’re pretty easy to spot; chalk on their shirts, rulers in hand. They’re the ones teaching our kids how to take charge of America.

Investing in education is an investment in ourselves. Moreover, it’s an investment in our businesses, in our technology…the minds of our children will enable the prosperity of tomorrow, and our schools will either discourage or encourage their dreams.