Dead American soldiers: 4300
Dead Iraqi citizens: 1,331,578
Below is video of the Winter Soldier congressional hearings held on May 15, 2009.
Be sure to also check out and support Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Showing posts with label body politic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label body politic. Show all posts
5.25.2009
4.05.2009
Mos Def
Gr! Sorry. Didn't know it would do that. . . anyhow, I'll leave this info anyway:
Scroll all the way to about 9:00 to see him school Bill. It's just a few small comments, and Bill pretty much ignores him, but his thoughts are powerful and he exposes Bill's ignorance to the realities of the poor and working poor of this country. He makes another fine point at about 1:55 on nuclear disarmament and American hypocrisy, that, again, no one wants to acknowledge. If I'm not mistaken, it's the same point my mother has been making all my life (right, Mom?), and I'm inclined to think it's a pretty damn sensible one.
Rushdie and Hitchens are pretty bourgy the whole way through (yeah, I am calling someone else bourgy a week after I created a unapologetic consumerism tag and wrote about local organic coffee). They want to pretend that Mos isn't listening when in reality they don't want to hear his straightforward and honest thoughts that don't dance around the truth or complicate things in the irritating manner in which they prefer to engage in discussion. Rushdie has some nerve telling anyone how it is after accepting knighthood from a colonial power the likes of which are unparalleled except, maybe, by the United States.
12.14.2008
In Solidarity
Workers at the Republic Windows & Doors Plant in Chicago were victorious in their occupation of the plant after being laid off without proper notice and without access to severance/vacation pay and health insurance owed to them by law. Bank of America and other institutions agreed to pay the $2 million they initially refused to give up. BoA was not required to do so but gave in due to the occupation, political pressure and media coverage.
This victory is a clear reminder of what can be done when people come together and demand equality. It's not unachievable. Causes are not lost. This article quotes the union v.p. saying, "See that sign up there? Without us, it would just say 'Republic,' because we make the windows and doors. This shows that you can fight--and that you have to fight." Powerful stuff. I would like to hear more from the workers too, not just the vp. It's important to note and not take for granted the presence of widespread media coverage of the workers' struggle and of the factors surrounding the violations of the company:
"Press coverage was affected as well. For once, the media not only highlighted the issues in a labor struggle, but also used its resources to investigate the employer. The Chicago Tribune
reported that Republic's main owner, Rich Gillman, was involved in the purchase of a nonunion window factory in Iowa to move to. Journalists also uncovered evidence that Bank of America refused repeated requests to extend more credit to Republic, despite its infusion of bailout money."
BoA gets $25 bil. Workers? Not a damn thing. Until they fought for it. And don't think for a second that BoA is just doing the right thing or being caring by any measure. They simply couldn't afford--image wise--to not give the measly (to them) $2 mil after everyone, all the way up to the O man, took the side of the workers.
Perhaps the workers of the Republic Windows & Doors plant will serve as a galvanizing example of what can be done to improve things in this country through working-class solidarity.
Let's all take a moment in our hectic lives to pause and think about the importance of this outcome and to be refreshed and encouraged in a time of desperation and darkness.
pics socialistworker.org
12.10.2008
Oh No They Didn't
Urban Outfitters pulled the t-shirt above from stores last week. Check out this article, and this one too if you're interested. How is it that supporting an oppressed group's human rights could be even slightly offensive? And it's not a little bit ironic that they would be so bigoted and discriminatory and yet have the chutzpah to carry the following:
and this, which is offensive in its own right, perhaps:
and the kicker, a call to end oppression of another sort (the struggles of all people for rights are not equal, silly):
It's interesting to contemplate the impact of the political leanings corporate giants. Years ago, Michael Jordan quipped "Republicans buy sneakers, too" in defense of his lack of endorsement of an African American mayor's bid for a seat in the Senate. This dude Hayne, U.O. owner, is a major Republic/right-wing supporter. You know, I don't have as much of a problem with his political affiliation (though I do have a problem with it, to be fair) than I do with the fact that he was too cowardly to come out and say why he pulled the shirts. One buyer, as the first article points out, claimed that the shirt was pulled because of "bad press--"an excuse for which there is absolutely zero evidence. What a crappy excuse. My 8th graders are more persuasive. Way more.
I'm not saying everyone has to be Dov Charney--far from it, indeed, for dude and company come with their own set of issues--but at least give real reasons for your actions. He admits to using sex and sexual images as selling points and doesn't make any apologies. If your company is going to pull shirts that support same-sex marriage, why not just say it's because you don't support same-sex marriage? I'd rather buy from a company belonging to an honest if bigoted owner than one who hides behind his decisions and refuses to be accountable for them. Come to think of it, I don't want to buy from either. So I don't think I will. Not that my lack of patronage will send U.O. into a tailspin only to be saved by the socialism-is-only-for-the-rich government. Since we can't regulate ignorance and hatred, I suppose I will just have to regulate where my paycheck goes. . .
Too bad, too. Perhaps those shirts could have helped U.O. seem like less of a horrendously trendy mess.
This quote from the New York Magazine article is priceless:
"When a right-wing Republican is the one concocting your anti-Establishment image, you start to wonder if the entire hipster movement has been duped into becoming puppets of Hayne's billionaire income."
11.28.2008
"But prisons do not disappear problems, they disappear human beings."
When I lived in California--briefly, after high school--I was taken aback upon filling out applications for employment, as I found that each one contained the same statement: Have you been convicted of a crime?* and corresponding asterisk explanation: If conviction was marijuana related, check NO.
Now, I was never convicted of any crime, but the statement heightened my curiosity regarding the inefficacy of drug policy and the injustices of the prison system. Years later, I found Angela Davis' work and thoughts on the prison industrial complex, from which the title line is borrowed. Basically, Davis points out the disturbing practices of the United States governments--both federal and state-- whereby more individuals are locked behind bars here than any other country in the Western world. The management, so to speak, of the vast number of "criminals--"disproportionately people of color and those who are undereducated and/or living in poverty--is then outsourced to corporations, privatized. Prisoners and the prison system become commodities, then--a means to profit for shareholders. There is no regard for the need to develop solutions to social issues of injustice that extend beyond mere incarceration. Well how, TPNB, you say, could the money that goes into maintaining the prison industrial complex be better used? What types of interventions could ease some of our society's issues before individuals are caged for profit?
I will let the expert answer:
[The prison industrial complex] devours the social wealth that could be used to subsidize housing for the homeless, to ameliorate public education for poor and racially marginalized communities, to open free drug rehabilitation programs for people who wish to kick their habits, to create a national health care system, to expand programs to combat HIV, to eradicate domestic abuse -- and, in the process, to create well-paying jobs for the unemployed. . .
As I continued to investigate, I began to understand that the "War on Drugs" is simply another way in which officers in police departments around the country keep their pockets lined. In the wake of some sad news about an old friend, I was compelled to research exactly where my state stood in terms of incarceration of nonviolent offenders. Yeah, we came in 1st (ah location revealed). My state ranks "#1 among the fifty states in terms of the proportion of drug offenders as part of the overall prison population and in new prison admissions who are drug offenders" (DPA). How very sad. And how very fiscally irresponsible--with our state cutting budgets like nobody's business (including, but of course, higher ed-my alma mater lost MILLIONS in funding), and with each prisoner costing tax payers $46,880/year, doesn't it seem like now might be the perfect opportunity to reform drug sentencing laws?
