Day 13 dedicated to Jamaal Bowman the Lion who defends childhood look like in the Bronx

Day 13 of my walk to DC is dedicated to Principal Jamaal Bowman, his compassionate teachers, and the children of The Corner Stone Academy for social Action. This walking man found himself lifted by those beautiful roses growing in the Bronx, the future, the children. Today 10 is for our roses.

Abdul Kalam said: “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.”

Abdul Kalam said: “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.”

If America cannot lift Black and Latin fathers, mothers, and teachers, then it cannot lift up their children.

In Selma we sing at the Jubilee Education Summit every year:

Fathers you're not too heavy

Mothers you're not to heavy

Teachers you're not too heavy

We will lift you up

I have been moved to tears time and time again in Selma every time we sing:

You're not heavy

We will lift you up!

What does leadership that lifts up Black and Latino children look like?

It looks like Bronx Principal Jamaal Bowman.
 

What does true moral leadership look like?

What does leadership that heals, inspires, and lifts those fathers, mothers, and teachers look like?
It looks like Bronx Principal Jamaal Bowman.

What does moral leadership look like in our public schools?

What does compassionate leadership look like in our public schools?

What does a defender of childhood look like in our public schools?
Who is the Lion who defends the childhood of Young Black and Latino minds in the Bronx?

Who educates the body, the kids, and the souls of young Black and Latino children in the Bronx?
Who loves New York's beautiful Bronx roses that grow between the cracks in New York City cement streets?

I met that Lion yesterday at Crotona Park in the Bronx?
What does it mean to lift Black and Latin fathers and mothers up?
It means you lift up their children.
It means you let children run, jump, play, and learn.
What does it mean it mean to lift up teachers?
It means you help them lift up the children they teach.
It means you focus on the Whole Child.
It means nourishing a school culture where teachers can teach.
It means nourishing a school culture where teachers can be compassionate.
It means nourishing a school culture where teaching and learning becomes immersed in a love of children, a love of parents, a love of teachers, and a love of what childhood is meant to be.
Imagine school reforms policies that fight that culture of love of what childhood should be?
I am walking to DC fighting for what childhood ought to be, and yesterday I found leadership that gets it, leadership that walks the walk, talks the talk of “children you’re not heavy, we will lift you up.
Lord I thank you for sending me an army of children, teachers, activists, and that Lion Jamaal Bowman to lift my walk for justice not just more tests yesterday.
Thank you children and teachers from the Corner Stone Academy for Social Action for lifting me up,
One Man Walking In The Name Of Love to DC,
Jesse

What is the walking man listening to today? It's the roar of a Lion protecting the pride.
Today I am reading Jamaal Bowman's " The Tryanny of an Empty Park; A Play Manifesto by Bronx Principal Jamaal Bowman"
https://www.facebook.com/mark.naison.5/posts/10153125799043800

My Day 12 heroes talk the talk, walk the walk, and they live near you!

Day 12 belongs to the grassroots activists I find everywhere I walk. These are my day 12 heroes. 
America’s corporate education reformers, policy makers, testing company CEOs believe that they hold every key, but this is not the way I see it.  The view from on the ground is an uprising of the people calling for change in our schools.   At every turn I see a beautiful tapestry of my people, a beautiful tapestry of America’s people, a glorious tapestry of Black, White, Brown, Yellow and every thread in between.  I hear our children, I hear our parents, and hear our teachers at every step of this journey to DC.
Corporate reformers love their Comic Book heroes; they are forever waiting Superman but me I have found real heroes.
I find them in America’s schools, at music festivals, on country roads, on busy city streets, in back yard gardens, in church halls, and in our libraries from Connecticut to DC.
 
My hero’s are not driven by data walls,
My heroes are not driven by profit margins,
My heroes are driven by,
Hope and love.
Their only desire is to do right by America’s children.
My heroes believe in school equity, my heroes hand out flyers, knock on doors, and spread the word that schools can be more than a race to the bottom.

