Justice for Akiel Denkins- An Urgent Communication from North Carolina BLM Leader Desmera Gatewood

Justice for Akiel Denkins

And a love letter to the movement.

Before tonight, where we stood we may have all questioned.  I questioned where I stood, where others stood, where we would stand, if we would stand, who would stand, why would they stand, but my state of North Carolina is still standing.  Collectively.  And we're standing for Akiel Denkins.

The people of Bragg Street began this stand with their cries for justice, their testimony, their witness and their assembly in the streets.  They fought against the narrative of anything that made them less than human.  We saw it with our own eyes.  Not as voyeurs, but as lovers.  Lovers of the people.

Folks from Durham, Greensboro, Chapel Hill, and the indigenous leaders of Raleigh and the transplants,  have come together under the sovereignty of Justice for Akiel Denkins. 

Every single type of organization from the Nation of Islam,  Youth Organizing Institute, Youth and College Division of the NAACP, SONG, Spirit House Inc., Black Workers For Justice, SNCC, Crips, Bloods,   And Every single type of person: young people, black people, non-black people, queer people, baptist people, atheist people, gender nonconforming people, elderly people, disabled people, introverts, extroverts, huggers and (not really sure what to juxtapose huggers with, slappers? Idk) have ALL been there for Akiel Denkins.

Now, to my brothers and sisters of NC [(and can someone please tell me the preferential way of acknowledging someone who is gender nonconforming when I say brothers and sisters, because I want to know it, (I said brethren one time and felt like a 60 year old white man, so we need something soon, but I don't mind if that's less offensive, saying that!]  the world is listening and watching to see how a state can come together and grieve and fight for justice after such a disgraceful disgusting, heinous act: The murder of a person.  The deprivation of another black life.  The horror of hate. The symptom of white supremacy.  The result of the lie that is ethnocentrism.  The disregard for another black life.  The destruction of another black home.  The pain of another black mother.  The death of another black man. The bloody hands of another white policeman.

How do we deal with that?  We fight with what my friend April Parker would say is Revolutionary Love, love, love.  And we have done it.  This state.  The state of Ella Baker, Pauli Murray, Floyd McKissick, Bob Zellner, Ajamu Dillahunt, Julius Chambers, John Hope Franklin, GK Butterfield, Rev. Curtis Gatewood, Laila Nur, Vashti Hinton, Qasima Wideman, Bree Newsome, Ashley Williams, Rebekah Barber, Joshua Sankara.  The Beloved Community Center,  Soul City, the Wilmington 10, this state has been standing on the #Frontlines of justice for centuries.

But those names will mean nothing to the cause if we don't remember why we are here. We are here now to say HIS name, Akiel Denkins.  Akiel Denkins is the name of the black shining prince who the media dubbed a drug suspect.  Akiel Denkins is the man who was gunned down like an animal while he fled like a human.

But this is the state that believes in fighting for people over money and we do it forward, together.

Thank y'all for your work.

#JusticeForAkielBrown

#BlackLivesMatter

#PeopleStandingForPeople

Letter to Fordham Admissions Director Urging that Students Who Opt Out of Tests Be Given Serioius Consideration

