Friday, May 31, 2013

Final LinkedIn Poll results: How do you feel about the NY City Decision to create a high school solely for emergency management education?


How do you feel about the NY City decision to create a high school solely for emergency management education?
By Black Emergency Managers Association Charles D. Sharp. Chief Executive.  •   29 votes  •  6 comments  •  Ended 05 May 2013
51015202530Agree. Good for community26 (90%)Disagree. Not good for the community3 (10%)
Overall demographics
1.534.567.5918-29130-36337-44045+8
All others
11 male3 female

Comments
Black Emergency
Black Emergency Managers Association • Ron, thank you for your comment. I agree every organization should be touting this. I especially like the comment regarding the use of CERT or SERT (Student Emergency Response Teams) and other training being taught in every school within the U.S. by Chris Ainsworth. This is not just a local issue, but a national issue of concern to everyone and every community. Every community have different threats and risks. Lesson plans can be designed to incorporate this within school jurisdictions. The Dept of Education, Emergency Management for Schools is a vital resource in ensuring that these types of curricula can be implemented in addition to just the creation\formulation of school emergency plans for a jurisdiction and higher education (colleges and universities) that these funds are currently being allocated for. $100k to $500k for an emergency plan? Then community involvement and curricula should be a vital part of the proposal for allocation of those funds. Communities are the key and both can play a vital role in ensuring communities are sustainable and resilient.


Charlie
Charlie Fendt, MEP • The concept of a High school program of this nature is commendable. Any time you can capture young minds and promote emergency management, great things can happen for future generations. The one thing that concerns me about this endeavor is that New York state has very stringent requirements for teachers. I doubt you will find many qualified EM's and SME's that have not only the background in emergency management, but also hold the credentials to teach in in NYS, and if they are are qualified in Emergency management, One has to question just how much forethought was put into this announcement and if it is feasible, or just a political dream.
about 1 month ago | 


Tameka
Tameka Sharp • I think this is a fantastic idea as well; I see it being similar to performing arts high schools where students would gain the technical skills and preparation needed for careers in EM. I have read several news article and other posts about the announcement and none have indicated that it would be a school for black students only. I think BEMA is very excited about this announcement and is simply prompting discussion. If anyone has read differently, I would be interested in having the links.

Chris
Chris Ainsworth • A school whose focus is on EM fails to identify the many areas education of our youth need in life skills just to survive. A broader option would be to introduce CERT into the curriculum (it is only 20 hours) and have each school have a TEEN CERT team with members from all year levels. Teach them leadership, succession planning as they progress through the system, taking on new responsibilities each year, respect for team work and as a community the power of the united many achieves greater goals. The cost of setting up a single school for EM is elitist and sets the framework for long term demise of the the concepts of EM - which affects all the community. A disaster importunately is a great humanity leveller - your place in society does not matter - you are dependant upon the individual alongside you for survival. Spread the investment across all schools as a short term curriculum subject Just $0.02 of my thoughts , .
about 1 month ago | Flag commentVoted for Disagree. Not good for the community


Teresa
Teresa Smith • I agree. Everyone of all races can benefit on the effectiveness on preparedness, response and recovery during an emergency event.
about 1 month ago | Flag comment  Voted for Agree. Good for community


Ron

Ron Tyler • i think that this is a great idea. However, I have issues that it is only the "Black Emergency Managers Association" That is touting it. Why are others not coming forward or being a part of this? If this is a school only for "black" students" then I object. This High School should be open for anyone that has an interest in helping their communities and this nation.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

South Africa. Stenden University. Undergraduate. Disaster Management Program.

NOTE:  Now is the time for other African nations and the AU to consider the creation and development of disaster and emergency management full educational programs (elementary to college level) for their communities.                    C.D. Sharp.   CEO.  Black Emergency Managers Association (BEMA)


Herewith an exciting development at the undergraduate level in SADC. Please distribute among your networks.

Stenden South Africa in Port Alfred, a campus of Stenden University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands, will be launching a world-first 4 year Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Disaster Management in January 2014. We invite applications for admission to this prestigious fulltime programme from interested students. You can obtain more information on the programme and application forms from our website www.stenden.ac.za,  or you can contact the Academic Head of the School of Disaster Management, Dr Des Pyle:



phone: +27 (0)46 6042208

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Queen of Sheba Foundation. Petition to Recognize Emperor Haile Selassie I's Contributions to the OAU.

Rightfully Recognize Emperor Haile Selassie I's Contributions to the Organization of African Unity

The Ethiopian government and the African Union's disassociation of Emperor Haile Selassie I from the history of Pan Africanism and the Organization of African Unity is akin to disassociating Dr. Martin Luther King from the Civil Rights Movement

One of His Majesty Haile Selassie I's greatest accomplishments, and there were many, was to bring two differing political groups together to establish "an organization that wold unite all of Africa,"  In recognition of this great achievement thirty-two members of the OAU voted HIM  "Father of African Unity".  Today, the Name  of Emperor Haile Selassie I is barely mentioned and His accomplishments are no longer recognized in His own country nor by the by very organization which he caused to be established.   It is important that we remember him and boldly speak His Name and His accomplishments at home and abroad and separate history from politics because history must be free of political influence and ethnic ideologies.
To:
H.E. Dr. Jean Ping, Chairperson, African Union
His Excellency Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia
The Honorable Girma Wolde Giorgis, President of Ethiopia
Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana 
We appreciate Ethiopian President Girma's call for a statue to be erected in honor of Emperor Haile Selassie I's contributions to the Organization of African Unity OAU; most importantly it was refreshing to hear how President Girma's acknowledged of His Majesty as "The 1st Leader of Africa." We encourage the Ethiopian government and the African Union leadership to join with President Girma to insure His Majesty is granted his rightful place in OAU history and that His legacy as a great world statesmen is honored, in his own country and the world as Father of African Unity and the first President of the OAU. This would correct the AU and Ethiopia's past historical errors and omissions and send a message to the world that the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia realizes the importance of separating politics from true history even when the Government doesn't support it.

