R.I.P. Muhammad Ali

Just received an email from one of my students informing me that Muhammad Ali had passed at the age of 74. I feel empty inside. Muhammad Ali reinvented what it meant to be an athlete in American society, paid the price for his courage, and ultimately became a folk hero even to those who originally rejected his transformation. I cannot think of the 60's without his face and his words. Like many great athletes before and after him, he was charismatic as well as supremely talented. He entranced people with his lightning movements in the ring, his poetic predictions, his rare physical beauty. But at the height of his popularity, he identified with a black nationalist religious organization that turned the ideology of white supremacy on its head, changed his name, and ultimately, was willing to give up his entire career and the wealth associated with it for refusing induction in the military during an unpopular war. No athlete of his stature, black or white, had ever taken a step of this kind. He was excoriated for this by sportswriters and much of the public, but became a folk hero to many young people,white as well as black, who felt the same way about the War in Vietnam.

This step elevated him into a human rights figure whose stature transcended sports. When he returned to the ring in the late 60's, his fights became major political events as well as athletic contests. His first fight with Joe Frazier, which I saw at a theater on 96th street and Broadway with thousands of people outside trying to get in, was the most exciting single sports event I was ever part of. Everyone I knew was watching. It was as if all the events reshaping our lives-war, assassinations, racial upheavals- were with us in the ring.

Ali remained with us as a public figure for many years after, his career outlasting the War that helped define his public identity. As his speed and skills diminished, he continued to win big fights through guile and courage, taking as much punishment as his rival and nemesis Joe Frazier had endured. His courage, which ultimately took a toll on his speech and brain function, won him the admiration of even many who had deplored his political stance. He became an American and global icon, a survivor as well as maker of history, a symbol of endurance and vulnerability as well as an athlete of rare beauty and skill, and a public figure willing to sacrifice wealth and fame for his beliefs.

Now he has left us, Our country is a very different place than it was when he came upon the scene in the early 60's.

More than any sports figure of his time, he helped to change it.

Why Jim Horn's New Book Should Be Required Reading in Every School District in the Nation

Jim Horn's new book "Work Hard,Be Hard: Journeys Through 'No Excuses' Teaching" should be required reading in every school district in the nation. Horn provides a devastating portrait of how what is essentially a Sweatshop model of schooling for children of color attracted huge support from philanthropists-many of whose own companies profited from Sweatshop labor- along with elected officials in both parties. That a model that depends so heavily on intimidation and behavior modification, for teachers as well as students, has become a model, not only for charter schools, but public schools, reflects a society where the prerogatives of great wealth have overpowered humanity, common sense and our best understanding of child development. Those who romanticize this "results driven" model need to come to grips not only with Horn's portrait of what it means to teach and learn in such a school, but his analysis of the antecedents of this model in post civil war industrial education. That we as a society have invested so heavily in institutionalized educational abuse for the children of the poor is damning enough; that we now want to spread it to all public school children suggest what a grim future is in store for most of our population if current economic trends continue! Every school board, superintendent, and principal who extoll the "No Excuses" model or promotes a pedagogy that sees test results as the sole criteria of achievement and learning a should be required to read this book. We are heading down a path that is crushing joy and creativity among more and more of our young people, and driving the best teachers out of the profession 

Harlem Memories by Ty DePass

i was born in Harlem -- W.117th St., 1/2-block off Lenox Ave. the brownstone owned by my Great Aunt Sissy was the anchor for family moving north from Louisiana, as well as for an extended family of "uncles," "aunties" & "cousins." there was always a pot of red beans on the stove & a welcome for every visitor. (in this fashion, my Honduran-born "Paran," or godfather, was inducted into the family)
as a child, i remember Malcolm's outdoor rallies, pushcart vendors & African bookstores on 125th St., block parties & open fire hydrants in the summer. in the early '50s, horse drawn carts still carried blocks of ice, piles of coal & cold watermelon or cabbages. but most of all, i remember Harlem as the home to black people from the Caribbean, Central America & Mother Africa.
my last good memory of my mother was as a young adult, then living & raising a family in Virginia, having a quiet drink, listening to live music at Small's Paradise on W.135th St.
i always thought i'd return to Harlem someday, but i fear it won't be the place i left so long ago. Ω

A Message to Teachers As I Approach My 70th Birthday

When I think about the war on teachers and teaching currently being waged by business leaders and politicians, I think about where our best traditions come from and draw strength from the images that come to mind: I see Socrates; I see African griots conveying the history of whole peoples in verse; I see Jesus imparting his disciples with a vision that would change the world; I see Harriet Tubman telling desperate slaves how best to escape in a brush arbor deep in the woods. Many of the most important figures in our collective history were teachers. So my fellow teachers, think of this precious legacy the next time an editorial writer or politician denigrates what you do; or a state education department tries to get you to implement a directive that violates your professional conscience. They may have the money and power, but history is on your side. You erase teaching; you erase civilization

