I am a teacher, I don't have time to be depressed

I am a teacher, I don't have time to be depressed

I thought I saw Joe Hill walking over that hill with Congressman John Lewis last night. God has blessed me so many times by sending me role models of integrity.

On one of my trips to the Selma Jubilee, I was blessed with a two-minute conversation with my hero Congressman John Lewis at a Selma Gala. The Supreme Court has just ruled to weaken the Voting Rights Act. Everyone was depressed that year, but not Congressman Lewis. I ended up in line with him.

We exchanged greetings, and he said: "Why so sad young man"

I responded by saying how shocking the Supreme Court decision was. He said:
"Young man we don't have time to be depressed. He said, there is work to be done, let us do the work that needs doing.
I said, BUT...
Again, with his big, beautiful smile, he said: "Young man, you know there were 3 marches from Selma to Montgomery, 

The first two were met with brutal violence, 

On the first one, they fractured my skull, 

But I would not let bullies intimidate me, 

So I just got back up and did the work. 

I have been doing the work since 1965,

The work:

Lifts me, 

It is far from done, 

To be honest, 

I am not sure the work will ever be done, 

But doing this work,

Inspires me, 

Lifts me, and 

Sustains my soul,

Young man, 

I expect to see you march across that Edmond Pettus Bridge on Sunday with us." 

I was on the bridge with three other Uniting to Save Our Schools members when Congressman Lewis marched for the last time, just months before he would go on to glory. 

The day after the election, I think how many elections did not turn out Congressman Lewis's way. It never once let him stop doing the work. Elections don't get the work done, people gathering, organizing, and marching get the work done. I feel some marching coming. 

I shall honor God's blessing of those two minutes with Congressman Lewis, by doing the work that needs doing. The work inspires me, lifts me, and sustains me.

Call me Dr. Good Troubles,

Jesse The Walking Man Turner 

As long as I have music, I can go on, here is my walking song this morning link: One day when the Glory Comes Common John Legend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZOKvYcx_o 

Come What May: I shall not be moved

 

COME WHAT May:
I shall not be moved.

Our daughter is joining us on November 5, 2024, to vote,
We shall cast our vote for Vice President Harris,
Win or lose, we shall stand with love together.

If we win, then,
We shall do what my grandfather did,
hold her accountable.

If we lose, then,
We shall not run away,
We shall once again join the women in DC on inauguration day,
Standing up for our civil rights.

If Trump builds his detention centers,
If Trump turns the army on the people who opposed him,
If women are blocked from Reproductive health care,
If Trump's Supreme Court of shame,
Takes back LGBTQ rights,
Then, I should use my voice, my feet, and my body to block them.

I shall not be moved,
Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr,
Like Rosa Parks,
Like the Civil Rights Leaders of old,
I shall speak up,
Stand up,
March, and
Practice my right to assemble even under threat of arrest.

If they lock me in a cell,
Then I shall come right back out, and
Do it again,
If they arrest me 1000 times, then
So be it.

I will not flee our America,
I shall stay, and
Stand up for our rights.

Come what may,
Like a tree by the water,
I shall not be moved.

Dr. Jesse P. Turner
United to Save Our Schools
Badass Teacher
Just call me unmovable

If you like to listen to the tune that inspired my walk today, its Marva Staples singing "We Shall Not Be Moved
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcDpmzQh3YU

Dr. Rev William Barber Jr at Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama

Book Banners don't care about books, they fear how books humanize us

 

I remember reading "To Kill a Mocking Bird" in Middle School and watching the movie at home and in school. There was something transformative about those experiences in my youth that helped make me the teacher, son, brother, husband, and father I am today. 

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” ~ Harper Lee 

As a Literacy Educator, I am informed by a rich body of research, and experiences in the classroom. Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop said diverse Books are mirrors, (places we see and reaffirm ourselves), Windows, (places we come to see and know others), and Sliding Doors, (places where we step inside the lives of others). Literature is more than print on pages, it can be a communion with transformation of hope, peace, joy, and love. I would say diverse books humanize us. It is that potential to humanize us that racists fear most. The Humanizing factor is why people seek to ban books. I have asked college over a thousand undergraduates and graduate university students what the reason teachers gave you is to make you a reader. Their answers seldom come close to any transformative answers. Most are linked to employment or access to university.  Mrs. Stanfield my Hornor's English Teacher told us Frederick Douglas said " Once you learn to read you will be forever free". She was my first Black Teacher, she always linked literacy to freedom. Father Fitzgerald told us reading gives you another doorway to God when your ears are blocked. Reading is God's gift to all, and Brail is his gift to the blind.  

If we spent more time with young learners explaining why we want them to read, we would find powerful ways to motivate and engage them. It is my opinion that we spend too much time teaching how to read, and not enough time teaching why we read.

Respectfully,

Dr. Jesse P. Turner 

CCSU Literacy Center Director 

If you like to listen to the tune that inspired my morning walk today...its the "Teach Your Children" cover by Play For Change https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5AuFDHdrrg&list=RDP5AuFDHdrrg&start_radio=1