How I Benefited From Growing Up Under Socialism: Reflections on a Brooklyn Childhood

Like many Americans who consider themselves social justice activists, I am alarmed by the erosion of civil liberties in our country. From the insertion of a provision in the new Defense Act calling for preventive detention of suspected terrorists, to racial profiling in communities of color, to the use of Patriot Act protocols and overwhelming force to clear peaceful Occupy protesters, to massive government surveillance of private communications, I see the US moving rapidly toward a police/surveillance state where the liberties enshrined in the Bill of Rights are becoming a dead letter.

But unlike my libertarian friends, I do not consider government itself the enemy, not does the thought of the United States becoming more socialist alarm me. I see government as a powerful force for good in people’s lives if it is deployed properly, and is imbued with a democratic spirit, rather than used to protect the privileges of elites. Some of my reasons for appreciating the potentially liberating, as well as repressive, aspects of government action, come from my historical studies, especially those focusing on grass roots activism and government intervention during the Great Depression.

But some of it derives from the very positive experiences I had growing up in a socialist, or at least a social democratic society. This was not in Sweden, or Denmark, or Finland,. It was in Brooklyn in the 1950’s!

Brooklyn? Socialist? Are you kidding?

Well, consider this. Imagine a place where no one was very rich or very poor, where the majority of people in the labor force were members of unions, where museums and zoos were free, where colleges and universities were free, where all public schools were open 3-5 and 7-9 for sports and arts and music, where subways and buses cost 15 cents, where public libraries in every neighborhood were open 9 AM to 9 PM, where public hospitals offered medical care for a nominal fee, where every public park had recreation supervisors as well as cleaners, and where public schools had hundreds of musical instruments that any child who made the band or the orchestra could take home.

This is the world I grew up in. And it was a great way to grow up.

Here we were, all children of minorities, Jewish and Italian for the most part, with a small number of African Americans, whose parents and grandparents had gone through unspeakable hardships,who felt that the world was ours for the taking. Because of the public resources that surrounded us, we not only had a security in terms of food, clothing, housing and medical care, we had educational opportunities that left ample room for recreation, sports, science and the arts. School for me was not only about learning geography and math, it was punch ball games and school plays, science fairs and trips to museums, punctuated by an occasional fist fight.

And the result of this security was not stagnation, but creativity. Everybody I knew played a musical instrument, danced or tried to sing. When rock and roll hit our neighborhood, it swept all of us into its aura, as we learned all the dances, formed singing groups, and dreamed we would be performing at the Brooklyn Paramount or on American Bandstand.

The guys in the neighborhood (this was a heavily gendered world) played sports constantly, not only the sports we saw on television, but street games we made up, and as we got older,we began playing on teams for our high schools, churches and synagogues, and eventually for colleges, all the time dreaming of making it to the pros.

This wasn’t utopia. Gender barriers were powerful and omnipresent, keeping girls out of the sports activities that were the obsession of most boys. There was an undercurrent of racism in white families that rose powerfully to the surface when blacks began moving to the neighborhood in large numbers, leading to dramatic “white flight” in the mid 1960’s. There was alcoholism, domestic violence, and depression, most of it swept under the rug by a strong code of silence about personal problems. And working class solidarity, though it lived on the neighborhood code that you never crossed a picket line, was less powerful than the striving for upward mobility. Most people dreamed of moving into the middle class and getting a house with a lawn or renting an apartment with a terrace overlooking the water.

But though the experience I am describing was relatively circumscribed in time, lasting no more than 10 or 12 years, and confined largely to New York City ( see Josh Freeman’s Working Class New York for more about New York’s experiment in “Social Democracy”) it may hold some lessons for people today grappling with the consequences of extreme economic inequality and the proper role of government in finding a balance between liberty and democracy.

My own experience, and that of friends of mine who grew up in the Bronx at the same time, is that there are extraordinary benefits to living in a society where the good things in life --decent housing, medical care, sports, the arts, education, science and culture- are not only reserved for those who have money. ‘

As the child of two parents who grew up in desperate poverty, and made very modest incomes, I had access, free or nearly free, to things which today young people have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to get. No one going to the most expensive private school in the country had a better exposure to sports or music or science than me or my friends did.

What did this mean? It meant when I went to Columbia in the early 60’s I could end up as captain of the tennis team even though I learned tennis in a public park from a mailman who charged $3.50 an hour. It meant that almost all top math and science students at the school were graduates of New York City public high schools, along with virtually all the stars of the basketball team, and many of the folk and classical musicians.

With inequality reaching unimaginable proportions- the top 1 percent of earners how make 44 percent of the city income rather than 9 percent during the 1950’s- and the public sector having shrunk, young people in working class and middle class neighborhoods no longer have the opportunities I had growing up.

I think that is a both a shame and a challenge. We can and should do better. And if that means becoming more socialist, well, based on my experience, that may not be the worst thing in the world

Mark Naison
December 31, 2011

The 99 Percent Clubs and the Creation of an Online Public Square and Free Speech Zone

When Ira Shor and I suggested that activists create 99 Percent clubs in order to help the Occupy movements get through the winter months and emerge stronger than ever, we envisioned the clubs as support groups for Occupy activists- providing clothing, food, winter gear, and if needed legal help- as well as action groups in campuses and communities dealing with issues members deemed important.

The first 99 Percent club that we created at Fordham did both of those things- gave support to local Occupy movements and began planning education and action programs to address issues at the University. But what we did not envision, when we created the club, was how it would create an incredible on line free speech zone and public square ot only for club members, but for people with no direct connection to Fordham who found out what we were doing

The vehicle for this was the Fordham 99 Percent Club Facebook page. When the page was first set up, its primary activity was to announce Club meetings, but soon, people on the page began posting issues for discussion, first relating to the local and national Occupy movement, later on the two main issues the Club was concerned with – economic inequality and threats to free speech. By the beginning of December, these discussion threads had assumed a life of their own, presenting a remarkable array of viewpoints and perspectives all welcomed in an ecumenical spirit.

We have discussed the police attacks on Occupy movements, the new National Defense Act with provisions for preventive detention, the student debt conundrum, the Ron Paul campaign, the European economic crisis, the prospect for third party initiatives, and many, many other important subjects. The Club Facebook page, in effect, duplicated the atmosphere of Occupy Wall Street, where General Assemblies were reinforced by literally scores of discussion groups and special initiatives,

As I see it, what happened in the Fordham 99 Percent club for what could happen around the nation if people created 99 Percent Clubs on their campuses and communities. Each club could become a Free Speech Zone as well as an action group in behalf of economic justice and freedom of expression. And in a society where all too many campuses and city governments are closing off such zones, and where big money is controlling much of public discourse, this could be a shot in the arm for popular democracy’

So if the spirit moves you, create your own 99 Percent club and when you do, create your own club Facebook page where the issues of the day can be discussed freely and enthusiastically, creating a model which we can fight for in the public spaces our universities and local governments are supposed to protect

Mark Naison
December 30, 2011

Holiday Parties and the Econmic Crisis

After spending a month going to holiday parties, I feel like I acquired a first hand view of the impact of this economic crisis. So many people I met had lost their jobs, were working part time without benefits, had student loans they had difficulty paying off or owned small businesses that were struggling. Others who were employed felt they were being asked to do the work of two people. Most of these people were still getting by one way or the other, but saw little hope of an imminent reversal of fortune. This crisis doesn't quite feel like the great Depression because however frayed we do have a safety net, but it doesn't feel like any time I have lived though either. Scary stuff. Scary and sobering

The Notorious Phd Challenge to Followers of Ron Paul

I can’t say that I am surprised by the content of recently unearthed Ron Paul newsletters from the 1990’s that talk about a coming “race war,” or about Congressman Paul’s continuing connection to the John Birch society. Neo-Confederates, white supremacists, and those who hate immigrants and gays have been vocal supporters of the conservative wing of the Republican Party for the last 40 years so it is not surprising that Rep Paul would count people with such views among his most loyal supporters. Nor he is alone in such a posture. During her run for the Vice-Presidency, Sarah Palin attracted more than a few such people to the rallies she organized, to the great embarrassment of John McCain, while racist imagery was a fixture at early rallies of the Tea Party before leaders of that movement were able to persuade, or force, individuals with such views to go into deep cover.