Woodie Guthrie Warned Us- A Poem

They died
on plantations
in mines
on road gangs
on the docks
picking fruit
building canals railroads and levees
erecting bridges and skyscrapers
jumping out of the windows of textile factories
Black and white,
Male and female.
Slavic and Italian
Irish and Jewish
Mexican and Chinese
Jamaican and Puerto Rican
people from every part of the world
Creating a nation,
that could belong to all
or be controlled by the few
which will it be?

Nativism, Racism and the Trump Candidacy

Although I am fiercely opposed to Donald Trump's immigration policies, I do not think he is an American version of a fascist dictator. Rather, I see him as the latest version of a long line of Nativist politicians, going back to the 1830's, who have used fears of immigrants and outsiders to advance their political careers. Their targets over the years have varied, starting with Irish Catholics in the early 19th Century, moving on to Asians, Italians, Jews and Eastern Europeans. In almost every instance, their words have coincided with acts of violence against targeted groups, ranging from burning of churches and convents, to expulsion of entire communities from towns and cities ( directed against Chinese residents the American West in late 19th Century) to the revival of the Ku Klux Klan as an anti-immigrant group after WWI. This is my concern about Mr. Trump's rhetoric. It has the potential to turn large groups of Americans against one another, leading to violent conflicts at public events, pitting neighbor against neighbor. This is not something new to American history It has happened before, many times. It left scars, some recent, some more ancient, on almost everyone living in the Brooklyn neighborhood I grew up in, where the vast majority of the people were Jewish, Italian, Irish and Black. I do not wish to see these wounds open again.

I am hoping against hope that when Mr Trump becomes the Republican presidential candidate, he will de-emphasize racially and religiously targeted attacks on immigrants. If he doesn't. we are about to head down a very dangerous road, one which we have traveled before, always with the most painful consequences..

Courageous Speech to Her School Board by An Upstate NY Teacher

The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.--Coco Chanel

Something I certainly haven't been able to do with any ease up until these last two years. Still it is difficult. Especially when public or private voicings of discontent are viewed in our school community as whining, retaliatory, or even mean-spirited. As many of you here have witnessed, there's a tidal wave of emotions related to decisions made by our school
District that teachers and parents alike believe to not be in line with the educational mission of our district or best educational practices based on collective experience and research.

Many of us parents and teachers have been told publicly and privately that the board does not like to micromanage. While this can be appreciated on one level, I would still like an explanation as to why our board refuses to exercise their board authority which states" in all cases were laws and regulations of the state commissioner of education do not provide, permit, or prohibit, the board shall consider itself the agent responsible for establishing and appraising educational matters and activities."

On behalf of my fellow parents and colleagues I would like to re-offer some of the top educational matters and activities that are believed to be in need of appraising and establishing by our board.

1. Reinvest in the smaller class size model. This investment, is proven through research and even recommended by the state, especially in schools of high poverty. Great education dividends should be expected in the very near future if this were to be established. With such a fiscally prudent board, I believe it would be clear to you that investing monies on things like a district app or community education before taking care of the needs of our most vulnerable students would be the priority. I can tell you that many of my student's parents still use trac phones without internet support and would be excluded from using the resource anyway.

 Having 25 students in a fifth grade class such as my own is not the same as 25 in a primary grade. If it was not possible to reduce class-size in all grades the primary grades is where this practice should begin again.

2. We would also like to request that before approving line items such as instructional consultants or other programs into the budget that all teachers have been given an opportunity to be made aware of these new programs and support consultants that are to be purchased. Start with a teacher led committee then bring it to the table with all teacher's input. By doing this you will gain important insight and be able to offer your input before hiring or purchasing programs that will impact our already financially strained district. This would be an incredible collaborative opportunity. It is believed that this practice would save the district thousands of dollars.

3. Since you are responsible for establishing and appraising educational matters and activities, I would like to appeal to you to please return the offering of skills classes especially for algebra. I have never heard a reason for continuing the elimination of the one and a half and 2 yr courses that were meant to support those who struggle and need more time to master the skills and concepts. If we are to stay true to the Canajoharie central school vision statement then let's offer all of our students multiple pathways to success. Based on research, we are in the minority locally and statewide when it comes to this practice.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all act swiftly on the policy change you're voting on tonight which is to "carry out the educational mission of the district on behalf of the resident and the community in matters of education.

Thank you.