CATCH UP WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE)

NewBlackMan (in Exile)

CATCH UP WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE)

Black Like Who?

by Mark Anthony Neal / 12h

'It's one of the thorniest questions in any theoretical plan for reparations for Black people: Who should get them? On this episode, Code Switch digs into some ideas about which Black people should and shouldn't receive a payout — which Christina Greer , author of the book Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, And The Pursuit Of The American Dream, estimates would cost at least $10 trillion.'

Artist Billie Zangewa – the Ultimate Act of Resistance is Self-Love

by Mark Anthony Neal / 12h

' Artist Billie Zangewa welcomes us at her home in Johannesburg, South Africa. As we tour the city, we learn about what inspires and influences her work. From the love for her son, to her experience of silk as a 'transformative material' – her focus is largely rooted in the home and plays into what she describes as ‘daily feminism’.'

Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor: Why it's so hard to talk about the N-word

by Mark Anthony Neal / 12h

'Historian Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor leads a thoughtful and history-backed examination of one of the most divisive words in the English language: the N-word. Drawing from personal experience, she explains how reflecting on our points of encounter with the word can help promote productive discussions and, ultimately, create a framework that reshapes education around the complicated history of racis

Riché D. Richardson: The Hidden Life of Rosa Parks

by Mark Anthony Neal / 12h

' Throughout her life, Rosa Parks repeatedly challenged racial violence and the prejudiced systems protecting its perpetrators. Her refusal to move to the back of a segregated bus ignited a boycott that lasted 381 days and helped transform civil rights activism into a national movement. But this work came at an enormous risk— and a personal price. Riché D. Richardson details the life of Rosa Park

Audra McDonald - "Somewhere" | 2019 Kennedy Center Honors

by Mark Anthony Neal / 13h

'Broadway star Audra McDonald performs "Somewhere" from West Side Story to honor Michael Tilson Thomas during the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors.

People's Party: Talib Kweli & Gina Yashere Talk Bob Hearts Abishola, UK vs. US Racism

by Mark Anthony Neal / 13h

' In this episode of People’s Party , Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh sit down with British-born comedian and actor Gina Yashere . The interview spans from Gina's upbringing in London, being raised by Nigerian parents to her path emerging as a globally recognized comedian.'

Sonics & Visuals: Kandace Springs Covers Sade's "Pearls"

by Mark Anthony Neal / 13h

Vocalist Kandace Springs offers a thoughtful of Sade 's "Pearls". The song is featured on Springs's The Women Who Raised Me (2020).

Heather C. McGhee: Racism Has a Cost for Everyone

by Mark Anthony Neal / 13h

'Racism makes our economy worse -- and not just in ways that harm people of color, says public policy expert Heather C. McGhee . From her research and travels across the US, McGhee shares startling insights into how racism 

NewBlackMan (in Exile)

CURMUDGUCATION: Arne Duncan Smells Katrina 2.0

CURMUDGUCATION: Arne Duncan Smells Katrina 2.0

Arne Duncan Smells Katrina 2.0

Arne Duncan said a lot of silly things while he was secretary of education, but perhaps most infamous was his notion that was that Hurricane Katrina was "the best thing" to happen to education in New Orleans.

But now he's starting to make similar noises about the current pandemic pause. Here he is in an interview at the 74:

I don’t want us to go back to the old normal. And there’s a whole bunch of things that this time allows us to think and to challenge. Can we think about the fundamental school year and calendar year? Can we think seriously about not seat time, but about competency? Can we think about what should truly continue to be online and learn virtually, and what should be done in a physical building?

He had a similar moment on Twitter yesterday:

Now is the time to reimagine education.Now is the time to end massive inequities.Now is the time to close the digital divide.Now is the time to give every child in America the chance to learn anything they want, anytime, anywhere.

You will notice that the line about "the chance to learn anything they want, anytime, anywhere" sounds an awful lot like Betsy DeVos's repeated call for learning anywhere, any time. There were CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Arne Duncan Smells Katrina 2.0

Education Events and Urgent Matters from ETH – Education Town Hall Forum

Education Events and Urgent Matters from ETH – Education Town Hall Forum

EDUCATION EVENTS AND URGENT MATTERS FROM ETH

The Education Town Hall is temporarily unable to broadcast due to stay-at-home and social distancing orders. Meanwhile, some urgent information and a few pertinent, free events.

Free, Open Virtual Events — 4/16 and 4/23 — plus a Local One

SNCC 60th Anniversary, April 16
Join us Thursday night for an intergenerational conversation with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of their founding. Register at bit.ly/SNCC60th

This event is organized by Highlander Research and Education Center (originally Highlander Folk School), which was involved in SNCC’s history and has its own fascinating history, supporting leaders in the early Labor and Civil Rights movements, including Bob Moses, Septima Clark, Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and many others.