But Ron Paul is not your ordinary conservative Republican. The success of his current run for the Republican nomination depends on him persuading Democrats attracted to his anti-war, pro civil liberties policies to register as Republican. Moreover, his presidential run, either as a Republican or an independent, cannot gain traction without gaining support from at least some people of color, leftists and liberals.
If these people are like me- a white leftist who lives in an heavily immigrant city, works in a predominantly black workplace and is part of a multiracial family- they will have something close to zero tolerance for racism, sexism and homophobia. They are not only going to look closely at how Rep Paul responds to these latest revelations, but how his most impassioned white followers act when he is raked over the coals in the media because of suggestion that his campaign is tainted by such prejudices

In my own way, I have been very closely observing how the libertarians to whom I have been connected by social media have dealt with the new revelations about Ron Paul’s past. Have they responded by calmly pointing out that the Ron Paul campaign, and the libertarian movement generally, is a big tent that welcomes blacks, immigrants and gays, or have they attacked those who demand that Rep Paul respond forthrightly and quickly to the new revelations as enemies of liberty whose motives are suspect?

The informal results of my little survey may surprise my friends on the left. The majority of the libertarians I work or correspond with have pointed out that the sentiments in those newsletters do not represent what Rep Paul, or the vast majority of his followers stand for and insist that the movement they are a part of will remain inclusive and multiracial. I don’t necessarily agree with all their conclusions, but the manner in which they have responded has been re-assuring. In defending Rep Paul, they have not allowed themselves to become the very people they were accused of apologizing for or protecting.

However, a few of the Ron Paul supporters in my networks have completely flipped out over the new accusations and have struck out at anyone and everyone who raises questions about the Paul campaign with injured innocence and a torrent of abuse.

Implicitly and sometimes explicitly, they have said that racism is no longer an issue in American society, and that critics of Rep Paul are “playing the race card” to undermine the campaign of a great patriot and a great American

This argument is not only unconvincing, it is counter-productive. It suggests that supporters of Rep Paul have something to hide, most probably the very attitudes that critics accuse the movement of harboring

Let me conclude with the following suggestion. If supporters of Rep Paul want to continue to attract a multiracial following, they will have to deal in a serious and principled way with accusations of racism, homophobia, and anti-immigrant prejudice, not move into a posture of denial

In our very NON post racial society, denying racism’s existence is a posture that arouses, rather than defuses, suspicion among racism’s long time victims.

Healing America’s racial wounds requires open discussion and debate. Those who call for a cover up when real issues arise contribute to the continuation and intensification of the very divisions they claim to abhor.

Mark Naison
December 27, 2011

Some New Year's Resolutions

My main New Year's resolution is to try to be nicer to everybody I communicate with, and to really listen to what they have to say, but I also have a few political resolutions

1. I am going to continue to support the Occupy movements, which I consider the best hope for democratic change in the last 40 years, in every way I can

2. I am going to continue to expose the Corporate led School Reform movement- as a force driving creativity and joy from our nation's classrooms without doing anything to achieve real educational equity or undermine the school to prison pipeline.

3. I am going to keep lines of communication open to Libertarians, even though I disagree with them on many issues, because I consider the erosion of Civil Liberties a grave threat to the future of this nation.

And if I am wrong about all of these things, it is not because of bad intentions. My goal is always, to quote Biggie "to spread love, it's the Brooklyn way."

Peace and Happy Holidays to All!

December 26, 2011

My Response to the Controversy Surrounding the Ron Paul NEwsletters

In between grading finals, I have been reading through the comment threads on the racist sentiments expressed in Ron Paul Newsletters from the and have come to a couple of conclusions

1. That the sentiments expressed in those Newsletters, whoever wrote them, had far greater currency than most Americans would like to believe, and probably helped Rep Paul in his district far more than it hurt him

2. That Ron Paul, whatever you think of him, is probably FAR less racist than many of his white followers.

What we have , whether we like it or not, is a great "teaching moment" for the entire nation. Ron Paul, for the first time in his long career, has become a major force in mainstream American politics with a following that is increasingly multiracial. Now that a discourse about race has emerged around his candidacy, will Rep Paul emerge as a force for healing longstanding racial wounds, or a force for greater rage and division.

I honestly do not know which way this controversy is going to play out. Rep Paul is probably not going to be elected President, but his influence on our public life will in some measure depend on how he, and his more farsighted followers, respond to this very difficult challenge.

Mark Naison
December 24, 2011

Why Hip Hop Is The Poetry of the 99 Percent

During the 1980's and 1990's a toxic combination of de-industrialization and drug epidemics pushed a large proportion of working class young people out of school and the legal economy and into the street economy and the prison system. As schools were decimated by budget cuts and torn by violence, young people, deprived of classroom outlets and arts programs their parents generation had, found a voice in hip hop which provided not only an opportunity to create a narrative of their lives, but to create poetry of great beauty and power. While the 1 Percent increased their share of the nation’s wealth while working class incomes stagnated and poor people’s incomes plummeted, these young people created art for the ages. That's why I call Hip Hop the Poetry of the 99 Percent

A Student Proposal to Have Fordham Adopt the Public High Schools Across the Street From It's Bronx Campus

A Proposal in which Fordham University Shall Provide Learning Amenities for the Roosevelt Educational Campus
by Laura Dragonetti, Thomas Gill, Angel Melendez, Christopher DeRose, Alexander Sachs, Drenica Camaj, Mercedes Aquino, and Samantha Zimmer
Dr. Mark Naison’s Senior Values Seminar: Affirmative Action and the American Dream
Fordham University


