The Real Homeland Security

what is homeland security when the youth can not afford education to secure a future?

what is homeland security when there are no jobs at home when kids graduate from college...???

i want to change what homeland security means...

and... i don't want to write a song about it...

i want to act on it...

and put my money where my mouth is...

i recently got paid a nice amount of money to dj at a tech convention...

when my manager told me the amount i was getting, all i could do was remember when i was 14 and i asked my mom for 2 turntables and a mixer...

when i was 14 my mom's rent in the projects was 150 dollars a month...

and here i am getting $xxx,000 dollars to dj...

in this economic crisis...

i didn't feel right...

maybe i'm crazy...

or maybe my mama just raised me right...

but i didn't feel right just taking it...

but i ain't stupid...

so i took the money...

but i want to do something smart with the money...

i want to invest the money in america's "real" future...

"the youth"

i want to send a kid to college for 4 years...

and i don't want them to pay me back...

i don't want them to rack up debt...

i don't want their parents or "parent" to stress...

i just want to give them an opportunity to make their dreams come true...

i want to re-define homeland security...

i want to take action...

especially now in a financial crisis...

you don't run for the hills...

you don't leave our future leaders behind...

you don't turn your backs on the youth in the name of "recession"...

you don't...

if anything...

you make personal sacrifices and assist our "tomorrow"...

you usher in a new mind state...

you nurture our future...

you support dreams...

you provide opportunities...

and thank you Oprah for letting me take a bold stand and show the youth "we are here" for them...

thank you mama for my 2 turntables and a mixer when you couldn't even afford it...

look what those 2 turntables did...

it sent 4 strangers to college...

thank you nanny for raising my mama the way you did...

because she raised us with a heart to give...

Read more about the i am Scholarship Program here.

Comments

[Rog49Thomas]

But if we spent money

to educate our people
to ensure that folks had healthcare
to staff government regulatory bodies like the FDA or SEC adequately

How on earth could we afford tax cuts for the wealthy, billion dollar no bid contracts for corporations, and needless foreign wars?

It's all a question of priorities.

[lisakaz2]

Right on. Time to change what is meant by security. Job security. Opportunity security. Sure, the nation needs to be secure but it hasn't been secure if it's been robbed blind by insiders who sold out the morals and laws of this country in more ways than one.

[M1]

Adding your light to the total sum of light. So, wonderful. Thank you Will.

[Luvial]

Maybe we could elect Democrats and end the war and use the money to help people. Oh, I forgot, we did that and it didn't work. They lied.

[Snwbnny9]

My daughter is going to college in a year. I worry about paying for it everyday. The cost of tuition at a state school has doubled in the last 15 years and so have dorm fees and books but the Pell grant has gone from 3500 to 4700.
Tuition-6000
Dorm 11000
Books-2000
Food/Tolietries- 2000
So basically $21,000 a year FOR A STATE SCHOOL.

Which means $15,000 in student loans every year she is in school. That is absurd.

[American50]

OH Please

[stevier]

Pat yourself on the back...

[o4tuna]

Maybe Will.i.am can hook up with Oprah and get a bunch of others to kick in and build a college fund.

[watchingyou]

Financially blessed Black folks like Will.i.am need to CREATE JOBS for young brothers; jobs for high-schoolers, drop-outs, and ex-offenders. In Baltimore and NYC, the unemployment rate for Black men is as high as 50% and has been for decades.

Individual scholarships are great. But, the benefits are limited and are not immediate. With a job, a brother can take care of his family, his kids, his household. With a job, a brother can prepare for the future. With a job, a brother can be an example for his children and his community. With a job, a brother is less likely to engage in illegal behavior to obtain money. With a job, a brother has a greater sense of self and self-worth. With a job, a brother can help to contribute and build up his community. With a job, a brother can help another brother.

Our kids come to the work force very late - if they come at all. Because many of them never held a job when they were young, -- when they do get a job they have a very poor sense of what it means to have a job and how to keep it. Very few Blacks have the family connections or associations to help them get jobs and very few Black businesses are creating jobs for Black youth - either because the businesses don't exist or are not large enough to employ a workforce beyond the principals of the company.

[readingcritically]

Couldn't you have at least said that what he did was great.

[Aneesia]

What a common sense person you are. You care about doing the right thing for people.
If only the politicians and corporate leaders had your insight we wouldn't be in the current mess. But they only cared about themselves.
You made a bright spot in my day...thanks.

[billysviez]

anyone who tries to make a difference, deserves Our Thanks. I thank you Sir.

[tlgeiger62]

Sir, I saw you on Oprah giving those four young men a full scholarship and I was so touched...not by the gift (that was extraordinary and generous beyond words) but I was most touched by the look on your face when you told them. Your eyes were shining with the joy of that moment and it looked like your heart was right out there in the open for all to see. I was so happy for those young men who seemed so caught unawares by what you were giving them but I was moved by the spirit I saw in you.

God bless you.

[truenortherner]

Thanks Will.i.am. A great definition of what Homeland Security truly should be.

[hope4newworld]

Right on!

[Steward Clinton]

Beautiful.
You go brother. Any human being that recognizes the return on an investment of this nature is my brother in depth. Although there are many others in many places that do much worse than "some" of the poorest people here, education 'IS' the single most effective means to eliminate crime, poverty despair insanity and death. Reference? Any study on the subject, but my favorite is Secretary of Education Duncan. We need to sensationalize more of those stories. And then publicly contrast them to the gluttons.

I am more impressed by the fact that this man is giving more from less than those with an abundance of excess. It's a sharp contrast from the nausea I feel for failure to retrieve the $28 Billion (or so) in tax-payer dollars that went to bonuses and luxuries from Bank of America, Merril Lynch, Citigroup, and others. Worse, the latest news highlights billions more horded in ILLEGAL TAX HAVENS!!! What am I supposed to feel towards them who commit these frauds as millions of children die of starvation and easily cured diseases? Keep them on the burner.

Instead, Will.i.am chooses to recognize that his life is defined by what he's done to increase life. I have yet to read an epitaph that quoted a personal bank account. Thank you for exemplifying the true spirit of charity / Love. Selfless acts such as this reflect a higher power than self. For my belief system, that is GOD!

I thank you Huffington Post!

[stateretiree]

And this is what God expects of us!!

[MJinCanada]

And please give your mom a hug from me too.