Our History Teachers Made Sure We would Recognize that Nazis Playbook if it came around

 
I have seen this hater playbook before

I know why these new haters want to Ban books,
Burning Books,
Intimidate us,
Ban factual history,
Because it exposes,
Their hate,
Their twisted sense of freedom of speech silencing others.

We had history teachers that made sure we would recognize that Nazis playbook,
Made sure that we would face them head-on,
Made sure we would not be silent,
Made sure we would stand up when the time came.
History matters,
History teachers matter.

Because History Teachers matter,
People are standing up to hate,
I am standing up with our history teachers.

Bless by history teachers that matter,
Dr. Jesse. P. Turner
Uniting to Save Our Schools
Proud Bad Ass Teacher

If you like to listen to the tune that I listened to on my morning walk today, it was the Beatles "Revolution"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK2B6JDL4cA

Missing in Action Good Stewards in our Public Schools

 

During the last twenty years it appears that high-stakes testing and school choice without equity policies driving education reform, and all they have achieved is demoralized teaching force, Common Core State Standards, and schools as racially segregated at before the landmark 1954 Brown vs the Board of Education ruling.  I find myself asking where are the good policymaker stewards speaking up and defending children, parents, teachers in communities of color? Where are the stewards asking the tough questions of why has nothing changed after spending nearly two trillion dollars on education reforms? When do we send stewards to speak with and deeply listen to our teachers, children, parents, and yes administrators? In my humble opinion our policymakers have not done what Massachusetts first Commissioner of Education Horace Mann did for six years on the job. Horace Mann visited every public school in his state, noted inequalities, listened, and engage educators and communities in discussion about the valued of public education. Who are our policymakers listening to? From my view it is CEOs, Non Educators, lobbyists, and publishers?

Understanding why teachers leave their chosen profession. Requires leadership seeing leadership that time and time again seeking to please CEOs. Not doing right by our children, teachers, and local community schools.

Good stewards are committed to selfless service. There is no desire for power. They do not need to be in charge or exert control over others. Everything about No Child Left Behind, Race To The Top, School Choice, and the closing of local community schools begs to ask the question; Where are the good stewards of public education? These education reforms are deeply rooted in power and control, and teachers fleeing are leaving because they reject being controlled.
I stand with these fleeing teachers,
Dr. Jesse P. Turner
Uniting to Save Our Schools
Proud Badass Teacher

If you like to listen to the tune that inspired my morning walk this morning, it's that classic Crosby, Stills and Nash "Teach Your Children"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vnYKRacKQc

Book banners fear their children becoming empathetic

These book Banners, these Anti Critical Race Theory haters, are not afraid their children might fell hurt by reading diverse books. What they fear most is their children might feel empathy for others. When you look beyond the slogans of indoctrination, you’ll find that future hate depends on rising new generations of haters. Nothing kills Hate like empathy. Empathy builds understanding, teaching us to walk a mile in another’s shoes. In other words, empathy teaches children to value, respect, and appreciate others. There is not anything that threatens future generations of hate other than empathy.

In 1990 Dr. Rudine Sim-Bishop wrote her seminal essay Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Doors. See the short link shares 25 years of African American Read-In inspired by Dr. Sims-Bishop herself. 
 https://ncte.org/blog/2016/02/windows-mirrors-sliding-doors/ 


Bigots hate mirrors, fear windows, and lack the empathy to walk in another person's shoes. Their very existence depends on growing future new generations lacking empathy. Hate is unable to look in the mirror, for if it does it breaks. 

Reading diverse books, bring us together, teaching us to treat each other with dignity, but most of all give us the courage to see ourselves in the mirror, and wisdom to see we are far more alike than we are different.

I read Diverse books,

I teach with Diverse books,

I value Diverse books,

Not for others,

But for that America Langston Hughes dream about:


“O, let America be America again,

The land that never has been yet—

And yet must be—the land where every man is free.

The land that's mine—the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME—

Who made America,

Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,

Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,

Must bring back our mighty dream again.”


Trust me these book banners, these Anti-Critical Race Theory haters, are not afraid that diverse books will hurt the self-esteem of their children, but that their children might discover an empathy that “might bring back our mighty dream again”.
Looking forward to our CCSU Literacy Center celebrating Black History month and participating in our 23rd African-American Read-In,
Dr. Jesse P. Turner 
CCSU Literacy Center Director 

If you like to hear from Dr. Rudine Sims-Bishop herself talking about diverse books, this clip opens the door to her thoughts about the transformative power of diverse books in 90 seconds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AAu58SNSyc