Excellent new TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson on schools and creativity

New excellent talk.

Sir Ken Robinson.  On schools, education, teaching, and creativity.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley.html

“Education does not go on in the committee rooms of legislatures.” May, 2013.

20 San Francisco Schools with low income kids receive federal academic achievement awards; SF Muralist Josef Norris/Kid Serve's newest school mural

Bravo to 20 of our San Francisco public schools that have been named as recipients of the federal Title I Academic Achievement Award for the year 2006-07! My daughter's school which is over 75% low income [free or reduced lunch eligible] families and mostly English learners is one of the awardees.

Each award-winning school qualifies for Title I funding, a federally-funded program designed to improve the academic achievement of socioeconomically disadvantaged students. There are nearly 6,000 Title I schools in California.

The criteria to qualify for the award have become more rigorous each year. Title I schools must demonstrate the achievement level of twice the schoolwide Academic Performance Index (API) growth target and twice the API growth target for the socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroup for two consecutive years. Schools also must have made Adequately Yearly Progress for two years in a row, and at least 40 percent of the enrolled students in each school must meet the
poverty index.

SFUSD schools receiving the award for 2006-07 are:
Frank McCoppin Elementary - Francis Scott Key Elementary - Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary - Sheridan Elementary
Garfield Elementary - Sherman Elementary - George R. Moscone Elementary - Spring Valley Elementary
Glen Park Elementary - Sunnyside Elementary - Gordon J. Lau Elementary - Sunset Elementary
Guadalupe Elementary - Sutro Elementary - Harvey Milk Elementary - Ulloa Elementary
John Yehall Chin Elementary - Visitacion Valley Elementary - Lafayette Elementary - Yick Wo Elementary

For more information about the Title I Academic Achievement Awards, please visit
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ti/awardsprogram.asp

Josef Norris/Kid Serve Mural Sparkles at Frank McCoppin Elementary School in San Francisco's Ricmond District - District One
That's not Diego Rivera. It's local San Francisco muralist extraordinaire Josef Norris of Kid Serve putting the final touches on a sparkly new mosaic school mural at McCoppin Elementary School in San Francisco's Richmond District. Students in 1st and 3rd grade classes, parents, community volunteers, and a few community artists all lent a hand to create this amazing piece of public art in our City.
As a muralist, Norris is best known for the "Performing Arts Mural" located at the Performing Arts Garage at Gough and Fulton Streets. He just completed a huge mosaic mural overlooking the Kid Power Park at 67 Hoff Street (near the 16th & Mission Street BART Stations.) See his Woody Guthrie Mosaic to the right. Josef Norris has been a recipient of the California Arts Council Artist in Residence Grant for three years from 2000-2003. He has supervised youth murals for the California Consumer Services Agency, California County Fairs, Marin Arts Council and the Ninth District Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Check out Josef Norris' work at: http://www.josefnorris.com.
Norris has created murals at 6 of our San Francisco middle schools, one high school and 13 elementary schools. For a map of his incredible work including the Jefferson Elementary School mural on 19th Ave at Irving, Franklin Middle School/Gateway High School Mural off Geary Blvd in the Fillmore District, or others at Flynn, Moscone, Harvey Milk, Starr King, Visitacion Valley, Buena Vista, Bessie Carmichael, Junipero Serra, Sunset, E.R.Taylor Elementary Schools, Horace Mann, Denman, James Lick, Enola Maxwell, Aptos and Vis Valley Middle Schools - see http://www.kidserve.com/map.html.

The McCoppin Mural began with a field trip to San Francisco's Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park in January and ended today with the finishing coat added to the mural and clean up. Over the past few months I and hundreds of other parents, students, and community members contributed to the public art piece.

More on Kid Serve Murals - http://www.kidserve.com/index.html
The kids and parents and teachers loved working with Josef. Below Mccoppin PTA president Danny Mangin and Norris work on the huge 2 story mural earlier this week. We took the scaffolding down this morning and will hopefully unveil the mural sometime soon.

