Renford Reese

Renford Reese (July 24, 1967 - present) is a professor, author, and founder of a multicultural human relations program.

Early life and family

Dr. Reese grew up in the small town of McDonough, Georgia. His father, Earnest Reese was a journalist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His mother, Artelia Reese, a descendant of Gee's Bend, was his high school principal.

Along with being the president of the student body, Reese played the saxophone in the symphonic band and lettered in basketball, baseball, track, and football in high school. In 1985, he attended Vanderbilt University on football scholarship. He was recruited as a defensive back but played a number of positions for the Commodores e.g. cornerback, safety, middle linebacker, and outside linebacker. He participated in the Blue Grey All Star game for outstanding seniors in 1989 as a safety. He also participated in the 1990 National Football League and NFL Combine. Reese, ranked among the top 10 safeties in the nation. Although he worked out for a couple of NFL teams, he did not make it to their camps.

Reese was a founder of the Nu Rho Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity at Vanderbilt.

Education
In 1996, Renford Reese received his doctoral degree from the University of Southern California's School of Public Administration. He received his Master's degree in public policy from the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies in 1990. He received his Bachelors of Arts degree in political science from Vanderbilt University in 1989. His primary mentor during his doctoral program was Ian Mitroff.

While at USC, Reese spent time with Ambassador Edward Perkins and was influnced by his work as a diplomat. Reese did his doctoral dissertation research on intergroup relations and ethnic conflict at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva, Switzerland.

Career

Dr. Reese is currently a professor in the political science department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is the author of American Bravado (2008), Prison Race (2006), Leadership in the LAPD: Walking the Tightrope (2005), and American Paradox: Young Black Men (2004). Reese was honored with a resolution on the floors of the California State Assembly and California Senate on March 25, 2004, for his Colorful Flags and community outreach activities. Reese is also the host of The Prison Race Interview Series.

Books

American Paradox: Young Black Men (2004)
Based on the surveys of 756 young black men in Atlanta and Los Angeles, this book examines the young African American males model of black masculinity. The book asserts that the acceptance of the “gangsta-thug" persona is having detrimental consequences on an entire generation of young black men.

Leadership in the LAPD: Walking the Tightrope (2005)
This book examines how chiefs of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) have attempted to reconcile contradictory objectives. It explores the history of leadership in the police department, analyzing the leadership styles of its contemporary chiefs. It explores the leader's capacity to walk the public leadership tightrope. Reese argues that this exercise is the most important task of any public sector leader.

Prison Race (2006)
This book examines two fundamental questions: Why have lawmakers embraced counterproductive criminal justice policies? What have been the consequences of these policies? Prison Race is a double entendre. The book suggests that during the past two decades in the U.S., there has been a move toward incarceration, and one group in particular has been impacted by discriminatory corrections policies driven by the promises of politicians to "get tough on crime"—black men.

American Bravado (2008)

This book integrates survey data from interviews the author conducted with young adults in sixteen countries. Survey questions gauge perspectives on the influence of American culture on the lives of young adults in these countries. This book re-examines the Ugly American and predicts that bravado will lead to the implosion of the American empire.

The Colorful Flag Program

History
In March 1991 an African-American teenager named Latasha Harlins walked into a South Central Los Angeles convenience store owned by a Korean-American merchant. Shortly after entering, she got into an intense argument with the Korean-American clerk over a bottle of orange juice the clerk thought the teenager was attempting to shoplift. Words were exchanged as the two grabbed for the orange juice bottle. After the scuffle, Harlins attempted to exit the store, but before she could leave, the clerk shot her fatally in the back.

This tragic incident weighed on Renford Reese's mind for months. There had to be a way, Reese thought, to defuse such situations before they escalated into tragedies. He believed, as others in the community believed, that Latasha Harlins' death was the climax of growing ethnic tensions between Korean Americans and African Americans in the South Central neighborhood. His resolve was further strengthened the following summer, when South Central erupted in violence following the acquittal of four police officers who beat African American motorist Rodney King, a person that Reese would later counsel and mentor (1997-2000). Many of the stores destroyed at the time were owned by Korean Americans.

The creation of the "Colorful Flags Human Relations Module" stemmed from Reese's dissatisfaction with the state of race relations in our society, especially in Los Angeles.

The program

The Colorful Flags Program breaks down ethnic mistrust by teaching specific cultural facts and five basic human relations statements in the five most spoken languages in a school community or organizational community (excluding English). “USC Professor Helps Police Speak the Language of Understanding.”

This program has serviced over 130,000 K-12 students in 17 school districts in Southern California. It has also serviced police departments, social service agencies, and various other organizations.

Significance
Today, diversity is said to be valued; however, what is diversity if an individual cannot even cordially say "Hello" in another's language? Language is at the core of who we are as individuals. It is not enough to just be bilingual in a multilingual setting.
With the aid of phonetic cards containing cultural facts, an audio tape, video tape, and a training manual, the Colorful Flags program proposes to make a genuine effort in breaking down the dangerous ethnocentric behavior that is prevalent in our society .

Human relations statements
1. Hello - How are you doing?

2. What is your name?

3. Thank you - You are welcome

4. Please - Excuse me

5. Goodbye - Have a nice day

The Prison Race Interview Series
The Prison Race Interview Series interviews former prison inmates who have made remarkable changes in their lives to become productive individuals in our society. This series examine causes and consequences of criminal behavior. It also takes a candid look at the dynamics of prison life. It deconstructs our counter productive and contradictory criminal justice policies. The interviewees discuss their road to reintegrating into society.

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