Remaking Schools — 4/23 Event 

From event organizers:

Remaking Schools in the Time of Corona Virus

• What has this crisis taught us about the role of public schools in society?
• What have we learned about what really matters in education during this time?
• When we re-open schools, what kind of education will we have, will we demand?

The Covid-19 crisis has upended public education around the country. Join three radical education activists in conversation about what this crisis means for public education now and how moving forward we can continue to fight for the schools our students deserve,

Jesse Hagopian is an award-winning educator and a leading voice on issues of educational equity and social justice unionism. He is an editor for Rethinking Schools magazine and is the co-editor of Teaching for Black Lives, and editor of More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing. [Previous guest on Education Town Hall.)

Noliwe Rooks is the W.E.B Du Bois Professor of Literature at Cornell University and the author of Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education which won an award for non-fiction from the Hurston/Wright Foundation.

Wayne Au is a Professor in the School of Educational Studies at the University
of Washington Bothell. He is a long-time Rethinking Schools editor, co-editor of Teaching for Black Lives and author of A Marxist Education: Learning to Change the World.
——-

This event is co-sponsored by Haymarket Books, New Press and Rethinking Schools.

Every dollar we take in from this event will go directly to support our collective work of CONTINUE READING: Education Events and Urgent Matters from ETH – Education Town Hall Forum

Shawgi Tell: Florida Supreme Court Ruling Anti-Public Education And Pro-Charter Schools | Dissident Voice

Florida Supreme Court Ruling Anti-Public Education And Pro-Charter Schools | Dissident Voice

Florida Supreme Court Ruling Anti-Public Education And Pro-Charter Schools

Advocates of privately-operated non-profit and for-profit charter schools have never stopped working to funnel as much public money as possible from public schools into their own private pockets, even if this means undermining the education and future of students attending those public schools. This massive transfer of public funds from public schools to charter schools also undermines teachers’ working conditions and has a negative impact on society, the economy, and the national interest.

Much of this unprincipled transfer of large sums of public wealth to the private sector has been facilitated and enforced by the courts.

And the courts, for their part, have grown increasingly neoliberal in their outlook and rulings over the past few decades, meaning that facts, justice, and core principles and standards really do not matter much anymore; only power, wealth, and privilege count. In education, healthcare, the environment, and other spheres, courts are increasingly handing down antisocial rulings—decisions that favor rich private interests.

In Florida, numerous public school districts have been fighting for years to stop privatizers and neoliberals from seizing public money that belongs to public school districts. Endless court battles have taken place, but well-funded charter school advocates have remained steadfast in their attempts to seize as much money as they can from public schools.

On April 7, 2020 the Florida Supreme Court, unanimously and with no CONTINUE READING: Florida Supreme Court Ruling Anti-Public Education And Pro-Charter Schools | Dissident Voice

These community groups are making a difference during the pandemic. | Schott Foundation for Public Education

These community groups are making a difference during the pandemic. | Schott Foundation for Public Education

These community groups are making a difference during the pandemic.

...but they need your help.

The Schott Foundation’s partners are providing critically-needed aid in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, just as they’ve done during previous crises. At the same time they are fighting to ensure those most impacted by school closures, job and housing insecurity, and hunger are included in shaping policies and allocating resources, especially in historically marginalized Black and brown communities. 

We formed the Loving Communities Response Fund (LCRF) to make sure people have the resources they need to respond, and we’re doing so in partnership with national networks Journey For Justice Alliance, Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools and Dignity in Schools Campaign, who all have extensive grassroots impact across the country.

Below is the first round of organizations we’re supporting — with your help — through the Fund.

Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO)

Chicago, IL

KOCO is a pillar of the North Kenwood and Oakland communities in Chicago, and now are providing direct assistance, including grocery delivery through their Mutual Aid Program. KOCO organizers are also fighting to ensure that the people most impacted are not left behind by city and state emergency measures.

Grassroots Arkansas

Little Rock, AR and statewide

The education justice organization Grassroots Arkansas has been systematically assessing the needs of most-impacted residents in Little Rock and beyond to connect them with resources and immediate support. Advocates are pushing the Little Rock School District to ensure that all students have computers and internet access from home, and pressing the state to mandate habitable living standards for renters. Members are also fighting for a release process for non-violent inmates and for safety measures in state and federal prisons.

Massachusetts Jobs With Justice (JWJ)

Communities across Massachusetts and statewide

JWJ organizers are currently providing large-scale coordination and support to local mutual aid groups across Massachusetts. They recently launched a fund to support undocumented workers, who are both among the worst-hit by the crisis and least able to access government support.

