KSTP News interviewed Ms. Kelly Fenton, concerned East Ridge parent, about the controversy surrounding the use of announcement-time to promote the Black Panthers under the guise of "Black History Month." They also interviewed Principal Aaron Harper.
KSTP presented the issue as unskewed as can be expected by a MSM outlet. However, they focused primarily on the fact that the poem, "A Black Child's Pledge," had been read during the announcement, with a little attention paid to the fact that the poem was from the Black Panthers. What readers and KSTP viewers need to understand is not the fact that the poem was read, it is the context in which it was read to "commemorate" the Black Panthers. Therein lies the difference: the poem as a literary device is innocuous, the poem being read in conjunction with a description of the Black Panthers as just a group of "militant marxists who are ok because they also fed children and helped with community organizing" is offensive.
Aaron Harper claims that he hadn't "vetted" the content that was to be read during Thursday morning's announcements and that it was "student-led." He assured KSTP that he would be better about paying attention to the information dispersed over the PA system of the school. The fact that Mr. Harper is shielding Tishanna Brown and claiming that he should have been more aware of what was being read leads one to wonder what else Tishanna Brown has been up to in her classroom - what part of her interests and biases are filtering through to her students, and why didn't Mr. Harper know what was being read to his entire school that morning? Furthermore, if it wasn't such a big deal, why is he assuring parents that he will "keep a closer eye" on things from now on?
Please stay tuned for more updates as this story continues.
MNHOCKEYMAMA You've entered our world now; unless otherwise noted, all posts are my thoughts/opinions/musings; callin' it like I see it.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Suburban High School Honors Black Panther Party
This story has been picked up by KSTP Channel 5 (Twin Cities); they will be broadcasting an interview with one of the concerned parents tonight on their 6pm program.
East Ridge High School in Woodbury, Minnesota decided to use Valentine's Day as a day to commemorate the Black Panther Party in a school-wide presentation. Apparently, the day set aside for all things love is the perfect day on which to roll out information about one of the most violent and militant groups in the USA's recent history.
According to the transcript obtained by a concerned parent (after the principal refused to honor her request for a written copy of the announcement that her son had heard that morning. A few hours later a district representative contacted her and gave her the transcript) the presentation, led by Social Studies teacher, Tishanna Brown, began with a reading of A Black Child's Pledge, by Shirley Williams, which was originally published in The Black Panther Newsletter on October 28, 1968:
According to an East Ridge parent, the principal told her that this presentation was one of many the school was doing for Black History Month and meant to draw attention to the historical significance of the Panther's movement. So, basically, folks, there is no reason to freak out because this was just an educational exercise. There were no other groups that are historically significant in Black American History that should be given the same level of honor and significance. There aren't any other positive historical Black Americans from which to choose, nope, we must choose the ones that somehow manage to mix "revolutionary socialism" and "militant self-defense" with "organizing and community based programs such as free lunch and medical programs..." (Which, by the way, how did the teacher say that sentence with a straight face?)
It is no wonder that with the glorification of such groups as the Black Panthers that there are people who are excusing and adoring another cop-killer this week, Christopher Dorner. It is no wonder that our kids have no real concept of American history when they are fed sound-bytes like the one above.
It is offensive to me and should be to any American that out of the many people and groups who could be honored for Black History month that East Ridge would choose The Black Panther Party as one that they chose to honor. I wonder if I were to go to the school, enter American History classes and ask random students who Hiram Revels was, if they'd know he was the first Black American elected to the Senate in 1870? Or what about CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) a group of which MLK was part, which focused on non-violent actions to gain racial equality? Google or Bing "Black Americans in History" and hundreds of links pop up - even a lazy teacher could do that and come up with better examples of Black Americans in History than the Black Panthers. Either the East Ridge Principal, Aaron Harper and his cohort Tishanna Brown are ignorant of the great tapestry of Black American History and too lazy to research examples of people worthy of honoring or they have an agenda that they are following to further some perverse purpose of encouraging children to believe that "militant self defense" against the US Government and police is ok as long as one is combining that with "free lunch and medical programs."
Another point: say a student's interest in the Black Panther Party was piqued during this presentation, so s/he goes online to check out the group. What will that student find? The following is an example of what a brief search would give that student:
But, never mind that, parents, there is no agenda here. This was an educational opportunity used to enlighten and educate the students on Black American History.
East Ridge High School in Woodbury, Minnesota decided to use Valentine's Day as a day to commemorate the Black Panther Party in a school-wide presentation. Apparently, the day set aside for all things love is the perfect day on which to roll out information about one of the most violent and militant groups in the USA's recent history.
