In effort to save the school from closing, students and faculty at Catherine Ferguson Academy organized a sit-in and occupied the school for several hours. Police assaulted and arrested a number of the protestors.
Catherine Ferguson Academy is the only public school in Detroit that serves pregnant teens and teen moms. The specialized school boasts a 90% graduation rate and 100% graduate college acceptance rate - the school requires college acceptance as a requirement for graduation. The benchmark of a "good school" should be its ability to prepare its students for college and careers.
Young mothers in low-income communities of color are among the most marginalized, most overlooked, most abandoned by the system. Catherine Ferguson Academy is one of a few schools in the country designed to meet the needs of young mothers - offering support programs, childcare and parenting classes. The fact that it is the only school in Detroit with these necessary programs and supports is sobering. And that it is slated to close is more than unjust - it's social exclusion.
The bigger picture is that school functions as a socializing and learning space for young people to learn skills and tools that will prepare them for the world. In addition to creating a supportive academic and social space, Catherine Ferguson Academy also runs a successful urban farm, which was featured in the documentary "Grown in Detroit." The urban farming movement has created viable alternative economies in Detroit, New Orleans, the Bronx and other areas hit by abandonment and urban decay.
It's obvious but needs to be said: the school is academically excelling, providing necessary services, building sustainable economy in Detroit.. and it's being closed.
Organizers at Catherine Ferguson Academy posted the following demands:
No school closings
Keep all Detroit schools public - no more charters or privatization
Reinstate all programs and services that have been eliminated, including art & music as well as counselors & social workers
Student control of curriculum and school character to assure that every Detroit school provides equal, quality education for all
No discipline or retaliation against any of the participants in the occupation
"I'm fighting because I believe in our school." - Ashley Matthews, 17
Rachel Maddow feature on the struggle of students at Catherine Ferguson Academy:
No Child Left Behind has systematically dehumanized the education system - reducing students to faceless statistics, restricting teachers to standardized curriculum, and assessing schools on test scores and graduation rates. Thus anesthetizing students, stifling teaching and learning, and suppressing future generations. Core curriculum is prioritized at the expense the arts, music programs, and resources for student health and wellness programs. It has paved way for mass school closings, the spread of charters and the wholesale privatization of education.
It's time we elevate education to a human rights issue. The state of public education effects us all - it's no overstatement that our future depends on our ability to educate our children. The stakes are too damn high. The students at Catherine Ferguson Academy seem to understand that better than anybody.
Related: support organizing efforts at Catherine Ferguson Academy here
Kobe Bryant was caught on camera repeatedly calling referee Bernie Adams a "faggot" in a nationally televised game earlier this week. This incident opened up a whole can of worms: is there a culture of hyper-masculinity and homophobia in sports? (definitely) Are there closeted gay players currently? (probably) Is fining an athlete for his hateful outburst the solution? (obviously not)
After the NBA fined him $100,000, Kobe released the following "i'm sorry that you misunderstood my words"-type non-apology:
"What I said last night should not be taken literally. My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period. The words expressed do NOT reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were NOT meant to offend anyone."
So Kobe didn't mean to imply that Bernie Adams was in fact gay. He wasn't hypothesizing about Adams' sexuality or ridiculing the gay and lesbian community at large. He was just angry. And in the heat of a moment, calling someone a "faggot" is pretty much the same as calling them an "asshole" right?
Wrong.
Wrong because the f-word is more than just a word - it carries a sentiment of hatred and oppression. it has a history of violence and abuse. And people have been beaten and killed over the word. The sentiment has led to exclusionary legislation like Don't Ask Don't Tell and California's Proposition 8. On the flipside, it has also inspired the powerful legacy of Harvey Milk and the fearless dignity that emerged during the Stonewall Riots (more on that below). Most significantly, it's shaped LGBTQ communities of color, like the Combahee River Collective, to provide visions for collective liberation and solidarity.
