Tuesday, April 3, 2018

How the #NeverAgain Movement Is Disrupting Gun Politics | The Nation #MarchForOurLives

How the #NeverAgain Movement Is Disrupting Gun Politics | The Nation:

How the #NeverAgain Movement Is Disrupting Gun Politics
The gun-control movement has never been able to talk about race—until now.

Two days before the March for Our Lives drew as many as 800,000 demonstrators to Pennsylvania Avenue, students at Thurgood Marshall Academy in southeast Washington held their own rally in the school gymnasium. “Living in DC, it’s easy to be in a bubble. We live in the nation’s capital. There’s the monuments, the statues, the memorials, and all of that,” Jayla Holdip told her classmates. “But we need our stories to be heard. It should not be normal for everybody in this room to be affected by gun violence.”

In 2016, 77 percent of all homicides in Washington, DC, were committedwith a gun, and Thurgood Marshall is located in one of the most dangerous zip codes in the city. In the past two years, the Sixth and Seventh Police Districts, which cover the neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, recorded 154 homicides and 829 assaults with a deadly weapon in which a gun was used. By comparison, the Second Police District, which encompasses a geographical area about as large as the Sixth and Seventh combined but also has a richer and whiter population, saw just five homicides and 37 gun assaults over the same period.

“Gun violence is an issue that our DC community and other cities have experienced for generations. Although we personally have not experienced a school shooting, we know the destruction of guns all so well,” said Zion Kelly when it was his turn to speak. At the beginning of the school year, Kelly’s twin brother Zaire, also a Thurgood Marshall student, had been shot and killed on the way home from a college-prep class. He was 16. In January, Paris Brown, a junior, was shot to death less than two miles away—the second person in a school of fewer than 400 students to be killed with a gun since the school year began.

Murders in this part of the city, much less meetings of student activists, aren’t normally headline news. But that day, two risers full of news cameras were on hand to record the rally. “To these cameras,” said one of the students, Aaron Woods, staring directly at the camera to the laughter of his classmates, “and these government officials who we’re trying to reach—yeah, we’re looking for y’all.”

The cameras were there because some of the now-famous students from CONTINUE READING; How the #NeverAgain Movement Is Disrupting Gun Politics | The Nation:

Monday, April 2, 2018

The Senate's Quietest Dealmaker Is Ready to Be a Little Louder

The Senate's Quietest Dealmaker Is Ready to Be a Little Louder:

THE SENATE'S QUIETEST DEALMAKER IS READY TO BE A LITTLE LOUDER

Something’s snapped. After the 2016 presidential election, women nationwide wanted to make a scene. We flooded streets in protest. We filled out ballots. Whispers gave way to battle cries. We didn’t do it for “attention.” We did it for progress. In “Fired Up,” ELLE.com explores women’s rage—and what comes next.

With a few months until the midterm elections, the New York Times published a piece on a relative political newbie. The upstart candidate was just the latest evidence that some convention had been upended, that all across America new opportunities had opened up for people who wanted to seize them. The nation was in the midst of a fundamental redistribution of power, the profile concluded; because “[o]utsiders, many of them women, have leaped to the forefront...in American politics.”

It’s the kind of statement that those of us who’ve watched the events of the past 14 months have come to expect—to revel in, even. Except reporter Timothy Egan didn’t write it in 2018. He didn’t write it in 2017 or 2016, either.

It was 1992, and he wrote it to introduce people to one woman who would soon rise to national prominence.

Patty Murray (D-WA), an activist, school teacher, and Washington State Senator, had just beaten out her "better known" and male opponents to become the top Democratic candidate for an open Senate seat. Within 12 weeks, she would compete in the general election and win. Murray was "perhaps the most powerful variation yet in sexual politics," Egan wrote, a candidate for the United States Senate who intended to run as no more or less than what she was: "a mom in tennis shoes." The epithet was Murray’s de facto motto, but it had been meant as an insult. Earlier in her career, she’d traveled to the state capital to protest budget cuts in education when a male lawmaker snarked, "You can't do anything; you're just a mom in tennis shoes."

It turned out "just a mom in tennis shoes" was exactly the kind of person to whom constituents could relate. She cared about the issues that mattered to them—family leave, education, better pay. Voters in Washington elected Murray that November and CONTINUE READING: The Senate's Quietest Dealmaker Is Ready to Be a Little Louder:

Saturday, March 31, 2018

HAPPY EASTER APRIL FOOLS

HAPPY EASTER APRIL FOOLS

Father, Forgive Them For They Do Not Know What They Are Doing Luke 23:34

Seizing Upon Post-Hurricane Damage, Puerto Rico's New "Education Reform" Law Paves Way for Charters, Vouchers

Seizing Upon Post-Hurricane Damage, Puerto Rico's New "Education Reform" Law Paves Way for Charters, Vouchers:

Seizing Upon Post-Hurricane Damage, Puerto Rico's New "Education Reform" Law Paves Way for Charters, Vouchers
"Puerto Rico is now open to edupreneurs, no-excuses charters, and corporate exploitation of its children."

