Clyde Vanel
[Op-Ed: Open Letter]
Great Start Assemblyman Clyde Vanel. Seeing how you fought and endured many fights to get where you are, you understand the resistance we must overcome, even from some of our own people.
I will, therefore, make the following suggestion. Get the words out that you are looking for community members to form an educational research team/committee to secure funding to run after-school programs for our children. It could also lead to the employ of 50 females, as we teach them to write grants to get funds to employ themselves and to help teach their children Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).
We have team members who could teach parents how to teach basic STEM lessons. I am presently taking a course that gained me access to organizations not in our communities, and even you would not know the extent of philanthropic monies in NYC to educate our children/people. One of the biggest sources of money for non-profits to educate our children is the NYSDOE (and grant.gov).
I have gone to my previous state assemblywoman as well as my senator asking about state fund; they were oblivious to same. So, I am educating you about such resources. A problem is that in order for our community organizations to get funding, they must go through reams of red tapes. White folks are taught how to navigate such tapes. Your committee will help teach our not for profit community members such lessons (e.g., becoming incorporated with only the $500-$900 IRS fees.
Such amount would be less than the $5,000 some lawyers charge for their fees). Presently, we have an elected official with a committee geared for discussing how to better place our children in special education classes. No talk of getting our children in specialized high schools, bringing grant money to the community, or teaching members to navigate the red tape keeping them from not for profit funds. Of course, one cannot teach what he or she does not know.
The New York Women’s Foundation grant lit a light bulb in my head. I reasoned if I could secure such grant funding, I could employ twenty females in my community to teach them research and grant writing. Such a project would help secure future funding for educational projects to aid the school success of their children.
Additionally, it could empower and lead the females to self-sufficiency, as females in Africa and other countries are being empowered by being given a goat, a cow, or a piece of land.
Rupert Green is an educator in New York City.
Contact: [email protected]
