bell hooks on Education

"Educators who have dared to study, and learn, [and practice] new ways of thinking and teaching so that the work we do does not reinforce systems of domination, of imperialism, racism, sexism or class elitism have created a pedagogy of hope."

Os Cangaceiros on Spectacle

"If we sack the banks, it's because we have recognized money as the central cause of all our unhappiness.

If we smash the windows it's not because life is dear, but because commodities prevent us from living at all costs.

If we break the machines it is not because of a wish to protect work, but to attack the slavery of salary.

If we attack police it's not to get them out of out neighborhoods, but to get them out of our lives.

The Spectacle wished to make us appear dreadful.

We intend to be much worse."

weekly links (april 24th edition)

Why A Michigan High School is Ground Zero for US Politics (MSNBC & BAMN)

Call to Save Our Schools (Dissident Voice)

Good Education is a Right, Not a Crime (The Root)

California Schools Move Towards LGBTQ History Lessons (RaceWire)

Three Hip Hop Scholars Talk About Combatting Homophobia (RaceWire)

The Class Dynamics of Asian America (Monthly Review)

US Racial and Economic Inequality Visualized (RaceWire)

Noam Chomsky: Is the World Too Big To Fail? (Common Dreams)

Robert Scheer: The New Corporate World Order (TruthDig)

Why The West Wants the Fall of Gaddafi (Dissident Voice)

Revenge of the Nerds: (Not So) New Representations of Asian Male Sexuality (Racialicious)

Mumia Abu-Jamal: On Reading Franz Fanon (I Am Not A Rapper)

Blaxpoitation's Baadassss History (The Root)

".. And Roses Too," or The Case for Public Arts Funding (Rebel Frequencies)

Slideshow: Crazy Stuff That Has Happened on 4/20 (GOOD)

George Takei Protests Akira Whitewashing (Racialicious)

Bruce Lee Art Made From MetroCards (Angry Asian Man)

The KO Hip Hop Cello-Beatbox Experience (YouTube)

J Dilla: A Documentary of Greatness (tonefresh)

Coachella Roundup: Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Kanye, Cee-Lo & more (OkayPlayer)

Mos Def "Umi Says" Live with The Robert Glasper Experiment, Lupe Fiasco & Kanye West (The Smoking Section)

Why Catherine Ferguson Academy Matters To Everyone

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:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

* * * * *

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

On Masculinity and Homophobia, Part 2: A Refection on Sports and What "Soft" Means

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.

weekly links (april 17th edition)

artwork by: Banksy

Grace Lee Boggs on Detroit and "The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century" (Democracy Now)

Chris Hedges: Why The US Is Destroying Its Education System (TruthDig)

Maryland Passes Its DREAM Act (RaceWire)

Twenty-Two Senators Ask Obama to Stop Deporting DREAMers (RaceWire)

Feeding the World: It's Not About Quantity (Common Dreams)

If Congress Looked Like Us (Sociological Images)

DC Mayor Vince Gray Arrested in Budget Battle Protest (RaceWire)

Dissecting Laissez-Faire Theory (Dissident Voice)

Egypt Dissolves Former Ruling Party (Al Jazeera English)

On DJ Mister Cee, Malcolm X and Online Homophobia (RaceWire)

Pushing Back Against Homophobia in Sports (Sociological Images)

Hear This: Les Nubians, Ambrose Akinmusire, Pharoahe Monch (The Root)

De La Soul's 3 Feet High And Rising Inducted in the Library of Congress (The Smoking Section)

Radiohead: The King of Limbs Bonus Tracks (Pigeons & Planes)

On Masculinity and Homophobia, Part 1: A Reflection on Hip Hop, Malcolm and More

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 profoundly stated 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.