The Teacher Gulag

Teacher Gulag

In a country where we have freedom of speech, are innocent until proven guilty and have the right of self-determination everyone seems to have this right except school teachers.
This really came home to me a few years back when I was penalized for speaking out against an injustice at the school I worked at. I filed a grievance against the principal of the school that I worked at and she retaliated against me by putting me on an improvement and eventually forcing me from my job. I had no protection or support from my union and I have for the last 5 years been out of work. This principal black-balled me and made sure that I could never find work as a teacher wherever she knew I was applying for a position.
I am not the only person in my district that this has happened to. Just the other day a teacher at Como high school was put on administrative leave because of a statement he made on Facebook about conditions at Como high school. This teacher spoke his mind and the organization Black Lives Matter went to the school district and demanded that he be fired. First of all there are or should be rules and guidelines for why a teacher is terminated from their position and expressing one's opinion should and is not one of them .
Rashad Turner the spokesperson for Black Lives Matter said that his organization demanded the firing of a teacher for remarks he made on Facebook . just to reverse the situation a bit and ad a what if. What is Mr. Turner were fired from his job (if he had one) for his involvement in Black Lives Matter. Mr. Turner would probably turn the whole thing into a media event and demand justice for the loss of his job because apparently not only do Black Lives Matter but only black opinions matter. This teacher has as much of a right to his job and opinion ad Mr. Turner does.
I hope that the district does thee right thing and allows this teacher to retain his position but knowing SPPS as I do, I don't think that his will be the case. Superintendent Silva will probably apply district shadow rules and force the teacher out by threatening to fire him or jeopardize the status of his teaching license. Either scenario played out will probably lead to this teacher either resigning or moved to another district or school with a guarantee of employment. The shadow allow the district to do whatever it wants knowing that SPFT local 28 will do nothing to stop it .
Teachers through the district and the state whether majority or minority should stand up for this teacher and make sure that all the written rules apply and that teachers are afforded the same bill of rights that all citizens are afforded that included students and Mr. Rashad Turner .
I do not think that racism has a place in public schools but it will not end by penalizing teachers who make observation about the problems in their schools. The actions by SPPS and Black Lives matter will lead to a slippery slope that none of us want to go down because it leads to the worse censorship makes us all afraid to point out issues that need to be changed in our schools

Boycott the Oscars: Boycott the World it Dosen't Work

In light of yesterday being the Martin Luther King holiday, a few African-American celebrities have called for the boycott of the Oscars by African-American celebrities. I think this would be a bad idea on so many levels.
First off when you refuse to go somewhere because somehow things didn't go your way and you're going to sit in a corner like a child and stomp your feet because you did not get your way this year. African-Americans are not the only group who was excluded from Oscar nominations this year. When for instance is the last time that an Asian, Latino or Native American actor has been nominated for an Oscar or even been involved in Hollywood as more than scenery in a movie and I don't see any of these groups asking for more screen time or threatening not to attend the ceremony and they have been far more slighted than we have. If you want to talk about justice start with these groups first. African-Americans as a group are no more entitled to Oscar nods than any of these groups . We as a group have a tendency to wear entitlement on our sleeves and expect the world to bend over backwards for us irregardless of the quality of the product.
This brings me to my second point and that is there are a number of white actors, directors, writers and producers who have not been nominated or won Oscars Leonardo DiCaprio and David Russell immediately come to mind and I don't see either one of them threatening not to come to the ceremony. Granted, they have both been nominated for awards but they have never won. There have been countless other white people in the film industry who have also been slighted and they have not threatened absence. Jada Pinkett-Smith and Spike Lee need to get over themselves and do what everyone else does who wants to either win ore be nominated for an Oscar campaign and make the contacts necessary to get them into the winner's circle. We also have to consider the quality of the work we put out there. As popular a movie as it was and as well as it did at the box office "Straight Outta Compton " was no Citizen Cane nor was it meant to be . Most of the people that went to see it went out of curiosity and a devotion and interest to the hip-hop community it was an entertainment vehicle that made a considerable amount of money for it's producers but did not go beyond that. The movies that received nominations were for the most part, more in-depth and three dimensional. Even Ice Cube one of the producers as much as admitted this.
I have had lots of set-backs in my life and have never walked away from my goals because in the long run who is that going to benefit not me, and certainly not the people who believe in me, family, true friends etc. It would benefit those who do not want me to succeed and give them the victory they do not deserve. I have set goals for myself and cannot and will not be hindered by how others see me or marginalized by them. I am the only one who has the right to do that to me and I refuse to do so.
It should not be a given that every year African-Americans should be included in the Oscars. A nomination is something that one earns for themselves and should be considered a given. The years that we are nominated are the years that those actors and directors have earned the nomination.
Again, we must also remember that the Oscars are as much a political game as it is a accomplishment game . I rarely see African-American actors, directors or producers lobby for these nominations most just take for granted that they should be included.
A big push in that direction would be to make the talk show circuit and other venues including taking out ads in the trades and actually talking to members of the academy instead of alienating them ( Spike Lee) Also as I mentioned earlier, we are not the only group that have been excluded but I rarely see the African-American entertainment community stand up for any of these groups. I would love to see more movies that concentrate on other minority communities and I would love to see if deserved those movies nominated for Oscars.
The Academy has given the African-American community more opportunities that any other. The president of the Academy is African-American as well as the producer and the host of the Academy Awards is Chris Rock. It is unfair to tell these people that their accomplishments do not matter and they should walk away or that we as a community should not join the academy of motion picture artists and refuse to participate in the Oscars this year that is unfair and unrealistic. For Spike Lee and
Jada Pinkett-Smith to even suggest this is naive and lacking understanding of the real problem. That problem is maybe that academy members did not see any vehicles produced by African-Americans as being quality enough for an Oscar nod and they will never as long as we whine like children instead of addressing the issue like adult professionals .