Government, on all levels, is willing to continue to prize corporate contracts and lobbyist agendas over basic human dignity and amelioration of a host of social issues. The defeat of Prop 5 in California during the November elections is a perfect demonstration of this. But the fact that Prop 5 was proposed and voted on is a step in the right direction. Radical change is certainly needed in order to restructure our criminal justice system. You can visit DPA to see what you can do and to investigate where your own state stands--I'm quite sure it can't be any worse than mine.
Now, I was never convicted of any crime, but the statement heightened my curiosity regarding the inefficacy of drug policy and the injustices of the prison system. Years later, I found Angela Davis' work and thoughts on the prison industrial complex, from which the title line is borrowed. Basically, Davis points out the disturbing practices of the United States governments--both federal and state-- whereby more individuals are locked behind bars here than any other country in the Western world. The management, so to speak, of the vast number of "criminals--"disproportionately people of color and those who are undereducated and/or living in poverty--is then outsourced to corporations, privatized. Prisoners and the prison system become commodities, then--a means to profit for shareholders. There is no regard for the need to develop solutions to social issues of injustice that extend beyond mere incarceration. Well how, TPNB, you say, could the money that goes into maintaining the prison industrial complex be better used? What types of interventions could ease some of our society's issues before individuals are caged for profit?
I will let the expert answer:
[The prison industrial complex] devours the social wealth that could be used to subsidize housing for the homeless, to ameliorate public education for poor and racially marginalized communities, to open free drug rehabilitation programs for people who wish to kick their habits, to create a national health care system, to expand programs to combat HIV, to eradicate domestic abuse -- and, in the process, to create well-paying jobs for the unemployed. . .
Mass incarceration is not a solution to unemployment, nor is it a solution to the vast array of social problems that are hidden away in a rapidly growing network of prisons and jails. However, the great majority of people have been tricked into believing in the efficacy of imprisonment, even though the historical record clearly demonstrates that prisons do not work. Racism has undermined our ability to create a popular critical discourse to contest the ideological trickery that posits imprisonment as key to public safety. The focus of state policy is rapidly shifting from social welfare to social control.
As I continued to investigate, I began to understand that the "War on Drugs" is simply another way in which officers in police departments around the country keep their pockets lined. In the wake of some sad news about an old friend, I was compelled to research exactly where my state stood in terms of incarceration of nonviolent offenders. Yeah, we came in 1st (ah location revealed). My state ranks "#1 among the fifty states in terms of the proportion of drug offenders as part of the overall prison population and in new prison admissions who are drug offenders" (DPA). How very sad. And how very fiscally irresponsible--with our state cutting budgets like nobody's business (including, but of course, higher ed-my alma mater lost MILLIONS in funding), and with each prisoner costing tax payers $46,880/year, doesn't it seem like now might be the perfect opportunity to reform drug sentencing laws?
Government, on all levels, is willing to continue to prize corporate contracts and lobbyist agendas over basic human dignity and amelioration of a host of social issues. The defeat of Prop 5 in California during the November elections is a perfect demonstration of this. But the fact that Prop 5 was proposed and voted on is a step in the right direction. Radical change is certainly needed in order to restructure our criminal justice system. You can visit DPA to see what you can do and to investigate where your own state stands--I'm quite sure it can't be any worse than mine.
11.15.2008
Deafening Silence
Did you know about Leonard Peltier? I didn't. Here's his website, too.
I stumbled upon this quote of his, and just thought it was brilliant:
I especially like the line, "You are your own comeuppance." I hold a belief that the idea of karma as something that comes around some day in the far-off future is a false notion. You live your karma every single day whether you lie to yourself or not--you still have to wake up to and fall asleep to your own thoughts and conscience. And we as a nation have to wake up and fall asleep with what we do to people--domestically and worldwide--and the crimes and injustices our government knowingly and forcefully commits. There is just no way that we won't have to deal with our national comeuppance if we continue to let things go on the way they are now.
His quote is important to me because I think I'm seeing my place in the world differently than I had before. I think that I understand more thoroughly what it mean to take action, even if I don't always fulfill the requirements. I used to imagine action as writing my representatives, which I did often and with gusto, but now I'm beginning to see that this is just a farce that we trick ourselves into believing will work. The action we need requires much more effort and entails much less comfort. I think Peltier's message says it perfectly.
I stumbled upon this quote of his, and just thought it was brilliant:
Silence, they say, is the voice of complicity.
But silence is impossible.
Silence screams.
Silence is a message,
just as doing nothing is an act.
Let who you are ring out & resonate
in every word & every deed.
Yes, become who you are.
There's no sidestepping your own being
or your own responsibility.
What you do is who you are.
You are your own comeuppance.
You become your own message.
You are the message.
I especially like the line, "You are your own comeuppance." I hold a belief that the idea of karma as something that comes around some day in the far-off future is a false notion. You live your karma every single day whether you lie to yourself or not--you still have to wake up to and fall asleep to your own thoughts and conscience. And we as a nation have to wake up and fall asleep with what we do to people--domestically and worldwide--and the crimes and injustices our government knowingly and forcefully commits. There is just no way that we won't have to deal with our national comeuppance if we continue to let things go on the way they are now.
His quote is important to me because I think I'm seeing my place in the world differently than I had before. I think that I understand more thoroughly what it mean to take action, even if I don't always fulfill the requirements. I used to imagine action as writing my representatives, which I did often and with gusto, but now I'm beginning to see that this is just a farce that we trick ourselves into believing will work. The action we need requires much more effort and entails much less comfort. I think Peltier's message says it perfectly.
Little Green, He's a Non-Conformer. . .
Neil Young on bailing out the big three.
Just another reason I love him! Add it to the pile.
Here's a taste:
"Detroit has had a long time to adapt to the new world and now the failure of Detroit's actions is costing us all. We pay the bailout. Let's make a good deal for the future of America and the Planet. Companies like UQM (Colorado) and others build great electric motors right here in the USA. Use these domestic electric motors. Put these people to work now. This plan reverses the flow from negative to positive because people need and will buy clean and green cars to be part of World Change."
Now, all, don't think I'm that naive. I know the limitations of electric cars just as much as I know the limitations of ethanol. The electric cars still have to be powered, and thus they still are using energy from somewhere. But what's wonderful about what Young is saying is the idea that we could use this time of trouble as a way forward, as a way to step in the direction of higher fuel efficiency and lower dependence on foreign oil. And better yet, he's talking about a way to secure the lives of millions of Americans who are employed by the Big 3, not a way to keep the fat cats on the dole longer--in fact, he says, get'em outta there. And that sounds great to me.
Here's a piece the NYT did on Young's Lincoln turn electric car. I <3 the title. And he buys his grassoline from a spot in Pacifica! That just happens to be the very location that I briefly inhabited after high school.
Just another reason I love him! Add it to the pile.
Here's a taste:
"Detroit has had a long time to adapt to the new world and now the failure of Detroit's actions is costing us all. We pay the bailout. Let's make a good deal for the future of America and the Planet. Companies like UQM (Colorado) and others build great electric motors right here in the USA. Use these domestic electric motors. Put these people to work now. This plan reverses the flow from negative to positive because people need and will buy clean and green cars to be part of World Change."