Chinatown speaks out on the 4th Annivesary of the War on Iraq; San Francisco values, culture, politics, and parenting

I love San Francisco culture and politics. I have learned in my 23 years out here that there's no better place in the world for parenting and lifelong learning than our own backyard. The weather has been in the mid-high 70's over the past week as well.

I and the rest of our Board of Education are in the midst of a major Superintendent of Schools Search in SF - interviewing parents and community leaders, holding numerous community meetings to seek input and hopefully attract a healthy pool of superintendent candidates in the next couple of months. Please join us Saturday for 2 community meetings at Martin Luther King Middle School and School of the Arts - translations and childcare will be provided. To give input into our search please take a few minutes to fill out the survey form online.

But to balance my busy life I sometimes manage to sneak out [usually after my kid is already asleep] to see movies like the incredible Pan's Labyrinth at the West Portal Theater and the well-done, yet creepy documentary on the rise of Jonestown, the Rev. Jim Jones and the People's Temple at the Red Vic Moviehouse in the Haight-Ashbury district. I was also able to hang out with some of my SF State students, colleagues and political comrades late one Sunday night as well at the very hip new Poleng Lounge, near USF, to hear GEOLOGIC [Blue Scholars], KIWI [Native Guns], DENIZEN KANE [Tree City Legends], JERN EYE [Lunar Heights] and other performers to raise money for the Stop the Killings campaign tour for human rights in the Philippines.

I have also been out to the Museum of Modern Art's exhibit on Picasso's influence on the US Avante Garde arts movements, the DeYoung Museum's incredible Ruth Asawa and modern art exhibitions, and the Cartoon Art Museum in our Yerba Buena Center area which is also home to the new Mexican Museum, Jewish, African Diaspora, and Folk Arts museums. Very late tonight I will be sneaking out again to the Center for Asian American Media Asian American Film Festival's Directions in Sound hiphop Asian American Underground Showcase at the Fillmore District's Independent featuring Neil Armstrong (5th Platoon), Vin Roc (5th Platoon, Triple Threat), EstairyDeft (myspace.com/estairy), Mochipet vs. Mike Boo vs. Mike Reed (Daly City Records/Alphapup), DJ Zita (Mama, Sisters in Sound, myspace.com/djzita), and visuals by: Daniel Hai (Konstrukt).

If I can wake up, early tomorrow I plan to take my daughter to the newly rennovated Children's Discovery Museum in Sausalito, a 10 minute drive from my home in the Richmond District across the Golden Gate Bridge, for a playdate with her buddies. We also will be enjoying our regular walks in Golden Gate Park around the Bandshell and for educational programs for kids at the DeYoung Museum as well.

Chinatown: speaks out against the Illegal and Imoral War on Iraq:

Tonight at 6pm youth, students and community activists from Chinatown and throughout the City are gathering at Portsmouth Square for a vigil and rally for Peace and Justice: Working Families Oppose War in Iraq on 4th Anniversary. Sponsored by CPA, May 1st Alliance, APICAW, Lt. Ehren Watada Support Committee/APIs Resist!, and others.

3/18 SUNDAY's Anti-War march and rally in San Francisco - Many of my students and my family will also be gathering at Justin Herman Plaza at 11am on Sunday at the Embarcadero BART station to join the Strength in Unity contingent which includes APICAW, BAYAN, ILPS, May 1st Alliance, Chinese Progressive Association, League of Filipino Students, and many others.

Hopefully we'll see you out there somewhere this weekend in our amazing City of progressive politics, diverse cultures, and distinctly San Francisco values.

Tonight New HIP-HOP documentary - Beyond Beats and Rhymes; historian Jeff Chang and the hip hop nation

Last Thurs Hip Hop Historian Jeff Chang was in town at SF State to premiere a new film HIP-HOP: BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES and talk about his work.