Roughly six months after Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, the island's governor signed into law "education reform" legislation that he says "puts our students first" but that critics say stinks of a privatization plan that will do nothing to help students.

The plan will consolidate schools and allow for charter schools and vouchers—ideas that are not endorsed by the Puerto Rico Teachers Association (Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico).

Another teacher's union, the Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico, vowed that it, alongside teachers, parents, and students, would "defeat the false reform with the struggle on the street and in schools."

Offering background, education historian Lauren Lefty wrote at Jacobin:

In the wake of twin disasters—one man-made in the form of a vulture fund-fueled debt crisis, and one natural in the form of last September's Hurricane María — Puerto Rican leaders are attempting to implement a vast austerity program, claiming it will solve the island's economic woes. In the eyes of many Puerto Ricans, however, this is textbook "disaster capitalism": capitalizing on a moment of crisis, when the population is weak and unable to mobilize, to ram through pro-market austerity measures.

Although the government has slowly been rolling out austerity measures since the debt crisis began, post-hurricane, it's doubled down. And the island's public school system is one of the leading targets.

Among critics' targets is Julia Keleher, Puerto Rico's non-Puerto Rican Education Secretary, who, in the wake of the hurricane said the storm was a "real opportunity to press the reset button." Her role, Lefty argued, "highlights the island's precarious colonial status and harkens to even less sovereign days."

As NPR reported earlier this month,

teachers' unions in Puerto Rico have responded to the government's proposed overhaul with protest, anger, and derision. Since Gov. Ricardo Rossello presented it to the legislature last month, critics have said he and Keleher are using the damage that Hurricane Maria inflicted on the island and its schools as justification to push privatization, much like the governor recently announced his intention to sell off Puerto Rico's publicly owned electric grid.

"We are disappointed the powers that be in Puerto Rico have bought the wrongheaded DeVos and Trump spin that charters and vouchers are a panacea," American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said recently.

Responding to the new law, education historian Diane Ravitch writes that it marks "a sad day for Puerto Rico." She continues:

The Governor imagines he will save money by handing public money over to charters and vouchers.

Does he know that charters demand equal funding and choose the students they want?

Does he know that voucher students get worse results than their peers in public schools?

Probably the hedge funds that own the Commonwealth’s debt didn’t tell him.

Puerto Rico is now open to edupreneurs, no-excuses charters, and corporate exploitation of its children.Seizing Upon Post-Hurricane Damage, Puerto Rico's New "Education Reform" Law Paves Way for Charters, Vouchers:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

FRIENDS: Now More Than Ever

Independent journalism has become the last firewall against government and corporate lies. Yet, with frightening regularity, independent media sources are losing funding, closing down or being blacked out by Google and Facebook. Never before has independent media been more endangered. If you believe in Common Dreams, if you believe in people-powered independent media,please support us now and help us fight—with truths—against the lies that would smother our democracy. Please help keep Common Dreams alive and growing. Thank you. -- Craig Brown, Co-founder

Seizing Upon Post-Hurricane Damage, Puerto Rico's New "Education Reform" Law Paves Way for Charters, Vouchers:

Thursday, March 29, 2018

An open letter to Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ student journalists – The Miami Hurricane #NeverAgain #JournalismMatters #MarchForOurLives

An open letter to Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ student journalists – The Miami Hurricane:

An open letter to Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ student journalists

The Eagle Eye – Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, One Story at a Time -

http://eagleeye.news/ on @EagleEyeMSD

Eagle Eye MSD

@EagleEyeMSD

This weekend was the start of your spring break – and you spent it marching.

Last month, when tragedy befell you, it might have forced you to change your plans. But it didn’t force you to lead the charge in such a loud, courageous, impossible-to-ignore way. That was all you.

But you didn’t need to be told that. We just wanted to say you’re making us proud – as journalists, as students, as people – and your commitment to telling your story has not gone unnoticed.

You student journalists – whether you’re on the staff of The Aerie or The Eagle Eye, or picked up the habit in the last month and a half – are in the difficult position of wearing two hats, those of subject and reporter. And you’re wearing them well, though we’re sure at times it is painful, infuriating and confusing.

The future of journalism doesn’t lie solely in a few famous papers, full-time newsrooms and big names telling people what they need to know. It’s a more immersive world of on-the-fly reporting and, often, telling your own stories as they happen – not waiting for a bigger outlet to catch wind and report. You’re embracing that future by getting information out via Twitter, Snapchat and long-form Facebook posts that tell us more about this tragedy than any evening broadcast ever could.