Now, all, don't think I'm that naive. I know the limitations of electric cars just as much as I know the limitations of ethanol. The electric cars still have to be powered, and thus they still are using energy from somewhere. But what's wonderful about what Young is saying is the idea that we could use this time of trouble as a way forward, as a way to step in the direction of higher fuel efficiency and lower dependence on foreign oil. And better yet, he's talking about a way to secure the lives of millions of Americans who are employed by the Big 3, not a way to keep the fat cats on the dole longer--in fact, he says, get'em outta there. And that sounds great to me.
Here's a piece the NYT did on Young's Lincoln turn electric car. I <3 the title. And he buys his grassoline from a spot in Pacifica! That just happens to be the very location that I briefly inhabited after high school.
11.04.2008
Big Brother is Watching . . . ME. Fancy that.
As I sit watching Democracy Now coverage of the election, highlights of which will be enumerated below, I was just rifling through my sitemeter records. You'd be surprised how many people really end up viewing your blog, if only for 1 second on their way to finding what they're looking for, and the referrals page is always most interesting to me. I love to see how people originally stumbled upon my blog, even if they weren't looking for it. So, I check out a referral that says blogs were searched for the following key phrase: "redeployed and Iraq and mental." Hm. So, I open the link just to see. Then, I wonder the next logical question--who in the world is google blog searching such an awkward phrase?
Well, folks, have a look for yourselves:
THE PENTAGON. FOR REAL? For real. Do they really have nothing better to do? Someone needs to give me a job doing blog searches all damn day long. "Redeployed and Iraq and mental?" Really?
But let's think about this. Why might the Pentagon be concerned with employing some grunt to conduct such a search? Are they becoming concerned, perhaps, that the public is on to the shameful treatment of Iraq soldiers and veterans? Of Iraqi families and children? Are they worried that the whole "P.F.C. Jane Doe, you had a preexisting condition, silly, you already had borderline personality disorder. So f you and the PTSD horse you rode in on" shtick is getting old? Well, it is. It's getting old and soldiers are committing suicide in record numbers. So maybe the Pentagon should be worried.
Ok, on to the highlights of this evening's Democracy Now broadcast, thus far (yes I am this much of a nerd):
-Tim Robbins detailing his story of not being on the voter roll at a location at which he has voted in the LAST 4 presidential elections, if I understood him correctly, as well as numerous local ones, and then waiting 5 HOURS after refusing to leave the polling place and having his right to stay supported by 2 NYC POLICE OFFICERS and his right to vote guaranteed by a judge; 30 OTHER PEOPLE had the same trouble this morning at Robbins' polling location.
-Bob Fitrakis' discussion of possible shadiness a'brewin in Warren County, Ohio--you can get the low-down here, though the O-man has already won that state so it's sort of a non-issue I suppose.
-Jeremy Scahill questioning Tim Robbins on his full support for Obama despite Obama's hawkish rhetoric and Robbins' outspoken support for ending the war; the issue of critical support--meaning support coupled with a critical eye--is key in this and any election
-Discussion of voter disenfranchisement and race, including oppressive tactics such as voter roll purging and misinformation regarding identification requirements at polls
So Big Brother is watching me--he must be watching you, too. I guess if he only clocked "0 seconds," I'm deemed not a threat to national security. I don't know whether to feel affronted or relieved. Or amused. But I'm labeling this post recognition, so I suppose I've answered my own question. Then again, I'm also labeling it g.w. is a d.b.
Well, folks, have a look for yourselves:
| Domain Name | osd.mil ? (Military) | |||||||||||||||||||
| IP Address | 134.152.182.# (The Pentagon) | |||||||||||||||||||
| ISP | The Pentagon | |||||||||||||||||||
| Location |
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Language | English (U.S.) en-us | |||||||||||||||||||
| Operating System | Microsoft WinXP | |||||||||||||||||||
| Browser | Firefox Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.1) Gecko/2008070208 Firefox/3.0.1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Javascript | version 1.5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Monitor |
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Time of Visit | | Oct 27 2008 11:45:19 am | ||||||||||||||||||
| Last Page View | Oct 27 2008 11:45:19 am | |||||||||||||||||||
| Visit Length | 0 seconds | |||||||||||||||||||
| Page Views | | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referring URL | http://blogsearch.go...al&btnG=Search Blogs | |||||||||||||||||||
| Search Engine | blogsearch.google.com | |||||||||||||||||||
| Search Words | redeployed and iraq and mental | |||||||||||||||||||
| Visit Entry Page | http://onthelearn.bl...weekend-in-city.html | |||||||||||||||||||
| Visit Exit Page | http://onthelearn.bl...weekend-in-city.html | |||||||||||||||||||
| Out Click | | |||||||||||||||||||
| Time Zone | UTC-4:00 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Visitor's Time | Oct 27 2008 12:45:19 pm | |||||||||||||||||||
| Visit Number | 697 |
THE PENTAGON. FOR REAL? For real. Do they really have nothing better to do? Someone needs to give me a job doing blog searches all damn day long. "Redeployed and Iraq and mental?" Really?
But let's think about this. Why might the Pentagon be concerned with employing some grunt to conduct such a search? Are they becoming concerned, perhaps, that the public is on to the shameful treatment of Iraq soldiers and veterans? Of Iraqi families and children? Are they worried that the whole "P.F.C. Jane Doe, you had a preexisting condition, silly, you already had borderline personality disorder. So f you and the PTSD horse you rode in on" shtick is getting old? Well, it is. It's getting old and soldiers are committing suicide in record numbers. So maybe the Pentagon should be worried.
Ok, on to the highlights of this evening's Democracy Now broadcast, thus far (yes I am this much of a nerd):
-Tim Robbins detailing his story of not being on the voter roll at a location at which he has voted in the LAST 4 presidential elections, if I understood him correctly, as well as numerous local ones, and then waiting 5 HOURS after refusing to leave the polling place and having his right to stay supported by 2 NYC POLICE OFFICERS and his right to vote guaranteed by a judge; 30 OTHER PEOPLE had the same trouble this morning at Robbins' polling location.
-Bob Fitrakis' discussion of possible shadiness a'brewin in Warren County, Ohio--you can get the low-down here, though the O-man has already won that state so it's sort of a non-issue I suppose.
-Jeremy Scahill questioning Tim Robbins on his full support for Obama despite Obama's hawkish rhetoric and Robbins' outspoken support for ending the war; the issue of critical support--meaning support coupled with a critical eye--is key in this and any election
-Discussion of voter disenfranchisement and race, including oppressive tactics such as voter roll purging and misinformation regarding identification requirements at polls
So Big Brother is watching me--he must be watching you, too. I guess if he only clocked "0 seconds," I'm deemed not a threat to national security. I don't know whether to feel affronted or relieved. Or amused. But I'm labeling this post recognition, so I suppose I've answered my own question. Then again, I'm also labeling it g.w. is a d.b.
10.26.2008
America when will you be angelic?
I spent the weekend in the city. I won't say which one. I'm wiped. Today we met my brother and sister-in-law, in town from across the country, for lunch and shopping. It was wonderful to see them and spend some quick quality time together. We won't see them again until Christmas. I'm happy to announce I picked up some delicious chocolate-- a dark milk chocolate with plantain chips bar and a dark milk w/ almonds and caramelized pecans bar. They will be coming right to school with me--a couple grown-up Halloween treats for myself. No shame in that.
Yesterday evening, we attended the Resisting Empire tour sponsored by Haymarket Books--a non-profit, progressive publisher. It was incredible. The major moment of the evening, for me, was meeting Jeremy Scahill. Thanks to the friend who introduced me, if you're reading. Silly me--I forgot to bring along my copy of Blackwater. Jeremy was an extraordinary speaker, not surprisingly. His Blackwater won the Polk award for excellence in journalism, btw.