The year’s most talked-about film, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes takes an in-depth look at representations of manhood, sexism and homophobia in hip-hop culture. This groundbreaking documentary is a “loving critique” of certain disturbing developments in hip-hop music culture from the point of view of a fan who challenges the art form’s representations of masculinity. The film premieres on Independent Lens on PBS tonight, Tuesday, February 20, 2007.

I just picked up Chang's excellent new anthology Total Chaos which presents an amazing array of voices on the art and aesthetics of the hip hop movement. He's also emceeing the upcoming Applied Reseach Center national conference Facing Race later in March in New York City from 3/22-24.

As a teacher that remembers the Last Poets, Watts Prophets, poets like Amiri Baraka [who made an appearance at City Lights last night - see photo to the right], and even Gil Scott-Heron and Africa Bambaataa, I find Chang's writing extremely helpful in bringing me up to speed with current changes in hip hop.

[Photo - SF People's Organization leader Julian Davis dialogues with Baraka at City Lights]

Happy New Year - New Babies and Remembering our Mama's Mamas

As 2006 ends I am feeling the warmth of 2 new little ones to my family - my twin brother Gordon's new daughter Lian Ella Mar who hails from China and my nephew Adam's new baby Sara Madison Lim who was born in the OC. But as the new year begins my main thoughts are with my 103 year old Paw-Paw [grandmother] living in Sacramento, CA.
Remebering our MAMA's MAMAs

I usually begin my SF State classes using a techinique by civil rights movement historian Vincent Harding and his Veterans of Hope project. I ask my students to think of their Mama's Mama - to talk about her, discussing what they know about her, how it felt when she hugged them, what her voice was like, etc. But often my students reveal that they know very little about their abuelitas and lolas and grannies. They often don't even know their names. By sharing a little about my family I am able to engage my students in the importance of learning and telling their own histories and getting to know more about their Mama's Mamas and other family members while they still can. Talk about our grandmothers in the classroom reduces stress and barriers among us. It also brings out our warmth and the commonalities among us while also at times highlighting the privileges and inequality as well within the classroom.

When I visited my Paw-Paw [aka Ms. Cum York Ouyang Lee] last week at her home in Sacramento she had just recently turned a ripe 103. As I warmed her hands with mine and kissed her face I thought about how she had immigrated to America and raised 7 children and dozens of grandchildren and great grandkids and great great grandkids.

She made me very sad when she told me that she was embarassed that she had not learned enough English to converse with me and my cousins. I felt guilt for not having learned Cantonese growing up so that I could learn more of her thoughts, wishes and dreams.

As the new year begins my love is with my Paw-Paw, the new babies and my wife Sandi and daugther Jade. I sure hope we all can take some time to visit or learn about all our Mama's Mamas.

Happy New Year - with Peace and Global Justice for everyone.

Eric

Got Soul? James Brown was a master teacher

The Godfather of Soul is no more.

It feels like only yesterday when KPOO [89.5 FM] DJ's Donald Lacy, Harrison Chastang and others of us were ending each show with the call "FREE JAMES BROWN" to protest his 1988 arrest and several years of hard time served. Brown is now Free.

James Brown was a master teacher. Ricky Vincent's The History of Funk Show on KPFA a few nights ago highlighted Brown's music, role in the civil rights movement, and also how he integrated his politics and social commentary in his art. He said that Brown "belongs to all of us."

In his History of Funk analysis Vincent says that Brown changed the structure of Black music more than any other person in history. Brown 'Africanized' Black music by changing the rhythm, the structure and the manner in which soul/Black music was played, according to Vincent. In 1968 Amiri Baraka called Brown "our number one Black poet."

In the Funk World 1969
If Elvis Presley/ is

King

Who is James Brown,

God?

