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Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.

Shel Silverstein (via couragehopestrength)

Stories change with every retelling -- sometimes the details and sometimes the meaning.

world-shaker-deactivated2013092

serafina-bee-blog

world-shaker:

So one guy named Wesley Scroggins, an associate professor at Missouri State University, who doesn’t even have a child in the Republic School District (he homeschools), called on the school district to stop using textbooks and other materials “that create false conceptions of American history and government or that teach principles contrary to Biblical morality and truth.”

That’s Wesley Scroggins, an associate professor who “is all about balance - balance in his teaching, balance in his research and balance in his service.”

That’s this Wesley Scroggins, who can be reached via email at [email protected]

And so the school district told this one guy (who doesn’t have a kid in their district), that while everyone’s entitled to their opinion, they certainly wouldn’t pull firmly established books and reference materials because it goes against the principles of the First Amendment, and pillars and principles that are foundational to our Democratic society sure thing, jerk face!

So the Vonnegut library is now giving all the students a free copy of Slaughterhouse Five.

High five to those guys.

In the meantime, I wonder what would happen if a bunch of people emailed Wesley Scroggins’ Department Head, Dr. Barry Wisdom (not making these names up), to let him know that he should not support any faculty member that imposes his anti-free speech views on school districts in which their children are not even enrolled…

Up to 150 students at a Missouri high school that ordered “Slaughterhouse-Five” pulled from its shelves can get a free copy of the novel, courtesy of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library, library officials said on Thursday.

The offer for students at Republic High School comes on the heels of the Republic School Board’s decision to remove Vonnegut’s novel and Sarah Ockler’s “Twenty Boy Summer” from the curriculum and the school library shelves.

“All of these students will be eligible to vote and some may be protecting our country through military service in the next year or two,” Julia Whitehead, the executive director of the Vonnegut library in Indianapolis, said in a statement.

“It is shocking and unfortunate that those young adults and citizens would not be considered mature enough to handle the important topics raised by Kurt Vonnegut, a decorated war veteran. Everyone can learn something from his book.”

Emma Lazarus' hand-written sonnet

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Emma Lazarus, 1883

#america #immigration #we are all foreigners here #4th of July #Emma Lazarus

forever missed and never forgotten...

2 Wolves - - - A Native American Parable

An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life... "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. "One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego. "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. "This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old chief simply replied, "The one you feed."

The once-uplifting story of Amina Abdullah, the voice behind the blog "A Gay Girl in Damascus," recently took a turn for the worse.

The Syrian-American blogger was kidnapped yesterday by several armed, unidentified men in Damascus who seized her and forced her into a car. Abdullah's cousin, Rania Ismail, alerted the public of this development in a post added to Abdullah's blog Monday evening.

(PHOTOS: Protest in Syria)

According to the post, "The men are assumed to be members of one of the security services or the Baath Party militia." Syrian security forces have detained thousands since the beginning of protests earlier this year. In an update post, Ismail adds that "there are at least 18 different police formations in Syria as well as multiple different party militias and gangs," a reality that makes identifying the kidnappers very difficult.

Amina's family does not know of her whereabouts, and asks anyone with leads to contact them. "We are hoping she is simply in jail and nothing worse has happened to her," Ismail writes. She does, however, offer one piece of grimly optimistic news: "We believe that she is likely to be released fairly soon. If they wanted to kill her, they would have done so."

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/07/gay-girl-in-damascus-blogger-kidnapped-by-armed-men-in-syria/#ixzz1OeicGeOZ

GSH, ground floor griot, speaking truth to power.

Zichron L'vracha. Keep the nerve.

Message to the Messengers Gil Scott

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" - Gil Scott-Heron (by MediaBurnArchive)

“Just heard the very sad news that my dear friend and one of the most inspiring people I've ever met, the great Gil Scott-Heron, died today.”

brotips

serafina-bee-blog

just explained PEMDAS to some of my afterschool kids last week, but this is a new mnemonic device.

Awesome!

word2nick

Genuine love is rarely an emotional space where needs are instantly gratified. To know love we have to invest time and commitment…’dreaming that love will save us, solve all our problems or provide a steady state of bliss or security only keeps us stuck in wishful fantasy, undermining the real power of the love — which is to transform us.’ Many people want love to function like a drug, giving them an immediate and sustained high. They want to do nothing, just passively receive the good feeling

bell hooks

world-shaker-deactivated2013092

serafina-bee-blog

I want to have a classroom that is like this...so many things to look at and explore. Probably would be overload in a ELA classroom, but whatevs. It looks awesome.

world-shaker:

Too amazing to not share early. This is the classroom of a Technology Education middle school teacher. I want to be in his class.

classroomframe (by saphric89)

apparently the father of Reddit user Bramsey89

And here we are, in 2011, still fighting this battle. With Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' establishment of "neighborhood schools" and the eradication of busing (with Wake County Schools quickly following suit - among countless others), we must still act to foster diversity and end our de facto segregation within our public school system.

For y'all who might need a little refresher, from Wikipedia:

The decision overturned the Plessy v. Fergusondecision of 1896 which allowed state-sponsored segregation. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This ruling paved the way for integration and the civil rights movement.[2]

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