I also had the pleasure of speaking briefly with Camilo Mejia, the courageous first soldier to refuse to redeploy to Iraq. He spent 9 months in prison. He signed my new copy of Road from ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia: An Iraq War Memoir. I can't wait to read it and will do a thorough post.
Michael Schwartz, author of War Without End: The Iraq War in Context also spoke. I still have to pick up a copy of this title. Schwartz was a powerful yet soft-spoken presence. It was an interesting contrast to Jeremy Scahill's admirable and inspiring intensity. Schwartz discussed the absolute destruction of the infrastructure of the country of Iraq by U.S. contractors--everything from the sewage system to ecosystems, from the electrical grid to the pre-invasion booming date fruit industry (via the careless disposal of routine pesticide-spraying that secured the livelihood of date farmers). The part about the date trees was reminiscent of the razing of orange groves in Palestine by Israeli forces. Not only is this type of annihilation a statement of the occupier's intention to destroy a country's ability to economically sustain themselves. It is a shot straight to the heart of a symbol of great cultural significance. It is a way to say, we are here and we don't care about what you held sacred before we came. The date trees take 15 years to mature to the point where they are an economically viable commodity. It will be at least that long after forces vacate Iraq for farmers to have any hope of returning to the successful date exportation of the pre-occupation.
Among other highlights from the speakers, Laila Al-Arian spoke passionately and with conviction about the devastation this war has brought to Iraqi families and U.S. soldiers alike. She discussed the mental anguish inflicted upon both oppressor and oppressed in the U.S. occupation. Her words reminded me of Paulo Freire's insistence that to resist oppression is to show love for the oppressor, to make the oppressor in fact more human. With 30% (at the conservative end of the estimate) of our soldiers coming back from Iraq with PTSD, the tasks they are ordered to perform while on tours of duty certainly does not a human make. And then the VA pays them the ultimate honor for their service and turns them away, classifying their PTSD as borderline personality disorder, claiming it is a preexisting condition. And let's not forget about the over 30% of Iraqi children manifesting symptoms of PTSD as well. Shouldn't it just be called TSD in that case?
I also purchased Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations. It is a compilation of oral testimony gathered from 50 veterans and it is edited jointly by Aaron Glantz and the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). Again, after reading I will be sure to post.
The Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) were present, too. At the Hofstra debates, 15 IVAW vets were arrested for peaceful civil disobedience. They had hoped to submit a question about Veteran's healthcare to be read at the debates--one that was, btw, asked at the Third Part Debate. One of their members was trampled by a police horse and his eye cavity was shattered. He is in the hospital as we speak where doctors are attempting to save his eye from sinking further into his skull. Three inches north and this brave vet would be no more. His bills will not be covered under our nation's sorry excuse for a VA. This is not a partisan issue, folks. When Americans are denied their rights to free speech and freedom of assembly, there is no red-state blue-state issue at hand. This gentleman was refused treatment by the police after the horse trampled him, and was thrown in the police van with other arrested protesters. Another woman, an NYC kindergarten teacher, was also injured by a police horse.
Here are a couple links to the reports:
Huffington Post report
Be The Media report (including videos)
Digital Journal report
On a final note, the Abolitionists were present. They have just succeeded in commuting a death sentence of a man in Georgia to life in prison. They also just secured a second stay of execution for Troy Anthony Davis, also on death row in Georgia, whose story is a perfect example of why the death penalty should be abolished. A few quick facts on Davis' case: he--a black man--was convicted of killing a white police officer but no physical evidence ever linked him to the crime. Seven of nine witnesses have come forward and signed affidavits saying they lied on the stand, some said they were pressured to do so by police. Troy was without any public defender/attorney from 1991-1996.
Needless to say, it was an invigorating weekend that left me with much more to think about than I had two days ago. I hope, after reading, you can say the same!
Yesterday evening, we attended the Resisting Empire tour sponsored by Haymarket Books--a non-profit, progressive publisher. It was incredible. The major moment of the evening, for me, was meeting Jeremy Scahill. Thanks to the friend who introduced me, if you're reading. Silly me--I forgot to bring along my copy of Blackwater. Jeremy was an extraordinary speaker, not surprisingly. His Blackwater won the Polk award for excellence in journalism, btw.
I also had the pleasure of speaking briefly with Camilo Mejia, the courageous first soldier to refuse to redeploy to Iraq. He spent 9 months in prison. He signed my new copy of Road from ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia: An Iraq War Memoir. I can't wait to read it and will do a thorough post.
Michael Schwartz, author of War Without End: The Iraq War in Context also spoke. I still have to pick up a copy of this title. Schwartz was a powerful yet soft-spoken presence. It was an interesting contrast to Jeremy Scahill's admirable and inspiring intensity. Schwartz discussed the absolute destruction of the infrastructure of the country of Iraq by U.S. contractors--everything from the sewage system to ecosystems, from the electrical grid to the pre-invasion booming date fruit industry (via the careless disposal of routine pesticide-spraying that secured the livelihood of date farmers). The part about the date trees was reminiscent of the razing of orange groves in Palestine by Israeli forces. Not only is this type of annihilation a statement of the occupier's intention to destroy a country's ability to economically sustain themselves. It is a shot straight to the heart of a symbol of great cultural significance. It is a way to say, we are here and we don't care about what you held sacred before we came. The date trees take 15 years to mature to the point where they are an economically viable commodity. It will be at least that long after forces vacate Iraq for farmers to have any hope of returning to the successful date exportation of the pre-occupation.
Among other highlights from the speakers, Laila Al-Arian spoke passionately and with conviction about the devastation this war has brought to Iraqi families and U.S. soldiers alike. She discussed the mental anguish inflicted upon both oppressor and oppressed in the U.S. occupation. Her words reminded me of Paulo Freire's insistence that to resist oppression is to show love for the oppressor, to make the oppressor in fact more human. With 30% (at the conservative end of the estimate) of our soldiers coming back from Iraq with PTSD, the tasks they are ordered to perform while on tours of duty certainly does not a human make. And then the VA pays them the ultimate honor for their service and turns them away, classifying their PTSD as borderline personality disorder, claiming it is a preexisting condition. And let's not forget about the over 30% of Iraqi children manifesting symptoms of PTSD as well. Shouldn't it just be called TSD in that case?
I also purchased Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations. It is a compilation of oral testimony gathered from 50 veterans and it is edited jointly by Aaron Glantz and the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). Again, after reading I will be sure to post.
The Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) were present, too. At the Hofstra debates, 15 IVAW vets were arrested for peaceful civil disobedience. They had hoped to submit a question about Veteran's healthcare to be read at the debates--one that was, btw, asked at the Third Part Debate. One of their members was trampled by a police horse and his eye cavity was shattered. He is in the hospital as we speak where doctors are attempting to save his eye from sinking further into his skull. Three inches north and this brave vet would be no more. His bills will not be covered under our nation's sorry excuse for a VA. This is not a partisan issue, folks. When Americans are denied their rights to free speech and freedom of assembly, there is no red-state blue-state issue at hand. This gentleman was refused treatment by the police after the horse trampled him, and was thrown in the police van with other arrested protesters. Another woman, an NYC kindergarten teacher, was also injured by a police horse.