In times of economic uncertainty where the majority of wealth is concentrated in a small portion of the population, we as students at a Jesuit institution[i] asked ourselves what small changes we could make in our own community that could possibly contribute to a larger societal change in the distribution of wealth. One aspect of society that we focused on in our class was educational access and attainment; we discussed many policies for admission into universities and grad programs, and learned about the advantages and disadvantages that often determine which people have the chance to attend a university, as well as the disadvantages that keep many people from applying in the first place. Many capable young people do not have the chance to attend a four-year university for financial reasons, and many others do not even graduate high school because they attend under funded public schools in low-income neighborhoods. As Fordham University’s Rose Hill campus is located in a low-income neighborhood, we believe that it is university’s responsibility to see that the students living there have the same opportunities that other students have. In order to do this, we are proposing that Fordham University adopts the schools within the Roosevelt Educational Campus. Our intention is also for Fordham to admit students from Roosevelt into their freshman class each year, as well as provide support to the schools in terms of resources and mentorship.
This idea arose from our realization that even with the existence of affirmative action, students from lower-income neighborhoods have much less of a chance of making it into a selective university. Cedric Jennings, a student who worked his way from the inner city in Washington D.C. to Brown University, whose story is told in Ron Suskind’s A Hope in the Unseen[ii] is quite an extraordinary case, that has not been replicated on many occasions. We as a class have learned that in addition to being controversial, that race-based affirmative action often benefits minorities or are already members of the middle or upper classes. Socio-economic-based affirmative action programs, which are inherently less controversial than race-based programs, also tend to increase diversity at schools that implement them. While increasing diversity at Fordham or making up for past disadvantages that specific groups of people have encountered is not what our proposed program is seeking to accomplish, they may end up being consequences of Fordham adopting Roosevelt. Our program’s true aim, however, is improving educational access for individual students and enhancing the relationship between Fordham and its surrounding community. Fordham would certainly not be the first university to adopt a neighboring high school. While other colleges, such as Remington College[iii], The College of New Jersey[iv], and Dade Medical College[v] have had similar programs, we intend for Fordham to institute a program of which the extent of involvement is yet unmatched.
Though Fordham already has a presence in its surrounding community, there is always room for improvement. Many students and faculty at Fordham may not realize the extent to which Theodore Roosevelt High School could have used Fordham’s assistance in the past. The two schools were incomparable, one being a selective university, the other, a high school struggling to stay afloat. Theodore Roosevelt High School, which was first opened in 1919, had the lowest graduation rate in New York City in 2005 of only 3%, and was closed the following year. The building now houses six autonomous schools: Belmont Preparatory High School[vi], West Bronx Academy for the Future[vii], Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology[viii], Fordham High School for the Arts[ix], KAPPA International High School[x], and the Bronx High School for Law and Community Service[xi], in what is called the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus. These schools are not in the same shape as Theodore Roosevelt High School was before it was closed; they have much higher graduation rates and have some advanced placement classes. This does not mean, however, that they have anywhere near the same number of resources as many other public schools. For example, these schools do not have the resources needed to expand arts or sports programs. For security reasons, these schools also have SSA officers and metal detectors[xii] present in the schools, which, though arguably necessary, add an aspect of distrust that likely does not encourage students to feel more enthusiastic about learning. We are not proposing that these should be taken away, but it is our hope that our program will foster a more amiable learning environment for the high school students.
Before making a proposal about what we think Fordham should do for the schools within the Roosevelt Educational Campus, it is important that we acknowledge what the university already does for schools within low-income communities. Fordham’s Graduate School of Education already has a partnership with 31 schools in the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, through which they provide a range of technical assistance and support tailored to the needs of each school. These services include consultant coaching support, developing a customized action plan for each school, fundraising and grant writing, college tours, and much more[xiii]. Fordham’s community service office, the Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice, also has opportunities for students to volunteer at the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus, however there has not been consistent student involvement there. In summation, while there are some affiliations between Fordham and the high schools in the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus, they seem to be minimal, and not something highly prioritized by the administration, the community service center, or the student body.
Keeping in mind that our own initial ideas for Roosevelt may differ from those of their administration and teachers, we began correspondence with some of the professionals from the individual schools. Some of our representatives were able to meet with the Assistant Principal at the West Bronx Academy for the Future, Elizabeth Wasson, and discussed what she thought of her school and what could possibly be improved. The extent of her knowledge of Fordham and the West Bronx Academy’s partnership was through a program called RISE[xiv] that provides the Academy with something called the PLATO grant, which gives students from the school an opportunity to make up courses they have failed at the computer labs at Fordham. Students in Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business’ honors program mentor these students as part of their community service requirement. However, this seems to be the greatest extent to which Fordham students work with students from the West Bronx Academy for the Future. Though it is a good start, we believe that the Fordham community should have a greater involvement in the West Bronx Academy, and the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus as a whole.
When asked what she would hope for from a partnership with Fordham University, Wasson listed several aspects of her school that she believes need improvement many of them incorporating active involvement on the part of Fordham University students, others involve Fordham’s sharing of resources with Roosevelt. Wasson advocated a shadowing program through which students from Roosevelt could attend classes and club events with a student from Fordham for a day, and building relationships between kids, counselors, teachers, and administrators, at both schools in general. Her ideas emphasized the importance of involvement on both Fordham’s campus and on the Roosevelt campus. She advocated both bringing Roosevelt students on Fordham’s campus for classes and bringing Fordham clubs to the Roosevelt campus to attend and participate in programs and events. Other needs that she expressed for the West Bronx Academy for the Future, and for the Roosevelt Educational Campus in general, are health classes (in order to change attitudes about consequences of sex and having children), green space for sports activities, and space for general after school activities.
Our proposal for Fordham involves combining what the assistant principal Roosevelt stated are their needs, as well as a program that would ensure that students from Roosevelt would be admitted to Fordham every year. Not only do we want to improve the educational experience of students at the high school level, but we also want to guarantee educational access at the college level to individual students who are part of a larger system that often does not see the admittance of people from low-income neighborhoods to selective or Ivy League schools. (This program is not about race. We are referring more generally to socioeconomic disadvantage that leaves many public schools under-funded and many students without the opportunities that their counterparts at well-funded schools have. As a class studying affirmative action and its effects, we understand the implications of instituting any sort of policy that provides advantages to some races over others, even when it is meant to make up for past disadvantages. Instead, we are looking to work specifically with the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus because it is both part of a low-income neighborhood and part of our surrounding neighborhood. What better place to start being “men and women for others” than across the street from our campus?) The program we hope for Fordham to establish concerns several different aspects of education and progress through the educational system.
We are proposing that Fordham develop a program through which its students will become tutors and mentors to students at the schools in the Roosevelt Educational Campus. This could be done through a club or society, not run or directed by students, but by faculty members, in order to ensure its continued quality and commitment. The Fordham students in this club or society would also be involved in a shadowing program with the students they mentor. Not only would they help their students with their schoolwork and the college application process, they would also take them to classes on campus in order to introduce them to college-level courses. Not all students from Fordham involved in the partnership with the Roosevelt schools would be a mentor or tutor; they could also assist in running after-school programs or coaching sports teams.
Ideally, Fordham’s adoption of the Roosevelt schools would not end there. It would also entail sharing its sports fields and courts with the Roosevelt schools and Fordham’s financial support to Roosevelt. Financial support could involve help with purchasing school supplies or maintaining facilities. One of the most important aspects of Fordham’s adoption of Roosevelt would be the system through which a number of students from Roosevelt would be guaranteed admission to Fordham each year. This number should be set each year, and should increase from one year to the next, reaching a cap at 50 (however, there should never be a cap on how many students from Roosevelt could be admitted to Fordham, just how many are required). Through these combined efforts, Fordham could change the face of high school education in the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus, bringing the students new resources, increasing their self-confidence as scholars, and subsequently, providing them with new expectations about their own futures. Today, most of these students do not expect to attend selective universities. Together, Fordham University and the Roosevelt Educational Campus can change that.


[i] In its online mission statement, Fordham University, as a Jesuit institution vows that it is “committed to research and education that assist in the alleviation of poverty, the promotion of justice, the protection of human rights and respect for the environment.” The university also acknowledges its debt to the city of New York, and recognizes its responsibility to share its resources in order to enrich the city, the nation, and the world as a whole. Our program would help Fordham fulfill these intentions, both as a program that promotes justice, and as a program that directly benefits the city that the University calls home. ;

Appendix B

[ii] A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey From the Inner City to the Ivy League is a biographic novel by Ron Suskind, published in 1998, which tells the story of Cedric Jennings, as he transitions from Ballou high school, an inner city school in Washington D.C., to Brown University. The book highlights the challenges that students from low-income areas face. These challenges manifest themselves at all stages in their education: passing classing, graduating from high school, getting into universities, and the struggles they will face once they have been admitted to a university. In high school, Cedric excelled academically, but faced challenges in terms of feeling ostracized from his fellow classmates, and was even bullied by other kids for being such a dedicated student. Once Cedric reached Brown University, he felt more accepted by other students because they too were passionate about learning. However, he had to face cultural differences that arose from the amount of privilege that other students had in terms of financial security. He also had to work harder than many other students because his high school education did not prepare him to the same extent that theirs did. Though it is a daunting task, we hope to make it more common for students from inner-city high schools to make it to selective universities, and to better prepare them for attending these universities than they historically have been, by beginning with the schools in the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus.

Appendix C

[iii] Remington College, a group of privately owned non-profit post-secondary educational institutions, operating in twenty campuses across the United States, has established a program called “Adopt Our School” in addition to several other community involvement programs. Through this program, Remington College “adopted” Humble High School, Walanae High School, and Bossier High School, donating $2,000 worth of school supplies to each. ; ; ;

Appendix D

[iv] The College of New Jersey, a public university located in Ewing Township, New Jersey adopted the library at Trenton Central High School in 2011, through a project called “Adopt-A-Classroom.” The “Adopt-A-Classroom” project itself allows educators to register their classrooms that need help allowing benefactors to support their needs. Like our program between Fordham and Roosevelt, the students at the College of New Jersey who implemented the adoption of Trenton Central High School’s library did so because they wanted to support a school in their college’s neighboring community. Through this adoption, TCNJ improved this actual library space by purchasing items, such as new curtains, and increased the number of books available to students by running a book drive.
< http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2011/04/tcnj_education_majors_adopt_tr.html>;

Appendix E

[v] Dade Medical College, located in Hialeah, FL, has implemented an “Adopt-a-School” program, through which they adopted Hialeah Senior High School in 2009. This adoption involved Dade’s donation of $5,000 to the local high school, in order to benefit the school’s band program and the Academy of Medicine and Health. Dade’s representatives committed to helping the schools in their community during times of economic hardship.
;

Appendix F

[vi] Belmont Preparatory High School’s 2010-2011 overall progress report grade was actually an A (70.9 out of a possible 100 points). Its student progress was scored as a 41 of 60 points and their performance was scored as an 18.1 out of a total of 25 possible points, however their school environment was rated with 7.8 points out of a possible 15, and a 4.0 out of 14 possible points for closing the achievement gap. The School Environment grade is based on student attendance, as well as the school’s NYC School Survey, completed by parents, teachers, and students, through which they rate the school’s expectations, safety and respect, communication, and engagement. Points for the ‘Closing the Achievement Gap’ are given to schools with exceptional graduation results among students with disabilities and English Language Learners, and for exceptional graduation and/or Regents results among students with the lowest proficiency citywide. Belmont Preparatory High School was among the 33% of schools that received A’s during the 2010-2011 progress report period. ;

Belmont Preparatory NYC School Survey 2010-2011 Report: ;

Though Belmont Preparatory High School was generally rated as satisfactory in its progress report, it’s Annual Arts in Schools Report for the 2010-2011 academic year showed that there is minimal involvement in the arts among its students.
;

< http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/10/X434/AboutUs/Statistics/default.htm>;

Appendix G

[vii] The West Bronx Academy for the Future received a C as its overall grade for its 2010-2011 progress report. The school received 31.9 out of 60 points for student progress, 10 out of 25 points for student performance, 8.9 out of 15 points for its environment, and 3 points of 14 for closing the achievement gap. The low scores in student progress and student performance reflect students’ struggle to meet the state’s graduation requirements for passing State Regents exams, and poor graduation rates.
;