Jay Smooth on "Christopher Street Boys":
All too often in sports, homophobic slurs are thrown around to challenge an opponent's strength and manhood. "Gay" and "faggot" is immediately linked to "weak" and "soft." Calling someone "gay" is in essence an assertion of male dominance - like saying "I'm more manly than you." under these toxic conditions, the result of the game is only the means to an end. The ends is physical, emotional and psychological domination over an opponent or challenger. Just like in war - boys killing other boys to prove their manhood.
When a singular vision of masculinity is assumed in sports. A strange sense of athletic exceptionalism emerges - a blend of "god-given ability", hard work, and traditional patriarchal roles (alpha, warrior, breadwinner, father, stud). Anyone that does not measure up to that particular (and arbitrary) standard is viewed as weak, soft and less of a man. Especially in the homoerotic context of sport, the socially-constructed standard of manhood is both contradictory and destructive.
Personally, the most interesting aspect of sport is the raw humanity: cheering for the underdog, last-minute upsets, the growth of an athlete, striving for limits, breaking records. And little by little, that humanity is being stripped away. With each steroid scandal, each hometown hero that abandons their fans, each corporate sponsorship and each athlete living above the law, I lose that sense of connection. Kobe made a mistake and said some hurtful stuff. but rather than reacting, let's get to the source of the pain. Let's transform the culture that has allowed such language to be carelessly thrown around. Let's cherish our athletes for being imperfect, vulnerable, human. Let's view sports as friendly competition rather than aggressive domination. And let's exchange a handshake or hug afterwards.
Related: a beautiful show of solidarity between fans and players in Brazil in support of a gay team member.
Homophobia and transphobia was at the forefront of much public discussion this week: legendary DJ Mister Cee was arrested for allegedly having sex with a transwoman. And in Manning Marable's new biography of Malcolm X, the author hints that Malcolm was in a homosexual relationship.
This allegation is especially significant when thinking about all that Malcolm represents. Ossie Davis eulogizes Malcolm as "our manhood. our living Black manhood.. our own Black shining prince." Malcolm represented a specific paradigm of Black masculinity for those who know what it is to struggle.
Early hip hop groups have run with this renewed sense of what it is to be a Black man in amerika: powerful, aggressive, lawless, threatening to the white establishment. This NWA identity (and a few others) was deeply ingrained in the public consciousness of mainstream amerika until Barack Obama flipped the script - making it cool for Black men strive for lifestyles previously reserved for white folk and Uncle Toms.
As usual, reader comments are the real story in the reaction to the Mister Cee and Malcolm X. Many (if not most) comments were rooted in conservative and oppressive views of gender and sexuality. Reader comments either protected their martyr or ridiculed anyone who could possibly have sex with a trans person. Either way, publicly revealing much discomfort with challenging traditional views of gender and sexuality. (A new biography claiming Mahatma Gandhi was in a homosexual relationship evoked similar responses.)
Kanye West once profoundlystated that "being gay" is the opposite of "being hip hop." He points to hip hop being a hyper-masculine culture - where in violence and misogyny are normalized. In this culture, challenging one's "manhood" is a diss. And accusing someone of being gay is the ultimate form of disrespect. So the hip hop community's response to Mister Cee's arrest sadly should not be surprising.
Jay Smooth on The Gay Hip Hop Book:
While rap music is notorious for misogyny and homophobia, it is a symptom of a much larger problem. Several archetypes have emerged for men in hip hop: the drug dealer, the pimp, the gangster.. hardly uplifting or positive. The deeper truth is that little space is made for Black men who fall somewhere between Barack Obama and 50 Cent - a dichotomy the Baracka Flocka Flames video satirically points at.
The more we are able to deconstruct what it is to be "a man", the closer we are towards ending homophobia and misogyny. In the context of hip hop, that means defying the paradigms of manhood in the culture. That means men must redefine themselves internally and in relation to others. Men must be comfortable being their human selves, rather than playing a character. They must stop asserting violence to signify power and women to signify virility. And they must must must stop with the "no homo" and "pause" stuff.