Those of us who remember recall that it was Emperor Haile Selassie I who played a pivotal role in the establishment of the OAU, not Kwame Nkrumah and it was His Majesty who was unanimously voted “Father of African Unity” by the original members of the OAU, not Kwame Nkrumah. Why then would the AU and the Ethiopian government continue to ignore to His Majesty contributions while bestowing their highest honors on Nkrumah, and in so doing rewrite the history of the OAU and the Pan-African Movement?

We are all pleased to see that Ethiopia is on a path of change and we pray it will continue, for the greatest good of all, regardless of ethnic group, political ideology or religion, for it is important for Ethiopia to separate the politics of ethnic prejudice and historical bias from its ancient and modern history because such thinking has no place in deciding the history of any nation.

May the Holy Spirit direct the Government of Ethiopia and the AU leadership to make the right decision to give Emperor Haile Selassie His rightful place in history as the Father of African Unity and the OAU's first president. AMEN.

Respectfully,
The Queen of Sheba Research Foundation 
Sincerely

Recognition of Emperor Haile Selassie I's Contributions to the OAU. March 28, 2013

BREAKING NEWS: Queen of Sheba Research Foundation charge the African Union with rewriting OAU and Pan-African History

>PRWEB.COM Newswire

Chicago, IL, March 28, 2013 - On the eve of the inauguration of the African Union’s (AU) 50th Anniversary Celebrations in Addis Ababa on March 21, 2013, Ethiopian President Girma sent a letter to the Ethiopian Prime Minister recommending that “a statue must be erected to commemorate the Emperor who was the first leader of Africa-- I think he deserves a statue.”

President Girma's letter was clearly referring to the AU and the Ethiopian government’s continued failure to recognize Emperor Haile Selassie I’s contributions to the OAU as a result, their actions prompted numerous Petitions on the internet.

President Girma's letter went viral over the internet receiving the attention of international scholars and historians who found his actions "refreshing" and "a welcomed change from the previous Ethiopian administration who had denied Emperor Haile Selassie I his rightful place in the history of the Pan African Movement and the OAU, for years".

The issue first began last year when the Ethiopian government and the AU inaugurated its newly constructed Headquarters in Addis Ababa with the erection of a statue, front-center, dedicated to Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, for his contributions to African Unity, while Ethiopian King of Kings, Emperor Haile Selassie I’s pivotal contributions to African Unity and His significant role as the single unifying force behind the establishment of the OAU, along with his title as "The first leader of Africa", was ignored.

Barbara Miller, Queen of Sheba Research Foundation historian, referred to the matter as, "an unforgivable slight in His Majesty's own country." International debates spilled onto the floor of the Ethiopian parliament, where former Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who was also President of AU and had always been critical of Emperor Haile Selassie I, was said to have downplayed the issue. As a result, Emperor Haile Selassie I's accomplishments were stricken.

For those who are unaware, Emperor Haile Selassie's contributions to the OAU are well documented: It was Emperor Haile Selassie I, not President Nkrumah, who called and hosted the May 25, 1963 Conference of African Heads of State in Addis Ababa; and it was His Majesty’s electrifying speech that inspired two conflicting political groups (Casablanca and Monrovia) to lay aside their differences, come together, and establish an organization that would unite all of Africa, which they did:

    “The commentators of 1963 speak, in discussing Africa, of the Monrovia States,
    The Brazzaville Group, the Casablanca Powers and many more. Let us put an end
    to these terms. What we require is a single African organization through which
    Africa’s single voice may be heard, within which Africa’s problems may be studied
    and resolved.” Emperor Haile Selassie I, May 25, 1963

At the end of the speech, all 32 African leaders and founding fathers of the OAU were invigorated andas a result, they elected Emperor Haile Selassie I the first President of the OAU; and unanimously voted Emperor Haile Selassie I the “Father of African Unity".
Eric Nickerson, former Mayor of Dixmoor, Illinois and member of the Queen of Sheba Research Fuoodation noted, “just as no one can deny Dr. Nkrumah's role in the Pan-African Movement, no one should deny Emperor Haile Selassie I’s pivotal role in the establishment of the OAU, and those who continue to do so make the spirit of pan-African unity nothing more than an aberration.” 
      
On Friday, May 24, 2013, letters of encouragement from members of the Queen of Sheba Research Foundation were hand-delivered to the President and Prime Minister of Ethiopia, care of the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC; the letters praised President Girma’s position on the issue and encouraged the Ethiopian government to separate politics from history by correcting previous historical oversights, errors, and omissions and grant Emperor Haile Selassie I His rightful place in the history of the OAU/AU.

African-American historians believe that at the end of the day, the Ethiopian government would demonstrate to the world community that the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia supports the truth of history even when it may not always identify with it.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/5/prweb10770461.htm


Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1269421#ixzz2UZyxkZTJ

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