According to the school’s NYC School Survey Report for the 2010-2011 academic year, the school actually scored lower in certain areas than in the year before, specifically in communication and safety & respect. In taking the survey, parents also emphasized their desire for their children to be better prepared for standardized state tests, and for smaller class sizes.
;

Students at the West Bronx Academy for the Future were involved in more arts programs than those at Belmont Preparatory School in the during the 2010-2011 academic year, particularly in dance, music, and the visual arts.
;

< http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/10/X243/AboutUs/Statistics/default.htm>;
Appendix H

[viii] The Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology received a D on its overall progress report for the 2010-2011 academic year, with a meager 40 out of 100 possible points. It received a D in student progress, F’s in student performance and school and environment, and only 1 point in closing the achievement gap. Only 12% of schools in NYC received a D or lower on their progress report. According to the report, a D or an F indicates that students at the school are demonstrating a slower pace of learning and progress than students at similar schools.
;

According to the NYC School Survey Report for 2010-201l, the Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology’s scores declined in all but one area (safety & respect), each score well below the city average.
;

Students from the Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology in the 2010-2011 year were also not involved with a lot of arts programs, but there was some extracurricular involvement in music and visual arts. (There was no involvement in dance, theater, or film). However, several students did attend classes in the visual arts.
;

;

Appendix I

[ix] Fordham High School for the Arts received an A in its overall progress report for the 2010-2011 academic year, with a B in student progress, an A in student performance, an A in school environment, and 4 points (of 14) for closing the achievement gap. Overall, the school received 77.6 points out of 100.
;

According to the school’s NYC School Survey Report for 2010-2011, Fordham High School for the Arts’ scores improved in every category from the previous year, aside from engagement, which remained the same. It was very rare that parents on this survey would report negatively about feeling informed or feeling that the school was concerned with their child’s progress.
;

As expected from the school’s name, the students from Fordham High School for the Arts were much more involved in arts than students from the other schools in the Roosevelt Educational Campus. Though no students were involved in film, there were students in every grade (9-12) involved in dance, music, theater, and visual arts. Students took between 8 and 10 credits in all forms of the arts aside from film (in which they took none).
;

< http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/10/X437/AboutUs/Statistics/default.htm>;
Appendix J

[x] The Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy International High School (KAPPA) received an A on its overall progress report for the 2010-2011 academic year with a total of 78.4 points out of a possible 100. KAPPA International received a B in student progress, an A in student performance (with a near perfect score of 22.7 out of 25), an A in school environment, and 4 out of 14 possible points for closing the achievement gap.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/2010-11/Progress_Report_Overview_2011_HS_X374.pdf>;

Despite its high scoring progress report, KAPPA International actually declined in nearly every score on its NYC School Survey for 2010-2011. (However, each of its scores remained above average). Although its scores decreased in academic expectations, communication, and engagement, they all remained higher than those of the majority of schools in the area.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/2010-11/Survey_2011_X374.pdf>;

KAPPA International’s students in the 2010-2011 academic year were highly involved in music, with some involvement in theater. There was no involvement in film visual arts, or dance. This is likely because of the possibility to earn class credit in these areas.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/documents/ArtsReport/2010-11/ArtsReport_X374.pdf>;

< http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/10/X374/AboutUs/Statistics/default.htm>;
Appendix K

[xi] Despite receiving C’s in student progress, student performance, and school environment, the Bronx High School For Law and Community was able to achieve a B on its overall progress report for the 2010-2011 academic year, arguable a result of the 6 points that it received for closing the achievement gap. In fact, if it had received only one less point for closing the achievement gap, it would have fallen into the point range of a C.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/2010-11/Progress_Report_Overview_2011_HS_X439.pdf>;

According to the school’s NYC School Survey Report for 2010-2011, Bronx High School For Law and Community improved in some areas, while declining or remaining the same in others. Its scores in academic expectations and safety & respect improved, while engagement declined, and communication remained constant.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/2010-11/Survey_2011_X439.pdf>;

Aside from the visual arts, students at this school were not involved in the arts at all. However, involvement in the visual arts was higher than in the other schools in the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus, with 19% involvement among Freshmen, 81% involvement among sophomores and seniors, and 100% involvement among juniors. Half of all students graduated with at least 3 credits in the arts.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/documents/ArtsReport/2010-11/ArtsReport_X439.pdf>;

Appendix L

[xii]While it may seem necessary for security purposes, the presence of SSA officers and metal detectors in high schools is creating a hostile environment that likely does not make students feel welcome to learn.

At Aviation High School, the school was forced to cancel all “zero-period” Advanced Placement classes because of “disruptions caused by the NYPD,” and attendance dropped from 94 percent to 70 percent because of the lines caused by the metal detectors (11). “Students and families who attempted to protest the NYPD police action at Aviation High School were threatened or silenced” (11). At the Community School for Social Justice and the Health Opportunities High School, female students were searched by male officers in what was a “clear violation of the Chancellor’s Regulations” (12). A teacher even protested in a note: “can we please no treat...teenagers who have gotten themselves to school like they’ve committed a crime?” (13). The principal of Curtis High School described the officers as abrasive and complained that they “treated students with disrespect” (14).

82% percent of students surveyed reported that they had been late to class because of the metal detectors. 53% of students surveyed reported that officers have spoken with them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable. 27% of students surveyed reported that officers touched or treated them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable. “The Bloomberg administration claims that increased policing in schools responsible for a significant decline in school crime, but the National Center for School and Communities at Fordham University shows that such claims are inflated” (19).

Criminalizing the Classroom: The Over-Policing of New York City Schools by Elora Mukherjee, Marvin M. Karpatkin Fellow (2006-2007)
Appendix M
[xiii] The Fordham Partnership Support Organization provides a range of technical assistance and support including:
Fordham Faculty and Consultant Coaching Support
Fundraising/Grant Writing
College Tours
Student Teachers
Leadership Development
Special Education Support
Professional Development
Study Groups
among other equally important services.

“Our goal has been to engage our partner schools, districts and governmental agencies in the process of helping teachers teach more effectively and have all students, regardless of background, learn at higher levels. We conduct our work by drawing on the best scholarship and applying that cutting edge knowledge to the challenges of the classroom. Simply stated, we are research-based and outcomes oriented. Since 2007, there has been a huge investment of time, skill, energy, and emotion supporting our PSO network schools. The Fordham PSO embraces the individuality of every school and works with each principal to strengthen school capacity, whether through workshops, curriculum support, or in the pursuit of additional funding for special projects.”
http://www.fordham.edu/academics/colleges__graduate_s/graduate__profession/educati on/centers/center_for_education/partnership_support_/
Appendix N
[xiv] “Dr. Steven D’Agustino, director of the RETC, brought the project participants together in response to the RETC’s mission of community involvement and closing the digital divide. Fordham High School for the Arts (FHSFTA) lacks the technology infrastructure to effectively implement the PLATO credit recovery software, so the RETC offered to allow students to use their facilities. FHSFTA teachers and students named the program Project R.I.S.E., or "Rediscovering Inspiration for Student Excellence."

But, more than just using the software, the students will be able to interact with Fordham University students. The Boyle Scholars, an honors society from the Gabelli School of Business, are required to fulfill a community service component and will serve as mentors. The high school students are encouraged to think about their own aspirations for college, while the Fordham students will have a positive impact on the local community outside the University gates. Project R.I.S.E. is considered a model program that serves as a basis for grant and funding proposals.”
;





Appendix A

[1] In its online mission statement, Fordham University, as a Jesuit institution vows that it is “committed to research and education that assist in the alleviation of poverty, the promotion of justice, the protection of human rights and respect for the environment.” The university also acknowledges its debt to the city of New York, and recognizes its responsibility to share its resources in order to enrich the city, the nation, and the world as a whole. Our program would help Fordham fulfill these intentions, both as a program that promotes justice, and as a program that directly benefits the city that the University calls home. ;

Appendix B

[1] A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey From the Inner City to the Ivy League is a biographic novel by Ron Suskind, published in 1998, which tells the story of Cedric Jennings, as he transitions from Ballou high school, an inner city school in Washington D.C., to Brown University. The book highlights the challenges that students from low-income areas face. These challenges manifest themselves at all stages in their education: passing classing, graduating from high school, getting into universities, and the struggles they will face once they have been admitted to a university. In high school, Cedric excelled academically, but faced challenges in terms of feeling ostracized from his fellow classmates, and was even bullied by other kids for being such a dedicated student. Once Cedric reached Brown University, he felt more accepted by other students because they too were passionate about learning. However, he had to face cultural differences that arose from the amount of privilege that other students had in terms of financial security. He also had to work harder than many other students because his high school education did not prepare him to the same extent that theirs did. Though it is a daunting task, we hope to make it more common for students from inner-city high schools to make it to selective universities, and to better prepare them for attending these universities than they historically have been, by beginning with the schools in the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus.