They are young,

They are old,

They are tall,

They are shot,

They come all faiths;
They are on the left,

They are on the right, and they are in between.
My heroes are not hedge fund managers,

My heroes are not secretaries and commissioners of education,

My heroes are not legislators,

My heroes are not millionaires,

They do not play golf with millionaires,

They do not fly in corporate jets,

They do not Play pickup basketball games what Hollywood stars,

They do not have the White House on speed dial,

My heroes are parents, who cannot afford to send their children to an elite private school.

My heroes are teachers who have to buy their own art supplies, pencils and the paper for their classrooms.

My hero’s are found in kindergartens to high schools all across America doing the best they can do every day,

My heroes are more than test scores,

My heroes are not your data, and
My heroes are not your profits.

The intellect of my heroes is far too big for those tiny bubbles your standardized test.
The potentials of my heroes cannot measured by America’s CEOs.
They are our future,
They are hope walking,
They are our children,
They are our teachers, and
They want their public schools back.

My heroes defend local public schools,

My heroes fight high-stakes testing,

My heroes want justice not more tests,
My heroes are beautiful,
My heroes inspire me,

My heroes are tireless, and
My heroes will not rest until they take back our classrooms and public schools.

Today this 10 miles is for every grassroots education activist who speaks up, who knocks on doors, hands out the flyers, and spreads the truth about our public schools,
I am sincerely humbled by the parents, the teachers, the activists who use social media, knock on doors, hand out the flyers of hope and leading our resistance.
Walking to DC,
Jesse 

If you want to know what tune this walking man sang on his walk from Yonkers to the Bronx? It's Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBfjU3_XOaA < 

Day 11, I know courage when I see it. Mr. Gus Morales is courage walking in this world!

The story of Mr. Gus Morales, union leader, teacher extraordinaire, defender of Holyoke public schools is well documented.
Read his tale, recognize his truth, feel his strength, and know his heart  
> http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/06/over_100_holyoke_public_school.html <

Cesar Chavez said: “Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours.”

Day number 11 is dedicated to my hero Gus Morales a teacher who refused silence and apathy.
A teacher standing up for his students,

His fellow teachers, and
His community.
In this age of high stakes assessment where children are reduced to test scores,
This age where America's children are sorted into tidy little boxes of:
Below Proficiency,
At Proficiency, or
Above proficiency. 
In this age where the "corporate bullies" they make profits from our children, and their data,
Where teachers must be silent,
Mr. Gus Morales stood up,
Mr. Gus Morales spoke up.
In this age of high stakes testing where apathy and silence rules,
Gus Morales fights for our children, our schools, and our communities,
Mr. Gus Morales is unafraid,
Speaks truth to power,
Stands taller than the rest. 
Mr. Gus Morales a teacher of teachers speaks for the powerless,
Speaks for the hopeless,
Speaks for the disenfranchised,

Speaks for our children,
Speaks for our teachers and
Stands strong for our public schools.

Mr. Gus Morales a teacher who reminds teachers what it means to defend public education,
What it means to defend students, and
What it means to defend our public schools.
This ten miles is all for Mr. Morales our hero,
Our beacon of honor,
Our sword of truth,
Our noble knight standing at the gate challenging all who dare to crush the dreams and hopes of our children.
This ten is for you Gus,
This ten is yours my brother,
This ten is for our role model of what teachers should be.
This ten is for our role model of what union leadership should be.
This ten is for a son of Cesar Chevez’s “The future is ours”
Sincerely another son of Chevez,

Jesse The Walking Man Turner

Yesterday at the Clear Water Festival I saw Gus Morales's letter of non-renewal online, yesterday I read the words of oppression trying to strike fear in every teacher across America. Yesterday I recognized greatness, recognized real power, recognized what a hero really is, yesterday I walked ten miles for Mr. Gus Morales a teacher's hero. If you want to know what this walking man listened to on his walk yesterday it was Enrique Iglesias's "Hero" 
https://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=utube+hero+songs