I cherish an old 1984 EP with Brown and HipHop "godfather"Afrika Bambatta urging UNITY in the fight against racism, war and nuclear devastation. And, when I played "Say It Loud" to my 6 year old daughter Jade a several years ago it touched off an interest in music and her search for her own heritage and identity. Besides being drawn to Brown's screeching and grooving, Jade liked hearing the children singing the chorus - "I'm Black and I'm Proud!." When she later asked me: "Daddy, am I Black?" because of Brown and her predominantly African American classmates in her school in SF's OceanView/Ingleside neighborhood, I gently broke the news to her that she was not. But I told her that she should be proud of being Asian, Hawaiian, Japanese and Chinese and try to be an ally to African Americans and other oppressed peoples as well.

Brown's influence was worldwide - P-Funk Pioneers like Parliament and Funkadelic to Pop Icons like Michael Jackson and Prince owe a debt of gratitude as well to the Godfather of Soul. KRS-ONE says that Brown sums up the "entire black struggle" in his music. Learning about Brown's life is a sharp lesson in the struggle for self-determination of African Americans in the United States.

Of all the pieces on Brown's passing I've read, I think KRS-ONE sums up James Brown's life best in AllHipHop.com -

AllHipHop.com: How will James Brown's death affect Hip-Hop?

KRS-One: James Brown is the Grandfather of Hip-Hop, of course recognizing Kool Herc as the father. You're talking to a 25 year theologian, and Christ is my s**t. Jesus is my s**t, that's my n***a! [Laughs] This guy, James Brown, dying on Christmas is very symbolic. Dying on Christmas, we know God is looking at us! We established right here and now. According to Christian tradition, James Brown dying on Jesus' birthday means that Hip-Hop starts today. ...James Brown passing on Christmas could mean the birth of Soul in you. He is the Godfather of Soul – not Pop, not R&B, not Rock, not Blues, not Jazz – Soul music!

We should print the lyrics of "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)" and we should say it every Christmas. [KRS recites lyrics] He summed up the entire Black struggle. James Brown dying on Christ's birthday shows not only who he was – Christ returned – but that Hip-Hop has a chance, politically, to take a day. Let's celebrate James Brown! Hip-Hoppers celebrate the birth of their Soul, the birth of their Christ, the birth of their nature. Every Christmas, we gonna play James Brown records. ..

There is nobody who is more influential to Hip-Hop than James Brown. Kool Herc said that James Brown was the A-1 b-boy, the first MC, the first DJ – 'cause he had two drummers. The drummer was what the turntable was today. When one finished playing, the other'd start, and sometimes they'd play together! ... James Brown is our artistic father. We all sample from him. This is a day where we exchange gifts. The gift exchanged with us from James was our culture. He freely gave his music to our culture. To me, that brings tears to my eyes! That's some god s**t. That's the lord and savior. On December 25th, James Brown gives the gift of himself to his children. What's the gift we should be givin' back? We should be givin' back his request. "These record companies stole from me, get it back." Get it back, children. There should be a James Brown Soul Museum, not a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. James Brown.

The Godfather is now FREE - and his "fabulous flame" burns brightly in me, my daughter and hopefully many of us.
Celebrating James Brown's birthday a few years ago Davey D wrote:

I swear to God when I speak at schools I'm amazed how kids who love Juvenile, BG and Jay-Z will draw blank stares when you mention groups like X-Clan, Jungle Brothers and even Public Enemy. They're completely at a loss when you start talking about James Brown, George Clinton and others. Sure they may have heard the names, but they never heard the songs. Sadder still they have no idea of their importance. Hence, that is the reason for penning this article. It's up to us to make the necessary changes.

---
Click Here to listen to KPFA/Ricky Vincent/History of Funk's tribute to the Godfather of Soul
Click Here for Davey D's Blog on James Brown's Passing
Davey D's Hip Hop Corner
Ricky Vincent's History of Funk
KPOO - Poor People's Radio

Daddy's Sadness on 911

My 6 year old Jade quickly sketched this sad drawing of me at dinner this evening while my partner Sandi and I watched the beautiful red sunset on the 5th Anniverary of 911 at the Beach Chalet on San Francisco's Ocean Beach.
I had visited ground zero in Manhattan a few months after the tragedy in 2001 and will be going back later this week for an urban schools awards event. I plan to go back to ground zero again and mourn the loss of life in the US and in Iraq in the past 5 years.