Here are a couple links to the reports:
Huffington Post report
Be The Media report (including videos)
Digital Journal report
On a final note, the Abolitionists were present. They have just succeeded in commuting a death sentence of a man in Georgia to life in prison. They also just secured a second stay of execution for Troy Anthony Davis, also on death row in Georgia, whose story is a perfect example of why the death penalty should be abolished. A few quick facts on Davis' case: he--a black man--was convicted of killing a white police officer but no physical evidence ever linked him to the crime. Seven of nine witnesses have come forward and signed affidavits saying they lied on the stand, some said they were pressured to do so by police. Troy was without any public defender/attorney from 1991-1996.
Needless to say, it was an invigorating weekend that left me with much more to think about than I had two days ago. I hope, after reading, you can say the same!
10.24.2008
Ain't I a Woman?
My suburban white kids whose parents have McCain/Palin signs strewn about their perfectly manicured acres didn't know who Sojourner Truth was. I suppose I'm not surprised. So, after reading them When Harriet Met Sojourner, I had them listen to Sojourner's most famous speech. I thought you might like to revisit it--scarily enough, there are plenty of ideas in it as pertinent today as they were in 1851. Look out for what Sojourner might have to say to McCain and his criticism of "spreading the wealth."
Ain't I a Woman?
Delivered 1851 at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio
Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.
10.05.2008
In Peace & Solidarity
I really do believe in what CodePink and other activist organizations have done and continue to do. It is courageous work no matter how the media wants to spin it. In fact, it is a huge step forward that their presence and the presence of any anti-war sentiment has been acknowledged by the media whatsoever.
This is way old, but I don't think I've ever posted it here. Funny thing, there used to be a cut version of this on youtube but now you need to scroll ahead to about 3:15 and watch for like the next 45 seconds. Watch carefully . . .
Did you see his eyes? Go back and watch again. Despite the outdatedness of this clip, it's such a major thing when the facade is broken, if only for a millisecond. It demonstrates that, indeed, just as Orwell had it, the overwhelmingly scary presence of doublethink exists at even the highest levels of power. I guess in some cases it is absolutely imperative for one to carry out one's orders.
Let's just pray that Sarah "I'll-Be-Alive-For-Jesus-Christ's-Second-Coming" Palin's "goshdarnit we're mavericks" blackwhite newspeak doesn't fool anyone.
This is way old, but I don't think I've ever posted it here. Funny thing, there used to be a cut version of this on youtube but now you need to scroll ahead to about 3:15 and watch for like the next 45 seconds. Watch carefully . . .
Did you see his eyes? Go back and watch again. Despite the outdatedness of this clip, it's such a major thing when the facade is broken, if only for a millisecond. It demonstrates that, indeed, just as Orwell had it, the overwhelmingly scary presence of doublethink exists at even the highest levels of power. I guess in some cases it is absolutely imperative for one to carry out one's orders.
Let's just pray that Sarah "I'll-Be-Alive-For-Jesus-Christ's-Second-Coming" Palin's "goshdarnit we're mavericks" blackwhite newspeak doesn't fool anyone.
9.23.2008
It's Been a Good Ride, Bacon
But we're done. Yesterday I officially said goodbye to eating pig meat (that's an odd way of putting it, isn't it?). . . not an earth-shatteringly momentous occasion, but one worthy of mention nonetheless. I just kept picturing my puppy boy being strung up the way it goes. . . oh, the details are far too heinous to rehash. Read up yourself and then tell me you can still honestly eat that ham sandwich and pretend you don't know.
I swear it's not me to go the whole PETA route. At all. Or the whole ohhhhh I'm an awesome karmic citizen of the planet and fellow peaceful inhabitant of this earth route, either. Just a they do what? route. I think it's more of a disgust with the regulation (or lack thereof) of the slaughterhouse industry and the failings and corruption of the FDA and USDA than it is with anything else. Because, you know, the government doesn't really care so much about what you put into your body (unless heavenforbid it's a joint or some other unsanctioned--I won't dare say unprescribed--illicit drug that keeps the money rolling into the "War On Drugs") nor what they put into children's bodies via what passes as an excuse for a "school lunch," so long as the lobbyists keep them on the dole. I mean, Christ, I have to make sure my organic products are certified by a second party already. WOW what a disgustingly bourgeois thing to say. I'm just not supporting that machine anymore. . . at least as far as pork goes. One day at a time, people! One day at a time.
Edited to include: I sort of want to cry that I had to look up how to spell bourgeois. Two years ago I could have spelled it for you--backwards--on even the most compromising of evenings. OH HOW I MISS ACADEME.
I swear it's not me to go the whole PETA route. At all. Or the whole ohhhhh I'm an awesome karmic citizen of the planet and fellow peaceful inhabitant of this earth route, either. Just a they do what? route. I think it's more of a disgust with the regulation (or lack thereof) of the slaughterhouse industry and the failings and corruption of the FDA and USDA than it is with anything else. Because, you know, the government doesn't really care so much about what you put into your body (unless heavenforbid it's a joint or some other unsanctioned--I won't dare say unprescribed--illicit drug that keeps the money rolling into the "War On Drugs") nor what they put into children's bodies via what passes as an excuse for a "school lunch," so long as the lobbyists keep them on the dole. I mean, Christ, I have to make sure my organic products are certified by a second party already. WOW what a disgustingly bourgeois thing to say. I'm just not supporting that machine anymore. . . at least as far as pork goes. One day at a time, people! One day at a time.
Edited to include: I sort of want to cry that I had to look up how to spell bourgeois. Two years ago I could have spelled it for you--backwards--on even the most compromising of evenings. OH HOW I MISS ACADEME.
8.16.2008
Lawyers in Love. . . With Intellectual Property Laws
Jackson Browne (above, wearing a tee in protest of the construction of Diablo Canyon Power Plant, circa 1982, looking pretty darn d-r-e-a-m-y if you ask me) has just filed a suit against the Republican Party and John McCain's campaign for their unauthorized use of his songs during McCain events:
"In light of Jackson Browne's lifelong commitment to Democratic ideals and political candidates, the misappropriation of Jackson Browne's endorsement is entirely reprehensible, and I have no doubt that a jury will agree."
Check out the full article here.
Just who does McCain think he is? You can't go using other people's art willy nilly to support your own crazy quests. Especially people who so vehemently oppose everything for which you and your party stand, and have a long history of voicing said opposition!
And is it not more than a little ironic that McCain chose "Running on Empty?" I mean, really? Even if he was using it against Obama, it still seems sort of hilarious that McCain would utilize a song in which lyrics read:
"Running on - running on empty
Running on - running blind
Running on - running into the sun
But I'm running behind"
7.24.2008
New Era of Integration: The proof is in the punch
I was sad and frustrated last year at the Supreme Court decision to declare race-based integration unconstitutional. It seems an absurdity that the validity of the process of bringing students from diverse backgrounds and experiences together to enhance learning and opportunity for all would be called into question. But that was then, and this is now.
I was so pleased to find this article from the July 20th NY Times, via my NCTE Inbox this week. Class/SES-based integration seems like the next logical step towards creating schools that value and honor the need for students to be provided with equitable facilities, instruction and resources.
As the article points out, and as I myself believe, it is of course possible for schools comprised of a majority of students from low-income homes to thrive under the appropriate set of circumstances. But the evidence of years of research strongly suggests that when poor students--of any racial background--are given the opportunity to learn amidst the same circumstances as their middle-class peers, the gains are consistently observable and statistically quantifiable.