Appendix C

[1] Remington College, a group of privately owned non-profit post-secondary educational institutions, operating in twenty campuses across the United States, has established a program called “Adopt Our School” in addition to several other community involvement programs. Through this program, Remington College “adopted” Humble High School, Walanae High School, and Bossier High School, donating $2,000 worth of school supplies to each. ; ; ;

Appendix D

[1] The College of New Jersey, a public university located in Ewing Township, New Jersey adopted the library at Trenton Central High School in 2011, through a project called “Adopt-A-Classroom.” The “Adopt-A-Classroom” project itself allows educators to register their classrooms that need help allowing benefactors to support their needs. Like our program between Fordham and Roosevelt, the students at the College of New Jersey who implemented the adoption of Trenton Central High School’s library did so because they wanted to support a school in their college’s neighboring community. Through this adoption, TCNJ improved this actual library space by purchasing items, such as new curtains, and increased the number of books available to students by running a book drive.
< http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2011/04/tcnj_education_majors_adopt_tr.html>;

Appendix E

[1] Dade Medical College, located in Hialeah, FL, has implemented an “Adopt-a-School” program, through which they adopted Hialeah Senior High School in 2009. This adoption involved Dade’s donation of $5,000 to the local high school, in order to benefit the school’s band program and the Academy of Medicine and Health. Dade’s representatives committed to helping the schools in their community during times of economic hardship.
;

Appendix F

[1] Belmont Preparatory High School’s 2010-2011 overall progress report grade was actually an A (70.9 out of a possible 100 points). Its student progress was scored as a 41 of 60 points and their performance was scored as an 18.1 out of a total of 25 possible points, however their school environment was rated with 7.8 points out of a possible 15, and a 4.0 out of 14 possible points for closing the achievement gap. The School Environment grade is based on student attendance, as well as the school’s NYC School Survey, completed by parents, teachers, and students, through which they rate the school’s expectations, safety and respect, communication, and engagement. Points for the ‘Closing the Achievement Gap’ are given to schools with exceptional graduation results among students with disabilities and English Language Learners, and for exceptional graduation and/or Regents results among students with the lowest proficiency citywide. Belmont Preparatory High School was among the 33% of schools that received A’s during the 2010-2011 progress report period. ;

Belmont Preparatory NYC School Survey 2010-2011 Report: ;

Though Belmont Preparatory High School was generally rated as satisfactory in its progress report, it’s Annual Arts in Schools Report for the 2010-2011 academic year showed that there is minimal involvement in the arts among its students.
;

< http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/10/X434/AboutUs/Statistics/default.htm>;

Appendix G

[1] The West Bronx Academy for the Future received a C as its overall grade for its 2010-2011 progress report. The school received 31.9 out of 60 points for student progress, 10 out of 25 points for student performance, 8.9 out of 15 points for its environment, and 3 points of 14 for closing the achievement gap. The low scores in student progress and student performance reflect students’ struggle to meet the state’s graduation requirements for passing State Regents exams, and poor graduation rates.
;

According to the school’s NYC School Survey Report for the 2010-2011 academic year, the school actually scored lower in certain areas than in the year before, specifically in communication and safety & respect. In taking the survey, parents also emphasized their desire for their children to be better prepared for standardized state tests, and for smaller class sizes.
;

Students at the West Bronx Academy for the Future were involved in more arts programs than those at Belmont Preparatory School in the during the 2010-2011 academic year, particularly in dance, music, and the visual arts.
;

< http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/10/X243/AboutUs/Statistics/default.htm>;
Appendix H

[1] The Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology received a D on its overall progress report for the 2010-2011 academic year, with a meager 40 out of 100 possible points. It received a D in student progress, F’s in student performance and school and environment, and only 1 point in closing the achievement gap. Only 12% of schools in NYC received a D or lower on their progress report. According to the report, a D or an F indicates that students at the school are demonstrating a slower pace of learning and progress than students at similar schools.
;

According to the NYC School Survey Report for 2010-201l, the Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology’s scores declined in all but one area (safety & respect), each score well below the city average.
;

Students from the Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology in the 2010-2011 year were also not involved with a lot of arts programs, but there was some extracurricular involvement in music and visual arts. (There was no involvement in dance, theater, or film). However, several students did attend classes in the visual arts.
;

;

Appendix I

[1] Fordham High School for the Arts received an A in its overall progress report for the 2010-2011 academic year, with a B in student progress, an A in student performance, an A in school environment, and 4 points (of 14) for closing the achievement gap. Overall, the school received 77.6 points out of 100.
;

According to the school’s NYC School Survey Report for 2010-2011, Fordham High School for the Arts’ scores improved in every category from the previous year, aside from engagement, which remained the same. It was very rare that parents on this survey would report negatively about feeling informed or feeling that the school was concerned with their child’s progress.
;

As expected from the school’s name, the students from Fordham High School for the Arts were much more involved in arts than students from the other schools in the Roosevelt Educational Campus. Though no students were involved in film, there were students in every grade (9-12) involved in dance, music, theater, and visual arts. Students took between 8 and 10 credits in all forms of the arts aside from film (in which they took none).
;

< http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/10/X437/AboutUs/Statistics/default.htm>;
Appendix J

[1] The Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy International High School (KAPPA) received an A on its overall progress report for the 2010-2011 academic year with a total of 78.4 points out of a possible 100. KAPPA International received a B in student progress, an A in student performance (with a near perfect score of 22.7 out of 25), an A in school environment, and 4 out of 14 possible points for closing the achievement gap.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/2010-11/Progress_Report_Overview_2011_HS_X374.pdf>;

Despite its high scoring progress report, KAPPA International actually declined in nearly every score on its NYC School Survey for 2010-2011. (However, each of its scores remained above average). Although its scores decreased in academic expectations, communication, and engagement, they all remained higher than those of the majority of schools in the area.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/2010-11/Survey_2011_X374.pdf>;

KAPPA International’s students in the 2010-2011 academic year were highly involved in music, with some involvement in theater. There was no involvement in film visual arts, or dance. This is likely because of the possibility to earn class credit in these areas.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/documents/ArtsReport/2010-11/ArtsReport_X374.pdf>;

< http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/10/X374/AboutUs/Statistics/default.htm>;
Appendix K

[1] Despite receiving C’s in student progress, student performance, and school environment, the Bronx High School For Law and Community was able to achieve a B on its overall progress report for the 2010-2011 academic year, arguable a result of the 6 points that it received for closing the achievement gap. In fact, if it had received only one less point for closing the achievement gap, it would have fallen into the point range of a C.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/2010-11/Progress_Report_Overview_2011_HS_X439.pdf>;

According to the school’s NYC School Survey Report for 2010-2011, Bronx High School For Law and Community improved in some areas, while declining or remaining the same in others. Its scores in academic expectations and safety & respect improved, while engagement declined, and communication remained constant.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/2010-11/Survey_2011_X439.pdf>;

Aside from the visual arts, students at this school were not involved in the arts at all. However, involvement in the visual arts was higher than in the other schools in the Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus, with 19% involvement among Freshmen, 81% involvement among sophomores and seniors, and 100% involvement among juniors. Half of all students graduated with at least 3 credits in the arts.
< http://schools.nyc.gov/documents/ArtsReport/2010-11/ArtsReport_X439.pdf>;

Appendix L

[1]While it may seem necessary for security purposes, the presence of SSA officers and metal detectors in high schools is creating a hostile environment that likely does not make students feel welcome to learn.

At Aviation High School, the school was forced to cancel all “zero-period” Advanced Placement classes because of “disruptions caused by the NYPD,” and attendance dropped from 94 percent to 70 percent because of the lines caused by the metal detectors (11). “Students and families who attempted to protest the NYPD police action at Aviation High School were threatened or silenced” (11). At the Community School for Social Justice and the Health Opportunities High School, female students were searched by male officers in what was a “clear violation of the Chancellor’s Regulations” (12). A teacher even protested in a note: “can we please no treat...teenagers who have gotten themselves to school like they’ve committed a crime?” (13). The principal of Curtis High School described the officers as abrasive and complained that they “treated students with disrespect” (14).

82% percent of students surveyed reported that they had been late to class because of the metal detectors. 53% of students surveyed reported that officers have spoken with them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable. 27% of students surveyed reported that officers touched or treated them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable. “The Bloomberg administration claims that increased policing in schools responsible for a significant decline in school crime, but the National Center for School and Communities at Fordham University shows that such claims are inflated” (19).