A 'Jook-Sing' Goes to the Motherland

I am going to China for a short trip and shifting this blog to another site - http://jooksing.blogspot.com/ so that I can post photos. [for some reason my blogger site won't let me post photos anymore].

Here's the text from my posting from my new temporary blog -
Jook-Sing in the Motherland

In 2 days I take off from San Francisco to Beijing for a short delegation of teachers, principals and superintendents from around the US.I intend to blog about my experiences as a 'jook-sing' Chinese American guy visiting the motherland for the first time.
To get prepared I watched Hao Wu's documentary Beijing or Bust this evening, a film about Chinese Americans who left the US to work and live in China.

Filmmaker and Blogger Hao was arrested on February 22nd by Beijing authorities. And though he wasn't charged with any crime, the police did not allow access to a lawyer and refused to give any information about Hao's whereabouts to his family. Over 100 days later family, friends, filmmakers, bloggers and many are working hard to Free Hao Wu.

Outside of my look at the Chinese school system and how global capitalism is impacting the cities and rural areas and intensifying inequalities, I hope to get some R&R in as well.

I have also been listening to the music from the Beijing Rock Scene -
Kaiser Kuo, one of the featured Chinese Americans in the film, writes about the growing music scene in Beijing at That's Beijing. Kuo is now a rock columnist, and for a period played with Tang Dyansty, the stadium rock group out of Beijing.I have been listening to 45 year old singer Cui Jian, considered by some to be the Bob Dylan of Chinese Rock. His 80's anthem "Nothing to My Name" has been an inspiration from Tiananmen to San Francisco.

I am giving you my aspirations
And my freedom too.
But you always laugh at me
Because I have nothing

Interestingly, Jian was a classically trained trumpet player [so was I] who gravitated towards the Chinese cultural underground music scene and Western Rock for his influences in the 70's and 80's.

I hope to check out the new music scene while in Beijing, Jinan and Shanghai.
One other goal is to check out the Chinese Basketball leagues - from Yao Ming's Shanghai Sharks to the Beijing Ducks!I have filled my iPod with tunes and am ready to rip....

Go to the other blog for the next couple of weeks.

SF State Commencement Day - students keep 'rockin' like Neil Young

One of the proudest days of the year for faculty members at SF State University, where I teach, is Commencement Day - the time when we formally acknowledge the hard work of our new graduates - the teachers, new 'rockers', new fighters for peace and social justice. The adrenaline from serving as a faculty marshal also helps me during the final grading week as I always struggle to grade the research papers turned in this past week and assess the work of my 220 or so students before this coming Friday.

SF State Graduation Highlights - [I liked Sac State Prof Duane Campbell's sober but inspiring speech to his graduating new teachers posted last week]
*over 8000 smiling graduates and their families and friends on a beautiful SF day - congratulations to my Asian American Studies, Ethnic Studies, Liberal Studies students and all of the new teachers from our College of Education!
*self-proclaimed rocker Neil Young asking students to consider a vision of peace when ever confronted with thoughts of war or human suffering. Young and his partner Pegi Young, co-founder of The Bridge School for young people with disabilities, received honorary doctor of humane letters degrees. Pegi said in her remarks that one of the mottos of the school is - Just Because People Don't Speak Don't Mean That They Don't Think. I am proud our university has recognized the courageous work of Neil and Pegi.

* Asian American Studies student activist and rapper Valerie Francisco's incredible commencement speech which called upon graudates to apply Paulo Friere's concept of humanization in their future work. More on Valerie and PACE [Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor].