"Despite all the ways recent educational reforms have taken the soul out of education--overemphasizing testing, underemphasizing learning, treating teachers like technicians rather than creative professionals, humiliating schools rather than providing them with support--the fact remains that through education, we have the power to inspire the innate ability in all human beings to dream and create."
The Egyptian people are back in the streets, chanting "Tantawi is Mubarak and Mubarak is Tantawi", and resuming their struggle for democracy and just society. Egypt continues to be a shining example of the people making government and civil society work for them. The intentional movement-building during their uprising - between students, labor, religious institutions, even. elements of the police and military. They inspired people all over the world by coming together and forcing Hosni Mubarak out. Much love and respect to the people of Tunisia too.
Mow Egyptian protestors face a military dictatorship that promises open elections but flexes their muscles to repress and silence. The Egyptian military forcefully removed protestors from Tahrir Square a couple days ago, killing at least one and injuring 70 more. Heads high in the face of state violence, the people are still there. Regime change is a gigantic first step. but the path is long and regime change is no revolution - revolution takes time and intention. economic, political, civil and social structures need to be reimagined and rebuilt. But although installing a new model for society will be a learning process, the Egyptian people appear to be ready to get their hands dirty in the rebuilding of their nation.
The people in Egypt are conscious that their struggle is not limited to them. But that they are connected to liberation struggles throughout history and all over the world. below, an Egyptian protestor gives a nod of solidarity to Wisconsin workers.
Similarly, chancellor of education Cathie Black resigned/was fired thursday, after embarrassingly low approval ratings in her 3rd month on the job. Despite her blatant lack of qualifications, this was not about Cathie Black. After 9 years of mayoral control over public education, New Yorkers are fed up. Public schools in low-income communities of color are chronically underfunded and over-policed - standardized tests, teachers restricted by curriculum, overcrowded classrooms, outdated and too few books, and metal detectors haven't left with Ms Black.
Many tough questions remain for us who are committed to education reform: what lessons did the higher ups at the department of education learn? How can we most effectively position ourselves? What kind of education do we hope for our children and what systems do we need to put in place to realize those hopes? And how much are we willing to struggle to build these new systems?
If community control was restored to public education, we would be have space to create the curricula and programs we need. If students, teachers and schools were free from standardized tests, we would be well on the way to inspiring and nurturing teaching and learning. If funding was equitable, we would be equipped to address the causes of low attendance and high drop-out rates. We need to realize that education reform isn't happening on by school, school district or even by borough basis. We need to organize across neighborhoods and across issues to challenge power at its source. And we need to have a shared vision for our schools and our education system.
I've spent a lot of time in the past month folks' reactions to the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan. The on the ground footage of the 9.0 earthquake and the tsunami washing away entire towns and cities was terrifying. and while some of the responses have been infuriating, most have been uplifting and inspiring.
I was especially wary after how people treated each other after Hurricane Katrina stirred so much bitterness. But stories of people in Japan opening up their homes to the homeless, sharing what little food they have with the hungry, and holding their heads high with dignity have moved me. and led me to some conclusions.
At the core of any sort of progress, there has to be the intention to stretch our ability to see the humanity in each other. In order for us all to sustainably co-exist on/with this planet, we need to shift from self to common-interest. and more important than measurable social gain is sense of community.
In the following video, Grace Lee Boggs speaks on the fact that "we need a very different philosophy on what it means to be a human being. and we have a tremendous opportunity to advance our evolution to a higher stage."
Iersonally, i'm still wrapping my head around what (r)evolutionary politics look like. and at this point, i'm not fucking with ideology. I'm just trying to build on basic values i believe in: compassion, community, self-determination, dignity, equality, kindness, spirituality, and creative expression. and living those values, rather than spouting them out.
* more info on how to support Japanese relief efforts.