Criminalizing the Classroom: The Over-Policing of New York City Schools by Elora Mukherjee, Marvin M. Karpatkin Fellow (2006-2007)
Appendix M
[1] The Fordham Partnership Support Organization provides a range of technical assistance and support including:
Fordham Faculty and Consultant Coaching Support
Fundraising/Grant Writing
College Tours
Student Teachers
Leadership Development
Special Education Support
Professional Development
Study Groups
among other equally important services.

“Our goal has been to engage our partner schools, districts and governmental agencies in the process of helping teachers teach more effectively and have all students, regardless of background, learn at higher levels. We conduct our work by drawing on the best scholarship and applying that cutting edge knowledge to the challenges of the classroom. Simply stated, we are research-based and outcomes oriented. Since 2007, there has been a huge investment of time, skill, energy, and emotion supporting our PSO network schools. The Fordham PSO embraces the individuality of every school and works with each principal to strengthen school capacity, whether through workshops, curriculum support, or in the pursuit of additional funding for special projects.”
http://www.fordham.edu/academics/colleges__graduate_s/graduate__profession/educati on/centers/center_for_education/partnership_support_/
Appendix N
[1] “Dr. Steven D’Agustino, director of the RETC, brought the project participants together in response to the RETC’s mission of community involvement and closing the digital divide. Fordham High School for the Arts (FHSFTA) lacks the technology infrastructure to effectively implement the PLATO credit recovery software, so the RETC offered to allow students to use their facilities. FHSFTA teachers and students named the program Project R.I.S.E., or "Rediscovering Inspiration for Student Excellence."

But, more than just using the software, the students will be able to interact with Fordham University students. The Boyle Scholars, an honors society from the Gabelli School of Business, are required to fulfill a community service component and will serve as mentors. The high school students are encouraged to think about their own aspirations for college, while the Fordham students will have a positive impact on the local community outside the University gates. Project R.I.S.E. is considered a model program that serves as a basis for grant and funding proposals.”
;

The Sixties Student Movement and the Working Class- Clearing Up Misconceptions

During the 1960’s, New York city was the scene of an incredibly powerful anti-war and student movement. Like Occupy Wall Street, this movement was often attacked for being unrepresentative of the city’s working class. In reality, this movement was far more diverse in class and race than critics at the time, or historians, realized. As both a participant in this movement, and a historian trying to make sense of it, I want to give a sense of how important the working class component of the anti—war and student movements in New York City were in the 1960’s and early 70’s . In doing so, I will present some rarely discussed features of the Columbia Strike, the most publicized of student movements during the period, as well as the struggle for Open Admissions in the City University, anti-war activism in the city’s high schools, and neighborhood organizing projects spawned by SDS, the Black Panther Party and the Young Lords Party
The Columbia Strike, a building occupation which lasted seven days, has often been held up as an prototypical example of elite leadership of the student movement and the anti-war movement. This is not entirely wrong. The vast majority of the leadership and membership of Columbia SDS, along with the majority of the white students who occupied four of the five buildings, were from middle class and upper middle class families. However, the Black students who occupied Hamilton hall, without whose leadership and militancy the “occupation” strategy would have never been introduced, were fare more diverse in class origins than SDS members. Many of the students occupying Hamilton Hall, including my own girlfriend at the time, came from working class and lower middle class families, products of a new admissions policy which Columbia had introduced beginning in 1966 which multiplied the number of black students at the school more than sixfold. In addition, leaders from Harlem organizations were regular participants in the Hamilton Hall occupation, giving the entire movement space to operate because Columbia administrators were afraid they might cause rioting in Harlem, leading to attacks on the university, if they used police action to pull Hamilton Hall occupants out. In addition, high school students from Harlem and the Upper West Wide played a major role in the strike when they marched, five hundred strong, on to the Columbia campus to break through a blockade of the buildings that conservative athletes had set up to try to “starve out” protesters. Without a highly politicized Harlem community, and strong student movements in largely working class New York City High Schools, both of whom mobilized in support of Black student occupiers and the movement as a whole, the Columbia strike would have likely ended in one or two days, and would not have won its most important victory- the prevention of the construction of a private gymnasium for Columbia students in a public park adjoining the campus.
But though the Columbia strike was the most publicized student movement in that era, not only in New York City, but the nation, it terms of material consequences, it was far surpassed by an entirely working class movement- the struggle for open admissions in the City University of New York. In 1969 Black and Latino students at City College initiated a strike, and blockaded the school, to demand that the overwhelming white 4 year colleges of CUNY open their doors to students of color who had become the majority in the city’s high schools. This fierce battle, supported by SDS chapters around the city won an incredible victory. The City University Board voted to radically change admissions standards for its 4 year colleges and initiate a broad based remediation program to accommodate the new students. The results were astonishing. Within one year, the number of freshmen attending CUNY 4 year colleges rose from 20,000 to 35,000 and the number of students of color tripled. This was arguably the greatest single victory won by the student movement in New York City during the entire period, and was organized and led by students from working class backgrounds.
Where did these students come from? How were they politicized? Here we have to look at the impact of Black students organizations founded in the city’s high schools and colleges, as well as the impact of community organizing and political education carried on by the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party. When the Black Power slogan was launched by Stokely Carmichael of SNCC, it captured the imagination of Black students around the nation. The idea that Black people had to create separate organizations to achieve true self-determination touched a particular chord with Black students at predominantly white institutions and led to the formation of Black student unions on every City University campus and at private colleges like Columbia, NYU and Fordham. The college Black student unions, in turn, reached out to black students at public high schools to form student organizations of their own, a process which was often resisted by recalcitrant administrators, and to demand that black history be taught as part of the curriculum. The result was considerable political turmoil at the city high schools around issues of race and representation, a tension only increased by the 1968 teachers strike which pitted community groups in Black and Latino neighborhoods seeking local control of all aspects of school management against a teachers union determined to have hiring and firing of teachers immune to local pressures
These students were also exposed almost daily, in their neighborhoods, and outside their schools to representatives of the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party. Men in black suits and bow ties selling Muhammed Speaks were a fixture of life in the city’s black neighborhoods, as well as neighborhoods near schools and colleges ( we had our salesman at Columbia ever day). By 1969, men and women selling the Black Panther Party newspaper were almost as visible. High school students of color purchased and read these newspapers, giving them an exposure to a critical view of American society which was a reinforced by neighborhood and school newspapers sold and distributed on the streets by white radical students and activists.
This student activism was supplemented by community organizing, some of it around the war, some of it around issues of health care and labor rights. In the fall of 1969, some activists in a now splintered SDS decided to launch organizing projects in working class neighborhoods in the Bronx and Queens while the Black Panthers and Young Lords joined initiated a remarkable campaign to improve health care and empower staff members and patients at the notoriously badly run and dangerous Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx

As a participant in one of these initiatives, the Bronx Coalition, I saw how deeply student and community activism had become embedded into what was then a largely white, but rapidly becoming multiracial section of the Bronx. I was the only “Columbia” person in the group, which consisted of faculty in the Seek Programs ( the new remediation initiative in CUNY) of Lehman and City colleges, nurses, teachers and postal workers, students from Lehman, Clinton, Taft, and Roosevelt High Schools as well as Bronx High School of Science, and students from SDS chapters at Lehman, Bronx Community, Fordham and NYU. We participated in anti-war marches and demonstrations in support of imprisoned members of the Black Panther Party, but we also organized support for striking postal workers, did draft counseling for neighborhood youth, and ran a storefront women’s health clinic that eventually evolved into the first abortion clinic at a New York City Hospital ( Montefiore). We promoted all our activities through a community newspaper, The Cross Bronx Express, which we sold on the streets and outside schools for anywhere from a penny to 25 cents, usually selling out a print run of more than 3,000 papers. We also held street rallies and concerts, picketed the local armed forces recruiting station and tried to take our message to the youth by playing basketball in schoolyards and parks. The abortion clinic was our most lasting achievement, along with the collective accomplishment of helping to the war, but during the two years we were together, we gave a voice to a working class people who were often left out of public discourse, and whose role in building sixties protest movements has often been overlooked. One powerful example of the working class participation in the movement to end the war took place after the invasion of Cambodia. Not only did every university in the borough go on strike, but 5000 high school students, including those from Clinton and Roosevelt, marched out of school and commandeered buses and subway trains to express their outrage at this expansion of the war.
I hope this brief overview will be helpful to Occupy Wall Street as it begins to embed itself in working class communities and to take up issues that are central to those communities economic and social health. Certainly, the greatest victory of that period, the struggle for open admissions at City University, holds numerous lessons for current activists, but so does the role of the Harlem community and high school students in defending, protecting and extending the Columbia strike. Now as then, involvement of the working class is key to endowing justice movements with the energy, power, and moral stature required to extract concessions from the powerful

Mark Naison
December 20, 2011

From Exposure to Action- A New Turn in the Occupy Movement

When the history books are written, this winter may be the remembered at the time when Occupy Wall Street moved from the exposure of the economic system's inequities to the active defense of the disfranchised. The actions taken to prevent evictions and foreclosures in Brooklyn to Atlanta show the potential of OWS to renegotiate the social contract for people who have lost their homes. The same thing can eventually be done for people who can't pay their student loans. The Eviction of the Occupiers has given the movement a priceless opportunity to help people fight back against impoverishment and marginalization. By next year, there may be thousands of once empty, now occupied homes and apartments throughout this country. There won't be enough police to evict them. And if that happens, local governments may declare this occupations "legal" as they did in Berlin after the fall of the wall, when artists from all over Germany and all over the world occupied abandoned space in the former "Eastern Zone" of the city!