Of course, no one answer will be universally applicable. As long as poverty reigns in cities like Detroit, Boston, New York, L.A., etc.--cities in which 70%+ live below the poverty line--integration of school populations based on socioeconomic status becomes severely impeded. And the necessity of maintaining race as a factor in the integration of some areas of the country is essential. Though there are no absolutes, there are some very promising solutions being pursued by thoughtful administrators, lawyers and parents all over the U.S.
Please take the time to read the article! It's not short, but it is so worthwhile.
Here are a few excerpts:
"The chief justice didn’t address the idea of class-based integration in his opinion. But Justice Anthony Kennedy did, in a separate concurrence. And because Kennedy cast the fifth vote for the majority, his view controls the law. Though he agreed with Roberts that public school districts should not make school assignments based on the race of individual students, he added that the court’s ruling 'should not prevent school districts from continuing the important work of bringing together students of different racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds.'
. . .
Wake County adopted class-based integration with the hard-nosed goal of raising test scores. The strategy was simple: no poor schools, no bad schools. And indeed, the district has posted striking improvements in the test scores of black and low-income students: in 1995, only 40 percent of the black students in Wake County in the third through eighth grades scored at grade level in state reading tests; by last year, the rate had almostdoubled, to 82.5 percent. Statewide scores for black students also got better over the same time period, but not by as much. Wake County’s numbers improve as students get older: 92 percent of all eighth graders read at or above grade level, including about 85 percent of black students and about 80 percent of low-income students. (Math scores are lower, following a statewide trend that reflects a change in the grading scale.) The district has achieved these results even as the share of low-income students over all has increased from about 30 percent a decade ago to about 40 percent today.
. . .
If Congress were to revise No Child Left Behind to encourage more transfers of poor students to middle-class schools, would poor students drag down their better-off peers? In the end, the prospects of class-based integration will probably rise or fall on the answer to this question. Socioeconomic integration may be good for the have-nots, but if the haves think their kids are paying too great a price, they will kill it off at the polls."
My italicization. Pic nytimes.com
7.11.2008
Deja vu
So, remember when the U.S. armed the mujahedin in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets and then bailed? And remember how that turned out? Now, with the whole Bush-Cheney alternate reality thing still in full swing, the U.S. is using the MEK, or Mujahedin-e-Khalq--an Iranian opposition group--as a pawn to destabilize Iran. Once again, the administration is picking and choosing oh-so-carefully who they will brand "terrorist" based on the degree to which the person or group of persons serves the imperial agenda. After all, Israel has an army, but democratically elected Hamas is a militia, silly.
Read more about the U.S. relationship with the MEK in an article by Patrick Cockburn--not to be confused with his brother, Alexander Cockburn, co-editor of Counterpunch--for The Independent here.
With all of the hullabaloo regarding whether an attack on Iran is imminent, Tom Engelhardt's rationality is a welcomed change. His take on why the administration won't be attacking Iran, despite all the noise, was a much needed return to reality (though the oil news remains bleak). Do yourself a favor and view his article here.
Read more about the U.S. relationship with the MEK in an article by Patrick Cockburn--not to be confused with his brother, Alexander Cockburn, co-editor of Counterpunch--for The Independent here.
With all of the hullabaloo regarding whether an attack on Iran is imminent, Tom Engelhardt's rationality is a welcomed change. His take on why the administration won't be attacking Iran, despite all the noise, was a much needed return to reality (though the oil news remains bleak). Do yourself a favor and view his article here.
6.11.2008
Rather Apropos
As George is in the midst of selling another war--this time with Iran--I am saddened by the lack of public (and, in some cases, journalistic) outrage or even basic acknowledgement of the reality that this administration believes that, until the last drop, they are isolated from any iota of accountability to the public. I'm devastated by the possibility that they are quite right in believing so. I can't imagine that W. & co. (and YOU and ME and CONGRESS) will allow another country full of children (and mothers, and fathers) to live (and die) in a warzone. Did you know that 30% of Iraqi children, as of June 2007, showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder? See Tomdispatch's 2007 article on Iraq by the Numbers here. I remember tearing up as I read this last year. I won't even start on the state of veterans' care in the U.S. (see article at bottom of post for more on this). It seems as though the longer this war drags on, the less we hear about what it is costing us, as a global society, in human life.
So, rather apropos, here are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by an artist I've been listening to since I was quite literally in utero, Jackson Browne's "Lives in the Balance:"
I’ve been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear
You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you’ve seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war
And there’s a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interest runs
On the radio talk shows and the t.v.
You hear one thing again and again
How the U.S.A. stands for freedom
And we come to the aid of a friend
But who are the ones that we call our friends--
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can’t take any more
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone
There are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire
There’s a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can’t even say the names
They sell us the president the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us every thing from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they’re never the ones to fight or to die
And there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire
Also, the following links to articles on the possibility of war with Iran and the lack of focus on the cost of human life (of Americans and Iraqis alike) in Iraq may be of interest to you. Znet is a wonderful source for independent, solid journalism:
Where are those Iranian weapons in Iraq?
Where are the Iraqis in the Iraq war?
VA Debated PR Plan on Vets' Suicides
So, rather apropos, here are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by an artist I've been listening to since I was quite literally in utero, Jackson Browne's "Lives in the Balance:"
I’ve been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear
You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you’ve seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war
And there’s a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interest runs
On the radio talk shows and the t.v.
You hear one thing again and again
How the U.S.A. stands for freedom
And we come to the aid of a friend
But who are the ones that we call our friends--
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can’t take any more
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone
There are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire
There’s a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can’t even say the names
They sell us the president the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us every thing from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they’re never the ones to fight or to die
And there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire
Also, the following links to articles on the possibility of war with Iran and the lack of focus on the cost of human life (of Americans and Iraqis alike) in Iraq may be of interest to you. Znet is a wonderful source for independent, solid journalism:
Where are those Iranian weapons in Iraq?
Where are the Iraqis in the Iraq war?
VA Debated PR Plan on Vets' Suicides
6.09.2008
Minding the Gap...s: Kylene Beers and NCLB
An anecdote (I never said I wasn't longwinded):
Back (a whole month and 3 days ago. . . seems absolutely like centuries) when I was student teaching, I was responsible for, in addition to my 9th grade English 1's (tracked), a "[name of test would reveal location] Skills Lab" class. The Skills Lab was a semester course in which students prepared vigorously for the standardized high school proficiency state test. I had 3 young men in this course--2 Latino students and one African American student. These young men were placed in the course because their teachers, either from the current academic year or the one previous, believed that they lacked test-taking skills necessary to pass. Being the me that I am, I focused heavily on assisting students with developing their reading strategy repertoire, and spent perhaps one out of every 4 days focusing on a "test-taking skill," as per my cooperating teacher's (or the school's? or both? never really clear to me). . . agenda. I should mention that the students were 10th graders, and thus would not be taking the standardized test until the following academic year. I should also mention that their confidence levels were drastically low--probably a result of being tracked into courses where expectations were low, and perhaps support was even lower. I knew that these students needed more dire intervention in terms of their reading and writing skills, and that it was unfair to expect them to craft "adequate" responses to a variety of standardized test when they were not comfortable with their reader and writer selves. So we spent time developing all of the regular good reader strategies--questioning the text, predicting, visualizing, etc.--and I also managed (don't ask me how) to sneak in some independent reading.
