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Saturday, August 29, 2015

A call to action Labor Day 2016

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The recent action of our Dyett brother and sister hunger strikers calls us unified action. Justice is coming, and I plan to help it along in any way I can. I am calling for a Labor Day 2016 action in Washington DC on the Mall.
  " That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." ~ (1776) The Declaration of Independence

These are the sacred words of a free people that I am claim upon the blood sacrifices of countless generations of Americans who came before us. These words holding the aspirations of a free people that Dr. Yohuru Williams often reminds us,
These words
Of minute men long gone,
Slaves yearning to be free,
Women struggling for the vote,
Immigrants following a Lamp in that harbor of hope,
By crossing that sacred bridge in Selma,
By the voices of today youth carrying Black Lives Matter signs,
By SOSers in 2011,
By Opt outers occupying the United States Department of Education in 2012 and 2013
By BATs marching on DC in 2014, and again in 2015,
By my Dyett brothers and sisters on hunger strike in Chicago in August of 2015.

With those scared words passed down from generations past I call a free people to action everyday. By those words I call all to DC Labor Day 2016. No mater plan, no permits, no podiums with speakers, no marching bands to announce our coming, just a free people walking together carrying their signs for justice, letting our silence thunder, joining and embracing our free brothers and sisters on the Great Mall.
Dr. Naison Black History and Labor historian reminds us that silence can speak louder than thunder. He point us to the historic 1917 when silence spoke louder than thunder.
They marched down Fifth Avenue on that summer Saturday without saying a word. They chanted no chants, sang no protest songs. The only sounds were the disconcertingly mournful thuds of muffled drums — and, of course, the marchers’ footsteps on the hot pavement.”
 http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/15/a-history-of-making-messages-heard-silently/?_r=0
No one owns this action, just as no one owns a free people. Understanding a free people must seek justice, or their freedom shall turn become their bondage.
Ask me where I'll be Labor Day 2016?
You shall find this walking man hold his No Justice No Votes sign.
If I sand alone than I stand one man alone.
But if by chance I stand with one other than surely justice has a chance.
I am calling every student, every parent, every teacher, every principal, every grass roots anti high stakes testing group beaten down by the injustice to stand and march in silence against these destructive education policies that reduce our children to proficiency levels, that demoralize our teachers, and take the right to vote for elected boards of education, abandon and neglect special needs and second language learners over and over again, and close our poorest and most needy schools.
I am compelled to insubordination by justice
My eyes are wide open,
My hearts is true,
Justice is coming, and I plan on making sure it comes.
Come join me next Labor Day for a No Justice No Votes silence protest in DC,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner 

If you want to know what song this walking man is singing it's Josh Stone's version of "Eye On The Prize" from Soundtrack for a revolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeP-gS9sHkU

Thursday, August 27, 2015

One day for my Dyett brothers and sisters

Yesterday the second hunger Dyett hunger striker passed out needing medical attention as she testified before the Chicago Public School board. See article in this link > http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-cps-dyett-hunger-strike-solidarity-met-0827-20150826-story.html < Something pure, something righteous, something so powerful we can't see it today, but trust me. We shall talk about it for decades to come. This Walking Man stands with his Dyett brothers and sister in their quest for justice.

I have no power,
I have no wealth,
I have no connections to the powerful.
But, I know righteousness when I see it.
I have little to give.
All I have is myself, and a heart bent on justice.
A heart that has been battered, but not defeated by injustice in our public schools.
A heart determined to beat it's every beat for justice in our schools.
In Chicago I see power, wealth and the connected as purveyors of inequlaity.
In Chicago I see a group of parents saying enough is enough.
I see a group of parents with hearts bent on justice bigger than my own.
In Chicago I see parent hunger strikers fighting injustice with everything they have.
Risking their health and their lives for children.
In Chicago I see great sacrifice ignored by a nation in danger of losing it's soul.
I have no funds to fly to Chicago, but if I did I would be there in a New York minute.
I am not strong enough to go join them in hunger strike for the duration, but I can join their fast for one day.
It's not much, but it's all I can give today.
So Friday August 28, 2015 I shall eat no food from 9:am to 9:am Saturday August 29.
It's far too little, but it all I can give today.
I stand with the Dyett hunger strikers,
Jesse The Walking Turner