Mark Naison
December 19, 2011

Something's Happening Here

Yesterday, I met with 150 OWS activists, not one of whom I recognized from any past organizing activity, who asked me to talk about the 1930's rent strikes and anti-eviction protests as models for anti-foreclosure actions OWS is spawning around the country.


The energy, idealism, and organizational savvy I saw in that room was simply electrifying. It was the same thing I experienced when Ira Shor and I spoke at Hollis Presbyterian Church in Queens a week ago, at the 99 Percent Club meeting we had at Fordham last Tuesday, and at the International Socialist Organization meeting in the Bronx I spoke to the week before. There is something stirring on the ground in this nation that is quite formidable. Some of it is connected to Obama Administration initiatives such as Promise Neighborhoods; but some of it is coming from people who feel the Obama Administration has completely abandoned them and that they have to carve their own path


How do you reconcile these two very different organizing perspectives? First, let's recognize that there is no "one size fits all" strategy Some progressives will work like hell to elect Obama; others will concentrate their energies on grass roots protests; some might choose to work for a third party.


The political climate is toxic, but we also have more opportunities to build a real left in this country than we have in a generation


I am taking that opportunity to the limit.


Let the chips fall where they may

Mark Naison
December 19, 2011

Tim Tebow and the Politics of Whiteness

When some of my favorite left wing sports commentators go after Tim Tebow, I find it hard not take it personally. Not because I share any of Tebow’s religious convictions or political beliefs- I have as much in common with him on that score as I do with Newt Gingrich-- but because I was once, on a much lower level, a white athlete who had a lot of the same skill set, physical traits and limitations as Tebow does, and had to prove myself constantly in mostly black ball games and leagues

From the late sixties through the mid 70’s, when I wasn’t writing, teaching or trying to make the revolution, I was playing basketball in schoolyards and gyms in Harlem, the Upper West Side and the Bronx, and playing on multiracial football teams in Riverside and Central Park. As a white guy playing in mostly black games during the height of the Black Power movement, I was always under careful scrutiny. Not everyone appreciated my presence, and I was being tested on two levels- first, was I fast, enough strong enough and athletic enough to compete in the games and second, did I try to boss people around and act like a “coach on the field,” something white players did with numbing regularity and which pissed people I played with off to an incredible degree

Pretty much, I passed muster on both counts. I was not the most skilled player in the world, but I was very strong, very tough, decently fast and a pretty good leaper ( at 6’0 I could grab the rim from a standing position). Though I was never a superstar, the guys I played with concluded I was a valuable teammate because I backed down from no one, could run the court in top competition,, and deferred to players who were more skilled and knowledgeable than me But the main thing that won me acceptance was that I kept my mouth shut and let people who knew the game better than me direct the action. If I was going to be a white player in mostly or all black games, it was going to be my “game” that earned respect, not my mouth, and it was defense and rebounding that were going to be my meal tickets

Now what does this have to do with Tim Tebow? Well, from the first time I saw him in college, I felt he was a player who earned respect through strength and toughness rather than some mythical “cerebral” quality that racist announcers liked to attribute to white athletes. He wasn’t talkative, he wasn’t arrogant, he got the ball to his teammates when he could, and ran people over when he couldn’t. He was white, yes, and he probably got undue attention because of his whiteness, but he never tried to steal the limelight from his teammates, many of whom were gifted athletes, and who had ample opportunity to shine in the offense he ran

Best of all, he didn’t confirm racial stereotypes. He was strong, tough, athletic, dominating the game because defensive players couldn’t tackle him. And he had clearly won the respect of his black teammates. I liked that. That’s what I played for and it thought it was kind of cool to see a white player gain respect through some of the same strategies I used

Now fast forward to the last two months. As result of the victories he has won since become the Denver Bronco’s starting quarterback, Tim Tebow has become perhaps the most talked about figure in American sports. To much of the country, Tebow has become a folk hero, a symbol of triumph over adversity; to some of my friends, he has become a symbol of white privilege and preferential opportunities given to white quarterbacks.

I refuse to buy into either of these narratives. To me, Tebow is still the tough white kid earning respect in a mostly black game by sacrificing his body for the good of the team and finding ways of enhancing the talents of his team mates.

He plays the way I played, the way my son Eric played, the way my daughter Sara played, and the way I would teach any ball player to play

That he is made into some kind of hero for achievements that might gain little attention were he black, is not his fault. It’s not what he asked for, not what he wants.

Even to the privileged, race can be a double edged sword, causing one’s achievements to be so exaggerated that they end up being minimized

Eminem’s ironic comments on his own career apply well to Tebow’s peculiar odyssey


#look at my sales, let's do the math, if I was black, I would've sold half, I
Ain't have to graduate from Lincoln high school to know that”

Let the man play. Over time, the miracles will cease and he will just be another good quarterback in a tough league. And when the attention dies down, his ”whiteness” will cease to be a source of either excitement or rage and he can go back to being what he always wanted to be – a hard nosed player respect by his teammates.

Mark Naison
December 17, 2011

Why Young Activists Won't Rally to the Obama Campaign

Although I agree that the country is on the whole quite conservative, I think Occupy Wall Street is a "game changer" which over time will create an activist left in this nation of a kind we have not seen since the 60's and possibly since the 30's. If I am right about this- and my assessment comes from in depth work with four different groups of young activists since the late summer, one of them connected to the Save Our Schools March, the other three to the Occupy movements, I am convinced that there is no chance at all mobilizing these young people for Obama's re-election. I also think that the Occupy movement is more important to the long term cause of social justice than the Obama Presidency. My message to young activists is therefore to keep building grass roots movements and stay independent of electoral politics except in those rare instance when involvement won't compromise important goals ( e.g. the referendum to remove Scott Walker in Wisconsin; Elizabeth Warren's Senatorial campaign). As for the Obama campaign, leave that to allies in the labor movement who feel their bread and butter interests are advanced by a Democrat in the White House.

That message is one that has great resonance with my young comrades and co-workers. They see Obama as a President who supports those who would gas them, detain them, and, in the case of the young teachers, destroy the opportunity for them to have any creativity and self-respect in their jobs


All I ask is that Obama supporters, especially those in positions of authority, whether in universities or in government, don't try to suppress grass roots activism that remains independent of their campaign.

But that may be a tall order

Why The Next Great Wave of Unrest Will Come from Working Class Youth- And Why Elites Have Themselves to Blame If This Happens

“Don’t push me, cause I ‘m close to the edge.
I’m trying not to lose my head
It’s like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under”

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five “The Message”



While the mayors of America’s big cities may be congratulating themselves for their nationally coordinated effort to evict Occupy camps, in the very near future, they are likely to face unrest of far greater proportions that will be much more difficult to control

This time, it will not be coming from underemployed, ex college students laboring under unsustainable student loan debt- it will be coming from young people in working class and poor neighborhoods whose school experiences are being made increasing barren by budget cuts and excessive testing, all to prepare them for a future that consists of little more than entry into minimum wage jobs, colleges that have become unaffordable, continuous police harassment, and a ticket to the nation’s prisons.

