Imagine A Living Dr. King

There will be days like this....
I'm not sure how to deal with 51 years of a world, without a living Dr. King.
It's good to be teaching tonight at the CCSU Literacy Center. Doing some small good for children and teachers.
It's good to be thinking about being at the capital on Thursday to remember April 4, 1968, and reflecting on how to honor Dr. King on April 4, 2019.
Oh, but, how I wish, I was standing with a living Dr. King instead.


Just the thought of that chills my bones.
Just the thought moves me.
Just the thought propels me to do more.
Just the thought of standing with a living Dr. King, gives me all I need to stand on Moral Ground.
Just the thought!

My determination is strong,
My motivation is honorable,
My stance is moral,
But, I still have this hole in my soul for that living Dr. King.

Imagine Dr. Martin Luther King, calling out this hater in the White House?
He wouldn't need any tweets to call that hater out,
Cause we, all know he would be banging at the doors of that White house built by slave hands.
Imagine Dr. King ,calling both political parties out for giving tax breaks to billionaires and millionaires while cutting funding for the poor?
Imagine Dr. King, calling out these political leaders who can give billions for new war machines, While cutting funding to our public schools?
Imagine Dr. King, calling out these GOP Voter Suppressors?
Imagine Dr. King, calling us all to the border to defend children in cages?
Imagine standing with a living Dr. King.?
Standing against an America that gives much to the wealthy, the powerful, and the connected, While it tells the poor to go hold a bake sale?
Imagine a Living Dr. King standing with labor, for health care for all?
Imagine what a living Dr. King calling us to to justice?
Imagine a living Dr. King linking arms with "Black Lives Matter" activists?
Imagine a living Dr. King?

Yes, there will be days like this,
On days like this,
I have a living Dr. King in my heart,
My heart, shall make these days, my best days,
Days I shall remember and honor Dr. King through my actions.

There will be days like these,
Moral Monday Connecticut Education Ambassador
Dr. Jesse P. Turner

"When it's not always raining there'll be days like this
When there's no one complaining there'll be days like this
When everything falls into place like the flick of a switch
Well my mama told me there'll be days like this."

If you like to listen to the tune that inspired my walk over the Avon Mountain this morning...its Play for Change cover of "There Will Be Days Like This https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxr4GCjqk6s

I am a man of action

There is so much wrong in this life, pain, suffering, inequity, and injustice at every corner. The cornerstone of all that is wrong is less what evil people do, and more about our indifference to the suffering and pain of others.

“Elie Wiesel said: The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”

Dear Teachers, can we love the students we teach, and be silent about racism, homophobia, sexism, White Nationalism, religious bigotry, and xenophobia?

I would argue no, and such kinds of indifferences promote White Supremacy. I am calling indifference out in our public schools, our communities, our neighborhoods, our union halls, our churches, synagogues, temples, and Mosques. This is not the time to silent, this is the time to stand up together, to stand up for one another, change is not indifferent, it is purposeful, bold, and daring.

So, I found myself on my morning walk over the Avon Mountain asking myself...what can one man do? I reflected on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and the legacy of social action he left behind for all of us. I looked back on my the past decade of my activism in this fight for equity and justice for all in our public schools, and my recent role as Moral monday Connecticut's Education Ambassador. This role brings great responsibility, and requires bold actions.

Once, I said I would walk 400 miles to DC to protest the harmful effects of high-stakes testing.
So, I walked in 2010.
Once, I said I would walk 400 miles again to DC to protest the harmful effects of NCLB, RTTT, and ESSA.
So, I walked in 2015.
Now, I am saying it is not enough to walk again. I am going to use my body to make a statement against these evil policies of choice without equity.
I am going to lay my body down in the old ways of those civil rights activist of old. I shall walk into that United States Department of Education Building in DC, and sit down. I shall not be moved.
The question is will I be the only sit in at Betsy DeVos's house of inequity and shame?
My word is my bond.

I am guided by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr tenets of Non-Violent Social change. Martin left us a legacy to guide our steps for social and interpersonal change.

"INFORMATION GATHERING:To understand and articulate an issue, problem or injustice facing a person, community, or institution you must do research. You must investigate and gather all vital information from all sides of the argument or issue so as to increase your understanding of the problem. You must become an expert on your opponent’s position.

EDUCATION: It is essential to inform others, including your opposition, about your issue. This minimizes misunderstandings and gains you support and sympathy.

PERSONAL COMMITMENT: Daily check and affirm your faith in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence. Eliminate hidden motives and prepare yourself to accept suffering, if necessary, in your work for justice.

DISCUSSION/NEGOTIATION: Using grace, humor and intelligence, confront the other party with a list of injustices and a plan for addressing and resolving these injustices. Look for what is positive in every action and statement the opposition makes. Do not seek to humiliate the opponent but to call forth the good in the opponent.

DIRECT ACTION: These are actions taken when the opponent is unwilling to enter into, or remain in, discussion/negotiation. These actions impose a “creative tension” into the conflict, supplying moral pressure on your opponent to work with you in resolving the injustice.

RECONCILIATION: Nonviolence seeks friendship and understanding with the opponent. Nonviolence does not seek to defeat the opponent. Nonviolence is directed against evil systems, forces, oppressive policies, unjust acts, but not against persons. Through reasoned compromise, both sides resolve the injustice with a plan of action. Each act of reconciliation is one step close to the ‘Beloved Community."

If I am alone, then I am alone in this action. What matters is one person somewhere stands up somewhere against this evil that reduces Black, Brown, Poor and Special Education children to profit margins and data points.
Get ready for I am returning to DC in 2019 to occupy the United States Department of Education,
Dr. Jesse The Walking Man Turner

Jesse Turner is a walking Man

If you want to hear what song inspired my walk over the mountain this spring day...it's Barry Lane singing Jesse Turner is a Walking Man https://barrylane.bandcamp.com/track/jesse-turner-the-walkin-man

See the child, not the score

We hear a great deal about what it means to assess children in schools these days. Policy makers and Ed Reformers love to talk rigorous standards and testing. 
But, I say if we look at the original Latin root assess is assessus "a sitting by," past participle of assidere/adsidere "to sit beside." Nowhere does it say test, nowhere does it say be more rigorous, insist on one size fits all, hold them to tougher standards. Nowhere does it say be objective, cold, and void of any empathy.
It says to "sit beside", it's the sitting with, that gives teachers the data that really matters, helps the child understand this isn't something teachers do to them, but with them.
Both teacher and child learn from each other...  In the real world, the most important data is sitting right next to you. See the child, not the score. Remember hope is born on the wings of our empathy.
These Ed Reformers and policy makers are the ones who never sit beside children, and I say they don't have a clue about teaching and learning.
Respectfully,
Dr. Jesse P. Turner 
Moral Monday Connecticut Ambassador

See the child not the score, give hope, and watch them grow. 

If you want to listen to the tune that inspired my morning walk today...it is More Than a Number by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and Barry Lane > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Vf8cwTWRY <