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Final Paper Proposal

My thoughts for the final paper will focus on COVID-19 and its effects on the inner cities educational systems. I have read, written and discussed many social issues this semester, many of which bring me out of my comfort zone. I will address racism, politics and policies and their effects and impact on the inner cities school systems, mainly on people of color. There are many issues connected to COVID and the inner city schools. Including, but not limited to the digital divide and the overall majority of students qualifying for free lunch are  just two issues that came to mind quickly. According to Jean Anyon, "the power of economic access to influence educational outcomes, strategies to support economic opportunity and development for urban residents and neighborhoods should be among the policies we consider in our attempts to improve urban schools and districts." There has to be some reachable policy makers that can see the trend/pattern and help rally for a change. This i...
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Race Through History

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"I am Not Your Negro" is a documentary on the history of racism in the United States, which is based on James Baldwins 30 pages of notes. He was writing a memoir of three of his close friends lives. They were civil rights leaders known as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Medgar Evers. This documentary is narrated by Samuel Jackson and HERE he speaks to his experience on Jimmy Kimmel Live talk show in January, 2017. James Baldwin was writing in Paris when he realized he never missed anything American, yet missed his family terribly. It wasn't until then he realized he needed to go home and pay his dues. His friends were being assassinated for a cause that he believed in, but was removed from.   While watching this documentary, I realized how this is still so much a part of our lives today. The United States calls itself the land of the free, yet there is still so much oppression , racism, and prejudice in our world. This film parallels our current movement know...
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Race & Dis/ability

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This weeks reading titled Dis/ability critical race studies (DisCrit): theorizing at the intersections of race and dis/ability by Subini Ancy Annamma, David Connor and Beth Ferri places a realistic twist on a very familiar noun, disability, defined as a physical or mental condition that limits a person’s movements, senses, or activities.  This article speaks specifically about race and disability and their interdependence in education. Isn’t this another layer of the onion that this whole class is based on. Racial injustices have been part of our history since the Civil War. Since then, “policies continue to be put in place that are interlocking and interdependent that routinely advantage whites while producing cumulative and chronic adverse outcomes for people of color,” according to Tricia Rose in How Structural Racism Works .                      The article proposes the idea of c...
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Precious Knowledge = Precious Minds

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  The film we watched this week, Precious Knowledge , was very moving. The year is 2011 in Tucson, Arizona. The up and coming issue is in the Tucson Unified School District. They are being told to shut down their Ethnic Studies Program. This is Crystal. She is rallying for this program at her high school.  Crystal is one of many Mexican Americans who attend school because they are "supposed to", not because they want to. This program is one that actually gave these students the "hope" they were looking for, or needed. The Arizona State Superintendent, Tom Horne, made a public announcement which called on the "Tucson Unified School District to shut down the Ethnic Studies Program and start teaching kids to treat each other as individuals, not on the basis of what race they were born into. The chanting behind us illustrates the rudeness they teach to their kids." When a person of power gets up to address the public before him, I believe it is respect that fo...
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Policy + Poverty = Prison

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 As I read through the article  Law and Order in School and Society: How Discipline and Policing Policies Harm Students of Color, and What Can We Do About It,  this statement really summed up all three reading/films for this week, "In the narrow focus on teacher and school-based accountability for test results, they minimize attention to student's social, emotional, mental, and physical health-factors that determine students' academic and life outcomes to a much greater degree than high-stakes sanctions."  This reminds me of last week's discussion on policies. How policies are put into place for so many different reasons, such as legislation, communication, material effects on structures and practices, testing/standards, distribution  of funding, wealth, goods...YET policies more often contribute to the distribution of harms such as toxic practices and toxins. According to the recommendations made in this article, "Policymakers at all levels of educational an...
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The Vicious Cycle

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  As I watched the film "In Sickness and in Wealth" from Unnatural Causes and read thru the articles, I began to wonder if we will ever close the gap of inequalities in our society. The vast differences among the many districts across one state are quite obvious. This wealth/health gradient shows itself across America today but also for many, many years.  Flash back to the 1950's, this is when the income inequalities began expanding. Flash forward to the 1960's. At this time, Civil Rights laws were being passed, anti-poverty progress, along with medicare/medicaid. This brought benefits of prosperity to those who hadn't yet shared in it. During this time period, policy makers had the chance to level the playing field for all races. They chose to drive a wedge between Americans instead. The symbol for this is known as the ladder which represents a fine gradation of health and wealth between races. Policies are set up to keep you where you are. This is why social eco...
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My Manifesto

  I am a teacher who stands up for my students against those who do not , who is in favor of speaking up against the powerful voices , who is a supporter of speaking against  those who do harm , and who is a defender of America against those who wish to tear it down . I am a teacher who favors the permanent struggle against division   and against oppression . I am a teacher who rejects  hatred , because it is responsible for so much pain in this world . I am a teacher full of light , in spite of darkness . I am a teacher who refuses to be swayed . I am a teacher proud of the success of my students . If I do not struggle for my students , then I will no longer be the educator I strive to be.  
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