One PA

Communities across Pennsylvania and statewide

The statewide group One PA has built a comprehensive policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic, its core message being that low-income communities of color must have a seat at the decision-making table to ensure that the recovery is just, equitable, and doesn’t leave them even worse off. One PA advocates are organizing to press Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe to ban evictions and cancel both rent and mortgage payments for the duration of the crisis.

Camden Parents Union (CPU)

Camden, NJ

CPU member parents have long been on the frontlines of the struggle for better public schools, and are now raising their voices against education inequities during the pandemic and working with other local groups, recently holding a virtual community town hall to discuss responses to the crisis.

Massachusetts Communities Action Network (MCAN)

Communities across Massachusetts and statewide

At the statewide level, MCAN is doubling down to meet people’s needs and move responsive legislation, like an eviction and foreclosure moratorium, a mortgage forbearance bill, and an expansion of paid family medical leave. Grassroots MCAN affiliate groups in towns and cities across the state are establishing local relief funds, mobilizing resources, and reaching out to at-risk individuals in their communities.

Step Up Louisiana

Communities across Louisiana

Step Up Louisiana is expanding its work during this crisis, adding team members focused on a community-centered COVID-19 response and support, from parent organizing to job loss assistance. Step Up is also assembling local resource guides, providing virtual meeting space for advocates, fighting for better treatment of healthcare and hospitality workers, and pushing back against austerity and budget cuts.

Organizations and communities supported by the Schott Foundation come from generations of people grounded in community, organized and resilient in the face of structural violence and institutionalized racism. The inequities and challenges they must confront now are even greater. We must stand in solidarity to sustain and strengthen this vital network of advocates and the families and students whom they support, to both survive in the months ahead and sow the seeds of a better world in the future.

This critical, life-saving work can’t be accomplished without your help. Donate to the Loving Communities Response Fund today.

These community groups are making a difference during the pandemic. | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Debating statewide African American studies course LIVE in Texas | Cloaking Inequity

Debating statewide African American studies course LIVE in Texas | Cloaking Inequity

Debating statewide African American studies course LIVE in Texas

Watch the Texas State Board of Education debate about statewide African American studies course LIVE right now:

http://adminmonitor.com/tx/tea/committee_of_the_full_board/20200416

Also see prior post Will Texas be the first for African American studies?

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

Check out and follow my YouTube channel here.

Twitter: @ProfessorJVH

Click here for Vitae.

Debating statewide African American studies course LIVE in Texas | Cloaking Inequity

Sacramento City Unified School Districts Awaiting Order Of 19,000 Laptops, But Unsure How Many It Will Hand Out - capradio.org

Sacramento City Unified School Districts Awaiting Order Of 19,000 Laptops, But Unsure How Many It Will Hand Out - capradio.org

Sacramento City Unified School Districts Awaiting Order Of 19,000 Laptops, But Unsure How Many It Will Hand Out

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the school district's need for laptops. Superintendent  Jorge Aguilar was asked on Monday how many laptops the district needed. He responded that there were 12,000 available and the district was waiting for 19,000 more to arrive. The district estimates it will need 26,000 total. We have updated our story and headline to reflect this.

Online schooling has begun in the Sacramento City Unified School District. It’s handed out 12,000 laptops to students. But teachers and administrators are awaiting shipment of another 19,000, for a total of 31,000 to have on hand to offer to students who don’t have online access. 

The district believes the demand for laptops won’t exceed that amount. Superintendent Jorge Aguilar says the current estimate is 26,000 in need. He says the transition from classroom to online education is going to be “bumpy.”

“This week is going to feel like the start of a new school year when teachers are checking in with their students. They’re assessing their needs,” Aguilar said Monday during a video conference call. “They’re trying to determine what is the best way of communicating with students and with our families as well.”

He says more laptops have been ordered, but Google has been overwhelmed with orders. He says he understands the need to get technology to the kids who need it.

“We again are very focused on making sure that we are proving the right building blocks for CONTINUE READING: Sacramento City Unified School Districts Awaiting Order Of 19,000 Laptops, But Unsure How Many It Will Hand Out - capradio.org

Rashawn Ray and Andre M. Perry: Why we need reparations for Black Americans - Brookings

Why we need reparations for Black Americans

Why we need reparations for Black Americans

Central to the idea of the American Dream lies an assumption that we all have an equal opportunity to generate the kind of wealth that brings meaning to the words “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” boldly penned in the Declaration of Independence. The American Dream portends that with hard work, a person can own a home, start a business, and grow a nest egg for generations to draw upon. This belief, however, has been defied repeatedly by the United States government’s own decrees that denied wealth-building opportunities to Black Americans.

Today, the average white family has roughly 10 times the amount of wealth as the average Black family. White college graduates have over seven times more wealth than Black college graduates. Making the American Dream an equitable reality demands the same U.S. government that denied wealth to Blacks restore that deferred wealth through reparations to their descendants in the form of individual cash payments in the amount that will close the Black-white racial wealth divide. Additionally, reparations should come in the form of wealth-building opportunities that address racial disparities in education, housing, and business ownership.