From SF State's website on Valerie -

When Valerie Francisco began rapping years ago, she gave herself the stage name Hood Scholar. Now Francisco is the hood recipient for the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and a fledgling scholar in sociology and Asian American studies.
Francisco, a native of Parañaque, Philippines, moved to the United States at age 9. She spent most of her adolescent years in Concord, in the predominantly Latino barrio of Monument. Her life experiences have shaped her academic interests.
"When you're growing up in poverty, not having anything, and everybody around you doesn't have adequate housing, I really saw -- as a sociologist -- the inequalities," said Francisco, who will also be the student speaker at Commencement.
Her community activism began at age 15 when she organized protests against Proposition 21, a California ballot initiative passed to increase punishment for gang-related activities. Francisco is also a founder and the mass campaign officer of babae, a San Francisco nonprofit that addresses the rights and welfare of Filipino women in the United States. As a scholar, Francisco studies immigrant women's experiences relative to global and local institutions. Francisco has been a participant in Career Opportunities in Research, a federally funded program that helps minority students become competitive applicants to doctoral programs in mental health, providing each of them with a $20,000 scholarship and faculty mentorships. This fall she enters the doctoral program in sociology at City University of New York. She plans to become a university professor and remain active in the Bay Area's Filipino community.
Francisco performs hip-hop music with Rhapsodistas, a collective comprised of four young Filipinas. Now known as Sho Shock, Francisco describes her style as "conscious and progressive but hyphy." Hyphy is a Bay Area-born hip-hop movement that is a combination of "hyper" and "fly."
"My art is a way to talk to people who wouldn't come to see me give a lecture," she said. "My people, my community and my family are most important to me. They are my bedrock."
-- Matt Itelson

Kayo Hatta's Picture Bride - Asian American Film Festival San Francisco

I was fortunate to catch a special showing of the late Kayo Hatta's beautiful 1994 film Picture Bride [starring among others Tamlyn Tomita [Stargate-SG-1, Come See the Paradise, Joy Luck Club] and Youki Kudoh [Memoirs of a Geisha, Snow Falling on Cedars] and with a cameo by the legendary Toshiro Mifune] last night at the Center for Asian American Media's San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.
The film captures the struggle of women, families and Asian American immigrant workers in the plantation labor system of Hawaii. I used to use the film more in my Ethnic Studies classes at SF State in the 1990's. But watching the film again last night allowed me to marvel at its incredible cinematography [Claudio Rocha - Like Water for Chocalate], and its sharp political statement against racism, sexism and super-exploitation of immigrant workers and communities in America.
The director, Kayo Hatta, passed away on July 20th last year in an apparent swimming accident. She was only 47 years old. I remember when I first moved out to SF in 1984, Kayo was a cultural and political activist who supported Asian American musicians and poets and community struggles. I remember visiting her at her North Beach/Chinatown apartment to borrow Asian American jazz albums for the radio work I was doing at KPFA and KPOO radio stations at the time. She was a great film maker, but more importantly to her friends and family an incredible human being. Her niece and nephew go to school at the JBBP-West [Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program]/Rosa Parks Elementary School in SF. Their mom Julie has been active in the Asian American movement for decades.
At the film showing Kayo's other sister Mari talked about Kayo's life and her struggle to make Picture Bride. To the delight of the audience as well, Tamlyn Tomita also talked about how the actors and film crew sacrificed to support Kayo and the making of the important film.
Kayo definitely lives through her films and the cultural and political stuggles she supported.

For more on Tamlyn Tomita's work - http://www.asianamericanfilm.com/chat/tamlyn.html
For more Tomita - I loved Greg Pak's
microbudget indie film Robot Stories - http://www.robotstories.net/

