What does the Chicago teachers' strike have to do with the rapper Common? The rapper's mother, Dr. Mahalia Ann Hines was hand-picked by Rahm Emanuel in 2011 to sit on the city's Board of Education? The same Board is now in negotiations with the Chicago Teachers' Union. Hines has not only raised a son who thinks it's okay to kill cops, she became the business manager of her son's music company in 1996. She is CEO of his Common Ground Foundation and is president of his company Hip Hop Schoolhouse, which publishes "educational materials for children."  A radical, cop-hating, misogynistic rapper's mom has influenced the Chicago school system in her various capacities as teacher, principal and now Board member. This speaks volumes as to why the schools in her city are representational of the ills found in public schools across the nation. The rapper became national news in May, 2011 when Michelle Obama invited Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr.,...(Read Full Post)