If you like to hear what tune this Walking Man listened to his walk this morning? It's the Legendary Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers To Cross"
>https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrBT7QfEN9VStEAnP1XNyoA;_ylc=X1MDMjc2NjY3OQRfcgMyBGZyA2FhcGx3BGdwcmlkA2RqYTdhaDQ4UnEuOE5NQXdwbC5YbUEEbl9yc2x0AzAEbl9zdWdnAzAEb3JpZ2luA3NlYXJjaC55YWhvby5jb20EcG9zAzAEcHFzdHIDBHBxc3RybAMEcXN0cmwDMzgEcXVlcnkDamltbXkgY2xpZmYgbWFueSByaXZlcnMgdG8gY3Jvc3MgdXR1YmUEdF9zdG1wAzE0NDA2ODIwMjU-?p=jimmy+cliff+many+rivers+to+cross+utube&fr2=sb-top-search&fr=aaplw <

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

In Chicago Dyett hunger strikers draw the line to defend life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and public schools

Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig "Cloaking Inequity" Blog posted "Today is my first hunger strike— my first fast.  I have the opportunity today to learn from the example of Jesus Christ, Ghandi and Cesar Chavez. I stand in solidarity with 12 parents and community members who are on hunger strike for community-based public schools. I challenge you to join the fast today August 25, 2015" (Today: Join hunger strike for community-based public schools #FightForDyett: http://wp.me/p2D92I-2HF via @ProfessorJVH) His blog this morning is a must read for every American.
http://cloakinginequity.com/2015/08/25/today-join-hunger-strike-for-community-based-public-schools-fightfordyett/

In Chicago our public schools have become cash boxes for politicians and the "for profit" charter school crowd. Money walks people, and money has made it's way into political campaigns across the nation from lobby groups for profit charter schools and testing companies. The private sector doesn't like democracy, they like control, and control is what they are buying in America.
In America five Supreme Court justices ruled:
Corporations are people, and
Money is free speech.
In America money buys elections, power and influence.
In America democracy is at risk.
In America there is no better example of that risk than the office of Chicago's mayor.

In Chicago public school control is in the mayor's office.  In Chicago Mayor Rahm has closed nearly a 100 community schools to make way for his new charter schools.
In Chicago parents have no say in electing the school board, and local Black schools and the teachers in those schools are targets.

Power corrupts, and a mayor with absolute power over the school board corrupts completely. There is no greater threat to democracy than absolute power. The American Declaration of Independence states: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." When you denied Americans the right to an elected school board you cut away their aspirations as a free people. I argue Chicago is out of control and morally and democratically corrupt. Every day Chicago denies it's citizens the right to elect their own school board it threatens the people's right to be free.  I argue that Mayor Rham would not be able to close local public schools at will with an elected school board that has to answer to the public. Chicago is a city that threatens the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness of its citizens.
Chicago parents, students and teachers have pleaded for their right to have a say in what happens in their public schools, they have held rallies, marched, held sit in(s) and lay in(s). Their activists have been banned form school board meetings, and have even been arrested. Chicago is not the Windy City, but the City of injustice in my humble opinion.
Now Dyett parents have taken to hunger strike. Jitu Brown the moral leader of Journey 4 Justice said: "We are here today because we have been pushed to the point of putting our bodies on the line to say, "Enough is enough!" We are tired of the destabilizing of our schools. "
In Chicago the idea of community schools is at risk,
In Chicago childhood is at risk,
In Chicago democracy is at risk,
In Chicago the right to life at risk,
In Chicago liberty is at risk,
In Chicago the pursuit of happiness is at risk,
In Chicago democracy is at risk.

In Chicago we must draw the line,
In Chicago we must support their struggle,
In Chicago Americans must defend the people's aspirations to be free,
In Chicago we must say to the Mayor Emmanuel and his Democratic Machine the people want their public schools back.
In Chicago the cry must become "No Justice! No Votes!
In Chicago every American should call the mayor's office (312.744.5000) to say 9 true words,
Enough is enough, we stand with Dyett hunger strikers.

Remember the life of Pastor Martin Niemoller an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler. Pastor Niemoller who spent seven years in Nazi concentration camps said:
"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Trust me Chicago is their plan for the nation."
When you think if Chicago think of Martin Niemoller warning about speaking up for others, because trust me the Chicago plan is the plan for all our public schools.
In America the Deyett hunger strikers call us to action,
In America we must speak up for Deyett,
In America it's time to give Mayor Rham a call 312.744.5000.
Enough is Enough America!

Come stand with our brave Deyett hunger strikers that have thrown their own bodies into this battle to save their public schools.
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you are wondering what the Walking listened to on his morning walk today? It was Seal version of that old Sam Cook gospel song " A change is gonna come"....https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=you+tube+a+change+is+gonna+come