March 1, 2016

Dr. Patricia Peek
Director of Admissions
Fordham University

Dear Dr Peek
As a faculty member at Fordham for 45 years, and as a scholar following trends in education policy, I want to call your attention to the possibility that young people who are refusing standardized tests as a matter of principle may eventually be a significant group among future applicants to Fordham University.
Last year, in New York State alone, more than 220,000 students refused to take Common Core aligned tests and the movement this is part of –Opt Out- is growing in every part of the country. Participants in this movement believe that standardization and excessive testing are undermining critical thinking, an appreciation of literature and the arts, and student and teacher autonomy in favor of a one size fits all model of pedagogy that aligns learning to standards imposed from above. As a faculty member who teaches History courses, I see some of the damage imposed by this model in the form of student confusion when I ask for critical commentary on course tests and assign independent research projects instead of short answer tests. And I am not alone in this perception. Many of my colleagues also complain of students who resist being asked to read entire books or do independent research projects. In short, the kind of testing and pedagogy that is prompting test resistance at the K-12 level is also creating problems for students at the college level, at least in Humanities courses.
My main point is this. I strongly urge Fordham to allow applicants to the school to refuse to take the SAT- which is now Common Core aligned- and submit applications where they are judged solely on grades, recommendations, persuasive essays and submission of independent work. Many such students will be highly gifted, principled young people, who have taken a moral position on one of the great issues of the day. Fordham will not only be taking a stance for creative pedagogy by adopting such a policy, it will encourage applications from talented students who have a great deal to contribute to our University community.
I am available to meet with you in person if you would like to discuss this issue in greater depth
Sincerely
Mark D Naison
Professor of African American Studies and History
Founder and Director
Bronx African American History Project
Please feel free to use this letter, with appropriate adaptations, at other universities.

The Obama Administration- and the Democratic Party's- War On Teachers:

One of the most disturbing legacies of the Obama Administration's 7 years in office, which it shows every sign of continuing through its nomination of John King to be Secretary of Education, has been its war on the nation's public school teachers and on public education generally.

The President hit the ground running with this attack by appointing Arne Duncan, someone with no teaching experience, as Secretary of Education and set the tone for his Administration, shortly after his election, by praising the mass firing of teachers in Central Falls Rhode Island who refused to agree to dramatic modifications of their contract to lengthen the school day.

The attack escalated with the unveiling of Race to the Top, which gave huge grants to states who rated teachers on the basis of student test schools, closed schools designated as "failing"- also on the basis of test scores- and gave preference to charter schools over public schools. It was reaffirmed in subsequent years by the enthusiastic support given by the US Department of Education for the Common Core Standards- which were created with little teacher input, by the Admistration's grants to Teach for America and celebration of "National Charter School Week," and by the systematic exclusion of teachers by education policy bodies created by the administration

Worse yet, Administration's spokesperson in this area, Arne Duncan, took every possible opportunity to attack the nation's public school teachers as poorly trained, poorly qualified and in dire need of replacement by higher achieving students from the nation's top universities.

In the face of this attack, which was echoed throughout the country and turned into policy by Democratic politicians like Rahm Emmanuel, Andrew Cuomo and Dannel Malloy, teacher morale plunged to its lowest levels in recorded history and teacher activism in defense of public education exploded in the form of groups like Save Our Schools, United Opt Out, BATS and Network for Public Education.

But the Obama Administration was, and still is, tone def to these protests. The best sign of this is its current effort to have John King, the most hated education commissioner in the history of New York State, and one who helped generate an Opt Out movement than included well over 200,000 families, as Secretary of Education.

So if anyone wonders why Bernie Sanders is giving Hillary Clinton such a formidable challenge for the Democratic nomination, and why Donald Trump may be elected President, look at how the Obama Administration and the Democratic leadership throughout the country has treated public school teachers, one of the largest groups in the nation's fast shrinking middle class

This shameful story has to be part of the explanation of why insurgent candidates have spoiled the party for Democratic and Republican Party elites.

How Charter School Ads in NYC Have Backfired

Driving home from work today, I heard the latest approval ratings for Mayor DeBlasio on 1010 Wins. His approval ratings are now 58 percent, more than 10 points higher than they were in September. His highest approval ratings were among Black New Yorkers. Over 70 percent approved of his performance; only 12 percent disapproved

Funny, weren't those Black voters the targets of those Hedge Fund financed charter school ads accusing the Mayor of being racist for not supporting a huge expansion of charters in New York City.

Guess that campaign didn't work very well

And I guess that Eva Moskowitz won't be running against him for Mayor in the next election, either in the Democratic primary, or the general election.

