• I have a former instructor who sent me a note the other day after I gave him a tip on a business opportunity.  He asked if I’d be interested in talking to his college level class on my teaching experience.  I’d love to.  I can go on and on forever about the joys of scraping the crud off young minds so that they can breathe and grow and experience the world.  I’m all in.
• I had a very fruitful conversation with someone I’ve chatted with in the past and am now connected to on Facebook. Turns out we see the community in the same light and have our own ways of battling for elbow room out there.  We’ll be working together to make some space in the universe so change can become a reality for some.
• A couple of years ago, almost as a whim, I taught some female students how to make jewelry.  One of them is now a sophomore in high school.  She has started a small jewelry business and is all the rage at school and in the community.  I’m not done with her yet though.  I’m going to take her global as soon as we both can find 5 minutes after school to make it happen.
• A friend of mine was on the fence about a job opportunity that would have put her in the center of the action at the Superbowl.  I talked her off the fence, she went, she saw, she conquered! She now has connections of her own that will help her grow.
• I have been approached to set up a display of my jewelry to be sold in a hair salon.  Yeah, I’m all over that.  This is how we do it!!
• I mentioned to a teacher I work with in a school club that I was going to take a few web design classes and wanted to do something with education outside of the classroom.  That was last Saturday.  I have more than 20 emails from him with ideas, contacts, resources, etc. on how to make change in education outside the classroom.  I’m all over it.

And the list goes on and on…

I promised myself at the beginning of the year that I would work on making cultural self loathing something that doesn’t exist in my life and in the lives of those with whom I interact.  I think its working.  Its not something that I expected to happen overnight, but I am discovering that comments I make, stands I take, and coals I rake, are building a smothering flame of indifference about the world into a raging fire of enthusiasm for life around me.  This… is a good thing.

What are you doing to make change, to heat up the cold heart of our society’s nearly dead body?  What sorts of things are happening to you, around you, and within you to cause people to take notice and want to be a part of YOUR small, but force filled parade through life?  Get the party started… we’ve got connections to make, lives to change, and legacies to create!

Thing 1: Racism isn’t dead.  If you thought it was, you were mistaken. Although the media sees it, I suppose they’re waiting for permission to discuss it.  The moment of political correctness has passed, the racist idiots need to be called out.  This has gotten ridiculous.  It was spoken of rather succinctly on Hardball this week:

Thing 2: Boldness of spirit on the parts of people who assume everyone thinks just like them has run rampant.  Why is it ok to yell out during a joint session of Congress while the President is speaking and not be appropriately reprimanded?  Why is pretending to be a Christian and quoting scripture threatening death to a president and then saying, we did nothing wrong, not punishable?  How do they get away with it?  Why is it ok to wag your finger in the face of the President of the United States because you’ve decided he’s upset about some jealous little snit of a statement made?

Thing 3: Since when is the platform of a political party focused solely on the removal of the duly elected president from office while all economic, social and political matters in the country go to hell in a hand basket?  To basically believe that opposing everything being done to move things forward simply because you don’t like anything about the current administration or the party of opposition must be a sign of insanity.  Don’t these people know what the “OCCUPY” movement is REALLY about?

Who ARE these people and what happened to the REAL Republicans?  You know, the people who know what they want to have happen, have some political experience and at least know where the bathrooms are in the Capitol building?

The one thing I have noticed is this… Joe and Jill America have finally gotten sick of it.  Read some of the comments after the recent articles.  This isn’t working to their advantage.  The roar that was the mid term elections is beginning to sound a lot like a whimper.  If this keeps up, there will be no way in hell Obama will not be reelected.  Don’t get me wrong, I remain, eternally, an independent voter, accepting the positives and negatives of this administration for what they are, but this complete lack of focus on the ills of the country has become less and less amusing as each day goes by.  People are noticing this.

I”m embarrassed for our country.  Its generally known we’re a bunch of pompous assholes, but to play out our historically inappropriate behavior on the international stage saddens me.  I think I’ll pay more attention, just to remind myself that the world is changing and some are screaming bloody murder about it.

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Now, this is no big deal. Kids ask questions like that all the time.  I gave you a black and white synopsis of the event though.  Let me paint the picture for you.

Our school’s demographic is about one third white, black, and hispanic, with the occasional asian in the mix to keep everyone on their toes.  The teacher (and her son) are white.  The other boy in the wrestling video was black.

When she finished her story, I (the only black at the table) roared with knowing laughter.  She started laughing along with me.  All the others at the table just looked at us as if we’d just seen the assistant principal in his underwear.

They missed the heartwarming part. So, we explained it to them,  We discussed color and orientation and religion and culture for a while and we stopped and reflected on our life experiences.  Although I was the only black at the table, I wasn’t the only one that had been through a few instances of prejudice and stereotyping.  When we finished, we all were content in the way the world was changing for our future generations.  By the way, her son was the one “in the red outfit.”

