Gives Me Chills

In the spirit of sending good energy out, I wanted to share this. I can't authenticate the origin of the quote, but I'm not sure it matters.

To quote a Black man from Louisiana voting for the first time:

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk; Martin walked so Barack could run; Barack ran so our children could fly."

Wise Words from a Former Student

Today I begin 7 days of optimism and hope. I will think only positive thoughts and send good energy about the election into the universe. Will you join me?
I will start by sharing the very courageous words below from a former student of our program.

Dear friends and family,

On Friday, I received the email attached below concerening Prop 8 in California. After immediately responding to the person who sent this email to me I still could not shake how bothered I was by it. It is attached below so that you can have some context to what I have to share. I woke up this morning realizing the importance of my voice being heard on this matter.

I am a teacher. I have been a teacher for almost 7 years now. So this email attacks not only what I do everyday but also takes it completely out of context. As a teacher, I believe that not only do I teach subjects like math, science, reading and writing but I also teach something called 'social studies'. In elementary school it is not history but rather the study of social interaction over time. It starts off small and spirals over the years... Kindergarten focusing on family... 3rd grade moves on to local, and 5th is US. I am 4th grade so my focus is California. A large part of what I teach however is 'social skills and work habits', yes I teach tolerance everyday in all ways.

Part of what makes our country so beautiful in my eyes is that every person has the choice to be whoever they are regardless of race, religion, family up bringing, etc. As a teacher, my most important job is exposing them to as many topics as possible in order to help them feel comfortable to embrace whoever they are. It is important to note that everything I teach is developmentally and age appropriate. For example, if a student asks me what it means to be gay, I tell them it is when a man loves a man or a woman loves a woman. I do not share with them the sexual lives of gay people because frankly at this age they just aren't interested in anyone's sex lives gay or not. However, if they asked I might tell them that they express their love like all human beings through kissing, hugging, living together etc. To me this is not a scary or taboo topic and whatever their family beliefs may be I would simply explain that different religions hold different beliefs on this topic and you should talk to your family as to how they view the topic.

What gets me the most about all of this is why it even matters. I do not have to send home a letter 'warning' parents that I will be teaching about civil rights, lessons that deal directly with discrimination, so why should I have to send on home when we discuss what it means to be homophobic? Again we are just discussing another type of discrimination that is relevant to not only California history but current events. 'In 1948, the California Supreme Court became the first state court in the country to strike down a law prohibiting interracial marriage.' (from wikipedia- Prop 8) I ask you... how does what we are going through now differ from this? We talking about basic human rights here.

Furthermore, I teach children whose parents are gay. I experience first hand the loving and supporting families that these children live in. Families that are no different from children who are raised by heterosexual couples. Can I emphasize the word 'family'... there is so much beauty in this world and what underlies all of this is love and the recognition and acceptance that when love exists between two consenting adults in whatever form that may be it should be recognized, valued, honored and celebrated.

I went to www.protectmarriage.org to find out what exactly it is they are fighting for when they say Yes on Prop 8. Here is what I found (my response in bold follows each statement):

Voting YES on Proposition 8 does 3 simple things:
It restores the definition of marriage to what the vast majority of California voters already approved and what Californians agree should be supported, not undermined. 61% of voters passed Prop 22 in 2000 to formally define marriage as between a man and a woman. 61% is not the VAST majority and I would hope that in the last 8 years at least some of that ignorance has been disspelled.
It overturns the outrageous decision of four activist Supreme Court judges who ignored the will of the people. Those Supreme Court Judges found 'that the statute enacted by Proposition 22 and other statutes that limit marriage to a relationship between a man and a woman violated the equal protection clause of the California Constitution' (wikipedia- Prop 8)Is it outrageous for them to do their job?
It protects our children from being taught in public schools that “same-sex marriage” is the same as traditional marriage, and prevents other consequences to Californians who will be forced to not just be tolerant of gay lifestyles, but face mandatory compliance regardless of their personal beliefs. This is where I just want to scream, 'forced to be tolerant' ugh! Are we really still in this place. Is love between two consenting adults not love? And what does 'mandatory compliance' mean? Children are already exposed to a myriad of relationships in a variety of ways... so who answers their questions and helps them navigate these waters... their parents and teachers... duh!

