Thanks to a tip from Mostly Nothing, I discovered that there's a group in Minneapolis who are trying to restore the black family.
More on this when I have more time.
Raspberry Pi Cameras
I took some time this morning to learn the basics of my high-quality Raspberry Pi camera. I also installed a web app on the Pi that will use the camera as a streaming service. That allows me to watch my adjustments in real time from my SurfaceBook. It works pretty well, but there wasn't enough time to do a real experiment. Instead, I just slapped some stuff together and it was barely functional.
No photos to share because I didn't get that far. The problem isn't the ability to take photos, it's the blurriness of the images.
I'm starting to lean towards getting a simple, modern point-and-shoot that I can control from the Pi's USB port. It sure would be nice to have a real camera with autofocus instead of a real camera you have to dial in by hand using a very laggy display.
Oh well. First World problems, those.
While that video has nice production values and sounds well, it doesn't actually say what exactly it is that they want to do. I'm worried that their approach might be the standard one I see being proposed, which is "scold people into getting married". What I don't like about this is that it feels like they are assuming single parents are some combination of "too immoral to stop having sex" and "too stupid to realize that raising a kid single-handed is hard"
ReplyDeleteIf that was all there was to it, then I would expect the marriage rates to be pretty much identical for all racial groups. And as you have noted yourself, they are not. So, why is it specifically black parents who aren't getting/staying married? And is the reason something that can be overcome just by telling them over and over, "you really should get married before having kids"?
Just to be clear, I don't know what the reason might be, although I have some suspicions. I have always lived hundreds of miles away from the big cities where this sort of thing is a problem, and only know third-hand what actually goes on there. I was hoping that those of you who do live in or near such places, could actually personally observe what is going on. And maybe talk to people who are single parents, and find out why they are so?
What are they going to do? They're going to try. I think that if I was in their position, I'd have to do the same thing, too. I know I did it in my own life. They'll have things muddled at first, but I imagine they'll adjust until their message gets better.
ReplyDeleteHere's the podcast MN told us about. In that podcast, they say their first effort will be storytelling. I like that idea and I look forward to seeing what they produce. I've got come connections to people and groups who would be natural allies and I'm going to make an effort to connect them.
As for why it's blacks that are struggling the most, well, does it matter? I suppose it does in that would inform your approach, but truth be told, lots of people are. I'm going to chat with some of my friends and see how this can be generalized.
In any case, God bless them for taking action.