More than that, though, you’re teaching us how to do our job in the midst of tragedy. It’s a lot to ask of any journalist to remain composed when reporting on a story like this – much less a student who lived through it. But there you are, embodying the importance of journalism as you show your community ways it can help and tell the stories that matter.

This role of a journalist is especially important in dark times, when people are searching for answers, information – anything they can cling to and understand. Instead of adding to that darkness with the sort of voyeuristic, culprit-focused coverage so many news organizations are prone to do, you continue to uplift your community with stories of courage, healing and hope.

In the last six weeks, The Eagle Eye has written about means of remembrance, activism and selflessness – and you were living those ideals, too.

Your journalism embodies what we hope becomes common practice in the field: that of emphasizing the human side of your school, the names you remember and the people who won’t stop fighting for a better tomorrow.

We hope you don’t underestimate the impact of the work you’re doing, at every level of the storytelling process.

To trolls and haters, you’ve responded with a loud, resounding “no” – no to the gun lobby, to those who say you’re too young to get it, to the possibility of this ever happening again. From one team of journalists to another, we’re grateful to you for helming this revolution.

We sincerely welcome you into our newsroom, any day, and we are here to support you in whatever way you need most. You can find us @MiamiHurricane or at editor@themiamihurricane.com.

To donate to the cause, visit https://www.gofundme.com/stoneman-douglas-yearbooks.

An open letter to Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ student journalists – The Miami Hurricane:

Editorials represent the majority view of The Miami Hurricane editorial board.An open letter to Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ student journalists – The Miami Hurricane:

The Eagle Eye – Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, One Story ...

eagleeye.news/

[Photo Galleries] The Eagle Eye documents the DC March For Our Lives through photos. Students get tattoos to honor the 17 victims. Memorial at Pine Trails Park is removed and preserved. [Multimedia] National school walkout marks the start of change. Georgia elementary schools donate pinwheels in support of MSD ...

Parkland After the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School ...	SPORTS As the Philadelphia Eagles hoisted their first Lombardi trophy in ...
HEALING After the tragedy on Feb. 14, some Marjory Stoneman Douglas ...	OUR STORY Category: OUR STORY. Junior Lorenzo Prado discusses his ...
EDITORIAL Category: EDITORIAL. Immigration activists demonstrate outside ...	ARTS & LEISURE March 21, 2018 by Ryan Lofurno in ARTS & LEISURE 0 ...
More results from eagleeye.news »

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Linda Brown’s death is a reminder of how much segregation still exists in America’s schools - The Washington Post

Linda Brown’s death is a reminder of how much segregation still exists in America’s schools - The Washington Post:

Linda Brown’s death is a reminder of how much segregation still exists in America’s schools

The death of an icon in America's civil rights history is a reminder of how recently school segregation existed in the United States — and how little has changed since that time.

Linda Brown, who became the symbolic center of Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court case that desegregated the nation's public schools, died on Sunday at 76. Her father, the Rev. Oliver L. Brown, was one of 13 plaintiffs who sought to ensure that Topeka, Kan., fully integrated its schools.

“I feel that after 30 years, looking back on Brown v. the Board of Education, it has made an impact in all facets of life for minorities throughout the land,” Brown said in a 1985 interview for “Eyes on the Prize,” a PBS documentary series on the civil rights movement. “I really think of it in terms of what it has done for our young people, in taking away that feeling of second-class citizenship.”

[ Linda Brown Thompson, girl at center of Brown v. Board of Education case, dies ]

But while many black youths may no longer feel like second-class citizens, data suggests they may still be experiencing America in that way.

A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute says that 50 years after the Kerner Commission, a group that assessed poverty and racism in the United States, black youths have made significant gains in K-through-12 education, but challenges still exist.

“Over the last five decades, African Americans have seen substantial gains in high school completion rates. In 1968, just over half (54.4 percent) of 25- to 29-year-old African Americans had a high school diploma. Today, more than 9 out of 10 African Americans (92.3 percent) in the same age range had a high school diploma.

However, college completion expanded for whites at a similar pace, rising from 16.2 percent in 1968 to 42.1 percent today, leaving the relative situation of African Americans basically unchanged: In 1968 blacks were just over half (56.0 percent) as likely as whites to have a college degree, a situation that is essentially the same today (54.2 percent).”

These strides have often been made in schools that don't look much different from those in Kansas in the 1950s. In the last few decades, schools have been quietly resegregating. Federal data shows that the number of high-poverty schools serving primarily black and brown students has more than doubled between 2001 and 2014. Continue reading: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/03/27/linda-browns-death-is-a-reminder-of-how-much-segregation-still-exists-in-americas-schools/