As an adult I struggle with my sexuality. I grew up in a world where gay was not accepted... jokes were made often and until maybe 6 years ago I could have been conidered homophobic based on thoughts and ideas that over the last few years I have worked to rid myself of... Now at 29 and single I sometimes wonder 'Am I gay?' What did I suppress based on my experiences as a child and young adult? I have spent much time exploring this topic. I don't think that I am but would it really matter if I was? I recognize that I won't really know until I truly fall in love and find the person I want to spend my life with. Why place this same confusion on children today with all that we know. Why not love and support them and teach them about the different ways that people live their lives.

I do not believe that 'tolerance' is the right word. I am teaching 'understanding and acceptance'. And if you walked in my classroom today the first thing you would see hanging outside my door is a sign that reads 'Respect Everyone. Degrading Racist, Ethnic, Sexist and Homophobic Remarks Not Welcome Here. Be an Ally'

I urge you to ask yourself does a gay marriage really effect you in a negative way? Does it change the way you live your life? Does it hurt you? I suspect that the answer is no.

Please join me in voting 'NO on Prop 8'. Protect the rights of fellow human beings and continue to stand up against discrimination whenever it rears it's ugly head. We are all in this together and it is time that we stop fighting against one another.

Dispositions

Still looking for ideas from yesterday's post... But, related, I'm also interested in how we measure one's disposition toward diversity. If someone expresses homophobic statement(s), for example, how does that get documented and then considered as part of a program admission or completion process?

Politics in the Classroom

Today I'm struggling with the stickiness of partisan politics in the classroom. With the election just around the corner, there is a lot to talk about. However, I'm worried about keeping my emotions in check. Today some students were talking about Sean Hannity and it made my blood pressure rise. I'm fairly sure there are some Yes on 8 people (see Saturday's post below) in my class and when discussing it, I'm afraid of coming across in a way that is too partisan. Many of my students now know that I'm a democrat given that they saw me hawking dem candidates at the BBQ on campus last week. I'm glad they saw me participating in the process, but it also heightens, in my opinion, the delicateness of discussing the issues in class. Or, maybe I'm making it into a bigger deal than it is. If you're teaching teachers (and about 9 of the 10 people reading this blog are), how are you handling this issue? Please! I need help!

How is an ankle not like a consequence?

Somewhere in this blog's applications, I ran across something that gives random questions that change every day. I can't find it now, but when I saw it the question was the one in the title of this post. In response, I would have to say that it is best if consequences are not (sick and) twisted. What do you think?

Liberal Thinking

In the last week, I've had two opportunities to reflect on the term "liberal." One was when someone used it like it was an insult and the other was when someone who is politically aligned with me suggested I should use progressive rather than liberal to describe "our" beliefs. Huh. So, I went to my most efficient source of information, Wikipedia, to refresh what I probably never learned during my education in South Dakota. According to the definitions, progressives are social liberals, though I prefer the social democrat description a bit more. Dewey is listed under both terms. That's good enough for me. (I had a Freudian moment when I initially typed "That's god enough for me.") Do you use the term liberal to describe yourself?

Kids vote

The kids have spoken. This article says only twice have the kids been wrong! Who or what do you think influences these kids' vote?
http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3750501

10 Year Anniversary of Matthew Shepard

Yesterday marked 10 years since the murder of Matthew Shepard.  I wasn't able to attend, but there was a candlelight vigil here. Did you do something to honor it?

Welcome!

I wonder every day what others think the answers are to questions I have. For example, what should be done about the reduced level of intellectual engagement in our society? If you have some answers, I want to hear from you!