For more on Kayo and Picture Bride - http://www.picturebridefilm.com/home.html

Eric

Jazz legend Keith Jarrett, 'stirring the pot', and educational justice

At the SF War Memorial Opera House on Sunday evening I was one of the few lucky people in the world! that experienced a rare solo performance by pianist extraordinaire Keith Jarrett. My older brother Ryan had seen a much younger Jarrett with the Miles Davis group in 1970 in Monterrey and again at the Winterland in SF. Besides Miles' band, he said the Grateful Dead also performed an amazing set that evening as well.
I remember my twin brother Gordon, an alto sax player in high school and college, turning me on to Jarrett’s My Song album way back in 78 while we were both aspiring jazz musicians at McClatchy and Kennedy high schools in Sacramento. The folksy ‘country’ and the beautiful ‘my song’ were my favorites from on that incredible album.
But what’s in my CD machine these days is Jarrett’s 1999 ballad album The Melody at Night With You that he dedicated to his wife Rose Anne with familiar standards like Someone to Watch Over Me, Shenandoah, and my 5-year old daughter’s favorite I Loves You Porgy.
I understand Garrett suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and struggled to put that album together while recovering from CFS. It is inspiring that he manages to perform and tour despite his CFS.
But the now 60 year old Jarrett played his heart out Saturday night with an amazing mixture of his new totally spontaneous ‘radiance’ music to tin pan alley-ish pieces and gorgeous ballads.
The audience was so appreciative that Jarrett did 5 encores – which included standards like As Time Goes By and It Might As Well Be Spring!

Jarrett’s self-reflection and constantly changing approach to his compositions and performances makes me think about the need for social justice activists and organizers to also constantly reflect on our practice and method as well.

SF Chronicle jazz writer David Rubien Chronicle Interview
did a great interview of Jarrett a week ago -

"Here I am a kind of mainstream accepted entity -- I have a big audience," Jarrett says. "Who else could take on the task or responsibility to try to burst another bubble that has been taken as reality? At the same time, I can explode my own myth.
"It's like a pot of soup on the stove. If you don't stir it occasionally, stuff sinks to the bottom and burns. Just for a brief time, I think I can be the person with the spoon who stirs the soup."

I think those of us working for educational equity and justice need to think and act like Keith Jarrett by always ‘stirring the pot’ and helping others, like students and parents to stir more from the bottom of the pot as well.

SF to LA - building youth leadership and linking to Ella Baker and the history of the civil rights movement

One of the most rewarding parts of teaching at San Francisco State University and serving on the school board in San Francisco Unified School District is working with and supporting the new generation of youth leadership in our communities.
I have just posted in the links section of this blog a number of youth groups from LA to SF and Boston to San Diego! - many of these groups are currently working to build stronger youth and community movements for social and economic justice - through their organizing and advocacy work.

Coalition for Educational Justice – Los Angeles
Californians for Justice
CAPAY – Coalition for APA Youth - Boston
Chinese Progressive Association - SF
AYPAL – Oakland
Youth Together – Oakland
LEJ – Literacy for Env Justice
Inner City Struggle – East LA
Adopt-An-Alleyway Project- SF
Y-MAC –Youth Making A Change -SF

One of my friends SF Freedom School teacher Kathy Emery reminded me recently of the great lines from Ella's Song by Sweet Honey in the Rock [Bernice Johnson Reagon and former SNCC freedom singers] which emphasizes Ms. Ella Baker's nurturing of youth leadership -

That which touches me most is that I had a chance to work with people

Passing on to others that which was passed on to me

To me young people come first, they have the courage where we fail

And if I can but shed some light as they carry us through the gale

The older I get the better I know that the secret of my going on

Is when the reins are in the hands of the young, who dare to run against the storm

YouThink has done a good lesson plan for using Ella's Song in the classroom
LESSON PLAN

Marcus Shelby's Port Chicago

One of my favorite artists in the world is SF bassist and progressive activist Marcus Shelby. He's a true renaissance man ala Paul Robeson - not affraid to speak and write about social justice and to use his art to raise people's consciousness and spirits to struggle for a better world.
I enjoyed a great evening last night at Yoshii's nightclub in Oakland with my school board colleague Mark Sanchez and my 5 year old daughter Jade to hear the Marcus Shelby Orchestra's performance and CD release of his latest 'Port Chicago' which was commissioned by the civil rights organization Equal Justice Society. Thanks to my friend and SF green party leader & school board candidate Kim Knox for introducing me to Marcus. Click here for more info on Marcus Shelby .
Port Chicago - Eric says 3 thumbs up. :-)