In that class of white, black and hispanic children, all fascinated with the wrestling skills of a couple of young wrestlers… didn’t see their skin color.  This is a wonderful thing. I wasn’t sure if I’d live to see such a thing.  I hope this same group of kids see people interacting as they grow older and continue to not see the color.

I think they will.

The world isn’t the same place I grew up in, where someone always made a point of reminding me that I was black, and as usually happened in my house, when one of mentioned someone doing something, be asked, “what color were they?” or “they were (fill in color of choice), weren’t they?”  My mother, 80 years old, still wants to know the skin color of the person that I might be talking about. She always gives the caveat of how it really doesn’t matter anymore, but she was just wondering.  Its the reality she comes from; she’s having a really hard time letting go of it.

I am amused and fascinated with the blending of America, finally.  I too, occasionally catch myself when I see a mixed teen couple walking hand in hand through the school building, reminding myself, that love is colorblind and at the end of the day, its the emotion that is important.

Elsewhere in the world, the same sort of thing is happening.  We “see” each other as the human beings we are, not the ethnic and cultural groups we can be afraid of or find reasons to hate.  We’re “growing up”.

This was a wonderful way to end the week after MLK Day.  This is a good thing.  THIS.. is a wonderful thing.

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I’m still the one holdout in the community that isn’t sure if I like MLK Day or not.  Don’t get me wrong, he was a great man, did great things and put a topic on the table more than 50 years ago that we’re STILL discussing.  I just wonder what he would think about being the focus of a “holiday”.

I remember when the campaign to have him honored was being fought in Washington.  Our local representative was a friend of the family and would bounce thoughts off our father all the time, which meant he’d end up bouncing thoughts off us during dinner most nights.  My voice was the lone dissension.  I argued that he didn’t want to be lifted up this way and the entire idea of having a day off to celebrate Martin kinda went again everything he’d worked so hard for:  you know, right to vote, right to have a decent job and wage, civil rights that worked for EVERYONE.  I, of course, was poo poo’d and told to eat my spinach.

So, here I sit on MLK Day, staring out the window at the naked trees and snow.  

I will, as always, reflect on the importance of his life’s work, but I just feel like I should be at WORK, teaching the children about him, telling them what I knew, seeing how I was around for a minute or two before he died.  Yet, that isn’t meant to be. Most of mine students are probably still in bed or propped up in front of a television watching something they have no business watching or playing a video game full of violence and sexual connotation.  In different places around the community, people are praying for peace and justice and lifting him up as the liaison of all things socially correct in our country.  Politicians will be asked about him and his work, old civil rights leaders and workers will reminisce on the days of old; somewhere, some old Klansman is cussing quietly about how the country is going to hell in a hand basket.

I am who I am, have what I have, will do as I choose, partly because of the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. His dream of equality is becoming less of a dream and more of a living breathing reality in the lives of those who CHOOSE to work towards it.  Yes, there is still injustice.  Yes, there is still racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, etc., but with each passing generation since his death, the world as we know it has become a wee bit less straitified.  At least, we acknowledge the things that are still wrong and SOME of us are discussing how to make it better.  Some are working daily to change it all, one interaction at a time.  That’s all he asked of us, isn’t it?

So, all the speech making, loud talking, round table discussions, etc., do they count for anything after all this time?  Are we ALL taking action to change the world as we know it, or are we waiting for the next Martin to come along to “save” us, to “inspire” us, to do the talking for us?  Or are we enjoying our day off?

Thank you, Martin, for the calling you were given, and the courage it took you to accept that calling.  I thank God for living and experiencing the world as it was during your lifetime and being able to see it change, if only a little.  I promised myself that 2012 would be a year of renewal, reevaluation, and reflection.  Considering your life and your work is always a good place to start on that particular journey, isn’t it.

I think I’ll go out and stand in the snow for a minute or two. Then I’ll find something educational on the topic to put on my class website for the students to complain about tomorrow.  Have an  amazing day everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fUVsursZ-Vg

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grown folk music

LinasJazz “.

I’ve waited all my life to be a grown up and I now, officially, hate it.  There’s way too much to do and hardly any time to do any of it!

Consider what needs to be done today:

• I’m uploading photos of my students to my Walgreens photo account as I type this.  They’ll need to be picked up.
• I have a test to write on Meteorology for the Science Olympiad Invitational in 4 weeks.  Climate anyone?
• I have a lesson to record for class this week.  Yes, I’ve started my Flipping pilot. (God help me)
• It might be a good idea if I clean my house… one day.
• I still need to figure out why my domain for the jewelry store site isn’t loaded in the correct place.  (that will probably take an hour of meaningful discussion with some IT geek)
• Dinner. right.
• Get some fresh air (I intentionally vegged out yesterday, watching the Matrix Trilogy so that I could FINALLY figure out the analogies.  I need to watch it all again next Saturday, I’m still confused)
• I should probably get some groceries while I’m out getting that fresh air.
• I should find an hour to read one of these books so I can actually get as close to reading 100 books this year as humanly possible.
• I DID say I was going to edit the novel this month, didn’t I?

