I Am A Public School Teacher

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: " I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."

I refuse to be defined by hate,
I refuse to be the pawn in the hands of bigots and racists,
I refuse to reduce those human beings I teach to the statistics of fear,
I refuse labels,
I refuse standards without equity,
I refuse to part of the scam to close Black, Brown, and Poor Schools.
I refuse to see less in any child, when I know they are so much more than your test scores.
I am a public school teacher.

I am,
A builder of tomorrows,
A teacher of hope in the darkness,
A miracle worker in a world of inequity,
A path builder for brighter days,
A candle stick maker for those lost in darkness,
A teacher who sees hearts beating, not hearts bleeding,
A teacher who sees hope and beauty in Black, Brown, DECCA, Poor and Special Education children in our schools and universities.
I am a public school teacher.

I am not special,
I am not great,
I am not gifted,
I am another link in that long line of young mind liberators.
I am a public school teacher.

I am a bringer of hope,
I am a finder of book that open minds,
I am the voice in young minds,
That says rise up ye mighty ones,
You are more than worthy.
I am a public school teacher.

You are our tomorrows,
You are hope rising,
You are meant for greater things,
I am a public school teacher.

I am here,
To guide you,
To push you,
To move you,
I am your teacher.

I refuse to be define,
By CEOs seeking tax breaks and profits,
By Billionaires and millionaires,
By policy makers,
By legislators,
People whose have never taught children anything,
I am bigger than their hype,
I am bigger than their scams, I am a public school teacher.

I am a public school teacher

I am a public school teacher

Just Another Proud Public School Teacher,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

"You who are on the road

Must have a code that you can live by

And so become yourself

Because the past is just a good-bye.

Teach your children well. "

If you like to listen to the song that inspired my walk on this rain free day...it Playing For Change Teach Your Children

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5AuFDHdrrg

Because we are your mountain top people

Dr. Matin Luther King said: "​I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."

Dear Martin, thank you for leaving us:
A legacy of truth,
A legacy of hope,
A legacy of love,
A legacy of righteous action.

We are going up to the mountain top,
Because, you asked us to,
Because we believe Love wins,
Because, we are a righteous people,
Because, our patriotic duty compels us,
Because, faith compels us,
Because, humanity compels us,
Because, even if we all did not see it then,
We see it now,
We are your mountain top people.

Love, peace, and hope to all you beautiful mountain top people,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you like to listen to the song that inspired my walk this morning...it's Patty Griffin's " I want up to the Mountain, because you asked me too" tribute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA6Q5-Ap3o8

2018 Resistance 2.0: The Struggle Continues Building Striving communities, Schools, Families, and voice.

Come right on up for the East Coast Spring Up Rising So the plan is a series of Resistance Salons this spring. Resistance 2.0: The Struggle Continues Building Striving communities, Schools, Families, and voice. Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey are in.

Salon rules

1. Size or location does not matter, they might be at universities, community schools, people's homes, churches, union halls, or coffee houses. There might be 10 people, or 100, what really
matter is activists who care about schools and each other.

2. Panel guests must not only raise awareness, but have a wellness messages as well. (Why because this is a life time struggle, we must also ensure we are well enough to endure the long term.3. The audience must be engaged and active participants. In other words everyone is a star.

4. There should be some type of way to share the salon happenings. It might be via Facebook Live or Youtube blogs, or written blog reflections.

5. Salon should be made up of manly local voices, but include some voices from other states as well. (This keeps the focus local, but reminds us we are all suffering under the same abusive Education Reforms.

6. Salons issues should include issues in and outside our public schools, and be rooted in what Mark Naison calls "Positive Energy".

7. Six rules are enough!

Many education reform resistance fighters have come to me saying they are still determined, but tire and worried. When your struggle is long and difficult, you must also find ways to stay well enough to endure and stay the path. Our struggle is a moral one, and we are determined to see it through. Our foes are wealthy, powerful, and control much of the policy apparatus in education, and have the ability to wear resisters down. Thus, we convened a group of education reform resisters from Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, in an online Facebook discussion to consider the question of where we go next in the struggle to take back our schools and communities. We decided since this struggle is long term, we need to include ways to fight fatigue, weariness, and even depression. We are connecting to what Journey 4 Justice's We Choose Campaign have already begun with their town halls.

We came to the conclusion that our struggle needs to be both morally right and physically healthy for all of us. Thus, we will not only turn up for the resistance, but for each other’s physical and mental health. so every salon panel guest must feed not only the resistance, but help us support each other’s wellness at the same time. People get ready for ways to fight back, but improve your wellness at the same time. If the struggle is to continued, we must also find ways to keep each other healthy enough to end the fight as well. Mark Naison, provided the perfect words to drive our resistance to the high-stakes testing, the intentional demoralization of our public school teachers, and privatizing of our public schools "Positive Energy". It has been 16 years since NCLB, 16 year since testing became the hammer use to crush local public schools. Frederick Douglas knew progress took time and hard struggle.

Our Resistance 2.0 Salons are going to inform, educate, move people to action, but be driven by Positive Energy. We will move people to act, and include ways to stay and become healthy both physically and mentally. If the struggle takes time, then we must be healthy enough to live long enough to see it to it's end. So, for those asking what comes NEXT..it a Positive Energy rising! Trust me on this one thing, actions shall follow our salons, and our action shall bring down the houses of Education Reform Shame. For we are a mighty people!
People get ready for the train coming,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner




PS, if you are interested in joining us, please email me turnerj@ccsu.edu We need everyone to come on board. Hey, please don’t tell me you couldn’t guess which song inspired my morning walking today... Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions “People Get Ready” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdK...