Urban Educator Fighting for Public Education for our Communities and Finding My Voice in the Process
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continued from Part III… Groups like these (above) invest, meaning put up money, to make money by propping up corporate charter schools, and dismantling specifically public schools with majority students and teachers of color in the process. These investment firms, started by the rich (and white), are quite literally making Continue Reading…
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And in folks ignoring that economic situatedness, more than anything, influences students’ academic outcomes and economic opportunity, again, absolves government and politicians of their responsibility to fix economic inequality.
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Black folks have always had to contend with the systemic injustices of capitalism, while we simultaneously have to deal with centuries of injustice due to racism and racial exploitation. That dual experience is real, distinct, and unique.
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We have to be cognizant about our nation’s economic reality, and beneficiaries of the radical redistribution of wealth UPWARD, in order to understand where and how the modern attack on specifically urban teacher unions and urban education fits.
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We are dealing with an exceedingly tenuous moment in American history and looking away from reality will not save us any more than insufficient solutions will. The late Barbara Ehrenreich commented, “delusion is no way to confront reality.”
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Picking up where we left off, and digging deeper on the substance of civics and politics, here, we delve into why achieving change is so difficult, particularly for constituencies that are poor, working-class, Black and Latino — even when elected leadership is Democratic or Black and Democratic.
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…And no more than 48 hours after posting that entry, I scrolled on my Twitter timeline (@keithericbenson) to find that Luther Luke Campbell (@uncleluke) would be hosting a Twitter Spaces entitled, “Years of supporting the democratic party, why Black still in poverty” where it appeared 77 people were committed to participating or, at the very least, listening. Here we go…
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Where there has been a decades-long fragmenting of subjects like social studies and civics, with the democratized social media space we have now, information-hungry people who want answers and explanations for matters pertaining to government are going to search for them, and find some semblance of both; whether the information is accurate or not matters little as accessibility and one’s ability to discern fact, from nonsense is increasingly a coin-toss.
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…the reality is becoming depressingly clear that voting, along with traditional organizing are insufficient approaches to counter American oligarchy that is pushing us ever closer to catastrophe…
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“Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.”
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And much like Atlantic hurricanes will continue to form with greater frequency and grow in both size and severity due to the warming ocean temperatures thanks to the world’s failure to tackle global warming, Norcross’ influence on this city and the state will only grow as a result of puppets continuing to choose to fear him, rather than prioritizing Right and in that, reclaiming their own dignity. In the meantime, like NOLA’s residents, we all will suffer because of it.
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..this is a legacy we’ll have to fight for and a legacy worth fighting for… and it is confoundingly frustrating that some of our “own people” are part of those who are trying to dismantle it.
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… in remembering all He has done for me, I will give Him all the Glory…and I won’t complain.
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The current fight for our public schools is much larger than a siloed education issue, and more complex than the simplistic framing its received in the media thus far.
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To be sure, on the surface 2021 looks much like any other year in Camden City Schools. But I do know, however, that our educators’ fuse is getting progressively shorter in response to such protracted fights to simply exist, and the prolonged disrespect from our superintendent which can potentially make 2021 pretty interesting after all.
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Only now, Commissioner Repollet is gone, and few people really know what’s fact from fiction when the superintendent is speaking.
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What has been missing: District leadership that believes that enough to defend, protect, promote, and cultivate our beautiful schools.
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I, naively it seemed, believed there was no way educators charged with educating children and cultivating spirits of acceptance, tolerance, and cooperation could ever vote for such a deviant like Trump. Apparently, I was wrong.
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Not unlike many younger Black men specifically, some peers whom I hold in high regard, have rightfully taken (America’s portrayal of) Christianity to task as being the “white man’s religion”, with questions emerging pertaining to how could I, a Black man, worship the same religion white slave masters, who brutalized our ancestors for centuries, used to excuse their atrocities as well as justify their actions in doing so? Numerous such conversations occurred over the years, and so, this is my attempt to summarily address such queries that I know I am not alone in having to grapple with in rationalizing, as well as in answering.
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…Remembering Hope in reflecting on my child’s and Camden Students’ educational journey
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More clearly: all police unions should be dissolved as they serve no discernible good to the public, public safety, or good policing.
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…That said, the Urban Hope Act (UHA) of 2012, must be radically reformed, sooner than later.
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DISCLAIMER: In no way am I suggesting that online, remote learning should ever subsitute in-person learning under normal societal conditions. Further, I am aware of what I am suggesting here for safety reasons, may leave parents who must return to work in a bind, and no small one at that. Continue Reading…
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There will be no “winners” or community of individuals emerging happy at the unveiling of their district’s approach to manage education within a pandemic, and non-existent federal leadership. This is, indeed, a perfect storm that hopefully we can all survive whenever, if ever, it may end.
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Indeed, I am all over the place, but I guess I simply want to say to my Nadine publicly: “I love you. I am proud of you and expect great things from you.”
In all honesty now, it kind of surprises me that like MPD’s 3rd Precinct, some of our schools haven’t gone up in flames already.
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To be sure, there is reimagining to be done as we return from the COVID19 quarantine and our schools begin open in the Fall.
Lord, please welcome my grandpop Home with open arms and words: Well done, my good and faithful servant…
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Anyone who cares about the wholistic development of children, including the educative process of children, had better #StayWoke in these COVID19 streets..
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In retrospect, however, these classroom angels don’t challenge us, and in lacking a challenge, these students don’t help us become better at our craft.