I have been trying for years to break into the media industry and have never received any assistance from the African-American community but I am still out there swinging and that is what we have to do as a community is never put down the bat .

My father hipster hero

My Father, Hipster Hero

Norman Mailer said in his essay , The White Negro that the negro is the source of hip because he has been living on the margin between totalitarianism and democracy for two centuries. My father Virtis Lanier embodies hipster values to the hilt even as he lies speechless from the bed of his nursing home room were even without speech, he is still the king of hip.  A stand-up guy and the leader of his group of  true hipsters whose passion was being hip . It was his passion, not fashion .

Growing up it was always cool to live in the same house with the king of cool, who as a true hipster did not draw attention to himself and approached life with a sense of cool beyond Frank, Sammy and Dean. If they were the Rat Pack, he was the cheese. My father approached life's situations with a coolness that to this day has helped me get through many setbacks in my life with a cool that glides me over the rough spots. His favorite expression was either you learn the game or be played by it.

He taught me that anger is not the way to solve problems thinking them through and  knowing that anger only creates illusion and not much else. As a hipster, he laughed in the face of racism and class ism knowing that the only attitude that you can change is your own and that prejudice was uncool. He felt that the cool would outlive the uncool and eventually  have more say to how things are going to be .

My father's style oozed of coolness  from his shades to his suede Stacey Adams. He taught me how to dress with style and not trend. How your trousers should hang and how to match clothing that makes you in hipster fashion blend in not stick out. That was his goal in life not to draw attention to himself and focus on home, family and friends
He taught about jazz both as an art form and a lifestyle. I first heard the intense bebop rhythms of Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk and what it means to be original over an imitator. He loved all music but his love affair with jazz as mine goes on to this day . He gave me an appreciation of Jazz and the artists that created it more than even a university education did.

Speaking of education, my dad gave me a good understanding of what it meant from a hipster's point of view . I was taught and I still believe that education that does not open your eyes and pull your coat to what is really happening in the world around is useless. As a teacher this is what I teach my students that education is first to open minds then hearts, then doors. Throughout the Civil Rights Era he taught me that superficial achievements were worthless if they did not first open the heart and the mind. To this day the lesson of true education being the freeing of the mind and understanding what thinking really means. Thinking is not compliance or compromising it is construction of thoughts, ideas and ideals. 

He always knew what was important, job promotions were uncool because they caused stress and made a person into an uncool pile of nerves incapable of enjoying the life you were blessed with. He thought that family, friends, building relationships and honor were more important.  It took me a long time to learn that lesson, but now that I have, I am more relaxed, less stressed and extremely healthy.
On this father's day I have reflect on my father and the greatest gift a father can give a son, that of hip and sense of person.