During independent reading, I noticed immediately that Paulo moved his lips and whispered the words aloud as he read them on the page. Paulo's book choice was not a particularly challenging one--it was Walter Dean Myers' Monster--so I wasn't convinced that the issue was related to confusing prose or syntax. And he seemed to recall the basic plot with little difficulty as we conversed about it, so I wasn't concerned that rudimentary comprehension was being hindered. Still, I knew that Paulo's difficulty was making the act reading much slower for him--I remember thinking that it must feel painfully slow. Being the novice that I am, I went straight to the source--When Kids Can't Read, What Teachers Can Do (Beers)--and discovered that Paulo's specific issue--fluency--could be improved by practice with high-frequency words. Very simple: the less time you have to spend decoding the words on the page--especially words that are going to show up over and over again--the more time your brain has to make meaning of the text, and thus your understanding of intricate events and characters will be deepened. So, armed with my new knowledge and quite proud (too proud, to be sure) of myself for seeking out an appropriate intervention for Paulo, I address the issue with my "reading specialist" of a cooperating teacher (who doesn't even know where to find the state core curriculum content standards. . . ok now I'm being a little bit catty. But seriously, I've had nightmares about this woman staring at me disapprovingly from the back of the room and me screaming, "Londa, NO, I WON'T do it your way! I don't care that Nicole has her hood on! She's paying attention to Shakespeare for Christ's sake!").
"Londa," I began, "I think Paulo is having an issue with fluency. When he reads independently, he often moves his lips and whispers the words he's reading aloud. I would like to work with him on high-frequency words--you know, just some index cards for a few minutes every day." Here I was, bright-eyed and confident and ready for Londa (name changed) to be ecstatic that I went to the trouble of finding out what was happening with Paulo, and that I had a plan to help him. I should mention now that Paulo speaks Spanish at home, thereby (I'm not an ESL teacher, I'm only speculating) only complicating the processing of taking language from the page to the brain if there is translation happening in the brain before meaning is made.
"Well," Londa responded, miles less than enthusiastic and almost laughing in my face, "I don't see how that's going to improve his test-taking abilities. I would just stick to the items in the practice test book."
Of course not. How might a student's ability to read and comprehend text by any stretch of the imagination improve his ability to take a test? Why would we possibly concern ourselves with whether Paulo has recieved adequate support in actual reading and writing? This is test prep, not a reading or writing strategies class. How silly of me. . .
And now, though I fear this is less related than I had originally assumed (hey, I've only a small amount of anectodal experience from which to draw), an excerpt from Kylene Beers' essay, "The Measure of Our Success," published within the 2007 collection of essays, Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise Into Practice (Beers, Probst, Rief):
"While NCLB mandates that 100 percent of all students in each school pass all portions of state-required tests by 2013-14 academic year. . . NCLB does not mandate, require, or even suggest that local communities (much less states or the nation) address minimum-wage issues, work to bring the income level of African Americans and Hispanic wage earners to that of white wage earners (at all levels of jobs), make health care coverage available for all, make decent home ownership available for all, eliminate child poverty, make school spending equitable across districts, or even provide school supplies. . . for all school-age children in all schools.
If I sound angry, I am. . .
I have to wonder what would happen if in addition to demanding that schools close the academic achievement gap, No Child Left Behind legislation required that local and state leaders close the poverty gap that exists in their communities, along with the health care gap, the housing gap, the technology gap, the access-to-college gap, and the many gaps that exist between low- and higher-income schools . . . What would happen if NCLB legislation required that business owners completely close the wage-earning gap between races and genders by 2014, that social institutions close the preschool-years preparation gap as well as the nutrition gap between low-income and middle- to high-income pregnant women, and that we all had to examine and eliminate our own expectation for success among and between races and genders?"
(my bolding)
So here Beers is summing up quite succinctly what I think my major issue has been with NCLB. . . it just seems absurd to assume that educational institutions alone could work as the great equalizers when so many obstacles unapologetically remain--greater stratification of rich and poor, limited access to resources and/or institutions that increase the likelihood of upward mobility, a health care system that is quite simply a corporation model which seeks to, like all successful corporations, increase profit and decrease losses. Even if NCLB was reformed to monitor not whether or not a school has reached adequate yearly progress (AYP), but rather the genuine, measurable improvements of students in their schools from one year to the next (assuming there was a way to do this without a bureaucratic nightmare ensuing--perhaps there is and it's common knowledge--remember I'm a novice here, hence "on the learn"), this alone could not be enough to deliver all children from the depths of the injustices sown day in and day out by a host of factors inherent to the organization of our society.
In this way, schools serve as an absolute patsy (btw, perhaps from the Italian, pazzo or paccio, meaning crazy or fool--how do I love the OED? Let me count the ways...) for the deeper causes polarizing our society, and NCLB frees up the government to wash its hands, to feel as though its done its part. If government truly cared about leaving no child behind, it would pursue that goal holistically, not merely within public education system.
After reflection, I suppose I understand that NCLB is not, as Beers points out, all bad news. That our government and society are maintaining, albeit superficially and/or inconsistently at times perhaps, an air of concern regarding the responsibility of this country to its citizens--the responsibility to provide each child with a free public education equal to that of his or her peers--is a remarkable step in the right direction. But I'm still sad that school is becoming a culture of not worrying about whether or not Paulo can read skillfully and confidently and craft compelling responses to thoughtful questions, so long as the teacher's "testing skills" base is covered (in Londa's case, that meant, upon my departure, a packet of photocopied practice test items students would work on independently for the remainder of the semester course. Revolutionary.)
Back (a whole month and 3 days ago. . . seems absolutely like centuries) when I was student teaching, I was responsible for, in addition to my 9th grade English 1's (tracked), a "[name of test would reveal location] Skills Lab" class. The Skills Lab was a semester course in which students prepared vigorously for the standardized high school proficiency state test. I had 3 young men in this course--2 Latino students and one African American student. These young men were placed in the course because their teachers, either from the current academic year or the one previous, believed that they lacked test-taking skills necessary to pass. Being the me that I am, I focused heavily on assisting students with developing their reading strategy repertoire, and spent perhaps one out of every 4 days focusing on a "test-taking skill," as per my cooperating teacher's (or the school's? or both? never really clear to me). . . agenda. I should mention that the students were 10th graders, and thus would not be taking the standardized test until the following academic year. I should also mention that their confidence levels were drastically low--probably a result of being tracked into courses where expectations were low, and perhaps support was even lower. I knew that these students needed more dire intervention in terms of their reading and writing skills, and that it was unfair to expect them to craft "adequate" responses to a variety of standardized test when they were not comfortable with their reader and writer selves. So we spent time developing all of the regular good reader strategies--questioning the text, predicting, visualizing, etc.--and I also managed (don't ask me how) to sneak in some independent reading.
