Reblogged from CURMUDGUCATION 

Every year around December 25, a whole bunch of people who aren’t actually Christians get all misty about a watered-down version of the original faith, make some generic noise about peace and good will while ignoring all the parts of the message that might be, well, more uncomfortable (“But wouldn’t the moneylenders get upset if we threw them out of the temple? That just seems so rude and uncomfortable. Maybe we should do something less confrontational.”), and follow it up with some noise about how, really, we should make every day Christmas.

Then on December 26th, they just scrub all of it out of their memory hole and go back to their usual lives.

Martin Luther King Jr Day has become kind of Christmassy. A whole bunch of people who aren’t ordinarily black or much concerned about social justice and all the rest of it spend some time conjuring up some warm and misty images of a man who was called a troublemaker, who criticized liberals and moderates for their uninvolved silence, and who did not give his life, but had it stolen by some angry white guy with a gun.

We’ll have posts and tweets about how great a man he was, how folks of all colors should just get along, illustrated with photos of King looking noble and stock photos of ethnically diverse hand clutching.  And then on January 17th, we’ll go back to arguing that Colin Kaepernick should protest injustice in some less destructive and disruptive manner than kneeling during the anthem.

Perhaps this is marginally better than trying to erase the day entirely so that King’s name isn’t even spoken, or is tied to a name like Robert E. Lee.

But I know this– talk is cheap (and stock photos are free). Read more>>

Reblogged from A View from The Edge

(The following is a update to a post I originally published in January 2015.)

With the events of the past two years, it would be difficult to argue that our nation has made substantial progress towards Dr. King’s vision of an America reflective of a “beautiful symphony of brotherhood.”

I continue to worry about the polarization of American society – politically, socially, and financially. We all bear some level of responsibility. One of the important tenets of Dr. King’s writings is the importance of our individual role in promoting the ideals that “all men are created equal” and that all human beings are worthy of respect, kindness, and love.

Moreover, Dr. King reminds us of the urgency to stand up for our beliefs and the ideals that make America a beacon of hope for so many: “Our lives begin to end when we become silent about things that matter.” 

Read more>>

Reblogged from mea.org

On Tuesday, Jan. 17, the U.S. Senate will hold a confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, President-Elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education. DeVos and her wealthy, right-wing family are no strangers to Michigan educators and students, who have suffered for years under policies the DeVoses have pushed as mega-donors to the Republican Party.

That’s why MEA and AFT Michigan are asking all Michigan school employees to join together on Tuesday, Jan. 17th and Wear Red for Public Ed. Trump and DeVos can only succeed in undermining and privatizing public education if we let them. Wearing red on Tuesday along with your colleagues will show that we remain united by our common belief in great public schools for all of our students.

Also, in case you missed it:

• Before the holidays, MEA President Steven Cook did two newspaper columns regarding Betsy DeVos’ nomination – one in the Lansing State Journal and the other in the Detroit News. Please check them out and share them on social media with your friends during this week.

• If you haven’t already, please take a moment to contact Michigan’s U.S. Senators, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, regarding the Senate’s consideration of DeVos.  While both have already said they will not support her nomination, they need to hear from you as constituents with stories from the front lines about how the DeVos family’s education policies have harmed students and schools. Your input can help them make the case in the Senate against Betsy DeVos’ confirmation as the next Secretary of Education.

Go to the original post>>

Betsy DeVos thinks she can buy her position as Education Secretary. Is our government for sale?@AnthonyCody #DumpDevos #NOTFORSALE #edchat pic.twitter.com/TSPqX06CAv

— Steven Singer (@StevenSinger3) January 12, 2017

Reblogged from GADFLYONTHEWALLBLOG

Fake news!

Watch out for fake news!

In the wake of the disastrous 2016 election cycle that left us with a conman turned reality TV star as President, the media has suddenly decided the whole thing can be blamed on too much fake news.

How else to explain the words “President” and “Donald Trump” combined together in one sentence without adding “will never be” between them?

Voters must have been swayed by fake news not to select saintly Hillary Clinton against Trump. Oh! What a spotless angel she was that everyone loved without reservation and there was never any warning that trouble might be brewing so it must be that those regular folks were swayed by false stories, otherwise… I mean why wouldn’t they vote for Clinton? She was just so great and we were paid to say that, but whatever….

…I’d like to postulate a theory – it wasn’t that too many people paid attention to stories that weren’t true. (Those email leaks from the DNC may or may not have been hacked by the Russians, but they were written by actual Democratic party operatives and proved the party to be just as corrupt as cynics claimed.) Maybe the problem wasn’t what people read – it’s what they didn’t read. It’s not the falsities that were out there but the truths that we refused to acknowledge.

We ignored the deep truths about Hillary’s unfavorables.

We ignored the deep truths that the Democrats haven’t done much for working people in years. Read more>>