Fighting My Way to 85
Three weeks ago I went to the Doctor for a check up. After he gave me a work up, he found out that my blood pressure was 220/120 and my blood sugar was 450. These are not good numbers in any way shape or form . So I was hospitalized in order to get both of these numbers under control.
After about a week, my vitals were somewhat under control but I would have to work very hard to get my life under control. At least I know how it got out of control.
It got out of control through stress and neglect on my part . Stress because I am out of work and have been for the last three years . It is not like I have not been looking . Over the last three years I have sent out several resume's and cover letters to every organization from schools to retail establishments to no avail.  So most of the stress is caused by being out of work for so long and unable to get even one interview. So I spent most of my time eating and watching television but I have been exercising daily since March. So now I have to get my blood sugar and weight down all the way down. This means extreme measures  meaning strict control of what I eat and an increase in the amount and kind of exercise I do along with monitoring it properly.
One of the things I am doing is exercising twice a day starting at 5 am . Exercising in the morning helps to set the metabolism for the day it also gets you going for the day.  I have also started to monitor and control the amount of carbohydrates that I consume. I am working hard to eliminate as many carbs from my diet especially bread. Eliminating carbs will help lower my blood sugar and lose weight both if which I need to reach my goal of a fasting blood sugar of 85 . The way it works with type 2 diabetes is the lower your weight the lower your blood sugar. The more active you are the less likely you are to have high blood sugar.
The other day I bought a fitbit .  A fitbit is a band that you wear on your wrist it monitors the amount of exercise that you do along with caloric intake.  I am going to use this to monitor my exercise and what I eat to help me bring my numbers down . Over the next few months I will be writing about about my journey the highs and the lows until I reach my goal of 220 lbs . I hope we enjoy the ride. Me, you my bike and my fitbit.

Black Irish

I can still remember that famous line from the movie The Commitments where the main characters explained why their band should be a R and B band . He said that R and B was the music of black people in America . He said since the Irish were oppressed in Europe like blacks, were in America, that the Irish were the blacks of Europe. Years after watching that movie, I have the tendency to believe him.
Norman Mailer said in his essay The White Negro  that the Negro is the most innovative of all America. Mailer's explanation of this is because black people in America have to be innovative to survive . In Mailer's words, the negro is the true hipster because he lives on the border between democracy and totalitarianism .  So it is safe to say that American popular culture was born and still resides in black America. Jazz, Rock and Roll, the Blues and Hip Hop were born of the African-American experience . Style, language and other things like science, engineering and design are also influenced by black America.
I once took a group of students through the high school that I taught at to show them the contributions of black inventors. From the cafeteria on the ground floor to the library on the top floor each floor had something that was invented by a black inventor. So it's not just entertainment that is influenced by black America every part of what we call America has the finger prints of black America.  The same can be said for Britain, the rest of Europe and the world.
From Literature to the Sciences to Popular culture, the Irish have used their oppression to create a world that is a lot easier to live in . In how the book How the Irish save Civilization  by Thomas Cahill, the Irish saved western culture from the Huns and the Visigoths . Writers like Jonathan Swift and James Joyce gave much to the creation of the western political style. Paul McCartney along with John Lennon created a musical style that has lasted for over 50 years .
The Irish came to America and created political dynasties in cities like Boston and New York and produced a President John F. Kennedy. Writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald chronicled the 1920s and became one of America's premier writer showmen like George M. Cohan produced shows that lauded America's Patriotism .
At the same time that the Irish were doing their thing in America, African Americans were creating the Harlem Renaissance and Jazz music as its' soundtrack. Out of WWII came swing and Rock and Roll in the Fifties . While JFK was in the house and the Senate preparing for the presidency , Dr. Ralph Bunche was negotiating the Arab-Israeli conflict and won the Noble Peace Prize and Richard Wright and James Baldwin were creating the voice of Black America and Charlie Parker was creating its' soundtrack.
All of this came from the oppression and marginalization that each group was subjected to. Each group took that oppression and turned it into gold . As oppressed groups African-Americans and the Irish have gone beyond oppression and have reached our goals. We are still marginalized by the mainstream but both of us have had one of our brethren in the oval office and at the height of cultural.
The Irish are the blacks of Europe but blacks are the Irish of America.

