Dear Mr. President, American History begins with a deep study of the people's struggle

Dear Mr. President, it seems that you now believe the press is the enemy, and you need to block them? Clearly your history teachers missed the mark in your education.

 
Mr. President, America has heroes I fear you have never studied. Heroes like Cesar Chavez, an American labor leader who honorably served his nation in the United States Navy, and as civil rights activist. With Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association. He is just one of America's heroes I fear you failed to study. Cesar inspired the hopeless. He lifted the hopeless. He inspired the hopeless to look up, to get off their knees, and to rise up. He inspired them to understand that democracy begins with a love of action. Like many others he inspired a hope of action. You might call him a people's hero.

My hope is that you start to look outside your CEO Box,

I hope you can look beyond billionaire views of the world.

Beyond power as might,
Beyond power as winning,

Understand Justice as right.

My hope is you can begin a deep study of:

A Manifest Destiny of pain, lies, and 500 years of suffering,

Inhuman cruelty Slavery,

American Immigration,

The Women's Suffrage Movement",

The American Labor Movement,

Jim Crow,
The Civil Rights Movement",
Voting Rights, the endless struggle for the ballot.
A study beyond the history of "Privilege".
A study of heroes beyond presidents, generals, robber barons, and rooted in sincere deep self-reflections.

I suggest you begin with a study of Howard Zinn.
Zinn said: "I can understand pessimism, but I don’t believe in it. It’s not simply a matter of faith, but of historical evidence. Not overwhelming evidence, just enough to give hope, because for hope we don’t need certainty, only possibility. Which (despite all those confident statements that “history shows …” and “history proves …”) is all history can offer us." It is time for you to study the possibilities of the hopes that history offers the people.

Dear Mr. President, it is not about you,
It is not about any individual,
It is not about me,
It is not about conservatives or liberals,
It is bigger than any political party,
It is bigger than winning, or losing,
It is about keeping hope in the people’s hearts.
It's about us, not some of us, but all of us.

It is about the "First Amendment" and the role of a free press,
It is about a people's imperfect aspirations,
A people willing to be self-critical,
A people yearning to be free,
A people yearning for justice, 
A people understanding they have always falling far from that moral arch of justice.
But, always strive for justice for all.
A people who understand that justice for some is our sin.
A people who understand that justice and liberty for all is our only salvation. 
Anything short is our national sin.

Mr. President, it is not about winning,
It is not about being the richest nation,
The most powerful nation,
Or the nation that strikes fear in all other nations.

On the contrary, it is about being the nation honoring and striving for that perfect dream.
A nation inspired by an aspiration written not in our Constitution, but our Declaration of Independence: 
"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."

Mr. President, it is not about fear,
Fear cannot take us there,
It is about hope,
The hope you have thus far failed to deliver.  
   
The people. should be ask why,
Freedom of Speech,
Freedom of Religion,
The Right to Assemble Peacefully,
And a Free Press,
Came first?

Harry Truman said: “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.”

Mr. President,
Our voices are meant for rising,

Our feet are meant for marching.
The Fools of Oppression have forgotten we are a people with a history of heroes whose foot prints were large.
Foot prints that left behind a love of democracy as action.

Mr. President, 

We reject your bullying of the press,
We reject your finger pointing,
We reject your leaks for Hilary were fine, but for me are treason,
We reject your apathy of the hopelessness.
We reject your the press is the enemy.

It's simple Mr. President,
We the people reject your mantras of fear.
We the people shall not be moved, like a tree by water,

Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you like to listen to the song that inspireed this Walking Man on his walk today? Its We Shall Not Be Move by Mary Mary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYQGXllbHH4

 

It's the 48% who stay home that hurts the most

I can't complain about Trump voters, Clinton Voters, Stein voters, Johnson voters, or even the write in voters.
Every voter breaks the silence of hopelessness. I respect those that showed up regardless of who they voted for.

However, I do point my finger at those that were silent on Election day. They above all other have brought us this divided nation.
48% is the silence that empowers politicians to govern poorly, to abuse the elderly, the young, our handicapped, working people, our veterans, the middle class, and our most vulnerable.
 
48% who ensure that no president can win more than 24-26%,
48% ensure our bitter division,
48% is the number that empowers money, power and corruption,
48% is the number that empowers the 1% to abuse the 99%,
48% is the number that emboldens injustice,
48% is the number that shames freedom,
48% is the silence that torments America,
48% is the sinful painful silence that encourages our tormentors.

Wake up 48%
Get up off your knees 48%
Stand up 48%,
Turn up,
Show up,
Look up,
Your silence and apathy imprisoned change,



48% hear the words of Paul Simon's warning,
"Fools said I, You do not know, silence like a cancer grows,
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you,
But my words like silent raindrops fell, and echo,
In the wells of silence" 

I call to you the 48% tormentors of silence,
On my knees I am begging
Break the silence,
End the divide,
Save us,
Rise up!

Jesse The Walking Man Turner


If you are wondering what song I am listening to as I get ready leave for Ireland for my wife's mother's burial, our dear Betty...its Disturbed powerful version of Paul Simon's  "The Sound of silence"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4

School Choice without equity is INJUSTICE!

"School Choice" policies began with President Bush, continued under President Obama, and now with President Trump. NCLB, RTTT and ESSA continue to empower reforms forcing poor urban and rural public schools to compete against each other for limited resources.

Competition is not equity, but it is a sure fire way to ensure that many of our most vulnerable children receive inadequate public educations. School Choice without equity diverts the blame from our politicians and policy markers to our children, their parents, teachers, and local public schools. It is the perfect inequity smoke and mirrors cover for failing our moral responsibility to bring justice and equity to our public schools.
 
Five United States Secretaries of Education Page, Spelling, Duncan, King, and now DeVos advocate policies of high-stakes testing, public school privatization, ever increasing narrowing reading, writing, and math curricula  for the poor, and standards without equity. Education reforms that have already spent over 1 trillion dollars on failed policies for the past 15-years. Education reforms that  have not only failed to bring equity in our public schools. Education reforms that have left Black, Brown and Poor children in the most segregated schools since "Brown v the Board of Education 1954 Supreme Court decision.  We hear the word acountablity often from "School Choice" advocates.
Has any of them been held accountable for their failures?
What is their plan for the next 15-years?
More of the same!
What is this Walking Man plan?
To Rise Up!

CHOICE WITHOUT EQUITY IS IMMORAL
RISE UP PARENTS!
RISE UP TEACHERS!
RISE UP STUDENTS!
RISE UP AMERICA! 

If you like to listen to the song inspiring this Walking Man on his walk this morning...its Andra Day's Live Acoustic version of "Rise UP" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeqUmaquYAY

Singing with every step I take:

You're broken down and tired
Of living life on a merry go round
And you can't find the fighter
But I see it in you so we gonna walk it out
And move mountains
We gonna walk it out
And move mountains
And I'll rise up
I'll rise like the day
I'll rise up
I'll rise unafraid
I'll rise up
And I'll do it a thousand times again
And I'll rise up
High like the waves
I'll rise up
In spite of the ache
I'll rise up
And I'll do it a thousands times again
For you
For you
For you
For you

Still marching, still rising up for our public schools,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner