Tom Brokaw report profiles our hood.

I hope most of you were able to see Tom Brokaws report entitled " separate and Unequal" last night. If not I should have them available on DVD in the next few weeks. NBC used Jackson Mississippi and specifically our neighborhood to profile the problems of race and education. The program featured an interview with Vince Gordon who we work closely with. Vince runs the Young Life program that meets here at the Perkins center. If you look in the back ground you can see shots of the Perkins center and our house.
To answer Michaels question in the previous post, I do think it was a fare portrayal of Jackson. The report pointed out what we've been seeing ever since we moved here. A cycle of poverty that is repeating over and over. We just found out last week that a 14 year old girl who was in our after school program and dropped out is pregnant. The breakdown of the family and the lack of positive male figures in our community is killing our people. The report also touched on how separate black and whites live here in Jackson. After integration the whites moved out of the city and started private academies for their children to attend. This made most of the public schools entirely black which is still the case today.

the transcript of the report is available at www.msnbc.com. click on the Brokaw Reports link under Dateline.

Lets discuss this.

I feel that bringing this issue to the nation is a great step but now we need a follow up report on what we can do. Here at the Perkins center we have a plan and are dreaming of ways to change this community.

If you missed the report and would like a DVD copy let me know.

Johnny