Cause I'm Happy!!!!!

I was always taught that you can either be happy, productive and proactive  or you can be angry, unproductive and reactive. In the scheme of thing that does not give you many options but when you think about it, it does.
Warren Buffett says that his success has been based on a variety of factors including genetics, geography and time. He was born white and male in America.  He was born at a time where all of that mattered and he took advantage of the opportunities that were presented to him. With all of those factors combined, he became one of the riches men in the world instead of a guy who runs a service station. The fact that his father was a congressman and he lived an upper-middle class childhood in Omaha Nebraska during a depression that divested  many families  and killed many dreams .  Mr. Buffett took what was given to him and worked toward his success. When he was rejected, he regrouped when he was successful, he did not sit on his laurels but went on to seek his next success. I guess you could say that Warren Buffett was happy, productive and proactive. He took what he had and made his success.
When I look at myself, I also have to look at what gifts were given to me and how they can help me to achieve success. I was not born white or upper middle class. Although I was born male albeit a black male that for me is to my disadvantage. Up to 50% of all black males in America are either unemployed, incarcerated or addicted to some sort of drug. We are not seen a a good risk for anything and even if we are not one of those statistics many people think we are. With the exception of currently being out of work, I am the exception to all of the above-mentioned stats.  I do not use drugs or alcohol, I am well educated and I have never been to jail.
I could dwell on the negative, the discrimination and the lack of opportunities available to someone of my race , age and sex and out my head back under the covers but there are many factors that keep me from doing this.  The most obvious of these is that I only meet one of the above-mentioned stats and I only meet that one is  because of the current  economic situation. I am well educated with
a great deal of experience. I come from a good family that is very supportive of me and my attitude is positive and upbeat .
When I think about it yes I am a black male in America so I am not at the top of the success tree. It could be worse, I could be a black male in Brazil or a variety of Latin American or African countries or in Europe for that matter. As things go, America is one of the best places to be black. If I lived in Brazil for instance, I would probably be living on the streets in abject poverty. If I lived in France I might be living in the high-rise ghettos that blacks are relegated to. In America where our success rate is not as high as it should be , we occupy the White House and are CEO's of major corporations, have a seat on the Supreme Court and own several lucrative business and have won many high awards like the Noble Prize and the Pulitzer Prize. Maybe as a whole statistically we have not achieved as much as white men but we are not white men we are black men in a society that practices racism .
When I think about this, I feel that I have just as good of a chance at success as any man 'cause I'm happy and because I am the exception not the rule.

Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye

There is an old Irish song called Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye. That in my mind encompasses my thoughts on JFK and his administration .
President Kennedy gave his life for his country 50 years ago today and I or any American will never forget him . During the time of his presidency many Americans did not understand his vision of America. He moved fast on some things like our race to the moon against the Soviet Union but not fast enough on issues like Civil Rights of Women's Rights.
We were inspired by his inaugural speech that asked us not to just  take from America but to give as well to take the torch that has been given to us and to light the world. He gave the challenge to youth at the time to go out into the world and make it better . He started the Peace Corps that said to the world that American troops would not be the only young people in their countries.
President Kennedy inspired us all and gave us hope but we did not know him. We did not know that he was very ill and suffered excruciating  pain throughout his presidency. We did not know that his father suffered a stroke and was unable to communicate. As someone whose father suffered a stroke and cannot communicate, I understand the stress he must have been under. His children were under a constant spotlight. President Kennedy was from privilege  and did not always understand what it was like not to have it but he was willing to listen. What was great about President Kennedy is that he did not know everything and he knew it . He reached out to America to help him understand. He made mistakes and was willing to admit it . He made mistakes and he made changes. He toured FBI headquarters and asked director J Edgar Hoover why he had only one Black agent in the entire FBI and called him to recruit more. President Kennedy knew that America was far from perfect but he was willing to do what was necessary to make it such. He was slow and sometimes resistant on Civil Rights but went on to know that it was either Civil Rights or Civil War.
President Kennedy was all that was good about the new America and he was willing bring us into it kicking and screaming. I was only 6 when President Kennedy was killed but he has shaped my thoughts , my political philosophy and all that I dream of .
Johnny we hardly knew ye but we're glad we did.