Elite Academia's Dirty Little Secret

One of the ironies of my life in the academy is that virtually none of the practices that have made me most successful as a teacher- particularly the intensive individual attention I give my students both when I have them and after they have graduated- have been used to develop institutional practices at my own university or any where else. I have been treated extremely well at Fordham, and given much respect for my scholarship and teaching, but faculty here are NOT encouraged to spend as much time with their students as I do, much less their alumni, out of fear that it might get in the way of their scholarship. And if that is true at Fordham, you can imagine what it is at Yale or the other Ivies. I have received many horror stories from graduate students at these august institutions whose professors hold on to their work for months, never answer their emails, and give them only the most perfunctory attention even after they have been awarded prestigious fellowships to attend these institutions. In a million years i would never treat one of my students, with that kind of disrespect. Yes disrespect, neglect, unanswered emails, papers returned without real comments, are par for the course in many of our high prestige institutions.

I would never exchange my life for one of those professors, even though their salary may be higher than mine and my workload higher. But they, rather than me, are being held up as models of how a successful academic is supposed to comport themselves

That is one of the dirty little secrets of academia. The deep investment in my students careers and academic performance that I pride myself on is perceived as an eccentricity or an anachronism

And maybe that helps explain why so many graduates of elite colleges have so little respect for professors. and the teaching profession generally.

A Presidential Prediction That May Upset Many People

I am going to make a prediction that may upset many people, but since it may force people to think outside the box, here goes
If the Republicans confirm President Obama's Supreme Court nominee during the remainder of his term in office, the Republican candidate, probably Donald Trump, will be elected president
If the Republicans obstruct his nominee, Hillary Clinton will be elected President because independent voters and those who will regard Republican obstructionism as a sign of disrespect for the President will mobilize to assure her election even though she is not their preferred candidate.
If you think this is far fetched, please consider this- Because of my teaching philosophy and approach to social media, I have friends and former students all over the country from every point of the political spectrum, who i encourage to express their viewpoints freely. Plus I talk to everyone I meet about politics- neighbors,repair people, people I meet playing tennis and golf, people I run into in stores or when travelling. Because if this, I have a pretty good sense of the mood of the country; As a a result
I predicted both Obama elections
I was telling all my friends as early as New Year's that Donald Trump was likely to be the Republican nonminee even though they all thought I was crazy
So here it is. If Obama's Supreme Court nominee is confimed, Donald Trump will be President. If his nominee blocked, it will be Hillary Clinton
Personally, I am a Bernie Sanders Supporter, but first, I think he will be denied the nomination, and second, if he is nominated, Michael Bloomberg will come in as a 3rd Party candidate.
So that my prediction. I am ready to take side bets on this with those who disagree to supplement my retirement income

The "Best and the Brightest" Who Have Brought us "School Reform"

In the 1960's journalist David Halberstam wrote a devastating book, entitled "The Best and the Brightest," about the intellectuals and policy makers who developed the strategic rationale for the Vietnam War. Someone could do the same today for the architects of Common Core and Test Based School Reform. So many of the key figures in this initiative- Wendy Kopp of Teach for America, Michelle Rhee, David Coleman of Common Core, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Arne Duncan- attended Ivy League schools. All of them seem to have a couple of things in common- a contempt for the large majority of teachers who attended public universities and received their teacher training in those institutions; and a belief that all policy initiatives to must be heavily "data based."

The goals they set for themselves were ambitious- reducing gaps in educational achievement by race and class and improving the US position in global educational ranking. But they have been no more successful in achieving those goals than their Vietnam Era counterparts were in transforming South Vietnam into a successful independent nation.

And in both cases, the costs to the nation have been immense- a nation divided and a generation of young people traumatized by war in the first instance; a generation of teachers humiliated and a generation of students demoralized in the second.

The lesson: intellectual arrogance and elitism can extract a very high price.