According to the transcript obtained by a concerned parent (after the principal refused to honor her request for a written copy of the announcement that her son had heard that morning. A few hours later a district representative contacted her and gave her the transcript) the presentation, led by Social Studies teacher, Tishanna Brown, began with a reading of A Black Child's Pledge, by Shirley Williams, which was originally published in The Black Panther Newsletter on October 28, 1968:
The presentation went on:I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO MY BLACK PEOPLE.I PLEDGE TO DEVELOP MY MIND AND BODY TO THE GREATEST EXTENT POSSIBLE.I WILL LEARN ALL THAT I CAN IN ORDER TO GIVE MY BEST TO MY PEOPLE IN THEIR STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION.I WILL KEEP MYSELF PHYSICALLY FIT, BUILDING A STRONG BODY FREE FROM DRUGS AND OTHER SUBSTANCES WHICH WEAKEN ME AND MAKE ME LESS CAPABLE OF PROTECTING MYSELF, MY FAMILY AND MY BLACK BROTHERS AND SISTERS.I WILL UNSELFISHLY SHARE MY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING WITH THEM IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE MORE QUICKLY.I WILL DISCIPLINE MYSELF TO DIRECT MY ENERGIES THOUGHTFULLY AND CONSTRUCTIVELY RATHER THAN WASTING THEM IN IDLE HATRED.I WILL TRAIN MYSELF NEVER TO HURT OR ALLOW OTHERS TO HARM MY BLACK BROTHERS AND SISTERS FOR I RECOGNIZE THAT WE NEED EVERY BLACK MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD TO BE PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY STRONG.THESE PRINCIPLES I PLEDGE TO PRACTICE DAILY AND TO TEACH THEM TO OTHERS IN ORDER TO UNITE MY PEOPLE.
"Good Morning, East Ridge! I'm _____________. 'Power to the People' and 'Black is Beautiful' are two of the slogans associated with todays "Black History Month" person, or should I say, "People" of the day. Today we commemorate Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, co-Founders of The Black Panther Party for Self Defense.
In October of 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. In the most part to address the rampant police brutality faced by many black communities around the country. The Panthers practiced militant self-defense of minority communities against the U.S. Government, and fought to establish revolutionary socialism through mass organizing and community based programs such as free lunch and medical programs. The party, consisting mostly of men and women under the age of 25, was one of the first organizations in U.S. history to militantly struggle for ethnic minority and working class emancipation" (SIC)
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| Page 1 of Original Transcript |
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| Page 2 of Original Transcript; note the change in font and lack of punctuation; evidence of the teacher "cutting and pasting" info from www.marxist.org |
It is no wonder that with the glorification of such groups as the Black Panthers that there are people who are excusing and adoring another cop-killer this week, Christopher Dorner. It is no wonder that our kids have no real concept of American history when they are fed sound-bytes like the one above.
It is offensive to me and should be to any American that out of the many people and groups who could be honored for Black History month that East Ridge would choose The Black Panther Party as one that they chose to honor. I wonder if I were to go to the school, enter American History classes and ask random students who Hiram Revels was, if they'd know he was the first Black American elected to the Senate in 1870? Or what about CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) a group of which MLK was part, which focused on non-violent actions to gain racial equality? Google or Bing "Black Americans in History" and hundreds of links pop up - even a lazy teacher could do that and come up with better examples of Black Americans in History than the Black Panthers. Either the East Ridge Principal, Aaron Harper and his cohort Tishanna Brown are ignorant of the great tapestry of Black American History and too lazy to research examples of people worthy of honoring or they have an agenda that they are following to further some perverse purpose of encouraging children to believe that "militant self defense" against the US Government and police is ok as long as one is combining that with "free lunch and medical programs."
Another point: say a student's interest in the Black Panther Party was piqued during this presentation, so s/he goes online to check out the group. What will that student find? The following is an example of what a brief search would give that student:
In October of 1966, in Oakland California, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The Panthers practiced militant self-defense of minority communities against the U.S. government, and fought to establish revolutionary socialism through mass organizing and community based programs. The party was one of the first organizations in U.S. history to militantly struggle for ethnic minority and working class emancipation — a party whose agenda was the revolutionary establishment of real economic, social, and political equality across gender and color lines.Oh, but wait, isn't that the EXACT language used by the teacher in the presentation? Why, yes, it is. Funny, but isn't that called PLAGIARISM? Which website did Ms. Brown steal this from? That's right, www.marxist.org. It looks like Ms. Brown cleaned it up and made it a bit nicer by adding "like free lunch and medical programs," but otherwise, she seems to have been at a loss as how to write an original statement about the Black Panthers herself.
But, never mind that, parents, there is no agenda here. This was an educational opportunity used to enlighten and educate the students on Black American History.
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