By Glenda Cadogan

• Every day in America, 2,261 high school children drop out of school
• Every day in America, 2,494 babies are born to mothers who are not high school graduates
• Every day in America, 17,132 public school students are suspended

These are disturbing figures. Figures that make some people fainthearted. Figures that to some, provoke more fear that terrorism. In many segments of our society, they represent despair. And unfortunately, in this climate of learned hopelessness, some people develop a that’s-the-way-things-are-and-there-is-nothing-I-can-do about-it attitude. But to an organization such as the Children’s Defense Fund, these figures represent three reasons why they exist.

The CDF is a national advocacy organization born out of the Civil Rights Movement and founded by Marian Wright Edelman. Since its inception in 1973, it has been the voice of the voiceless children of America. In New York State, home to 20.7 percent of the nation’s poor children, the CDF has been playing a critical role as guardians of our children’s education.
In September of 2007, the New York branch of CDF installed Rev. Emma Jordan-Simpson, a champion fighter for children’s rights, as its new Executive Director. In a candid interview with Positive Community Magazine, Rev. Emma (as she is affectionately called by her congregants), spoke about the work of the organization which she considers “one of the most progressive existing today.

“CDF has been in New York for the past 15 years and the initial mandate was to focus on access to healthcare for all children,” says Rev. Emma. “And though nationally we continue to push for healthcare for the nine million uninsured children in the country, in New York we are focused on a campaign we call ‘the cradle to prison pipeline.’ Our aim is to bring together all of the stakeholders working in the fields of juvenile justice, child health and education to focus on this national crisis.”

According to Rev. Emma, there are incredible people and organizations in these fields who are talking the same language of reform. “But we need to bring it all together because we recognize that children do not come in pieces,” she says. “A child who is unhealthy will not learn. By coming together we can see the linkages and therefore be a more effective force in dismantling this cradle to prison pipeline.”

Rev. Emma, who is also the Associate Pastor of Concord Baptist Church of
Christ in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and a mother of three, has always been a passionate advocate for children. That made her blend with the organization a perfect marriage. “My entire life has been dedicated to changing the world for our children,” she says, adding, “I believe that every step you take to make life better for a child, you improve the lives of everybody.”

She acknowledges that despite her best efforts to always walk in the rays of hope, there are frustrations. For instance, the high drop out rate in New York high schools, not just in the five boroughs but upstate as well. At the root, is the state’s education polices that disproportionately affect disenfranchised communities.“One of the most promising indicators that an African American child will go on to college, do well and graduate is if that child takes Advance Placement (AP) classes in high school,” says Rev. Emma. “In Bedford-Stuyvesant we have a phenomenal school with a predominantly African American male population who are doing well. This school offered 10 AP classes. However, with Mayor Bloomberg’s budget cuts, these AP classes are compromised.” Conversely, according to Rev. Emma, in the same Brooklyn neighborhood, there is a Junior High School which houses a suspension program. “We have no guarantees that these suspension programs actually prepare students for a successful return to the classroom,” she says. “Yet these programs are guaranteed over AP classes in a country where only 20,000 black men graduate from college, annually as opposed to ten times that amount who are in prison. This is not to say that there are people sitting around plotting ways to push African American boys out of school,” she says. “At the same time however, these policies cannot be accepted as race neutral or color blind.”

Despite the challenges Rev. Emma has issued a call to action by encouraging community residents to join the fight. “Unfortunately, there are people who really believe that this is the way things are meant to be,” she says. “But I am not convinced. This is not the will of God. It is not the will of God that children have no access to healthcare. It is not the will of God that children are denied a quality education. The theology in the Bible that informs the work that I do and the African American tradition that I come from tell me that this not the way it is supposed to be.”

As an advocate for children, Rev. Emma anchors her hope on these future leaders whom she has been commissioned to serve. “In my opinion the greatest problem solvers are 12-year-old children,” she says. “They have the natural voice of the advocate. And there is a lot we can learn from them . . . Like their resilient effort to get up after being knocked down, or the way they build community and support each other. If we were wise, we would listen to these children,” she says. Maybe if we listen to the children’s laugher as well as their voices, we will live to see the day when the cradle to prison pipeline is turned in another direction and runs from back-packs to briefcases.