On Friday night, Geoffrey Canada accepted the Robert Coles “Call of Service” Award at Harvard University and spoke to students about Dr. Seuss and Langston Hughes.
Posts Tagged ‘Geoffrey Canada’
Canada at Harvard
Sunday, October 25th, 2009Newark and Camden zones?
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
In today’s Newark Star-Ledger, an article about the new initiative to build neighborhood zones based on the Harlem Children’s Zone in both Newark and Camden, New Jersey. According to the article, the plan is intended to take advantage of President Obama’s proposed Promise Neighborhoods program:
State leaders hope the plans will give New Jersey a leg up on the competition for the Promised Neighborhoods Initiative, an Obama administration proposal that requested $10 million to duplicate the Harlem project in 20 cities nationwide.
“This is a holistic approach to how we should deal with education,” Gov. Jon Corzine said at the conference. “We want to make sure Newark and Camden receive those (federal) resources.”
Congress has yet to approve the funds, but Canada said he expects it will be allotted and the administration will start the selection process in a few weeks.
Obama at the Congressional Black Caucus dinner
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009President Obama addressed the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual dinner on Saturday and made the case again for Promise Neighborhoods:
This economic crisis has made the problems in the communities of color much worse. But we all know that these problems have been there for a long time. Communities were struggling to catch up long before this economic storm came ashore. One study that looked at trends in this country over the past few decades found that while roughly seven out of every 10 middle class white children end up surpassing their parents’ income, roughly seven out of every 10 middle class black children do not. Think about that. For the majority of some Americans upward mobility, for the majority of others — stagnation or even downward mobility. That was taking place over the last decade, before the economic crisis. That kind of inequality is unacceptable in the United States of America.
Bringing hope and opportunity to places where they’re in short supply — that’s not easy. It will take a focused and sustained effort to eradicate the structural inequalities in our communities — structural inequalities that make it difficult for children of color to make a success of their lives, no matter how smart or how driven or how talented they are. That’s why we’re launching Promise Neighborhoods to build on Geoffrey Canada’s success in Harlem with a comprehensive approach to ending poverty by giving people the tools they need to pull themselves up.
Christian Science Monitor article
Monday, September 28th, 2009In Sunday’s Christian Science Monitor, an article about Geoffrey Canada and his work, based on my radio story on Baby College, on This American Life.
A Palm Beach Zone?
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009In the Palm Beach Post, an editorial urging civic leaders to create a Promise Neighborhood in West Palm Beach:
The Obama administration wants to help 20 cities adopt anti-poverty programs modeled on the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City. Founder/Director Geoffrey Canada may work with programs in four communities, including one in Florida.
For two years, City Commissioner Kimberly Mitchell has laid the groundwork for that community to be West Palm Beach. Last week, she unveiled the West Palm Beach Family Zone, a nonprofit corporation that has state Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, among its supporters. The kickoff meeting, held at The Palm Beach Post, included Democrats and Republicans, potential donors from Palm Beach and residents of inner-city neighborhoods.
The current approach of independent and at times overlapping programs – a midnight basketball game here, a family counseling session there – has been playing out without success in Palm Beach County’s poorest communities. The Dunbar Village case reveals how low things can go. “We know what works,” Commissioner Mitchell said. “We have seen what works. Anything short of that is unacceptable.”
Canada Returns to Colbert
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Reverse Racism – Geoffrey Canada | ||||
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Geoffrey Canada was Stephen Colbert’s guest on the Colbert Report on Monday, talking about reverse racism and President Obama’s recent speech to the NAACP Centennial.
Springfield Public Forum
Friday, July 17th, 2009Geoffrey Canada and I will both be speaking in Springfield, Mass., this fall. I’ll be there in October, and he’ll be there in November. According to an article in the Springfield Republican:
On Nov. 4, Geoffrey Canada, president and chief executive officer of the Harlem Children’s Zone, is scheduled to speak about its work in helping at-risk youth through a comprehensive approach to education and poverty eradication. Canada has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of “America’s Best Leaders.” …
Prior to Canada’s appearance, the City Thinks program, in conjunction with the forum series, will sponsor a talk on Oct. 15 at American International College by New York Times reporter Paul Tough, author of “Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America.”
Tough’s lecture will focus on urban education from a macro perspective. City Thinks is a community-wide program, offered in conjunction with the Springfield City Library. It is funded by the American International College honors program and the MacDuffie School.
Canada in Kansas City
Friday, July 17th, 2009Last week, Geoffrey Canada spoke to the Legislative Black Caucus Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri. According to a report in the Kansas City Star:
One of the nation’s most dynamic evangelists for urban education came to Kansas City today to describe how impoverished neighborhoods here can replicate the success he’s had in Harlem.
Geoffrey Canada, founder and director of the nationally recognized Harlem Children’s Zone, told a packed audience in a downtown Marriott ballroom that America has to stop turning its back on children in poor communities.
Some recent links
Saturday, July 4th, 2009- Geoffrey Canada visits the White House.
- Wicked Local Arlington does a stream-of-consciousness transcription of my talk (and a panel discussion) at the MassINC event in Boston.
- PostBourgie, an online “running, semi-orderly conversation about class and politics and media and gender and whatever else we can think of,” chooses Whatever It Takes as its Book of the Month.
- And a professor at Messiah College in Pennsylvania reviews Whatever It Takes from the homeschooling perspective.
The Northside Achievement Zone
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009More impact from Geoffrey Canada’s recent speech in Minneapolis: The Twin Cities Daily Planet reports that on Saturday, a coalition of local groups announced the launch of the Northside Achievement Zone, inspired by the success of the Harlem Children’s Zone.
The Daily Planet article also points out some differences between the HCZ and the NAZ:
The Harlem Children’s Zone built new programs, beginning with its Baby College™ for parents, all-day intensive preschool, charter schools, and much more. The Harlem Children’s Zone also spent nearly $40 million on its programs in 2006, according to its federal Form 990 return. So far, NAZ’s plans are more directed toward coordinating and communicating about already-existing programs offered by organizations already in the area, rather than on new resources or programs.