Sharing Web Resources

The name of the organization that I chose to explore is the National Black Child Development Institute http://www.nbcdi.org/ . From its inception, NBCDI’s focus has been on achieving positive outcomes for vulnerable children who suffer from the dual legacies of poverty and racial discrimination.  The organization was launched by the Black Women’s Community Development Foundation, whose leadership, in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, was deeply concerned about the unsatisfactory conditions faced by families determined to raise healthy Black children.  By organizing NBCDI as a national advocacy group, they created a unified movement to develop strategies to improve the life circumstances of the Black child through policy change (NBCDI, 2013).

The NEWS section of the website featured a spotlight and interview of NBCDI President and CEO Felicia DeHaney. In her report Being Black is Not a Risk Factor: A Strengths-Based Look at the State of the Black Child.”  Dr. DeHaney explained the importance of reframing the "risks" of being Black and instead celebrating the unique strengths and values of our children (Clark, 2013). Dr. DeHaney provides positive statistics regarding black children and their families that are usually not shared or the focus of reports on black children and their families.  Like the fact that black children are actually more likely to be enrolled in preschool than white children.  And that more black children have mothers with bachelor's degrees than mothers with less than a high school education.  And that 79 percent of young black children are read to by a family member regularly (Clark, 2013). I found this report interesting because it shares information that I have grown up knowing but rarely hear discussed in the media or on the news. As a mother of black children I do not want a teacher to see my child’s name on their classroom list or see the color of their skin and instantly assume that they are going to be a behavioral problem, less intelligent and are probably being raised by a single mother who has little to no education. Unfortunately I fear they may experience this more common than not due to the negative portrayal of black children and families in this country.

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/wealth-poverty/reframing-%E2%80%9Crisks%E2%80%9D-being-black

http://www.nbcdi.org/sites/default/files/resource-files/Being%20Black%20Is%20Not%20a%20Risk%20Factor_0.pdf