During independent reading, I noticed immediately that Paulo moved his lips and whispered the words aloud as he read them on the page. Paulo's book choice was not a particularly challenging one--it was Walter Dean Myers' Monster--so I wasn't convinced that the issue was related to confusing prose or syntax. And he seemed to recall the basic plot with little difficulty as we conversed about it, so I wasn't concerned that rudimentary comprehension was being hindered. Still, I knew that Paulo's difficulty was making the act reading much slower for him--I remember thinking that it must feel painfully slow. Being the novice that I am, I went straight to the source--When Kids Can't Read, What Teachers Can Do (Beers)--and discovered that Paulo's specific issue--fluency--could be improved by practice with high-frequency words. Very simple: the less time you have to spend decoding the words on the page--especially words that are going to show up over and over again--the more time your brain has to make meaning of the text, and thus your understanding of intricate events and characters will be deepened. So, armed with my new knowledge and quite proud (too proud, to be sure) of myself for seeking out an appropriate intervention for Paulo, I address the issue with my "reading specialist" of a cooperating teacher (who doesn't even know where to find the state core curriculum content standards. . . ok now I'm being a little bit catty. But seriously, I've had nightmares about this woman staring at me disapprovingly from the back of the room and me screaming, "Londa, NO, I WON'T do it your way! I don't care that Nicole has her hood on! She's paying attention to Shakespeare for Christ's sake!").
"Londa," I began, "I think Paulo is having an issue with fluency. When he reads independently, he often moves his lips and whispers the words he's reading aloud. I would like to work with him on high-frequency words--you know, just some index cards for a few minutes every day." Here I was, bright-eyed and confident and ready for Londa (name changed) to be ecstatic that I went to the trouble of finding out what was happening with Paulo, and that I had a plan to help him. I should mention now that Paulo speaks Spanish at home, thereby (I'm not an ESL teacher, I'm only speculating) only complicating the processing of taking language from the page to the brain if there is translation happening in the brain before meaning is made.
"Well," Londa responded, miles less than enthusiastic and almost laughing in my face, "I don't see how that's going to improve his test-taking abilities. I would just stick to the items in the practice test book."
Of course not. How might a student's ability to read and comprehend text by any stretch of the imagination improve his ability to take a test? Why would we possibly concern ourselves with whether Paulo has recieved adequate support in actual reading and writing? This is test prep, not a reading or writing strategies class. How silly of me. . .
And now, though I fear this is less related than I had originally assumed (hey, I've only a small amount of anectodal experience from which to draw), an excerpt from Kylene Beers' essay, "The Measure of Our Success," published within the 2007 collection of essays, Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise Into Practice (Beers, Probst, Rief):
"While NCLB mandates that 100 percent of all students in each school pass all portions of state-required tests by 2013-14 academic year. . . NCLB does not mandate, require, or even suggest that local communities (much less states or the nation) address minimum-wage issues, work to bring the income level of African Americans and Hispanic wage earners to that of white wage earners (at all levels of jobs), make health care coverage available for all, make decent home ownership available for all, eliminate child poverty, make school spending equitable across districts, or even provide school supplies. . . for all school-age children in all schools.
If I sound angry, I am. . .
I have to wonder what would happen if in addition to demanding that schools close the academic achievement gap, No Child Left Behind legislation required that local and state leaders close the poverty gap that exists in their communities, along with the health care gap, the housing gap, the technology gap, the access-to-college gap, and the many gaps that exist between low- and higher-income schools . . . What would happen if NCLB legislation required that business owners completely close the wage-earning gap between races and genders by 2014, that social institutions close the preschool-years preparation gap as well as the nutrition gap between low-income and middle- to high-income pregnant women, and that we all had to examine and eliminate our own expectation for success among and between races and genders?"
(my bolding)
So here Beers is summing up quite succinctly what I think my major issue has been with NCLB. . . it just seems absurd to assume that educational institutions alone could work as the great equalizers when so many obstacles unapologetically remain--greater stratification of rich and poor, limited access to resources and/or institutions that increase the likelihood of upward mobility, a health care system that is quite simply a corporation model which seeks to, like all successful corporations, increase profit and decrease losses. Even if NCLB was reformed to monitor not whether or not a school has reached adequate yearly progress (AYP), but rather the genuine, measurable improvements of students in their schools from one year to the next (assuming there was a way to do this without a bureaucratic nightmare ensuing--perhaps there is and it's common knowledge--remember I'm a novice here, hence "on the learn"), this alone could not be enough to deliver all children from the depths of the injustices sown day in and day out by a host of factors inherent to the organization of our society.
In this way, schools serve as an absolute patsy (btw, perhaps from the Italian, pazzo or paccio, meaning crazy or fool--how do I love the OED? Let me count the ways...) for the deeper causes polarizing our society, and NCLB frees up the government to wash its hands, to feel as though its done its part. If government truly cared about leaving no child behind, it would pursue that goal holistically, not merely within public education system.
After reflection, I suppose I understand that NCLB is not, as Beers points out, all bad news. That our government and society are maintaining, albeit superficially and/or inconsistently at times perhaps, an air of concern regarding the responsibility of this country to its citizens--the responsibility to provide each child with a free public education equal to that of his or her peers--is a remarkable step in the right direction. But I'm still sad that school is becoming a culture of not worrying about whether or not Paulo can read skillfully and confidently and craft compelling responses to thoughtful questions, so long as the teacher's "testing skills" base is covered (in Londa's case, that meant, upon my departure, a packet of photocopied practice test items students would work on independently for the remainder of the semester course. Revolutionary.)
6.08.2008
Currently Reading...
Image bn.com
I'm headed to Maine for a super fantastic exciting literacy retreat at the end of June, and in the meantime need to finish this and Friedman's The World is Flat. The two complement one another well, as the former takes on the unique demands placed upon a post-Information Age U.S. worker and the latter is a history lesson in how the economics of globalization has set the stage for individual actors from every single corner of the world to take advantage of opportunities for success.
Basically, Pink's premise is that the combination of outsourcing/globalization (a mix of "Asia" and "Automation") with the presence of greater wealth, "Abundance," has freed up Americans to move from the Information Age into the Conceptual Age, in which right brain capacities or aptitudes will be in higher demand than ever before. Businesses will seek out employees who can do more than complete logical, sequential tasks that can now be done by lower-wage workers or software programs. Gestalt thinking has far outweighed the importance of specialized knowledge. The relationship between consumers and businesses is changing--more emphasis will need to be placed on the intricacies of the relationship between business and customer; consumers now seek products (basic products, not even luxuries only afforded to the wealthy) that go beyond function--that are aesthetically appealing (when was the last time you couldn't find a designer collaboration in most mainstream stores, from Target to Bed Bath & Beyond to Kohl's?). All of these marketplace demands require workers who can put the special abilities of the right brain to work in harmony with the left-brain thinking that has propelled us through the Information Age.
Pink offers 6 right brain capacities that will be necessary to successful interactions withtin the new, post-Information Age: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning. Thus far I am enjoying pondering the implications for educators that underly these 6 principles of A Whole New Mind, while simultaneously cringing at the elitism and ethnocentrism I'm detecting. Each chapter is appendixed by a "portfolio" section that offers suggestions for improving one's capacity for each of the six aptitudes. While I find some of the portfolio suggestions uniquely accessible (drawing, writing and game suggestions as well as exercises in empathy-building), others are downright out of reach of a good portion of the population (far-off museums, expensive design magazines, elaborate classes and workshops). I don't doubt that Pink's intentions are good, but I'm not convinced that the presence of "Abundance" in some households extends to free up the general populace to pursue the prescribed right-brain strengtheners.
As far as ethnocentrism goes, Pink seems to suggest that low-wage earners from other countries simply are not capable of the kinds of right-brain thinking at which Americans will excel. He leaves no room for the possibility that individuals working for low wages in positions that require left-brain thinking might be imaginative or creative, and might put their personal talents in right-brain thinking to work as well as any American could.
More on A Whole New Mind as I consider more thoughtfully the implications of Pink's work for today's students and teachers. . .
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