From the album notes -

Port Chicago is remembered as the northern California naval base where a devastating explosion in July 1944 killed more than 320 men, predominantly African American sailors, and injured 400 others. The sailors objected to the racial discrimination and manifestly unsafe working conditions at the base where only blacks were assigned to loading ammunition on ships. When 258 of the sailors protested in a work stoppage the Navy called it mutiny, setting in motion the largest mutiny trial in U.S. Navy history. In a sensational court martial 50 young black sailors were unjustly convicted. Thurgood Marshall, then special counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, flew to San Francisco to investigate the case. He charged that the young sailors were being made scapegoats for the conditions the Navy allowed at the base. Following the military trial, Marshall filed a strong appeal brief on behalf of the sailors, highlighting the racial discrimination at the base and in the trial. Although his appeal was rejected by the Navy Judge Advocate General, the public pressure
generated by a nationwide campaign in support of the sailors compelled the Navy to revamp its policies and begin the process of desegregation-a major civil rights victory. Although the imprisoned sailors were later released under a general amnesty after the war, their mutiny convictions have never been overturned. The injustice of their convictions cries out for redress, and reminds us of the price paid by many unsung heroes in the struggle for civil rights and justice.

http://www.marcusshelby.com/gateway.html

SF SCHOOLS ARTS MASTER PLAN, ARTS in SF SCHOOLS 3/25 Fri 5:30

SF Public Schools are in the midst of developing an Arts Master Plan with various arts educators, artists, the big dominant arts organizations, some parent groups, etc.
The impetus came from strong grassroots support for Supervisor Ammiano's Prop H [Nov. 04] which will provide more City funding for Arts, Music, Sports, Libraries, etc. in the SF Schools.
However, to prevent the large arts organizations and wealthy arts donors from dominating the process, we need more grassroots community arts groups, artists, students, parents and stakeholder groups to inform themselves about the process and speak out to the board of education and the superintendent on your concerns.
The model master plans we are looking at are LA, Chicago, Houston.
We also clearly need more voices speaking out for multicultural arts and inclusiveness in arts education as well.
Once completed and adopted by the Board of Education, the Arts Education Master Plan will serve as the blueprint that the School District, families, the arts community, the City, funders, and all other arts education stakeholders will use to work together to provide comprehensive sequential arts education for every student in the San Francisco Unified School District. We hope the Plan will greatly strengthen arts education throughout the SFUSD and will revitalize the arts in the schools and throughout the community for future generations.
For more info and to let your voice be heard - contact:
Kevin Marlatt - SFUSD Arts Eduction Master PlanProject Manager
artsplan@sfusd.edu
Cell: 415-359-4240.

----------
INVITE:
Parents, students, teachers and school staff, andcommunity friends of SF public schools:
Please join us for our monthly Student Art Reception,featuring student art from21st Century Academy and Luther Burbank Middle School.
Thanks Commissioner Mark Sanchez for setting up the artwork!Unwind, relax, have fun, marvel at the great studentartwork, mingle, celebrate, enjoy finger food!!Children welcome.
WHEN: Friday, March 25th, 5:30-7:30PM
WHERE: SF Unified School District, Board Meeting Room,555 Franklin Street, 1st Floor (McAllister Street)[parking on streetand in lot [enter on McAllister Street]
Public Transportation:BART - Civic Center stationMUNI - 5 Fulton, 47 or 49 Van Ness

Save the dates for the next receptions – 5:30-7:30pm Fridays –April 22, May 20, June 10. Same time, same place.
Feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions.emar@s...or
415/730-4188.
In unity,
Eric Mar, President
San Francisco Board of Education