In 1860, over $3 billion was the value assigned to the physical bodies of enslaved Black Americans to be used as free labor and production. This was more money than was invested in factories and railroads combined. In 1861, the value placed on cotton produced by enslaved Blacks was $250 million. Slavery enriched white slave owners and their descendants, and it fueled the country’s economy while suppressing wealth building for the enslaved. The United States has yet to compensate descendants of enslaved Black Americans for their labor. Nor has the federal government atoned for the lost equity from anti-Black housing, transportation, and business policy. Slavery, Jim Crow segregation, anti-Black practices like redlining, and other discriminatory public policies in criminal justice and education have robbed Black Americans of the opportunities to build wealth (defined as assets minus debt) afforded to their white peers.

Bootstrapping isn’t going to erase racial wealth divides. As economists William “Sandy” Darity and Darrick Hamilton point out in their 2018 report, What We Get Wrong About Closing the Wealth Gap, “Blacks cannot close the racial wealth gap by changing their individual behavior –i.e. by assuming more ‘personal responsibility’ or acquiring the portfolio management insights associated with ‘[financial] literacy.’” In fact, white high school dropouts have more wealth than Black college graduates. Moreover, the racial wealth gap did not result from a lack of labor. Rather, it came from a lack of financial capital.

Not only do racial wealth disparities reveal fallacies in the American Dream, the financial and social consequences are significant and wide-ranging. Wealth is positively correlated with better health, educational, and economic outcomes. Furthermore, assets from homes, stocks, bonds, and retirement savings provide a financial safety net for the inevitable shocks to the economy and personal finances that happen throughout a person’s lifespan.

Recessions impact everyone, but wealth is distributed quite unevenly in the U.S. The woeful inadequacy of a government-sponsored safety net was made apparent in the wake of economic disasters like the 2008 housing crisis and natural ones like Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Those who can draw upon the equity in a home, savings, and securities are able to recover faster after economic downturns than those without wealth. The lack of a social safety net and the racial wealth divide are currently on display amid the COVID-19 crisis. Disparities in access to health care along with inequities in economic policies combine to make Black people more vulnerable to negative consequences than white individuals.

Below, we provide a history of reparations in the United States, missed opportunities to redress the racial wealth gap, and specific details of a viable reparations package for Black Americans.

History of reparations in the United States

Reparations—a system of redress for egregious injustices—are not foreign to the United States. Native Americans have received land and billions of dollars for various benefits and programs for being forcibly exiled from their native lands. For Japanese Americans, $1.5 billion was paid to those who were interned during World War II. Additionally, the United States, via the Marshall Plan, helped to ensure that Jews received reparations for the Holocaust, including making various investments over time. In 1952, West Germany agreed to pay 3.45 billion Deutsche Marks to Holocaust survivors.

Black Americans are the only group that has not received reparations for state-sanctioned racial discrimination, while slavery afforded some white families the ability to accrue CONTINUE READING: Why we need reparations for Black Americans

David Deming: Online Learning Should Return to a Supporting Role - The New York Times

Online Learning Should Return to a Supporting Role - The New York Times

Online Learning Should Return to a Supporting Role
Winner-take-all economics and cost-cutting may make many in-person lectures obsolete, but the best education continues to be intensive, expensive and done in person.

As the coronavirus pandemic forces schools and college campuses to go online, the delivery model of education — largely unchanged for centuries — has suddenly been disrupted.

This may seem like the acceleration of a permanent shift toward online learning, but I have my doubts. In fact, economics tells us that technology will make in-person education more valuable than ever.

At the moment, teachers from kindergarten through graduate school are struggling to take their classes online, and the initial results are, understandably, spotty. But the longer this mass experiment continues, the more familiar remote learning will become. And, has been predicted for many years, online performances by superstars are increasingly likely to replace more pedestrian in-person lectures.

This can go only so far, because other important aspects of education are best done by teachers in more intimate settings. Educators will increasingly be tutors, mentors and role models, and economics also tells us that these features of a great education will not scale up.

Therefore, I worry not about the future of teachers but of students. I fear that on-campus learning will become an increasingly important quality differentiator, a luxury good that only students with means can afford.

Consider that online education has been around a lot longer than Covid-19. According to the latest estimates from the Department of Education, 35 percent of college students took at least one course online before the pandemic, and this share has been growing steadily for more than a decade.

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This spring, schools and universities had to move courses online with only a few weeks’ notice, and the results have often been ugly. Students face significant challenges, such as spotty access to the internet or an unstable living environment. CONTINUE READING: Online Learning Should Return to a Supporting Role - The New York Times