*sigh*

In addition to what must be done, I am considering doing the following in the near future:

• signing up for a Oceanography grad level course
• going to the NSTA National Conference
• helping my niece with her Science Fair project on solar cells
• showing up for an alumni basketball game with my sister (why did I say yes, how do I get out of it?)
• playing photographer for my friend as she goes to cover a natural hair event for the online newspaper she writes for (and says I should be writing for, yeah, right)

I just want to watch tv, sing loudly to old R&B songs and sleep!  I don’t wanna grow up!! I don’t wanna be responsible for stuff getting done in a timely manner!  I don’t want to write lesson plans and sponsor clubs and cook meals and make sure everyone else’s lives are running smoothly!

I want to run away from home and join the circus or a gang or … something that is unstructured and possibly dangerous for my well being!  I want to sit on a beach with at least 4 of the 100 books I intend to read and simply read.  I want to edit the novel. I want to make jewelry and hum quietly to myself as I do so.

*totally blank stare*

I know what the problem is.  Its January.  Here in the deep, dark, cold tundra that is winter in Northwest Indiana (now that’s a lie, its been sunny and in the mid-40s for days now. I really must comment on ChemTrails and the artificially produced “mild” winter we are having one of these days.) I’m about to lose my mind.  I can’t be stir crazy already, can I?  That doesn’t normally happen until the end of February, right after it occurs to me that spring equinox is only 3 weeks away and I start getting excited about crocuses popping up through the snow.

I have my classes doing a critical thinking exercise called “Where Will You Be in 2033?”  After the shock of discovering they’ll all be in their 30s (and me in my 70s) we’ve all been kinda depressed about our lives and I spent the better half of the day Friday wishing I WAS sitting on a beach with a book.

*triple sigh*

I don’t wanna grow up!

Someone asked me yesterday how long I’d been teaching and why I taught other folks bad ass kids, etc. You know the sort of conversation that makes you want to kick a mofo’s ass.  As I explained what I did and how I was preparing myself to voluntarily leave the classroom to do more exciting things in education (I’ll tell you about that later), I wondered about my students who will be 33 in ’33 and how, when I was 33 (back in ’94) how the world was this amazing place and I was finally getting into the swing of being a grown up.  I wish I was 33 again, sorta;  just without the husband and the kids and the funky ass job … yanno, the beach scenario and all.

*total resignation sigh*

I’ll be ok.. . Maybe a day of museuming will lift my spirits.  I’ll work on that.

Have a good one humanoids!

As Tom says in his book, its not just us that suffer from BI; everyone in our country, and even, to some extent, the world, does.  However, it is us, that take that suffering to a new level as the complex has been so ingrained in our psyche that we find ways to be inferior.  It needs to stop.  There needs to be a plan to break the chains of mental self loathing that weigh us down and keep our heads just above the water line, struggling not to drown.

Every one of us has a way to make this work.  I’m going to use education.  I”m going to open some doors and expose some truths and realities. I’m going to give children, and in the process, their parents, a reason to break those chains.

I have, for several years now, as a teacher, examined the why and wherefore of educating children in the 21st century.  I’ve done a lot of research and discussed with peers in the industry the joys and frustrations of getting the knowledge children need into their minds in a manner that is long lasting.  We’ve discussed critical thinking and how we can make the process of becoming critical thinkers an experience that children will thirst for instead of groan about.  My new goal for as part of my never ending “5 year plan” is to begin developing the framework for an online educational network that parents and children and the entire community can use to turn our “brainwashed” children into critical thinkers, people who don’t fall for the okey doke and automatically follow the status quo.

I can’t do it alone though. I know people who think the same way I do, who embrace the same ideology concerning our community. I’ve made a couple of phone calls, dropped a few text messages, and am prayerfully considering what this framework will look like and how we will implement this plan.  I’m excited about the possibilities.  I want my grandchildren (one day, damn did I saw that?) to sit next to students in their classrooms who aren’t obsessed with the latest fashion or reality show or hip hop diddy but want to discuss the latest current events, explore the possibilities of the future and relive the glories and sorrows of the past.

I’ll keep you posted on what we decide to do and how.  Pray for the positive reprogramming of our community this year.  One day at a time.

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Day 7

Imani – Faith

“To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.”

Faith: confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another’s ability.

Resolve in the new year to put your trust in yourself and the members of your community so that you can become all that you are meant to be in this world.

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Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,100 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 35 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Kuumba – Creativity

“To do always, as much as we can, in the way we can, to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.”

Creativity: the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination: the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts.

Resolve in the new year to use your gifts to add meaning, enlightenment, and substance to your life and the lives of those around you.

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