The forms this unrest will take may be ugly and frightening, ranging from uncontrolled fighting to school walkouts,, to flash mob robberies, to full scale riots in response to acts of police violence, but when they begin to reach epidemic proportions, policy makers won’t have radical activists to blame. It is their own policies which drove these young people to the wall

The following are creating a “tinder box” of conditions in working class and poor communities which it will not take much of a spark to ignite

1. Repressive school policies. During the current recession, school budgets throughout the country have been cut to the bone, greatly increasing class size, reducing or eliminating arts and sports programs, and reducing the number of social workers and guidance counselors. At the same time these cuts are taking place, students are being deluged with standardized tests which reduce classroom learning into little more than test prep. In working class and poor neighborhoods, the combination of budget cuts and uncontrolled testing made school even more boring and repressive than it was before, creating tremendous resentment among students and teachers. If there was some reward at the end of the day for six hours of pure boredom and repetition, students might tolerate it, but because of the grim news on the job and college front, students are increasingly resentful of what they are being put through, and are beginning to act out by leaving school, or disrupting school routines.
2. A Terrible Job Market. Youth unemployment in many cities is over 40 percent, for Black teenagers, it is often 70 percent. Worse yet, the few jobs available for high school graduates, largely in fast food restaurants and chain stores, involve low wages, no benefits, little job security, no union protection and harsh management strategies. While many young people eagerly take such jobs as the only alternative to unemployment and the underground economy, it does not mean that they are happy about where they have ended up, or are unaware of how much more privileged the growing upper middle class population the gentrifying cities the live in is. As inequality grows more glaring and visible, and as elites continue to blithely line their own pockets at the expense of workers ( the CEO of Wal-Mart Makes $16,000 and hour while the starting wage there is $6.50 an hour), young people facing a lifetime of poverty and low wage work are going to grow increasingly resentful. Don’t be surprised if that resentment explodes to the surface sooner rather than later
3. Unaffordable College Education. In response to budget cuts from state legislatures, public universities around the nation, including community colleges, are raising their tuitions, making them unaffordable for young people from working class and poor families who see these institutions as the one life line out of the school to prison/minimum wage pipeline. When young people from families of modest means find they can’t afford to attend college or are forced to drop out, they confront a job market that offers them little dignity, opportunity, or security. They are quite literally trapped, in a way that smothers what little hope they had of a better life

Now put these things together- oppressive, boring schools, a grim job market, colleges no one can afford, coupled with gentrification, a growing wealth gap and ferocious police harassment and you have an almost ideal set of conditions for unrest, especially since these young people have watched some of their more privileged counterparts mount a revolt of their own.

I have no idea when this unrest will emerge on a large scale, or what forms it will take, but I will be very surprised if we don’t see signs of it this coming spring and summer

I would love to see political activists give this unrest constructive direction, so we might avoid violent actions where innocent people are hurt, but I am not such activists are numerous enough or well organized enough to do this

More likely, we are all going to reap the whirlwind from policies driven by uncontrolled selfishness and greed on the part of the rich and the powerful

Mark Naison
September 16, 2011

What Occupy Wall Street Has Accomplished in Three Short Months

Many people in the media, as well as many citizens, complain that Occupy Wall Street has no leaders and no goals. While Occupy Wall Street and its spin offs around the nation have certainly not developed “leaders” who articulate its goals to the media or negotiate with public officials, it has already registered a formidable list of accomplishments for a movement this young. The evictions of Occupy protesters by law enforcement authorities using helicopters, tear gas, pepper spray, bulldozers and rubber bullets and occasionally using Patriot Act protocols to prevent journalists from reporting on the evictions have only made the movement stronger, encouraging it to take the Occupy movement into working class communities of color who have long been under duress from regressive and discriminatory economic policies and the abuse of police power.



Here is my list of some of the important things this movement has done, with more to come as it grows and matures



1 Put the question of economic inequality in the center of national discourse for the first time since the 1960’s, even though such inequality has been growing dramatically for the last 20 years. The vocabulary the movement has developed to describe this inequality “ the 1 % and the 99%” have become a permanent part of our political discourse and has focused great attention on how the mal distribution of wealth has undermined democracy and eroded the living standards of the great majority of Americans



2 Called attention to the stifling impact of student loan debt on young college, professional and trade school graduates who face the double whammy of a stagnant job market and crippling debt. The attention given this issue inspired President Obama to marginally ease the loan burden of current recipients. In the future, it might well prompt a radical reconfiguration of the debt or a major program of loan forgiveness



3. Created political pressures that prompted the postponement of a decision by President Obama to begin construction of the controversial Keystone XL natural gas pipeline



4. Forced New York Governor Cuomo, whose promise not to renew the state’s millionaire’s drew national attention, to negotiate with state legislators a tax increase in the higher brackets, to go into effect next year, which will prevent 2 billion dollars in anticipated budget cuts



4 Inspired a wide variety of actions to prevent foreclosures and evictions and to bring relief to beleaguered home owners and tenants, including preventing the eviction of a 103 year old woman in Atlanta, forcing a Harlem landlord to restore heat to tenants, and occupying a foreclosed house in the East New York Section of Brooklyn



5. Put the undemocratic character of many education reform policies, particularly school closings, under much greater scrutiny, creating pressures on policy makers that will make these closings much more difficult to implement them without more consultation and input from parents, students, teachers and community members



6. Given the labor movement a new vocabulary to challenge attacks on collective bargaining and union recognition, providing added ammunition to the successful campaign to defeat anti-collective bargaining bill sin the states of Ohio and New Hampshire.



7 Focused attention on the issue of police brutality and the militarization of urban police forces in ways that reinforces longstanding complaints of police misconduct and abuse in Black and Latino communities



8. Helped create a political climate which persuaded the Philadelphia District Attorney to remove the death sentence from human rights activist and journalist Mumia Abu Jamal.



9 Sparked protests against tuition increases at the nation's public universities, especially in the California public colleges, and the City University of New York.



10. Closed down several West Coast ports in support of striking port workers.



This would be an impressive list of accomplishments for a movement that has lasted two years. But Occupy Wall Street has only been with us for three months!

My Barack Obama Problem

Like many people on the Left, I have become disillusioned with the Obama Presidency. As one of those people who devoted huge amounts of time, money and energy to getting Obama elected, and who cried on election night when his victory was assured, I found myself hoping against hope that there was some redemptive quality to his leadership amidst expansion of foreign wars, attacks on public school teachers, bailouts of banks unaccompanied by serious controls, and a host of other policies that appeared to contradict everything he stood for during his campaign.

Although my heart wasn’t in it, I tried to justify his policies as the result of a powerful congressional opposition that refused to support policies that brought the full power of the federal government behind job creation and income policies designed to ease the pain of the nation’s struggling working class and middle class, along with those long trapped in poverty

But recently, I have started to think that the “real” Barack Obama is not the community organizer pictured Dreams from My Father or the fierce defender of the middle class that emerged on the campaign trail, but a cynical, ambitious, politician who loves spending time with the rich and the powerful and who has tied his administration’s and his own future to gaining their support.

The straw that broke the camel’s back, after many disappointments, was the image of the President regaling a $2,500 a plate dinner in San Francisco while Occupy Oakland was being attacked by an army of police using tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray and bulldozers. The Obama of
Dreams from My Father would have rushed across the Bay to stand with the Occupiers, but this Obama didn’t so much as give the protesters a second thought. The President was totally relaxed and in his element with the hedge fund and dot com executives, and media moguls, supporting his campaign. THEY, not the Occupiers, were now his real constituency. Not only were they the ones funding his presidential campaign, they were the ones who were going to be employing him after he left the Presidency, assuring that he, and his family would be part of the 1 Percent for the foreseeable future!

As a young man, who like the President, grew up in a lower middle class family and went to an Ivy League college and graduate school, I can understand the lure of great wealth and power to someone who grew up with neither. When you are a talented person from a family of modest means, it can be very heady to be courted by and praised by some of the nation’s smartest, wealthiest and most powerful people. And if you are so talented and charismatic that these people decide to groom you to become one of them , it can definitely persuade you to make compromises that end up affecting your conscience and your social consciousness.

For very personal reasons, I never enjoyed hanging out in the clubs and restaurants and vacation houses of the wealthy as much as the times I spent in neighborhood ball fields, schoolyards, and community centers interacting with working class and middle class people. I keep my feet in both worlds but I consider “the hood” to be my moral compass, the place where I have to go to find out if my life’s mission has any real traction, any real meaning.

But I fear the President is different. The people who come to the White House , whether the professional basketball players who show up at his birthday parties, the talented musicians who come to entertain, or the CEO’s and political kingmakers who come to discuss policy, are always a cross session of the most successful people in whatever field they are in. The President never tries to bring in ordinary people to talk to him privately and find out what is going on in their workplaces and neighborhoods. Those are not the people he trust, those are not the people he is comfortable with; those are not the people he wants to spend time with when he leaves the Presidency

A real cue to the President’s character came when he decided to host an Education Summit. To this event, he invited CEO’s of the nation’s largest corporations, and executives in some of the nation’s wealthiest foundations, but not one teacher. This is the real Barack Obama--someone who has left the world he grew up in, and the communities in Chicago he organized in, and who craves the company and advice of people, like himself, who have accomplished great things or accumulated great wealth.

In some ways, he is the perfect President for a country where ambition is honored above loyalty, generosity, and concern for those who have fallen in hard times and where we honor those who have overcome great obstacles to “rise to the top”

But whether he is the right President to lead us through the worst economic crisis in 70 years and stand up for all the people who have lost jobs and homes and hope is another matter entirely

Mark Naison
December 15, 2011